diff --git a/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_33117.pl b/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_33117.pl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..03e9ab6787
--- /dev/null
+++ b/installer/data/mysql/atomicupdate/bug_33117.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+use Modern::Perl;
+
+return {
+    bug_number  => "33117",
+    description => "Patron checkout is not able to find patrons if using a second surname or other name during the search",
+    up => sub {
+        my ($args) = @_;
+        my ( $dbh, $out ) = @$args{qw(dbh out)};
+
+        $dbh->do(q{
+            INSERT INTO systempreferences (`variable`,`value`,`explanation`,`options`,`type`)
+            VALUES ('PatronAutoCompleteSearchMethod','starts_with','Allows staff to set a default method when searching for patrons with autocomplete','starts_with|contains','Choice');
+        });
+
+        say $out "Added new system preference 'PatronAutoCompleteSearchMethod'";
+    },
+};
diff --git a/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql b/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
index b224c147fe..a417499c4f 100644
--- a/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
+++ b/installer/data/mysql/mandatory/sysprefs.sql
@@ -552,6 +552,7 @@ INSERT INTO systempreferences ( `variable`, `value`, `options`, `explanation`, `
 ('PassItemMarcToXSLT','0',NULL,'If enabled, item fields in the MARC record will be made avaiable to XSLT sheets. Otherwise they will be removed.','YesNo'),
 ('PatronAnonymizeDelay','',NULL,'Delay for anonymizing patrons', 'Integer'),
 ('PatronAutoComplete','1','Try|Don\'t try','to guess the patron being entered while typing a patron search for circulation or patron search. Only returns the first 10 results at a time.','YesNo'),
+('PatronAutoCompleteSearchMethod','starts_with','Choose which search method to use by default when searching with PatronAutoComplete','starts_with|choice','Choice'),
 ('PatronDuplicateMatchingAddFields','surname|firstname|dateofbirth', NULL,'A list of fields separated by "|" to deduplicate patrons when created','Free'),
 ('patronimages','0',NULL,'Enable patron images for the staff interface','YesNo'),
 ('PatronRemovalDelay','',NULL,'Delay for removing anonymized patrons', 'Integer'),
diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/includes/js_includes.inc b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/includes/js_includes.inc
index f1745d52e8..3ea7f705ff 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/includes/js_includes.inc
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/includes/js_includes.inc
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
 
 <script>
     var defaultPatronSearchFields = "[% Koha.Preference('DefaultPatronSearchFields') || 'firstname,middle_name,surname,othernames,cardnumber,userid' | html %]";
+    var patronAutoCompleteSearchMethod = "[% Koha.Preference('PatronAutoCompleteSearchMethod') || 'contains' | html %]";
     var loggedInLibrary = '[% Branches.GetLoggedInBranchcode | html %]';
     var singleBranchMode = '[% singleBranchMode | html %]';
 </script>
diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/circulation.pref b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/circulation.pref
index ffe8481869..b79316a593 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/circulation.pref
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/en/modules/admin/preferences/circulation.pref
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ Circulation:
                   0: "Don't try"
             - to guess the patron being entered while typing a patron search for circulation or patron search.
             - Only returns the first 10 results at a time.
+        -
+            - pref: PatronAutoCompleteSearchMethod
+              choices:
+                  starts_with: "Starts with"
+                  contains: "Contains"
+            - Enable this search method to determine whether to use Starts with or Contains for autocomplete patron searches.
         -
             - pref: itemBarcodeInputFilter
               choices:
diff --git a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/js/patron-autocomplete.js b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/js/patron-autocomplete.js
index cc8ec068ae..167928dd3f 100644
--- a/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/js/patron-autocomplete.js
+++ b/koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/js/patron-autocomplete.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ function patron_autocomplete(node, options) {
     let link_to;
     let url_params;
     let on_select_callback;
+    let leading_wildcard = patronAutoCompleteSearchMethod === 'contains' ? '%' : '';
     if ( options ) {
         if ( options['link-to'] ) {
             link_to = options['link-to'];
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ function patron_autocomplete(node, options) {
                     let subquery_or = [];
                     defaultPatronSearchFields.split(',').forEach(function(field,i){
                         subquery_or.push(
-                            {["me."+field]: {'like': pattern + '%'}}
+                            {["me."+field]: {'like': leading_wildcard + pattern + '%'}}
                         );
                     });
                     subquery_and.push(subquery_or);