A middle initial might not usually mean much, but one F ended up in a big mix-up for Life magazine.

And the blunder may have Latter-day Saints doing a double take.

A photo of Joseph F. Smith mistakenly accompanied a description of Joseph Smith Jr., who was profiled in May's magazine as one of the "100 Greatest Americans" for founding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The picture of Joseph F. Smith, who was a church president 60 years after his uncle Joseph Smith Jr., shows a man with a long gray beard and glasses — two things Joseph Smith Jr. never had when he died at the age of 38.

Andrew Blau, president of Life magazine, said the mistake was due to a photo cataloguing error that incorrectly identified the photo. The company's Web site now offers an apology for the mistake, as well as a corrected version of the photo and text.

"We really regret the error," Blau said.

Dale Bills, spokesman for the church, said he appreciated Life's effort to correct the error, adding that the bigger deal is that Joseph Smith Jr. made the publication's list of great Americans.

Life listed the 100 nominees for the "Greatest American" as part of a competition by the Discovery Channel in which viewers can vote to determine who has made the greatest impact on the way we live. The series starts June 5.

"Joseph Smith certainly ranks as one of the greatest Americans. During his relatively short Lifetime in the first half of the 19th century, Joseph Smith established foundational principles and practices that still guide The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 21st century," Bills said.

Dan Vogel, whose biography, "Joseph Smith: The Making of An American Prophet," was named best biography on Friday at the annual meeting of the Mormon History Association in Vermont, had only heard about the photo mix-up by reading about it on the Internet.

Smith's nomination is ironic, he said, because "when he was alive he wasn't that significant, but millions of followers make him significant." As for the photo error, he was amused. "Since he died at 38, (and the photo is of an obviously older man) I don't know that it makes any sense."

Bills said he did not think it was necessary to comment on several other inaccuracies in the text describing Joseph Smith Jr. The name of the church, for example, was cited as the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints.

The description also said Joseph Smith Jr. wrote the Book of Mormon, although church members believe he translated the book from an ancient transcript.

The mix-up isn't the first for the church. In 2003, a special titled "Mysteries of Faith" in U.S. News & World Report had a six-page spread on the LDS Church headlined "In John Smith's Steps."