What is the best way to give a C# auto-property an initial value?

Question

How do you give a C# auto-property an initial value?

I either use the constructor, or revert to the old syntax.

Using the Constructor:

Answer 1

Sometimes I use this, if I don't want it to be actually set and persisted in my db:

class Person
{
    private string _name; 
    public string Name 
    { 
        get 
        {
            return string.IsNullOrEmpty(_name) ? "Default Name" : _name;
        } 

        set { _name = value; } 
    }
}

Obviously if it's not a string then I might make the object nullable ( double?, int? ) and check if it's null, return a default, or return the value it's set to.

Then I can make a check in my repository to see if it's my default and not persist, or make a backdoor check in to see the true status of the backing value, before saving.

Hope that helps!