A name suffix, in the Western English-language naming tradition, follows a person's full
name and provides additional information about the person. Post-nominal letters indicate
that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honor.
Post-nominal letters
Academic Academic suffixes indicate the degree earned
at a college or university. These include the bachelor's degree, the master's degree,
the professional doctorate, and the academic doctorate.
In the case of doctorates, either the prefix or the suffix is used, not both. In the United
States, the suffix is the preferred format in written documentation.
Honorary Such titles may be given by:
a monarch; a university given in recognition of a person's
life achievements rather than their academic standing);
a church or seminary, who may offer an honorary Doctor of Divinity to outstanding ministers
or teachers. Esquire
The style Esq. or Esquire was once used to distinguish a man who was an apprentice to
a knight and is used for a man of socially high ranking. In the United States, Esq. is
used both socially and as a professional styling for a lawyer.
Professional Professional titles include Esq., often used
for an attorney in the US who has passed a state bar examination, and CSA and ASCAP,
which indicate membership in professional societies. The suffix CA is used for individuals
who have completed the requirements to become a Chartered Accountant. The suffix CPA is
also used for individuals who have completed the requirements to become a Certified Public
Accountant. Similarly, Chartered Financial Analysts use the suffix CFA. Engineers that
are certified as a Professional Engineer in his or her state will use the suffix P.E.,
Certified Professional Geologists use P.G., Certified Professional Logisticians use CPL,
and Chartered Engineers use CEng. Likewise, Registered Architects sometimes use the suffix
R.A., or more often a suffix such as AIA or RIBA that refers to their professional society.
Examination Office personnel within the United Kingdom who are registered with the Examination
Officers' Association use MEOA. Project managers that have obtained certification
as Project Management Professionals from the Project Management Institute may use the suffix
PMP after their name. Similarly, individuals who hold certifications in the field of information
security – e.g. CISA, CISSP, and/or CISM – may use them as suffixes.
The suffix PT is used by Physical Therapists to denote their state certification, but not
to be confused with DPT which is a qualifying degree. UK physiotherapists prefer to use
MCSP or SRP to denote membership to professional bodies. RN is used by qualified nurses as
a suffix. Officers and enlisted in the United States
Military will add an abbreviation of the service frequently to disambiguate seniority, and
reserve status. For example, Captain Smith, USN, outranks Captain Jones, USMC.
Religious orders Members of religious institutes commonly use
their institute's initials as a suffix. For example, a Franciscan friar uses the post-nominal
initials "O.F.M.", derived from the Order's name in Latin, "Ordo Fratrum Minorum". Equally,
a Viatorian priest uses the suffix "C.S.V." from the name of his religious institute,
"Clerici Santi Viatori", the. These initials are not considered by members of religious
institutes as an equivalent to academic or honorary post-nominial initials, but rather
as a sign of membership in a particular religious lineage, similar to the use of "Senior" or
"Junior". Ordering
In some English-speaking countries, the arrangement of post-nominal letters is governed by rules
of precedence, and this list is sometimes called the "Order of Wear".
Generational titles
Generational suffixes are used to distinguish persons who share the same name within a family.
A generational suffix can be used informally and is often incorporated in legal documents.
The most common name suffixes are senior and junior, most frequent in American usage, which
are written with a capital first letter with or without an interceding comma. In England,
the abbreviations are "Jnr" and "Snr", respectively. The term "junior" is correctly used only if
a child's first, middle, and last names are identical to his or her parent's names. When
the suffixes are spelled out in full, they are always written with the first letter in
lower case. Social name suffixes are far more frequently applied to men than to women. In
French, the designations for a father and son with the same name are père and fils.
In Portuguese, common designations are Júnior, Filho, Neto, and Sobrinho. In many other nations,
it is considered highly unusual or even inauspicious to give a son the same first name(s) as his
father, removing the need for such suffixes. Sons with a different middle name or initial
may also be called Junior as a nickname, but unless the names are identical, the Jr. suffix
is never used. President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was at birth named William
Jefferson Blythe III after his late father William Jefferson Blythe, Jr.. However, when
teenage Bill changed his last name to "Clinton" for his stepfather Roger Clinton, Sr., his
suffix no longer applied. Alternatively, Jr's are sometimes referred
to as "II". However, the original name carrier relative a "II" is named for is generally
an uncle, cousin, or ancestor. The suffix "III" is used after either Jr or II and like
subsequent numeric suffixes, does not need to happen in one family line. For example,
if Randall and Patrick Dudley are brothers and if Randall has a son before Patrick, he
will call his son Patrick, II. If Patrick now has a son, his son is Patrick, Jr. As
time passes, the III suffix goes to the son of either Patrick Jr or Patrick II, whomever
is first to have a son Patrick. This is one way it is possible and correct for a Jr. to
father a IV. Another example involves President Ulysses S. Grant and his sons Frederick, Ulysses
Jr, and Jesse. When Frederick's son Ulysses was born in 1881, Ulysses Jr did not yet have
a son named after himself. Therefore, Frederick's son was Ulysses III. Ulysses Jr's son, born
afterwards in 1893, was Ulysses IV. Jesse's son Chapman was the father of Ulysses V, as
neither Ulysses III nor Ulysses IV had sons named for themselves.
In practice, it is quite uncommon for families to go beyond "IV" in naming children. However,
notable examples of families with members containing the suffix "V" include the Taft
family, the Vanderbilt family, the Astor family, the Rockefeller family, and the Roosevelt
family. Former Major League Baseball pitcher Orel Leonard Hershiser IV and singer Usher
Raymond IV also have sons with "V" as their suffix.
Although there are instances of daughters who are named after their mothers and also
use the suffix "Jr.", or after their grandmothers or aunts with the suffix "II", this is not
common. Usually, the namesake is given a different middle name and so would not need a suffix
for differentiation. Furthermore, once the woman marries, she would most commonly take
the surname of her husband and thus do away with the generational suffix. The title "Jr."
is sometimes used in legal documents, particularly those pertaining to wills and estates, to
distinguish among female family members of the same name.
A wife who uses the title Mrs. would also use her husband's full name, including the
suffix. In less formal situations, the suffix may be omitted. Hence: Mrs. Lon Chaney Jr.
on a wedding invitation, but Mrs. L. Chaney or simply Shannon Chaney for a friendly note.
Widows are entitled to retain their late husband's full names and suffixes, but divorcees may
not continue to style themselves with a former husband's full name and suffix, even if they
retain the surname. A woman who chooses to retain her maiden name
and prefers to use the title Ms. has more linguistic freedom to use a generational suffix
such as "Jr." or "II". In the Astor family, the two eldest sons of
fur-trader John Jacob Astor were occasional poet John Jacob Astor, Jr. and real estate
businessman William Backhouse Astor, Sr.. Since John Jacob Jr. never married or had
any children, William Backhouse Sr. was the father of financer/philanthropist John Jacob
Astor III and businessman, yachtsman, and race horse breeder/owner William Backhouse
Astor, Jr.. Since John Jacob III's only child was Viscount William Waldorf Astor, William
Backhouse Jr. was the father of millionaire businessman and RMS Titanic victim John Jacob
"Jack" Astor IV. Because William Waldorf did not have the same middle name as his grandfather
and uncle, he was not "III". William Waldorf was the father of Viscount Waldorf Astor,
John Rudolph Astor, and Baron John Jacob Astor V. John Rudolph had no suffix because he did
not share his middle name with his great-great-grandfather, great-granduncle, grandfather, or cousin.
At the time of John Jacob V's birth, Jack did not yet have any children. Jack's elder
son was businessman/philanthropist William Vincent Astor. Vincent did not have a suffix
because he had a different middle name than his cousin, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
Jack's younger son was socialite/shipping businessman John Jacob "Jakey" Astor VI. Waldorf
Astor's youngest son was politician/sportsman John Jacob "Jakie" Astor VII. At the time
of Jakie's birth, neither John Jacob V nor Jakey had sons named for themselves. John
Jacob V's eldest son Baron Gavin Astor was the father of Baron John Jacob "Johnny" Astor
VIII. John Jacob V's youngest son was politician John Astor, who did not have a suffix because
he did not have his father's middle name. His elder son John Richard Astor does not
share his middle name with either his cousin, father, or paternal grandfather, thus does
not have a suffix either. Jakie's younger son John William Astor also did not share
his father's middle name. Therefore, he also had no suffix. Jakey was born four months
after his father perished in the Titanic, and became the father of William Backhouse
Astor III, as William Backhouse Jr. did not have any sons named for himself. William Backhouse
III's elder son is William Backhouse Astor IV.
In the Rockefeller family, con artist William Avery "Bill" Rockefeller, Sr. was the father
of Standard Oil founders John Davison Rockefeller and William Avery Rockefeller, Jr.. Bill was
a grandson of William Rockefeller, nephew of William W. Rockefeller, grandnephew of
Godfrey Rockefeller, and eldest son of Godfrey Lewis Rockefeller. Bill was not "III", and
William W was not "Jr" because these three men all had different middle names. Godfrey
Lewis was not "II" as he did not share his middle name with his uncle. Two of William
Jr.'s sons were director William Goodsell Rockefeller and John Davison Rockefeller II.
John's son philanthropist John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. had not yet been born at the time of John
II's birth. William Goodsell was the father of William Avery Rockefeller III, Godfrey
Stillman Rockefeller, and John Sterling Rockefeller. Two of John Jr.'s sons were philanthropist
John Davison Rockefeller III and Governor Winthrop Aldrich Rockefeller. While William
Goodsell was named after his father, the two did had different middle names. Therefore,
William Goodsell had no suffix. John Sterling also did not have a suffix as he did not share
his middle name with his uncle, great-uncle, or cousin. Godfrey Stillman did not have a
suffix either as he did not share his middle name with his great-great-grandfather or great-great-great-granduncle.
Winthrop's son was Governor Winthrop Paul "Win" Rockefeller. Win was not "Jr" because
he and his father had different middle names. Three of Win's sons are Winthrop Paul Rockefeller,
Jr., William Gordon Rockefeller, and John Alexander Camp Rockefeller. The latter two
do not have any suffixes as they have different middle names than their ancestors, great-great-grand-uncle,
and cousins. John III's son is Senator John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV. Jay's eldest
son is John Davison "Jamie" Rockefeller V. Jamie's son is John Davison Rockefeller VI.
Godfrey Stillman's eldest son was Godfrey Anderson Rockefeller.
In the Taft family, Peter Taft's son Aaron Taft was the father of lawyer Peter Rawson
Taft I. Peter Taft had no suffix because he did not share his grandson's middle name.
Peter Rawson's eldest son Alphonso Taft was the father of several sons, including lawyer
Charles Phelps Taft I, Peter Rawson Taft II, President William Howard Taft, and lawyer
Henry Waters Taft. Henry was the father of William Howard Taft II since President Taft
did not have any children at the time. President Taft and First Lady Helen Lousie "Nellie"
Herron were the parents of Senator Robert Alphonso Taft, history teacher Helen Herron
Taft, and politician Charles Phelps Taft II. Robert was the father of Ireland ambassador
William Howard Taft III. William II did not have any children named for himself. William
III was the father of attorney William Howard Taft IV. William IV is the father of William
Howard Taft V. However, many men in the public eye misuse
suffixes. An example of this is WWE chairman Vincent Kennedy McMahon who is sometimes credited
as Vince McMahon, Jr. because his own father was credited as Vince McMahon, Sr. Strikingly,
the son of actor Lon Chaney was billed by Hollywood as Lon Chaney, Jr., to capitalize
on his father's success, even though he had an entirely different birth name: Creighton
Tull Chaney. A similar situation exists with singer Hank Williams, whose birth name is
actually Hiram King Williams. His son, Randall Hank Williams, is professionally known as
Hank Williams, Jr. Randall's son Shelton Hank Williams is known professionally as Hank Williams
III. In some cases, if a famous person already has a suffix but does not use it professionally,
and names a son after himself using the next suffix, the son may publicly be known as a
"Jr." despite this; the most famous example is Desi Arnaz, Jr., the son of bandleader,
actor and producer Desiderio Alberto Arnaz III. Francis Wayne Sinatra goes by "Frank
Sinatra, Jr." while his father Frank Sinatra's full name was Francis Albert Sinatra. President
Ronald Wilson Reagan's son Ronald Prescott Reagan has often been misidentified as "Ronald
Reagan Jr". Senator Henry Cabot Lodge II went by Jr when his grandfather, also a senator,
was the original Henry Cabot Lodge. Henry I did not have any sons named for himself.
Albert Roux's son Michel is referred to as Jr. though was named for Albert's brother
Michel Roux. Former boxer George Edward Foreman named his
five sons after himself. Common nicknames for a junior or II include
"Chip" and "Bud". However, President James Early "Jimmy" Carter, Jr.'s second son James
Earl Carter III goes by "Chip". Common nicknames for a III are "Trip(p)", "Trace", and "Trey"
which denote that the name carrier is the third person to carry the name. Notable examples
include Green Day drummer Frank Edwin "Tré Cool" Wright III, South Park co-creator Randolph
Severn "Trey" Parker III, and Willard Carroll "Trey" Smith III, elder son of actor Willard
Carroll "Will" Smith, Jr. See also
Post-nominal letters List of post-nominal letters
References