Post-nominal letters

Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles or designatory letters, are letters placed after the name of a person to indicate that the individual holds a position, educational degree, accreditation, office, or honour. An individual may use several different sets of post-nominal letters. The order in which these are listed after a name is based on the order of precedence and category of the order. Post-nominal letters are one of the main types of name suffix.

Examples of post-nominal letters:

• A Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire is authorised to use the post-nominal KBE.
• A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects is authorised to used the post-nominal FAIA.
• An elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh is authorised to use the post-nominal FRSE.
• A Doctor of Philosophy is authorised to use the post-nominal PhD (or, in some cases, DPhil).
• A Franciscan friar (the Order of Friars Minor) uses the post-nominal OFM and a Jesuit (Society of Jesus) uses SJ.
• A professional municipal manager or administrator who has been designated as a "Credentialed Manager" by the International City/County Management Association is authorised to use the post-nominal ICMA-CM.
• A Member of the British Association of Social Workers uses the post-nominal MBASW.
• Graduates from British universities may add post-nominal letters, usually in parentheses, after those indicating their degree to show which university granted the degree. For example, a graduate of the Open University can use (Open), Queen's University (SQ), Durham University (Dunelm), University of London (Lond), University of Cambridge (Cantab), and University of Oxford (Oxon). For example, John Smith BA (Cantab) or Peter Pan BSc (Open). In the United States, one may indicate one's major field in parentheses (e.g., PhD (Astrophysics)), but this is rarely seen except on resumes or applications for employment.

Usage

The order in which post-nominal letters are listed after a person's name is dictated by standard practice which may vary by region. In the United Kingdom, the Lord Chancellor's Department recommends the following ordering:

1. Bt/Bart or Esq.
2. Decorations and honours (in descending order of precedence)
3. Appointments (for example, QC for Queen's Counsel, MP for member of parliament)
4. University degrees (in ascending order)
5. Religious orders (for example, SSF) and medical qualifications
6. Fellowship or membership of learned societies, academies or professional institutions (for example, RA, FRCP)
7. Membership of the Armed Forces

In the United States, standard protocol is:

1. Religious orders
2. Theological degrees
3. Academic degrees
4. Honorary degrees, honors, decorations
5. Professional licenses, certifications & affiliations
6. Retired uniformed service (active duty service brackets the name - e.g., Firefighter John Doe, CFD - and active duty armed services do not display postnominals other than branch of service)

According to both the University of Oxford and the Chicago Manual of Style, university degrees should be listed in ascending order: bachelor's degrees first, followed by master's degrees, then doctorates. In the U.K., higher awards supersede lower-ranking degrees from the same faculty (for example, John Smith, MA rather than John Smith, BA MA). However, when the awarding institutions are listed and the degrees are from different universities, lower degrees may be included (e.g. John Smith, BA (Wales), MA (Lond)). In the U.S., common practice is to name only the highest degree in a particular discipline (e.g., if one had earned their BS, MS, and PhD in Biology - even from different schools - as well as an MBA in Management, then the preferred listing would be Jane Doe, MBA, PhD).

See also

• List of post-nominal letters
• Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom
• Pre-nominal letters
• Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council
• Roman Catholic religious order

External links

• Letters afer the Name, Debrett's
• UK Honours (Cabinet Office Ceremonial Secretariat)