Learn English – Where do you put the suffix when listing the last name first

namessuffixes

When listing names with the last name first, where should you put the suffix if there is one present? For example, if given the name John Doe Jr., which of the following would be correct?

  • Doe, John Jr.
  • Doe, John, Jr. <- My guess is this one
  • Doe Jr., John
  • Jr., Doe, John

Best Answer

I think that the correct answer to this is refer to your style guide, e.g., APA, MLA, IEEE, SPIE, etc. These should fully specify details like this, and you only sometimes get lucky and have a real human address specific concerns like this (viz., the APA link).

In contrast to what @bib suggests, the APA reference requires that you include a comma between the first name and the suffix:

Doe, John, Jr.

(Also please note that the gentleman's official name will have a comma in it: John Doe, Junior or John Doe, Jr..)

Related Topic