Have you ever think about the letters after your name!? Do you know what do they are called by? How do you write your degree after your name? Wondering to check yourself with all these questions!! I knew that most of us are aware of the letters written after the name of any person on their name board or applications or on address books etc. But I think we are not aware of what do they are exactly called by? They are referred as ‘Post-Nominal letters’.
Post-nominal letters, otherwise known as ‘Post-nominal initials’, ‘Post-nominal titles’, or ‘designatory letters’. These are the letters or abbreviations placed or added after the last name of a person to indicate that the person holds a particular educational degree, a position, honor, military decoration, accreditation, etc.
Characteristics of Post-nominal’s
Post-nominal’s are dictated and written by following standard practice which is varied by the region and context.
- Written without periods
- If an individual is holding more than one post-nominal, then each post-nominal is separated or written by inserted a comma between them.
- If a person is holding multiple post-nominal’s in different fields or categories, then the order of writing post-nominal’s follows the descending order of precedence.
- According to descending order of precedence, honors top the list followed by degrees in ascending order.
Here is the outlined list of order of post-nominal’s that helps while adding post-nominal’s after the name of a person in general.
- Official honors and appointments (e.g. ONZM JP)
- Degrees in ascending order, even if this is not the order of completion of qualifications (e.g. BA MSc(Otago) PhD(Auck))
- Diplomas awarded by universities or other tertiary institutions
- Certificates awarded by universities or other tertiary institutions
- Fellowships of learned or professional bodies (in any order)
- Memberships of learned or professional bodies (in any order)
In a simple way, we have outlined the below mentioned list which makes you better understand in simple words with an example.
- Civil honors
- Military honors
- Appointments (e.g. MP, QC)
- Higher Education awards (in ascending order, commencing with undergraduate)
- Membership of academic or professional bodies
For example, George Adam Gill BSc DPS, PGCE
Elizabeth Victoria BSc, MSc, PhD, FIMechE
Australian order of Post-Nominal’s
Till now we have learned about post-nominal’s and its rules, ordering, etc. in a general way. Now we are going to learn on how Australians prefer to order the list of post-nominal’s while writing after the name of a person. The below outlined list of ordering is developed by The University of Sydney Style Guide and the Australian Government Style Manual majorly following the order of preference.
- National and Royal honors
- Degrees before diplomas, in order of conferral
- Fellowships then memberships of professional bodies and learned societies
- Parliamentary designations
| Orders and Decorations | Post-nominal Awarded | ||||
| since Oct 1992 | before Oct 1992 | ||||
| Australian Antarctic Medal | AAM | AAM | |||
| Companion of the Order of Australia | AC | AC | |||
| Air Force Cross (UK) 2 | AFC | ||||
| Air Force Medal 2 | AFM | ||||
| Australian Fire Service Medal | AFSM | AFSM | |||
| Knight / Dame of the Order of Australia 3 | AK / AD | ||||
| Member of the Order of Australia | AM | AM | |||
| Officer of the Order of Australia | AO | AO | |||
| Australian Police Medal | APM | APM | |||
| Royal Red Cross (2nd Class, Associate) 2, 5 | ARRC | ||||
| Ambulance Service Medal (Australia) | ASM | ASM | |||
| British Empire Medal 2 | BEM | ||||
| Bravery Medal (Australia) | BM | BM | |||
| Companion of the Order of the Bath 2 | CB | ||||
| Commander of the Order of the British Empire 2 | CBE | ||||
| Conspicuous Gallantry Medal 2, 5 | CGM | ||||
| Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying) 2, 5 | CGM | ||||
| Companion of Honour 2 | CH | ||||
| Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George 2 | CMG | ||||
| Conspicuous Service Cross (Australia) | CSC | CSC | |||
| Conspicuous Service Medal | CSM | CSM | |||
| Cross of Valour 5 | CV | CV | |||
| Commander of the Royal Victorian Order | CVO | CVO | |||
| Distinguished Conduct Medal 2, 5 | DCM | ||||
| Distinguished Flying Cross (UK) 2 | DFC | ||||
| Distinguished Flying Medal 2 | DFM | ||||
| Distinguished Service Cross (UK) 2, 5 | DSC | ||||
| Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) 5 | DSC | DSC | |||
| Distinguished Service Medal (UK) 2, 5 | DSM | ||||
| Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) 5 | DSM | DSM | |||
| Companion of the Distinguished Service Order 2 | DSO | ||||
| Emergency Services Medal (Australia) | ESM | ESM | |||
| George Cross 2, 5 | GC | ||||
| Knight / Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire 2 | GBE | ||||
| Knight / Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath 2 | GCB | ||||
| Knight / Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George 2 | GCMG | ||||
| Knight / Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order | GCVO | GCVO | |||
| George Medal 2 | GM | ||||
| Companion of the Imperial Service Order 2 | ISO | ||||
| Knight / Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire 2 | KBE / DBE | ||||
| Knight / Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath 2 | KCB / DCB | ||||
| Knight / Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 2 | KCMG / DCMG | ||||
| Knight / Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order | KCVO / DCVO | KCVO / DCVO | |||
| Knight / Lady of the Garter | KG / LG | KG / LG | |||
| Knight / Lady of the Thistle | KT / LT | KT / LT | |||
| Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order | LVO | LVO | |||
| Member of the Order of the British Empire 2 | MBE | ||||
| Military Cross 2 | MC | ||||
| Medal for Gallantry | MG | MG | |||
| Military Medal 2 | MM | ||||
| Member of the Royal Victorian Order | MVO | MVO | |||
| Nursing Service Cross (Australia) 5 | NSC | NSC | |||
| Medal of the Order of Australia | OAM | OAM | |||
| Officer of the Order of the British Empire 2 | OBE | ||||
| Order of Merit | OM | OM | |||
| Public Service Medal (Australia) | PSM | PSM | |||
| Queen’s Fire Service Medal for Gallantry 2 | QFSM | ||||
| Queen’s Fire Service Medal for Distinguished Service 2 | QFSM | ||||
| Queen’s Gallantry Medal 2 | QGM | ||||
| Queen’s Police Medal for Gallantry 2 | QPM | ||||
| Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service 2 | QPM | ||||
| Reserve Force Decoration | RFD | RFD | |||
| Royal Red Cross (1st Class, Member) 2, 5 | RRC | ||||
| Royal Victorian Medal | RVM | RVM | |||
| Star of Courage (Australia) | SC | SC | |||
| Star of Gallantry 5 | SG | SG | |||
| Sea Gallantry Medal 2 | SGM | ||||
| Victoria Cross and Victoria Cross for Australia 1 | VC | VC | |||
Loughborough University awards should be abbreviated without full stops as follows: Here we have listed few degrees and master degrees and how they are abbreviated as post-nominal at Loughborough University level.
| Award Level | Award Type | Abbreviation |
| Foundation Degrees | Foundation Degree in Engineering | FdEng |
| Foundation Degree in Arts | FdA | |
| Foundation Degree in Science | FdSc | |
| First or Graduation Degrees | Bachelor of Education | BEd |
| Bachelor of Library Studies | BLS | |
| Bachelor of Technology | BTech | |
| Bachelor of Arts | BA | |
| Bachelor of Engineering | BEng | |
| Bachelor of Science | BSc | |
| Master Degrees | Master of Computer Science | MComp |
| Master of Mathematics | MMath | |
| Master in Science | MSci | |
| Master of Chemistry | MChem | |
| Master of Physics | MPhys | |
| Master of Engineering | MEng | |
| First Degree Placement Year Awards | Diploma in International Studies | DIntS |
| Diploma in Industrial Studies | DIS | |
| Diploma in Professional Studies | DPS | |
| Postgraduate Awards | Postgraduate Diploma | PGDip |
| Postgraduate Certificate | PGCert | |
| Doctorates | Doctor of Philosophy | PhD |
| Doctor of Engineering | EngD | |
| Higher Doctorates | Doctor of Science | DSc |
| Doctor of the University | DUniv | |
| Doctor of Letters | DLitt | |
| Doctor of Technology | DTech |
