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A name suffix, in the Western naming tradition, follows a person’s full name and provides additional information about the person. There are academic, honorary, professional, and social name suffixes.

Academic suffixes indicate the degree earned at a college or university. These include the bachelor's degree (A.B, B.A., B.S., etc.) the master's degree (M.A., M.B.A., M.Sc., etc.), the doctoral degree (Ph.D., D.Phil., etc.) and the professional doctorates, (D.D., M.D., J.D., etc.).

In the case of doctorates, either the prefix (e.g. "Dr.") or the suffix (e.g. "M.D." or "Ph.D.") is used, not both. In the United States, the suffix is the preferred format (thus allowing differentiation between various types of doctorate) in written documentation.

Such titles may be given by:

• A monarch (for example K.B.E., a suffix granted to Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire.)
• A university (as in a LL.D. (Doctor of Laws) given in recognition of a person's life achievements rather than their academic standing).

This includes such titles as Esq., used for an attorney (usually a practicing attorney) in the USA who has passed a state bar examination, and CSA (casting) and ASCAP, which indicate membership in professional societies. 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 hers state will use the suffix P.E. after their name. Likewise, Registered Architects will sometimes use the suffix R.A., or more often a suffix such as AIA or RIBA that refers to their professional society. 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.

Members of religious orders will commonly use their order's initials as a suffix to their personal name. For example, a Franciscan friar uses the post-nominal initials OFM, derived from the order's name in Latin, Ordo Fratrum Minorum; a Viatorian priest uses the suffix CSV, from the English name of the order, the Clerics of Saint Viator.

The most common name suffixes are senior and junior, limited chiefly to American usage, which may be written with a capital first letter (Sr.) or in lower case (jr.) following the person’s name (with or without an interceding comma). The term ‘junior’ is only correctly used if a child is given exactly the same name as his or her parent.^{[citation needed]} (See, for example, Emily Post's Etiquette by Elizabeth L. Post 1985(?) 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 (‘father’) and fils (‘son’).

Sons with a different middle name or initial may also be called Junior. An example is Ronald P. Reagan, the son of the late U.S. president, who is still titled junior even though his middle name, Prescott, differs from his late father’s middle name, which was Wilson. This notwithstanding, a son may sometimes be nicknamed "Junior" even if he is not titled as such, because "Junior" is a popular familial nickname in the United States. An example of this is WWE chairman Vincent Kennedy McMahon who is sometimes credited as Vince McMahon, Jr. because his own father (Vincent J. McMahon) was credited as Vince McMahon, Sr. Another instance of this is George W. Bush, who is nicknamed Junior by his family. Interestingly, 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. 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.

Although there are instances of daughters who are named after their mothers using the suffix "jr." (such as Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr.) or after their grandmothers with the suffix "II", this is not a common practice. 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.

There is no hard-and-fast rule over what happens to suffixes when the most senior of the name dies. Do the men retain their titles, or do they all "move up" one? Neither tradition nor etiquette provides a definitive answer (columnist Judith Martin, for example, believes they should all move up, but most agree that this is up to the individual families). Upon the death of John Smith Sr., his son, John Smith, Jr. may decide to style himself John Smith Sr. (causing confusion if his widowed mother and his wife both use the formal style Mrs. John Smith, Sr., and necessitating that his son and grandson change their titles as well) or he may remain John Smith, Jr. for the rest of his lifetime. One advantage of moving up one is that it eliminates the extension of Roman numerals over the generations: i.e., a John Smith III, IV, and V. A disadvantage is that it may cause confusion with respect to birth certificates, credit cards, and the like. In practice it is quite uncommon for families to go beyond "III" in naming children. Often the names only extend for two generations.

The style Esq. or Esquire was once used to distinguish a gentleman from the rank and file. It is still used as a courtesy title in formal correspondence. Although still occasionally used in the United Kingdom it is used less frequently in a social sense in the United States, where Esq. or esq. is used as the professional styling for an attorney. ‘Esq.’ in its social sense is never used for a woman.

In public schools in the United Kingdom, it has been customary to refer to children with the same last name (not necessarily from the same family) as major and minor, e.g. Smith maj. and Smith min.. Later children become tertius, etc., following the Latin scheme.

In some countries the arrangement of post-nominals is governed by rules of precedence, and this list is sometimes called the "Order of Wear" (for the wearing of medals).

See also: British and Commonwealth orders and decorations

• List of post-nominal letters