1. Commas with Degrees and Titles
Writing Lab
Commas with Degrees and Titles

2. Commas with Degrees and Titles
A comma separates initials, degrees, or titles from a name and from the rest of the sentence.
For example, a pair of commas is used in the following sentences because the titles are parenthetical:
Robert Yeager, Professor of English, is chair of the Department of English and Foreign Languages.
Charles, Prince of Wales, has remarried.

3. The Exceptions
If the title or degree precedes the name, no comma is needed.
Professor Yeager is chair of the English and Foreign Languages Department.
No comma is needed between a name and birth or royal ranks such as I, II, and so on.
Queen Elizabeth II
Deal Prince Watkins III

4. Usage of Commas with Jr. Jr. may be seen as a restrictive title:
Hank Williams Jr. had tears in his beer.
Or only one comma is needed to separate Jr. from the proper name:
Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968.
Or Jr. can be seen as parenthetical:
Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968.

5. Let’s Practice!
Carol Surles Ph.D. and Loretta Anderson J.D. are my former classmates and “city mates.”
Lou Gossett, II is also an actor like his father.

6. Practice Answers
Carol Surles, Ph.D., and Loretta Anderson, J.D., are my former classmates and “city mates.”
Lou Gossett II is also an actor like his father.

7. That’s all, folks!
This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series
Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon
To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson