Where do you put the suffix when listing the last name first?

Solution 1:

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..)

Solution 2:

The suffix is an explanation of the first name, not the last. "John Doe Jr." means he is John, the son of John. In a full name listing, the suffix follows the last name because the person is primarily known by is given name and surname, the suffix being a secondary piece of information.

When listing last name first, the given name follows the surname because that is how we sort: all the Does, then the Johns, and finally the Jr.s.

The preferred form would be

Doe, John Jr.