John Smith the II or III

BitsyBride

when addressing invites, there are several men in the family that have the same name as their father, and even 3rd generation. Do we write invites acknowledging this? Thank you!
Bitsy Bride

lyndausvi

It depends.

Some men use John Smith, Sr for the father, John Smith, Jr for the son, John Smith III for the grandson

Others use John Smith II for the son and John Smith III for the grandson.

Personally I would ask how they liked to be addressed.

Kristen1114

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_invites-paper_john-smith-ii-iii?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:cd062f89-8272-496a-b0ab-225e1f87acecDiscussion:d5e9e57c-6a44-42b2-8308-770e13ed0c19Post:7da394e9-5e8d-490b-bc62-191069459bdf">Re: John Smith the II or III</a>:
[QUOTE]To qualify for the title "Jr." the man must have the same full name as his father.  If he has the same full name as another relative, like an uncle or grandfather, then he is John Smith, II.  If he is the third in line for this name he is John Smith III.  If he only has the same first and last name, but a different middle name, then he does not use these designations, but uses his middle initial or name to difference himself from others in the family, John Robert Smith.
Posted by CMGr[/QUOTE]

This is true, traditionally.  However, FI (and actually many other people I know, surprisingly) have opted to use II rather than Jr. even when the son is named the exact same thing as the father, in order to eliminate using Jr. for whatever reason (mostly just to avoid having the son being called "Junior").

IMO, it would be best to just assume suffixes should be used unless someone indicates otherwise.