ATTN: AKC members list of registration numbers – letters used - Page 1

As posted before on the PDB for AKC registration numbers and letters.

AKC registration numbers – codes and timeline of changes:

1923: Division into initially five classes, Sporting, Working, Toy, Terrier, Non-sporting.
1924: Hounds were split from the Sporting Class’ already a year later, now six classes.
Registration numbers had six numerical figures and were numerically ascending for all breeds and all classes, i.e. registration numbers did not distinguish between the six classes. No identical base number for litter mates.

1935: When the numbers reached 1 million, the letter A was added and placed preceding the six numbers.

Ca 1945 (not sure about exact year), letters were assigned to the six classes, and the registration numbers started with the letter of the dog’s class. First just the letter of the class, then adding a second letter going through the alphabet, i.e. W, WA, WB, etc…

The assigned letters for each group:
S = Sporting
W = Working
T = Toy
R = Terrier
N = Non-sporting
H = Hound
D = Herding (since 1983)

1983 herding dogs were split from the Working Class to form a 7th class, Herding Dogs, with the letter D. Between ca 1945 and 1983, the registration numbers for GSDs began with the letter W, after that with the letter D.

Special cases:
P = Poodles (have their own letter though they are w/in Non-Sporting)
WZ = Dobermans descending from albino dobermans registered with AKC
Miscellaneous Class: Breeds are registered with the letter of their future class, no different from fully recognized breeds, e.g. Dogo Argentino W, Belgian shepherd Laekenois D.

1986/1987: AKC adopted a litter number with the last one or two digits indicating the number of each puppy. Still, this is not always consistent, you can have 01 through 04 and 06 to 07 being litter mates, while 05, 08, 09 refer to unrelated dogs of the same or different breed. I saw this in a litter registered in 1989.
 

2007: A dog with Conditional Registration has some unknown ancestors. The dog’s registration number will start with the letter ‘Q’ and the dog will have competition and breeding restrictions. Below is a sample Conditional Registration Certificate, showing the special border and (in this case) an unknown sire.

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/community.read?post=898955-akc-conditional-registration-certificate-and-pedigree

Listed but not registered:
M = Mixed Breed (AKC Canine Partners program)
PAL (formerly ILP) = ILP and PAL plus numbers, e.g. ILP62932