100+ Popular Acronyms Used Daily and their Meaning

Compiled below are lists of some commonly used acronyms in Nigeria and some are used worldwide such as SMS.

1. GCE (General Certificate on Education)
2. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication)
3. NAN – News Agency of Nigeria
4. SAN – Senior Advocate of Nigeria
5. SSS – State Security service
6. PMAN – Performing Musician Association of Nigeria
7. NUJ – Nigeria Union of Journalist
8. NUT – Nigeria Union of Teachers.
9. OAU – Organisation of Africa Unity
10. NTA – Nigeria Television Authority
11. NRC – Nigeria Railway Corporation
12. NSE – Nigeria Stock Exchange
13. NLC – Nigeria Labour Congress
14. NMA – Nigeria Medical Association
15. WWW – World Wide Web
16. WAEC – West Africa Examination Council
17. WHO – World Health Organisation
18. NPA – Nigeria Port Authority
19. NOC – National Oil Company
20. PPMC – Pipeline and Product Marketing Company
21. OPEC – Organisation Of Petroleum Exporting Corporation
22. NNPC – Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation
23. PHCN –Power Holding Company Of Nigeria
24. NDLEA-  National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
25. NCC – Nigeria Communication Company
26. NBA – Nigerian Bar Association
27. NUC – Nigerian University Commission
28. EFCC – Economic And Financial Crime Commission
29. FSP – Family Support Programm
30. HIV – Human Immune Deficiency Virus
31. NYSC –  Nigeria Youth Service Corps
32. NHRC – National Human Right Commission
33. ASUU – Academic Staff Union Of University
34. NDA – Nigeria Defense Academy
35. BPE – Bureau of Public Enterprise
36. ATM – Automated Teller Machine
37. CV – Curriculum Vitae
38. NEWS-  North East South West
39. ISBN – International Standard Book Number
40. ISSN – International Serial Number
41. ECOWAS – Economic Community Of West Africa
42. FIFA – Federation of International Football Association
43. FDA – Food and drugs Administration
44. FESTAC – Festival Of Arts And Culture
45. FEC – Federal Executive Council
46. FAAN – Federal Airport Authority
47. BSC – Bachelor of Science
48. BON – Broadcasting Organisation Of Nigeria
49. CAN – Christian Association Of Nigeria
50. CPC – Custom Processing Center
51. AU – African Union
52. SIM – Subscriber Identification Module
53. MTN – Mobile Telephone Network
54. SMS – Short Message Service
55. MMS – Multi-Media Service
56. NECO – National Examination Council
57. NCE – National Certificate on Education
58. INEC – Independent National Electoral Commission
59. IMF – International Monetary fund
60. ICJ – International Court of Justice
61. ICPC – Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offence Commission
62. FRSC – Federal Road Safety Commission
63. NAFDAC – National Agency for Drug Administration And Control
64. NPF/NP – Nigeria Police (Formerly Nigeria Police Force)

Other Forms of Acronyms Used Everyday

Common Acronyms Used in Business

1. AKA – Also Known As
2. CAPTCHA – Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
3. CST – Central Standard Time
4. DAEMON – Disk And Execution Monitor
5. DBA – Doing Business As
6. DND – Do Not Disturb
7. EDS – Electronic Data Systems
8. EOD – End of Day
9. EST – Eastern Standard Time
10. ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival
11. HR – Human Resources
12. MBA – Masters of Business Administration
13. MST – Mountain Standard Time
14. NASDAQ – National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation
15. OT – Overtime
16. POS – Point Of Service
17. PST – Pacific Standard Time
18. SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
19. SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound Goals
20. TED (Talk) – Tell me, Explain to me, Describe to me (Talk)

Common Acronyms Used as Identifiers

1. AA – Alcoholics Anonymous
2. AAAS – American Association for the Advancement of Science
3. AARP – American Association of Retired Persons
4. ADA – American Dental Association
5. AFL – American Football League
6. AMA – American Medical Association
7. APA – American Psychological Association
8. ESPN – Entertainment and Sports Programming Network
9. FLAG – Foreign Language Association of Georgia
10. MADD – Mothers Against Drunk Driving
11. MLA – Modern Language Association
12. NBA – National Basketball Association
13. NFL – National Football League
14. NHL – National Hockey League
15. PAWS – Progressive Animal Welfare Society
16. PGA – Professional Golfer’s Association
17. SPCA – Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
18. SWF – Single White Female
19. SWM – Single White Male
20. WWE – World Wrestling Entertainment

Common Informative Acronyms

1. ABS – Anti-lock Braking System
2. ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder
3. ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
4. AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
5. AMA – Against Medical Advice
6. CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
7. DARE – Drug Abuse Resistance Education
8. DOA – Dead On Arrival
9. DOB – Date Of Birth
10. DIY – Do It Yourself
11. FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
12. GIF – Graphics Interchange Format
13. HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus
14. MD – Medical Doctor
15. OTC – Over The Counter
16. PPV – Pay Per View
17. RADAR – Radio Detection And Ranging
18. SONAR – Sound Navigation And Ranging
19. SUV – Sports Utility Vehicle
20. UFO – Unidentified Flying Object

Common Acronyms in the Military and Government

1. ASAP – As Soon As Possible
2. AWOL – Absent Without Leave
3. CIA – Central Intelligence Agency
4. CPS – Child Protective Services
5. CSI – Crime Scene Investigation
6. DAFB – Dover Air Force Base
7. DMV – Division of Motor Vehicles
8. DNC – Democratic National Committee
9. FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation
10. FUBAR – F***ed Up Beyond All Recognition
11. MIA – Missing In Action
12. OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration
13. NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement
14. NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
15. Navy SEALs – Navy Sea Air Land forces
16. POTUS – President of the United States
17. POW – Prisoner Of War
18. RNC – Republican National Committee
19. SCOTUS – Supreme Court of the United States
20. SWAT – Special Weapons And Tactics

Common Acronyms in Chat

1. AFK – Away From Keyboard
2. BBIAB – Be Back In A Bit
3. BBL – Be Back Later
4. BBS – Be Back Soon
5. BEG – Big Evil Grin
6. BRB – Be Right Back
7. BTW – By The Way
8. EG – Evil Grin
9. FISH – First In, Still Here
10. IDK – I Don’t Know
11. IMO – In My Opinion
12. IRL – In Real Life
13. KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid
14. LOL – Laughing Out Loud
15. NYOB – None of Your Business
16. OMG – Oh My God
17. PANS – Pretty Awesome New Stuff
18. PHAT – Pretty, Hot, And Tempting
19. POS – Parents Over Shoulder
20. TTYL – Talk To You Later

Common acronyms

Computer and Internet acronyms

Military and government acronyms

Medical acronyms