diff --git a/src/main/java/com/tupilabs/human_name_parser/HumanNameParserBuilder.java b/src/main/java/com/tupilabs/human_name_parser/HumanNameParserBuilder.java
index 7d34113..7eacda0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/tupilabs/human_name_parser/HumanNameParserBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/tupilabs/human_name_parser/HumanNameParserBuilder.java
@@ -137,16 +137,16 @@ public HumanNameParserBuilder(Name name) {
      */
     public HumanNameParserParser build() {
         if (this.salutations == null) {
-            this.salutations = DEFAULT_SALUTATIONS;
+            this.salutations = formatToRegex(DEFAULT_SALUTATIONS);
         }
         if (this.postnominals == null) {
-            this.postnominals = DEFAULT_POSTNOMINALS;
+            this.postnominals = formatToRegex(DEFAULT_POSTNOMINALS);
         }
         if (this.prefixes == null) {
-            this.prefixes = DEFAULT_PREFIXES;
+            this.prefixes = formatToRegex(DEFAULT_PREFIXES);
         }
         if (this.suffixes == null) {
-            this.suffixes = DEFAULT_SUFFIXES;
+            this.suffixes = formatToRegex(DEFAULT_SUFFIXES);
         }
         final HumanNameParserParser parser = new HumanNameParserParser(
             name,
@@ -159,6 +159,14 @@ public HumanNameParserParser build() {
         return parser;
     }
 
+    private List<String> formatToRegex(List<String> list) {
+        List<String> regexList = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (String s : list) {
+            regexList.add(s.replace(".", "\\."));
+        }
+        return regexList;
+    }
+
     // salutations
 
     public HumanNameParserBuilder withSalutations(List<String> salutations) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/tupilabs/human_name_parser/BuilderTest.java b/src/test/java/com/tupilabs/human_name_parser/BuilderTest.java
index b2d411e..00b3589 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/tupilabs/human_name_parser/BuilderTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/tupilabs/human_name_parser/BuilderTest.java
@@ -141,6 +141,14 @@ public void testExtraSalutations() {
         assertTrue(parser.salutations.contains("sinho"));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testLastNameNotMistakenForPostnominal() {
+        HumanNameParserBuilder builder = new HumanNameParserBuilder("ruvin phidd");
+        HumanNameParserParser parser = builder.build();
+        assertTrue(parser.getFirst().contains("ruvin"));
+        assertTrue(parser.getLast().contains("phidd"));
+    }
+
     // validations
 
     @Test