[Jimbee (OP)]

This is purely a grammatical question. What order should you include things when you list them as you write something?  And what order should you list humans, is what I was thinking of.

I know my mother told me as a child, when you send out a Christmas card, for example, it is the order of the person who is most closely related to you. Your blood relative in other words. If you are sending a card to Uncle John and Aunt Jane, and Uncle John is you father's brother, and Aunt Jane is just who he married, it goes: "Dear Uncle John and Aunt Jane". If the it's the other way around, then it is: "Dear Aunt Jane and Uncle John ", etc.

Outside of that, I guess it is order of importance, chronology and degree. In other words for importance, if you got money on your birthday from your uncles A, B, and C. And A gave you the most, but C gave you the least, it would be in that order. Uncle A, Uncle B and Uncle C. I'm right, aren't I? Or in order of time. If I visited aunts A, B and C on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in that order, again it would "A, B and C". Right? Or maybe for my last example above, degree. In other words, any degree. If my neighbors A, B and C are not mowing their lawns, and the grass is tallest in that order, then you list it in that order whenever you talk of those three.

That's what I think at least. Is that correct?

[alancalverd]

Married couples: male first, or alphabetical order if same sex, though "Jane and John" rolls off the tongue easier than "John and Jane". Agreed blood relatives first for informal letters. 

Birthday gifts: if you are not a charity or limited company, you will not be disclosing to each other the amounts given by the donors, so alphabetical order unless you are a very slow writer in which case address the sickest first. 

Academic correspondence: the research team will have "correspondence to....." on their letterhead. Likewise business letters are addressed to the Company Secretary.

[Eternal Student]

Hi.

  .... if you got money on your birthday from your uncles A, B, and C. And A gave you the most, but C gave you the least, it would be in that order....

   What a terrible idea.  Money is less important than their shoe size.    List them in whatever order comes to mind and put up with the consequence that they would be able to analyse the situation based on your response.   For example, does uncle A only get added to the end and in a different colour pen which you had to hand when you finally remembered you should also include them?

Best Wishes.