Knight Commander (KCMG)

• The Right Honourable William Joseph Jordan – High Commissioner in London for New Zealand (1936–1951).

• Sir William Jordan

Companion (CMG)

• Edgar Ravenswood McKillop OBE – Commissioner of Works.
• The Most Reverend Dr Campbell West West-Watson DD – Primate, Archbishop and Metropolitan of New Zealand (1940–1951).

• Edgar McKillop

Commander (CBE)

Civil division

• Professor Eric Raymond Hudson – of Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln. For services to agriculture.
• Noel Rutherford Jameson – chairman of the New Zealand Wool Board and deputy chairman of the Wool Commission.
• Leonard John Wild OBE – of Ōtaki. For services to education and agriculture.

Military division

• Surgeon Captain Eric Snow McPhail VRD MB ChB – Royal New Zealand Navy.

• Eric Hudson
• Leonard Wild

Officer (OBE)

Civil division

• Alfred Thomas Carroll – of Wairoa. For services to the Māori race.
• Geoffrey Jasper St Clair Fisher MB ChB – a gynaecologist in Auckland.
• Flora McMillan Forde – president of the National Council of Women.
• Alfred Onslow Glasse MC – of Auckland. For services in the field of engineering.
• Ronald Joseph Macdonald JP – of Dannevirke. For services to the farming industry.
• William Smith MacGregor MacGibbon – of Christchurch. For services to commerce and local government.
• Norman Alfred McKenzie – of Napier. For services to sport in New Zealand.
• Geoffrey Tremaine – of Palmerston North. For services to local government.
• Edward Earle Vaile. For services to the community in Auckland.

• Bill MacGibbon
• Geoffrey Tremaine

Military division

• Commander John Michael Sharpey-Schafer – Royal Navy.
• Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Gordon Morrison – New Zealand Territorial Force.

• Turi Carroll
• Fred Glasse
• Gordon Morrison

Member (MBE)

Civil division

• Clarice Mary Anderson – of Auckland. For social welfare services.
• Hilda Daniels – of Christchurch. For services to the Māori people in the field of education.
• Mary Florence Geard. For services to the community in Northland.
• Horace Grocott. For services in connection with the Boys' Brigade movement in New Zealand.
• Anne Amelia Hambly – of Auckland. For social welfare services.
• Vivian Simeon Jacobs – of Dunedin. For social welfare services.
• William David Stoney Johnston MD. For services to the community in Nelson.
• Ethel Margaret Kinross – of Havelock North. For services to the Māori people in the field of education.
• Ernest Loader JP – of Taihape. For services to local government.
• Charlton Douglas Morpeth JP – of Wellington. For services to the community. Deceased: appointment dated 19 May 1952.
• Charles Stephen Morris JP – of Newton, Auckland. For services to the community, especially in the field of education.
• Mavis Helen Pairman JP – of Mangaweka. For services to the community.
• Alma Evelyne Penketh – of Palmerston North. For social welfare services, especially in connection with women's organisations.
• Elsie Erica Pryor – matron of the Waipiata Sanatorium for 16 years.
• George Claude Russell – of Christchurch. For services to the community.
• Ida Russell – Memorial Hospital, Hastings. For services in the nursing profession.
• Maude Frances Tait JP – president of the women's branch, New Zealand Borstal Association.
• Clifford Hudson Tate – president of the Town Clerks' Association.

Military division

• Captain (temporary Major) Morley Guy Fowler – Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps.
• Warrant Officer First Class William Galloway – New Zealand Regiment.
• Lieutenant Arthur Trevor Slater – New Zealand Territorial Force.
• Flight Lieutenant Clifford Maurice Crawford – Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Flight Lieutenant Trevelyn William Tremayne – New Zealand Territorial Air Force.
• Warrant Officer Desmond Owen Hardwick – Royal New Zealand Air Force.