Ms, Mrs, Miss or Mx? How to Address People in Writing

Use Ms for a woman when you do not know her preference, Mrs or Miss only when she has told you she uses it, Mr for a man, and Mx for a person who is non-binary or whose title you do not know. Use Dr or Prof. when the person holds that title. American English writes Mr. and Ms. with a full stop; British English usually omits it.

The short answer: which title should I use?

Choose the title the person uses themselves. When you cannot find out, pick the safest option from this table.

The rest of this guide explains each choice, the punctuation difference between American and British English, and how to handle the cases where you are unsure.

What each title means

Mr is the title for an adult man. It is the same whether he is married or not, and it has no feminine equivalent that works the same way, which is the historical reason Ms became popular.

Mrs traditionally marks a married woman, or a widow, and is often used with her husband's surname: Mrs Okafor. Some women who are married use Ms or Dr instead, and some who are not married use Mrs by choice, so never assume.

Miss traditionally marks an unmarried woman, and is also used for girls. Many adult women now dislike it because it makes marital status the first thing a stranger learns about them, though others still prefer it. Use it only when the person has chosen it.

Ms is a title for a woman that does not reveal her marital status. In most business and official writing in the US and UK it is the default for women, particularly when you do not know the preference. It is pronounced "miz".

Mx is a gender-neutral title, pronounced "mix" or "mux". It is used by people who are non-binary, or who do not want to disclose gender. It is recognised in many UK dictionaries and is offered as an option on some UK government, banking and university forms; in the US, availability varies by organisation, so check the form or house style you are working to. Use it when the person has told you it is their title, and as a considerate option when you truly do not know someone's gender.

Mr. or Mr? The full stop difference

American English writes these abbreviations with a full stop. British English, and most Commonwealth usage, writes them without one. The reason is a convention: in British practice a full stop is dropped when the last letter of the abbreviation is also the last letter of the full word (Mister becomes Mr, Doctor becomes Dr), while American usage keeps the period on every such abbreviation.

Two things to remember. "Miss" never takes a full stop in either country, because it is a complete word, not an abbreviation. And "Ms" is not short for anything in standard use, which is why some British writers find the American full stop odd, yet US style guides still print "Ms." Pick the convention that matches your reader and your spelling variety, and keep it consistent throughout a document. Our British vs American spelling guide covers the other differences you should keep consistent alongside this one.

What to do when you do not know

You will often write to someone whose gender or preference you cannot determine: a name such as Alex or Sam, a name from a language you do not know, or an initials-only signature. You have five good options, in rough order of preference.

1. Look it up. A company page, a LinkedIn profile, an email signature or a previous message often states the title or pronouns. This is the best option because it respects the person.
2. Mirror how they sign. If they write "Dr Rao" or "Mx Taylor", use exactly that.
3. Use the full name with no title. "Dear Priya Nair" is clear, polite, and avoids guessing. It is now common in business email and cover letters.
4. Use Ms for a woman, Mx for a person of unknown or non-binary gender. Use Mx only when you have no better information and your reader's context makes it natural, because some readers will not recognise it.
5. Use a role-based greeting such as "Dear Hiring Manager" or "Dear Admissions Team" when there is no named person. Our guide to To Whom It May Concern explains when that older phrase is still acceptable and what to use instead.

Avoid "Dear Sir or Madam" for named individuals, and avoid guessing a gender from a first name. A wrong guess is more noticeable than a neutral form.

Professional and academic titles

An earned title usually outranks the general ones. If someone is a doctor, address them as Dr; do not write Mr Chen or Ms Chen unless you know they prefer it.

• Dr is used for people with a doctorate (a PhD, for example) and for medical doctors. In the UK, surgeons often revert to Mr, Ms or Mrs after their surgical training; this is a convention in that profession, so follow how the person signs.
• Prof. or Professor is used for a university professor. In British usage it is a rank, so "Professor Adeyemi" is correct for the holder of a chair; in American usage "professor" is used more widely for university teachers, but the safe course in a formal email is to use the title the person's department gives.
• Rev., Fr., Rabbi, Imam and similar are used for clergy. Check the person's tradition and how they sign.
• Judge, Senator, Dame, Sir, Lord and honours have their own forms of address. Use the exact form the person or their office uses, or a reputable style reference for official correspondence.
• Capt., Col., Sgt. and other military ranks are used with the surname in formal contexts, as the person's service prefers.

Use only one title in a name. "Dr. Prof. Lee" is not standard in English; choose the one that matches the context, usually the higher academic rank. Never combine title and post-nominal letters of the same kind: write "Dr Lee" or "Lee, PhD", not "Dr Lee, PhD".

Before and after: examples

Unknown preference. Before: "Dear Miss Taylor, thank you for your application." After: "Dear Ms Taylor, thank you for your application." (British) or "Dear Ms. Taylor, thank you for your application." (American)

Unknown gender. Before: "Dear Mr Jordan Reyes, I am writing about the vacancy." After: "Dear Jordan Reyes, I am writing about the vacancy."

Earned title missed. Before: "Dear Mr Hassan, I read your paper with interest." After: "Dear Dr Hassan, I read your paper with interest."

Mixing conventions. Before: "Dear Mr. Nguyen and Ms Collins," (full stop on one, none on the other) After: "Dear Mr Nguyen and Ms Collins," (or both with a full stop in American English)

Role instead of a name. Before: "Dear Sir or Madam," After: "Dear Hiring Manager," or "Dear Admissions Team,"

Surnames, first names and the closing

After a title, always use the surname, never the first name alone: "Ms Alvarez", not "Ms Maria". If you want first-name warmth, drop the title: "Dear Maria". In modern workplaces many people prefer first names from the first message, but in a first contact with a senior person, a client in a formal sector, or a university, start with the title and surname and let them invite the change.

The greeting also has to match the closing. If you open with "Dear Ms Alvarez" and the name is known, close with "Yours sincerely" in British English or "Sincerely" or "Best regards" in American English. If you open with "Dear Sir or Madam", British convention is "Yours faithfully". Our Yours sincerely vs Yours faithfully guide sets out the pairing rule, and the formal letter guide shows the whole layout. Capitalise the title and the name, and put a comma after the greeting in British letters and, in American business letters, either a comma or a colon.

Common mistakes

A short checklist

1. Did you look for the person's own title, signature or pronouns?
2. If you found nothing, did you choose the full name or Ms/Mx rather than Mrs or Miss?
3. If the person is a doctor, professor or holds another earned title, does it appear in place of Mr, Ms, Mrs or Mx?
4. Is the full-stop convention (Mr. or Mr) the same everywhere in the document and does it match your variety of English?
5. Does the closing match the greeting?
6. Does a hyphenated or double surname appear exactly as the person writes it?

Using AdeptWrite to check forms of address

Paste your email or letter into the Grammar Checker to catch punctuation and consistency problems such as mixed "Mr." and "Mr" forms; it highlights each change so you can accept or reject it, and you stay responsible for the choice of title, since a tool cannot know a person's preference. The Spell Checker compares your text with American, British, Australian or Canadian English word lists, which helps you stay in one spelling variety. If the greeting feels too stiff or too casual, the Tone Changer has Formal, Office and Casual modes; check the result yourself. The Email & Letter Writer can draft a first version of a formal letter or follow-up, which you should edit and personalise before sending.

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