A Blog on
Names, Titles, &
Forms of Address

Answers to Questions From
On-Line Users (like you)

Guide to Questions
Already Asked
    If you have a question on how to address a particular office more than 140 offices are listed in the on-line guide,
   You can also browse all the previously asked questions They are saved by category , with a list of those categories just below on this page.
   The six most recent questions are on this page -- with the most recent Q&A at the very bottom.
  If all that fails ... then send me an e-mail and I will reply. If I think your question would be of interest to others, I will post it with any personal specifics removed.
   -- Robert Hickey

USE OF NAMES & HONORIFICS   
Private Citizens        
Deceased Persons         
People with Two Titles
Post-Nominal Abbreviations and Initials           
Joint Forms of Address    (How do you write two names?)   

USE OF SPECIFIC OFFICIAL TITLES        
Former Officials            
Professionals and Academics        
United States Federal Officials             
United States State Officials              
United States Municipal Officials             
       All About The Honorable with U.S. Officials         
       Former United States Officials            
United States Armed Services             
       Retired U.S. Armed Service Officers
Diplomats and International Representatives            
Tribal Officials             
Clergy and Religious Officials           
Canadian Officials         
Australian Officials          
British Officials, Royalty, and Nobility        
International Officials and Nobility        

SPECIFIC SITUATIONS
Etiquette             
Introductions            
Invitations         
Precedence           
Thank You Notes             

Here are the six most recent questions that have been sent in.
The most recently added question is at the bottom.
After they've been here, they are moved into the most appropriate category in the list above.

Dear BL:
      It's not correct for one chief of state to bow to another chief of state: they are peers. This sort of meeting is a symbolic ceremony ... a metaphor for the two nations' relationship ... hence the photographers, protocol officers, and press. Personal actions by the participants are omitted in this arena ... so the person named "Barack" actually getting to know the person named "Akihito" happens when the principals have private time.
    The bow was not the right thing to do ... it's an action more appropriate by a courtly "Southern gentleman" to an older person ... an gracious form of respect for years of service and personal accomplishment .. but more appropriate in the realm of social situations in the USA.
    But ill advised or not -- except perhaps in the blog-o-sphere and talk radio -- I find that few Americans really think The President was bowing as a subject, or supplicant, to the Emperor of Japan -- and I find only a minority think it's important.  I think it's important and that many are unfamiliar with diplomatic rules and have little cross-cultural knowledge. I don't admire this ignorance  .... but I do observe it. 
             -- Robert Hickey

Dear Mary:
      In a salutation combining honorifics is typical;
          Dear Drs. Smith,
          Dear Professors Smith,
          Dear Pastors Smith,
     Must admit, while there can't be to many Senators married to another Senator ... the best option is as you suggest:
          Dear Senators Smith,
     Note: I am assuming this is a social letter/invitation .... rather than an official/business-letter/invitation ... for official letters it's more typical to send each official an individual letter/invitation to his and her office.
             -- Robert Hickey

Dear TEW:
      Local political party chairpersons ... no
      Local officials .... if elected ... yes
      Local officials .... if appointed ... no
             -- Robert Hickey

Dear Shelby:
      City managers are NOT "The Honorable" ...  because they have their position because they were hired/appointed by the elected body ... the city council.  
    Only the elected officials get "The Honorable"
    So address him as
        Mr. Edvin Perez
        Montgomery City Manager
             -- Robert Hickey

Dear Miss Lister:
      I am not sure I can advise you of what to do in Trinidad & Tobago (I am guessing that's where you are from your e-mail address) but I can tell you what I know is happening in the USA.
    In the USA it is acceptable to address any woman you don't know personally as "Ms." .... e.g., "Ms. Nancy Jones."  "Ms." is an equivalent to "Mr." which defines the "sex" but not "marital status".  Since it's against the law to discriminate on the basis of sex, age, marital status etc. in employment .... Ms. removes the non-pertinent info for your name.
    When marital status is pertinent, that same woman may use "Mrs. Henry Jones" and be addressed as "Mrs. Jones" in the context of family activities (social).
    I'm not saying one might not run into a woman who want's to be addressed at work as "Mrs. Nancy Jones" every once in a while ... but its increasingly more and more rare.
    I have friends where the wife does not like to be "Mrs. Henry Jones" ... EVER .... so I use this and she likes it:
        Mr. Henry Jones
            and Ms. Nancy Jones
                Address
    If you encounter someone with a hyphenated name ... in the US we'd just use it as presented with "Ms." like you note: "Ms. Nancy Smith-Jones." Whether that's her invented married name ... or actually her birth-family name ... doesn't enter into the use of honorific.
    In the USA the use of "Miss" has been reduced to addressing girls of under ten or twelve years of age ... and once they have become a teenager ... they want to be "Ms." which they see as adult.   I just taught a class of 42 students .. none knew anyone who used "Miss" professionally  ... and only two people knew anyone who used "Miss" socially -- and they were elderly women. Full disclosure: I did met one woman in her 30's last fall in New York at a speaking engagement who used "Miss" professionally.
    All this said ... in doing the research on my book I found that women in the UK, Australia and Canada do use "Miss" and "Mrs." professionally.  I came across many, many professional women using  "Mrs. Jane Brighton" professionally.  But you don't see it in the USA -- "Ms." has come ubiquitous.
             -- Robert Hickey

And finally, from a rather challenging internet surfer:
 
What Authority Do You Have?
Dear Mr. Hickey:
What authority do you have for your answers?
         --- Mary Louise Timmons

Dear Ms. Timmons:
    I'm not sure "what authority I have" but I've been teaching at The Protocol School of Washington® since 1988.
    After answering questions on forms of address for so long I guess I've gotten good at it!  What I've learned I've put in my book -- which I am pleased to say is used at lots of serious places: See http://www.formsofaddress.info/Collections.html. 
          -- Robert Hickey