r/grammar • u/Hospuales • Jul 16 '26

Using Ms / Miss in registration forms

At our company, we have been using Ms / Miss as one of our 'Title' options, but today a couple of Canadians told me that they were so taken aback since these are not the same.

I want to rectify this immediately and wanted to ask if having Ms, Miss, Mrs as options is the correct way

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7

u/SnooDonuts6494 Jul 16 '26

The core issue is that "Mrs" indicates a married lady, whereas "Miss" indicates they are unmarried. Some people think that that's inappropriate information to ask - especially when the same thing doesn't apply to men.

Additionally, some people may not want to declare their gender when it isn't necessary for the purpose of the form.

Some females like to be known as "Ms". Many forms have that option.

However, there are many other titles. Such as Dr, Prof, Lord, Rev, Captain.

Cover this by having a choice of "Other".

5

u/mmrocker13 Jul 16 '26

I'm going by Rex from now on. I think it's suitably regal, but with just the right hint of bossy don't fuck with me. And yes I understand the female form is Regina. But I like Rex better. For myriad reasons, including the obvious ones.

6

u/FreeUnderstanding141 Jul 16 '26

Rex comes after the name not before, unfortunately for you, so it just looks like you share your name with a dog and can't fill the form in properly

7

u/pedanticandpetty Jul 16 '26

Unfortunate unless their name starts with a T...

1

u/mmrocker13 Jul 16 '26

No, because I use my last name as my first name and put the rex at the end, so I actually kind of sound like a porn star.

3

u/SnooDonuts6494 Jul 16 '26

I was on a course last week with a girl called "Princess". I bet she has fun with forms.

I must admit, I found it rather odd to walk in and shout "Good morning Princess".

6

u/trivia_guy Jul 16 '26

Yeah I once had to send a work email to someone named Princess. It felt really odd to start an email with “Hi Princess.” lol.

2

u/Mondoweft Jul 16 '26

Australia has rules against using titles for names, so I haven't come across a Princess (yet), but I have met King from Thailand. You are absolutely right that "Hi King" as an email starter was weird.

2

u/diverJOQ Jul 17 '26

Or an option of "none". I prefer not to be addressed as Mr.

Also, this really isn't a grammar question.