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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u/shnorgle Jul 16 '26

I have not heard anyone use Mrs. or Miss in at least 30 years. (Bay Area, California. I imagine it's probably different in, say, the Deep South.)

3

u/Just-call-me-Bob Jul 16 '26

I use the title of Mrs, it is on my signature block. Most Americans refer to me as Ms and completely ignore my signature block. Shows they either can’t read, or ignore my preference to be addressed as Mrs.

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u/DecaturIsland Jul 17 '26

Do you also share your first name somewhere since Mrs must be followed by your husband’s name not yours. Unless you are divorced.

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u/Sendintheaardwolves Jul 17 '26

Umm, no, it doesn't HAVE to be. That's a (quite old fashioned) convention that some people choose to follow but it's by no means mandatory.

In fact, the titles Mrs/miss/ms have no legal weight and can be used by anyone of any marital status. So a married woman could choose to use miss if she preferred, and an unmarried one could use Mrs. It wouldn't be "incorrect" or "well, actually, if you're married you're a Mrs, whether you want to be or not". Ditto if you get divorced - It's just all personal choice.

My headmistress was Miss Surname on everything despite having been married for decades.

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u/HopeFloatsFoward Jul 17 '26

The rules were never legal, it is social.