Title

A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the first and last name (for example, Graf in German, Cardinal in Catholic usage (Richard Cardinal Cushing) or clerical titles such as Archbishop). Some titles are hereditary. Titles include: Honorific titles or styles of address, a phrase used to convey respect to the recipient of a communication, or to recognize an attribute such as: Imperial, royal and noble ranks Academic degree Social titles, prevalent among certain sections of society due to historic or other reasons. Other accomplishment, as with a title of honor Title of authority, an identifier that specifies the office or position held by an official Mr. – Adult man (regardless of marital status) Ms. – Adult woman (regardless of marital status) Mx. – Adult person (regardless of marital status), can be used to refer to non-binary people Mrs. – Married Adult woman (includes widows and divorcées) Miss – Unmarried Adult Woman or Female child Master – Male Child Madam (also Madame and Ma'am) – Formal form of address for an adult woman. Also used to denote a position of power or respect, opposite the usage of "Mister" for men, e.g. "Mister/Madam Ambassador". Some people object to the usage of titles to denote marital status, age or gender. In 2018, a campaign named GoTitleFree was launched to encourage businesses to stop requesting, storing and using marital status titles in their registration forms, and when speaking with customers, launched on the grounds that titles often lead to assumptions about a woman's age or availability for marriage, and exclude non-binary people. This is in line with established practice advocated by the World Wide Web Consortium and the Government Digital Service which sets the standard for UK government online services. This in turn means that titles are optional on UK passports and driving licences.