Honorific - Modern English Honorifics

Modern English Honorifics

The most common honorifics in modern English are usually placed immediately before a person's name. Honorifics which can be used (both as style and as form of address) include, in the case of a male, "Mr" (irrespective of marital status), and in the case of a female the honorific will depend on her marital status: if the female is "single" it is "Miss, if she is married it is "Mrs", and if her marital status is unknown, or it is not desired to specify it, "Ms.."

Other honorifics may denote the honored person’s occupation, for instance "Doctor", "Captain", "Coach", Officer, "Reverend" for all clergy and/or "Father" (for a Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or Anglican Christian priest), or "Professor". Holders of an academic Doctorate such as PhD are sometimes addressed as "Doctor" (abbreviated Dr). "Master" as a prefix ahead of the name of boys and young men up to about 16 years of age is less common than it used to be, but is still used by older people addressing the young in formal situations and correspondence.

Some honorifics act as complete replacements for a name, as "Sir" or "Ma'am", or "Your Honor". Subordinates will often use honorifics as punctuation before asking a superior a question or after responding to an order: "Yes, Sir" or even "Sir, yes Sir."

Judges are often addressed as "Your Honor" (or "Honour") when on the bench, and the style is "His/Her Honor" the plural form is "Your Honors". If the judge also has a higher title, that may be the correct honorific to use: "Your Lordship". Similarly, a monarch (ranking as a king or emperor) and his consort may be addressed or referred to as "Your/His/Her Majesty", "Their Majesties", etc. (but there is no customary honorific accorded to a female monarch's consort, as he is usually granted a specific style). Monarchs below kingly rank are addressed as "Your/His/Her Highness", the exact rank being indicated by an appropriate modifier, e.g. "His Serene Highness" for a member of a princely dynasty, or "Her Grand Ducal Highness" for a member of a family that reigns over a grand duchy. Verbs with these honorifics as subject are conjugated in the third person (e.g. "you are going" vs. "Your Honor is going" or "Her Royal Highness is going".) Protocol for monarchs and aristocrats can be very complex, with no general rule; great offence can be given by using a form that is not exactly correct. There are vital difference between "Your Highness" and "Your Royal Highness"; between "Princess Margaret" and "The Princess Margaret". All of these are correct, but apply to people of subtly different rank. An example of a non-obvious style is "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother", which is an official style, but unique to one person.

In music, a distinguished conductor or virtuoso instrumentalist may be known as "Maestro".

In aviation, pilots in command of a larger civil aircraft are usually addressed as "Captain" plus their full name or surname. This tradition is slowly diminishing in the United States and most EU countries. However, many countries, especially in Asia, follow this tradition and address airline pilots, military pilots, and flight instructors exclusively as "Captain" even outside of the professional environment. In addition, such countries' etiquette rules dictate to place this title on all the official letters and social invitations, business cards, identification documents, etc. In the United States, when addressing a pilot, common etiquette does not require the title "Captain" to be printed on official letters or invitations before the addressee's full name. However, this is optional (akin to "Esq" after a man's name (used only by lawyers in the USA)) and may be used where appropriate, especially when addressing airline pilots with many years of experience.

Occupants of state and political office may be addressed with a honorific. A monarch may be addressed as His/Her Majesty, a president as Your Excellency or Mr/Madam President, a minister or secretary of state as "Your Excellency" or Mr/Madam Secretary, etc. A prime minister may be addressed as "the Honorable". A member of Parliament or other legislative body may have particular honorifics. A member of a Senate, for example, may be addressed as "Senator". The etiquette varies and most countries have protocol specifying the honorifics to be used for its state, judicial, military and other officeholders.

Former military officers are sometimes addressed by their last military rank, such as "Captain", "Colonel", "General", etc.