When to use: Miss, Ms, Mrs???

I use miss for under 18, ms for over 18 not married and Mrs for married

@Elphaba that's good to know! Of course I would address someone by their preferred title as soon as it was made known to me, no matter what the general guidelines might be.

It's a matter of personal preference.

Ms. is an analog to Mr., so it is never incorrect. It's a safe choice if you don't know the preference of the lady in question. For whatever reason, teachers are the only adult women I have ever heard refer to themselves as "miss." Otherwise I would only think of children as "miss."

Definitely Ms. for over 18 and not married. Miss makes me feel like a Sunday school teacher or like I'm being called out in class by a disapproving professor

Currently, I go by Ms. Maiden. After FH and I get married, my preference would be Ms. Maiden FHLast. I wouldn't be offended by Mrs. FHLast.

I always refer to other adult women as Ms. until they tell me otherwise. Miss is only acceptable for kids.

Huh. Maybe it's a Southern cultural thing for Miss to be a more common title...

I do default to Ms if I don't know a woman's professional/social title, it's good to know that one always works socially!

Thankfully I haven't been in a situation to make a major faux pas with this.

Thank God for y'all and wedding wire or my wedding & general etiquette would be a mess.

I honestly ask for their preferred salutation.

My feminist daughter has gone by Ms. since she was 14. As a person who has been addressed as "miss" by the bank she opened her first account with, it's kind of galling to see my RRSP statements addressed as "miss".

I have a couple of friends who did not take husband's name. They are Ms.

Never call me Mrs. I get salty. I kept my maiden name the first go round, and will be doing so again.

Ms should be your defaul, since, like Mr, it doesn't depend on any marital status or age restrictions. (I went by Ms at 15, still going at 49.)

Mrs can be used if you know the woman is married and took her husband's name and doesn't use any other honorific.

I steer clear of Miss, but that sounds regional based on PPs.

I address mail to my 16 month old goddaughter as "Miss Gemma LastName" Not sure I would use Miss for an adult.

Well according to some people under 16 you get "Miss". That would piss off my daughter and her friends insanely.

I should ETA she's felt this way since she was 14. She's 21 now.

It really does no harm to ask someone how they would like to be addressed in a formal setting.

Wow. Now I'm wondering if I should be offended by Miss or if I'm unfeminist for being fine with using it... Before tonight I considered it perfectly normal for any unmarried woman under 30ish without a professional title to be addressed socially as Miss... ETA: @Jacks I'm absolutely inclined to ask and call people whatever they prefer when in situations warranting it, I'm just completely lost on the social stigma of Miss and Mrs that seems to bother people so much.

Like StPaulGal teachers are the only people I know who use Miss as an adult which IMO is kind of odd.

A magill, feminism is about doing what you choose to do, not what men/society tell you you're supposed to do, so if you're fine with a salutation being used for yourself it is no way considered being anti-feminist.

The teacher thing also must be regional. Neither I nor any of the other teachers/staff at my school or at any school I know go by "Miss". Everyone goes by "Ms." and everyone uses "Ms. and Mrs." interchangeably, unless the teacher is particular about being called "Mrs." (very rarely, though). I'm in NY.

This is a random question based mostly on curiosity, and I'm hoping some of the same-sex brides on here may see this and weigh in... Would it be appropriate to address a woman who takes her wife's surname as Mrs? And would her wife who keeps her birth name be Ms?

Like if Jane Doe marries Alice Smith and becomes Jane Smith, would it be proper to say Ms. Alice and Mrs. Jane Smith?

Kate, the whole thing where I'm from with Miss, Mrs, and Ma'am is weird lol. Good manners mean you address any adult in any professional/polite interaction as ma'am/sir but generally the respectful informal title for a woman is said as Miss Firstname. The formal title would be Missus or Miz Lastname

I'm not in a same sex relationship, but I am a queer woman with many queer friends. The people I know overwhelmingly use "Ms." and the few that go by "Mrs." do so symmetrically: "Mrs. Katie and Mrs. Sarah Jones"

I would ask a same sex couple what their preference is. Someone might be really excited to go by Mrs while another could be offended. I don't think there's a rule for that.