Where Did "Mr.," "Mrs.," and "Ms." Come From?

Modern etiquette standards are nowhere near as formal as they used to be, but some things still hold true: Honorific abbreviations such as “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” and “Ms.” are commonly used to address someone with respect. You might use one of these honorifics when you’re first introduced to someone, and you don’t want to assume a first-name familiar relationship. An honorific also comes in handy for in-laws, business partners, and fictional characters such as Mr. Magoo and Ms. Pac-Man. In general, “Mr.” refers to men, “Mrs.” to married women, and “Ms.” to women regardless of their marital status. But this usage is relatively new, as shown by the etymological evolution of the titles since the early 16th century.

Let’s start with “Mr.” (an abbreviation of “mister”), which is derived from the Middle English “maister,” meaning “master.” It was coined around 1500 to address someone without a professional title or higher honorific (e.g., “sir” or “lord”). The Oxford English Dictionary notes that by the 17th century, it was customary to use “Mr.” as a courteous form of address for anyone “below the rank of knight.” Over time, the abbreviation took on a more general use, especially as terms like “sir” and “lord” became less common. By the mid-18th century, “Mr.” was reserved for males to whom you wished to show respect.

“Mrs.” became popular around 1500, initially unrelated to a woman’s marital status. It’s an abbreviation of “mistress,” which was used beginning in the late 14th century to refer to any woman acting as the head of a family or household. For centuries, “Mrs.” was a respectful term for any woman of authority, regardless of their domestic relationship situation. Historian Amy Erickson notes in a 2014 paper that “Mrs.” only came to refer to married women, specifically, around 1900, and it has largely remained that way since. “Missus” came about around the same time as a slangy way for someone to refer to their wife.

“Ms.” is a shortening of “miss,” which is also derived from “mistress.” Historically, it was used for any woman regardless of marital status. It’s been used as an honorific since the mid-17th century, but it was less common than “Mrs.” until the 20th century. On November 10, 1901, the Springfield Sunday Republican proposed using “Ms.” for women when you don’t know details about their domestic situation, right around the same time “Mrs.” began to explicitly reference married women. The abbreviation was adopted and promoted by prominent feminist voices in the 1960s, who worked to popularize the term “Ms.” as a title for independent and professional women. Business executive Elisabeth Murdoch said in a column from The Guardian:

You become a Ms. as opposed to a Miss on your first day as a professional … I don't think you take a Miss seriously (nor would you take 'Master' seriously). And, as for the choice of 'Mrs.' — I am not someone who subscribes to the idea of assuming your husband's identity rather than your own.