Forms of Address: How to Address Titles & Honorifics Correctly

A title changes three things at once: what goes on the envelope, how a letter opens, and what you actually call the person. Getting one right does not mean the others follow automatically, which is the part most general etiquette advice skips over.

Each title below has its own full page with the exact envelope line, the exact salutation, and the exact spoken form, including the variants for a former officeholder, a spouse, or an elect. This page is the directory, not a substitute for reading the one that applies to you.

Government & elected officials

Judicial

How to address a judgeThe correct envelope line and salutation for a federal, state, or local judge, plus the Chief Justice and Associate Justice forms.How to address a magistrate or justice of the peaceThe correct envelope line and salutation for a magistrate, a justice of the peace, a town justice, and a clerk of the court.

Military

Military rank forms of addressThe correct envelope line, salutation, and abbreviation for every major US military rank, across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.How to address military chaplains, reservists, veterans, and retired officersWhether to use military rank for a reservist, a veteran, or someone retired from active duty, plus how a military chaplain title works.

Diplomatic

How to address an ambassadorThe correct envelope line and salutation for a US ambassador, a foreign ambassador to the US, and a retired ambassador.Diplomatic and foreign service forms of addressThe correct envelope line and salutation for a High Commissioner, Chief of Mission, Consul, Counselor, and other foreign service ranks below ambassador.

Clergy

How to address a rabbiThe correct envelope line and salutation for a rabbi, including the joint form for a rabbi married to another rabbi.How to address Catholic clergyThe correct envelope line and salutation for the Pope, a Cardinal, Archbishop, Bishop, Monsignor, Priest, and Brother or Sister.How to address Anglican and Episcopal clergyThe correct envelope line and salutation for an Archbishop, Bishop, Dean, Priest, Archdeacon, and the Very/Most/Right Reverend forms.How to address Protestant clergyThe correct envelope line and salutation for a Pastor and their spouse, a Minister, an Elder, a Deacon, and a Presbyter.How to address Eastern Orthodox clergyThe correct envelope line and salutation for a Patriarch, Archbishop, Archimandrite, Bishop, Priest, Monk or Nun, and Deacon.How to address the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist religious titlesThe correct form for addressing the Dalai Lama, a Geshe, and other Buddhist and Eastern religious teachers.How to address LDS and Salvation Army officialsThe correct envelope line and salutation for an LDS Bishop and a Salvation Army officer, two distinct organizational hierarchies.

Medical & professional

How to address allied health professionalsThe correct title for a dentist, chiropractor, optometrist, veterinarian, nurse, pharmacist, psychologist, and physical therapist.How to address credentialed professionalsThe correct title for a lawyer or Esquire, a professor, a licensed engineer or architect, an astronaut, and a firefighter or detective.

Nobility & royalty

How to address royalty and nobilityThe correct envelope line and salutation for a King or Queen, Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron, Knight, and Dame.

Modern & cross-cutting forms

Titles, suffixes, and modern forms of addressWhen to use Mx as a gender-neutral title, how Jr/Sr and II/III/IV work, and the real difference between Miss, Mrs, and Ms.How to address a couple with two different titlesHow to combine two different professional titles on one envelope, when each spouse holds a different formal title of their own.How a name goes on a diploma, certificate, award, or plaqueThe correct full-name format for a diploma, certificate, award plaque, and how post-nominal abbreviations like PhD or Esq. are ordered.How a name goes on a tombstone, nametag, place card, or business cardThe right name format for a gravestone, a nametag, a place card at an event, a table tent, and a business card.

If your specific title is not listed

This directory covers government, judicial, military, diplomatic, clergy, and professional titles in real depth, plus the cross-cutting rules, suffixes, joint forms, and modern gender-neutral titles, that apply across all of them. If a specific title is not listed by name, the closest matching group above is usually the right starting point, since most titles follow the same underlying pattern as others in their category.

Questions people ask

Why does the correct form change so much from one title to another?

Each office has its own convention for how formal the envelope needs to be, whether the office name replaces the person name, and what the matching salutation is. There is no single rule that covers every title, which is why this site treats each one as its own page rather than one long list.

What does The Honorable actually mean?

It is a courtesy title used before the full name of a current or former holder of a high government office. It appears across most of the titles on this site, from a mayor to a US Senator, and signals formality rather than a specific rank.

Is this different from how to address an envelope generally?

Yes. The mechanics of an envelope, line order, placement, and ZIP code formatting, are covered on the main envelope-addressing hub. This section is specifically about which words go in the name and salutation lines for a given title.