Names and titles
General rules
Use "First name" and "Last name" in forms and ensure text fields accept names with only one letter.
- First name
- Last name
- Surname
- Full name
Use first names to welcome users to applications.
- Welcome Susanne
Inclusive titles
Avoid gendered titles unless absolutely necessary for your application. Use "Title", not "Honorific", to describe words such as Mr. and Mrs. Note that not all cultures have equivalents to some titles used in the United States, such as Ms.
- [ Mr. | Ms. | Mx. | None | Other | Prefer not to say]
- [ Mr. | Mrs. | Miss | Ms. ]
Title punctuation
Use full stops for all abbreviated titles in American English.
- Mr. Smith
- Mr Smith
Use titles with full names or surnames but do not use titles when addressing users with only their first name.
- Mrs. Turner
- Mrs. Jennifer Turner
- Jennifer
- Mrs. Jennifer
Use full stops for all abbreviated professional titles in American English.
- Dr.
- Prof.
- Eng.
Corporate titles
Use capital letters for corporate titles especially with the name and use capital letters for corporate title acronyms.
- Chief Financial Officer Teresa Lopez
- Teresa Lopez (Chief Financial Officer)
- Teresa Lopez (CFO)
- chief financial officer Teresa Lopez
Use lower case when titles are used generically (without a name) and separate titles from names with a comma.
- The chief financial officer for the company will hold a press conference tomorrow.
- The project manager needs to schedule maintenance.
- Carol Jones, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board, spoke at the press conference yesterday.
- Call the Manager.
Always capitalize Managing Board and use lower case for "member".
- John Smith is a member of the Managing Board.
- John Smith is a member of the managing board.