Is There a Space Between “Mr.” and the Name?

Most people write out something like “Mr. Smith” without a second thought. But what if you’ve actually been doing it wrong? Do you actually put a space between “Mr.” and the name?

In this post, we will answer this question in detail.

Is There a Space Between “Mr.” and the Name?

Yes, there is a space between “Mr.” and the name that follows it. That’s because “Mr.” is just short for “mister”, which is its own word. Just like any other two words, there should be a space between “Mr.” and the name it precedes.

There are many words or phrases in English that are just shortened versions of a longer word. “Mr.” happens to be one of those words. The period after “Mr.” confuses some people, but it’s just a way to shorten “mister”, and it doesn’t end a sentence.

It’s also only ever used as a title to precede someone’s name. You would never use “Mr.” as a way to address someone.

For example, here is how you should and shouldn’t use “Mr.” in a sentence:

• Correct: Mr. Alan, it’s a pleasure to see you again.
• Incorrect: Hey, Mr., have you seen my dog around here?

If you were going to address someone simply as “mister”, you would spell the word out like that, not shorten it as you would if you were using it to precede their name. But if you going to use it as “Mr. Smith”, you would put a space after the period in “Mr.”.

Even when it comes to shorthand words like this, they still follow the same rules as if they were fully spelled out. Plus, even if the period in “Mr.” was treated like the end of a sentence, you are supposed to put a space between that and the following word as well.

You should always put a space between a period and any word that follows it. That is true in every context in the English language.

Is There a Space Between “Mrs.” and the Name?

Yes, there is a space between “Mrs.” and the name that follows it. Like “Mr.”, “Mrs.” is just short for “Miss” or “Missus”.

It is its own word, meaning it needs a space between it and the next word, that being someone’s name.

The same is true for “Ms.”. The only difference in “Ms.” and “Mrs.” is that “Ms.” is used to refer to an unmarried woman and “Mrs.” is for a married one.

However, regardless of which one is being used or why, you must put a space after the period and the name that follows.

Is There a Space Between “Dr.” and the Name?

Yes, there is a space between “Dr.” and the name that follows it. Just like the other examples, “Dr.” is just a shorthand form of the word “doctor”.

Because it is its own word, you must put a space between “Dr.” and the name that follows it.

You would do this for any shorthand word that looks like “Dr.” or “Mr.”. For instance, ranks in the military also have such abbreviations, such as PVT. (Private) and SGT. (Sergeant). You would put a space between these words and the name that follows as well.

Conclusion

Words like “Mr.” are just shortened versions of longer words, such as “mister”. That means the shorthand version should follow the same rules as the longer, spelled out version.

 “Mr.” is its own word, as is the name that comes after it, so there should be a space between them.

This rule applies to all such shorthand words, including “Mrs., Ms., and Dr.”.