When do boys become Mr rather then Master?

[BrightBlueHue]

Helping DS (16) to complete his college application.

Title HAS to be filled in.

Question is, when do boys become a Mr? 16 or 18? There seems to be a mixed response online.

Posting here for traffic!

All of DS hospital/GP letters are sent as Master still.

I expect that will change when they’re 18 as is a reflection that before 18, parents often need to be consulted regarding care even though children get a right to autonomy earlier than 18. To be honest all “titles” are totally irrelevant nowadays. Am I right in thinking, Mister was a title back in the days when mister meant you owned property and could vote? Above servants who didn’t get to use titles at all unless the cook or the butler but firmly below lords etc.

Mr is for men. You aren't an adult till 18 so I guess that's when it changes? When would you use Miss until for a girl? Use the same age for the boy.

Personally I use Ms for my daughter and have done since she was tiny, so I'd use Mr for boys. But if you would use Miss, then you should use master, to be consistent (in my feminist opinion)

Oh I didn't see this reply 😂

@CuriousMoo 😂try telling DS’s future college that! His GP and our local hospital too.

I am genuinely shocked. I mean, I'm with the French on "getting rid of titles that distinguish between people on the basis of their marital status" (in fact, titles altogether) but I honestly didn't think that anyone still used "Master" unless they were being facetious, or in a period costume drama.

If he's 16 then he's old enough to choose for himself. But it really doesn't matter... Either is fine, most would probably choose Mr but he can be Master if he prefers. Or Esquire for that matter. Or Mrs, or Miss, or Ms - none of these have any actual legal status, only stereotyped associations...

Master is for boys under 8yrs old. You can push it to 12yrs old, but it would be considered twee to do so.

16 is MR.

At university I had a boyfriend whose grandparents used to send letters addressed to ‘Master X. Smyth’. But they always contained sizeable cheques, so he tried not to mind what the porters might think.

Chances are it’s a badly designed, out of date form and it doesn’t matter at all. Just put Mr.

If men had to use master until they were married I bet the whole master/miss nonsense would stop. It’s okay to infantilise an unmarried woman but not an unmarried man!

Use Mr - and in the same vein we should start using Ms for all females over 16.

marital status should not to be part of a woman’s title.

Put whatever he prefers, title's generally aren't legally protected .

I would never use Master at any age. The whole Miss/Ms?Mrs thing bugs me, too. I now use Dr (which I am entitled to) and which usually elicits a kind of "who do you think you are?" kind of response. Personally, I think we should all be simple M.

Mr by the time they are 16, certainly, perhaps before.

Better still, why need a title anyway for many things- why not just name and surname?

15 or 16 - they're young adults.

Actually there never a Master Bates in Captain Pugwash and the cartoonist John Ryan won a court case against the Guardian and another paper for saying as such.
Still funny though, as supposedly there was also Seaman Staines and Roger the Cabin Boy.

@LordEmsworth i’m wondering if it’s because the college also takes in Y10/Y11 cohort?

I guarantee it will be because nobody has looked at or updated the form.

If master is in the list, does it also have a load of fun titles he could choose from? Admiral, the Very Reverend, Lady...

Only if you're trying to distinguish between father and son who live at the same address with the same initial first name.

I have variously been Countess, Brigadier and Wing Commander when ordering from Liberty 😀

Traditionally, in English, Master would be used up until 18 - but that doesn't really happen now and Mr is accepted for any age. Essentially, tick either box.

Love it. I'm Princess at my optician's 👸🏻

It's when the age divided by the height multiplied by the shoe size is greater than 7.

@Topseyt123 No, you don't remember this as it wasn't true.

Let the Young Master decide for himself.

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