addressing someone by their full name in an email (2025)

I wonder if it’s impolite to address someone by their full name in an email, as in “Dear Firstname Lastname.” I know it’s common practice to address someone with honorific plus their last names, such as “Dear Mr. Stone,” when we don’t really know the person. Generally, when I don’t know the exact gender and the title of that person, I personally would opt for “Dear Firstname Lastname” without the honorific to prevent gender issues and also avoid just addressing them by only either of the first or last names to sound more formal. However, I was told recently by my supervisor that addressing people with their full names in English is somewhat impolite and I should avoid it. My supervisor said instead, I should stick to “Mr./Ms. Lastname” or “Title (say Professor) Lastname.” But I generally would put down “Dear Firstname Lastname” only when I was unaware of the gender and the title of my recipients. When I’m fully aware of the recipient’s title, what I always do is I would use “Dear Title Lastname” to show the most politeness.

I wonder how native speakers actually feel about this?

I also wonder if there’s a formality ranking for the email greeting? For me, I would rank it as follows (assuming there’s “Dear” before each one):

Title Lastname > Mr./Ms. (Firstname) Lastname > Firstname Lastname > Firstname

Note: My supervisor and I are both non-native speakers of English.

I wouldn't say it's impolite, but it's not natural. With some foreign names you might not even know which part is the surname. In that case, I think you have to use Dear <full name>. But if you can at least identify the surname, I think it is preferable to use that as your supervisor suggested: Mr/Ms is harmless if you don't know which it is (I often* start letters with 'Dear Madam/Sir'). And of course if you know their title, that's the right way to address them, <title> <surname>.

* used to - when people routinely wrote letters

Le Gallois bilingue said:

However, I would and do find it an impolite form of address

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How would you address an email to Sun Chunlan or Hu Chunhua? I only know their gender because I found them by an internet search to find examples of Chinese names.

Or how about replying to an email from a Charlie Thomas who you have never met?

Roxxxannne said:

Another problem that no one has mentioned is the issue of whether to use Ms., Mrs., or Miss. Some women in the US are very particular about which one they prefer.

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I did say “if you know the correct title to use”, but this is a very important point: it is not sufficient to know the gender of the person, you absolutely need to know the title they elect to use, which is why if you don’t know it’s better to use a different form of address.

I don't think there's anything wrong with Dear Firstname Lastname if:
1. You don't know their title and you don't know their gender, or
2. You don't know which part of their name is a first name and which part is a last name.

When I deal with international people I do sometimes comes across the second problem, and in such cases I either write "Dear Firstname Lastname" or "Good afternoon" or "Good morning", where you can get away with not mentioning the name at all.

I think if you don't know their title but you do know their gender and surname, it's generally acceptable to write "Dear Mrs Surname" or "Dear Mr Surname". I quite often get "Dear Mrs Surname", which is incorrect in my case, but I don't mind.

Michaelangela said:

in an email

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1. In a written letter on paper, mailed through the post, the centuries-old traditional "rule" is to start with an address on a separate line: "Dear <name>" followed by : (business) or , (personal).

I don't think that is a "rule" for emails. I've been sending emails since the 1970s, and I don't do that. Almost none of my emails start with "Dear <name>". It is the same with forum posts. I didn't write "Dear Michaelangela, ".

Basically, you do this in an email if you are imitating a written letter. Are you? What is this email's purpose?

2. You don't want your email to look like a computer-created advertisement. Those often start with "Dear Firstname Lastname" because the computer copied the name from a purchased list of names and email addresses. If your email looks like that, the receiver may discard it without reading it.

Le Gallois bilingue said:

It is, as said elsewhere, unnatural...

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Perfectly natural as far as I'm concerned. You would typically use it when (say) someone has written to you signing himself John Smith and you don't know him well enough to reply Dear John, but you want to be more friendly than the formal Dear Mr Smith.

It's also useful if the received e-mail was signed Jo Smith or Pat Smith, or any of the other gender-ambiguous first names.

Michaelangela said:

I wonder if it’s impolite to address someone by their full name in an email, as in “Dear Firstname Lastname.”

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There's no standard salutation for emails, and probably never will be.

I was not offended when Lancashire County Library sent me the following email this morning:

Hi Hugh Anchor (not my real name but my real name was written in the same form).

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3 [sic] items you requested is [sic] ready for collection. Thanks.

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