I'm making my address labels for my STD's. FSIL married FI's brother, but kept her maiden name. . . is she Ms. FirstName MaidenName or Mrs. FirstName MaidenName?
Thanks!
Oh, You are all so mean and I feel sorry for your husbands.
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."

Re: Mrs. or Ms. When Married Woman Keeps Maiden Name?
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
(She does not use Mrs. SALLY Doe, because that's for divorced women.)
Later, they divorce and she considers keeping DOE and not go back to SMITH = Mrs. Sally Doe
(She still uses MRS because she got the last name DOE when she got MARRIED)
Finally, she decides to go back to SMITH = Ms. Sally Smith
(She uses MS because SMITH was her own birth name)
A woman being married does not mean she loses her first name. To say that all married womem can't use their own first name is ridiculous. And Mrs is only used for married women, regardless of whether or not they have divorced but kept the name. Mrs literally means married, that's the whole point of it (and why alot of women prefer Ms). Why would a divorced woman keep using Mrs? That makes no sense.
Widowed totally make sense, because they often have a sentimental attachment to it. That's why I specified divorced.
1) Sally Smith starts out unmarried: Miss Sally Smith
2) Sally Smith marries John Doe and
2a) takes his name socially: Mrs. John Doe
2b) uses her own name professionally: Miss Sally Smith
3) Sally Smith divorces John Doe and either
3a) keeps his surname as "Mrs Smith Doe" -- she still would not use her given name after "Mrs.", or
3b) returns to her maiden name: Miss Sally Smith
That's it. "Mrs Sally Smith" was wrong whether a lady was married or divorced. "Mrs" merely designated that a lady had been married, even if that marriage had terminated.
Modern usage differs in that "Mrs Sally Doe" is used at all social levels by the majority of married women. Ms has come into use replacing "Miss" for nearly all unmarried ladies, and for the married ladies who do not choose "Mrs Sally Doe". A small minority of married ladies prefer "Mrs John Doe", and a teeny tiny minority of married ladies still go by Miss Sally Smith on the basis of the old rule that "Miss" is the proper title for a lady who uses her natal name.
Widowed totally make sense, because they often have a sentimental attachment to it. That's why I specified divorced."
OK, ladies. I was THERE in the 1960's when the title Ms. was invented!
In the 1950's. it was very unusual to be divorced. 99% of the other kids in my elementary school were from two parent families. Divorce was something only Hollywood actors did. Well, that certainly wasn't true, but there was a whispered taint about being a "divorcee". I think we would all agree that this was totally wrong, and thank goodness that has changed.
Traditionally, a married woman WAS ADDRESSED as Mrs. John Doe, but she SIGNED her checks and her letters as Jane Doe, which was her legal name. That name did not change if her husband died.
Traditionally, when a woman was divorced, she used her maiden name in place of her ex-husband's name, Mrs. Smith Doe, but still signed her name Jane Doe, unless she had her named legally changed back to Jane Smith. Generally if there were children from the marriage, she continued to use the title Mrs., and usually kept the married name.
The title "Miss" meant unmarried female. If a woman was 80 years old, she was properly addressed as "Miss Jones" if she had never married.
Around 1970, (I was in university) the title Ms. became one of the banners of the feminist movement. It was a marriage status neutral option for women. It simply meant female, just as Mr. has always meant male. It does not have any age connotations. Since this title was very new to people in the 1970's, ladies who are my age or older were not taught it as being proper. They tend to use the traditional etiquette.
Neither is wrong or right, if used correctly. Do remember that a lady never lost her first name. She always signed it. She simply was addressed socially (as in mail) by her more formal title. To address a letter to Mrs. Jane Doe was unthinkably rude before the feminist movement, and many older ladies would still feel unhappy about it.
My address labels for the STDs are a bit small, so for space reasons I'm going with
The traditional Mr. & Mrs. HisFirstName HisLastName for married couples
and Mr. HisFirstName HisLastName & Ms. HerFirstName HerLastName for married couples where the woman kept her maiden name.
For my actual invitations I'm going to print directly on the inner envelopes, but for the outer envelopes since the post office doesn't appreciate calligraphy fonts that are tricky to read, I'm probably just going to use a boring, legible font and labels again.
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."
I figured labels for STDs weren't as big a deal as labels for actual invitations.
"Love is the one thing we're capable of perceiving that transcends time and space."