Should Doe, Jane Mrs read Mrs as a title rather than a middle name? #835

The shape

After a family comma, a salutation written without a period at the end of the given part reads as a middle name. The same word with a period reads as a title, and so does the bare word when a suffix stands between it and the given name:

"Doe, Jane Mrs."    →  title="Mrs."  given="Jane"  family="Doe"
"Doe, Jane Mrs"     →  given="Jane"  middle="Mrs"  family="Doe"
"Doe, John Q Mr"    →  given="John"  middle="Q Mr"
"Doe, John Jr Mr"   →  title="Mr"    given="John"  suffix="Jr"
"Doe, John Mr Jr"   →  given="John"  middle="Mr"   suffix="Jr"
"Doe, Mrs"          →  title="Mrs"   family="Doe"     (H1)
", Jane Mrs"        →  given="Jane"  middle="Mrs"

This is common in real data. In the FEC's itemized-contributions file, where filers' software writes FAMILY, GIVEN MIDDLE SALUTATION in capitals (file dated 2026-10-18, measured 2026-10-22):

The title column is mostly the period-marked spelling. Across every title word, 13,243 names end with the bare word read as a middle name.

Proposed rule (H5 amendment, or a new H rule)

When: a family comma has fixed the family name, and the given part ends in a bare word whose title reading is a salutation, with at least one name word in front of it. Examples: Doe, Jane Mrs and DOE, JOHN Q MR.

Then: the word joins the title field, and the given part reads as it would without it.

Because: H5 (the trailing title run) keeps a bare trailing title word as a name word because "TITLES holding ordinary surnames" (Mary Jane King keeps family King). After a family comma that reason is gone, since the surname is already settled. Only the middle-name reading is left, and a salutation is not a middle name: it is a form of address, not a rank or office someone could be named after. The suffix path already reads it this way (Doe, John Jr Mr), so this would make the two agree.

Except:

• A title/suffix dual stays with the suffix run. Doe, John Sr keeps suffix Sr, and Doe, Jane Ms keeps suffix Ms (44,920 FEC names). Whether Ms should move is a separate question about the dual.
• A non-salutation title stays a name word. Doe, John King, Doe, John Bishop and Doe, John Dean keep middle King, Bishop and Dean. Office and rank words are borne as middle names.
• A lone salutation keeps its H1 reading (Doe, Mrs, title and family).

Accepted: a salutation that is someone's actual middle name, after a family comma, would read as a title.

Open questions

• Which salutations clear the bar? The salutation kind holds about 120 words. Several need tools/name_usage.py counts before they qualify, since they may be borne as given or middle names: master, madam, goodman, familie, herr, frau, signore, bwana, श्री. The kind compiles only into TITLES today, so a predicate would need a property or set built from it.
• Comma shapes not yet swept: an empty head (, Jane Mrs, which reads as middle today), a nickname-only head, a particle surname (van Doe, Jane Mrs), a second comma (Doe, Jane Mrs, PhD), and all three name_order values. The family-first order hasn't been measured at all yet.
• Without a comma, the shape stays as it is: Jane Doe Mrs reads family Mrs, which is H5's surname case, and nothing here changes it.

Where it was found

The fec-individuals local corpus, #834.