How do I address someone in a letter/email if I am uncertain about their gender?

Answer 1

Hey You

or Dear Sir or Madam

or To whom it may concern (if you are unaware of the name and/or title to whom your letter is addressed)

Answer 2

I think there are two possibilities here.

In the first case, you don't know the name of the person whom you are addressing your letter or e-mail to, so it's safe to use:

Dear Sir, Dear Madam (in a formal context)

or

just leave the introduction out and say, for instance, Good morning or Hello whatever feels appropriate (in a informal context).

I don't much like the cliché "to whom it may concern", because it might imply that you don't care who reads the mail.

The second possibility is you know the person's name but you don't know if it is a man or a woman, probably because it is a foreign name or a name you have never met before or an ambiguous name. In this case, if it´s essential to know the gender, I would first do some research on the web to see if I could find the actual name somewhere and discover the pertinent gender. At times, you can be sure about the gender simply by reading the person's style or text or by waiting for the development of your correspondence. If the Internet research fails, and if it's essentiaI to know the gender straightaway, I would politely ask the person, "excuse me, is this a man's or a woman's name?". As a rule, the person in question won't be offended, because he or she already knows that the name is problematic.

Answer 3

Dear Sir/Madam is appropriate, however if you have a business title (eg Sales Manager) and a phone number just call the number and say to the person (possible the receptionist) at the other end that you would like to send a letter to the Sales Manager then ask her for the correct spelling of the name and reconfirm the title and gender with her (eg Would that be Mr Jordan Brown?).

Answer 4

Dear Sir/Madam,
To Whom It May Concern,
(Organization Name) Dear Yahoo! Answers,
(Title of Person) Dear Professor Smith, Doctor Jones, Your Honor, (if a judge)
(Department Personal) Dear Department of Human Resources, Refunds Department,

Answer 5

This depends or what the purpose of your correspondence is and if they would know who you were.

If you are collecting money or currying favour with people you could try : "Dear Supporter" or "Dear Fellow American".

If you are making a general query to an unknown person, say one that had contact details in a newspaper or on a website, you could try : "Dear Reader"

If you are applying for a job and don't like the impersonal feel of Dear Sir / Madam you could try "Greetings"

Finally, if you are writing a suicide note you could try "Dear Finder".

Answer 6

First of all, words have gender, people have sex.

If you don't know the sex of the person you are writing to, you should call and find out not just his or her sex but also his or her name.

As someone who used to do a lot of hiring, letters where the person did not bother to use my name were put at the bottom of the pile.

Answer 7

To Whom It May Concern

Answer 8

Dear Sir or Madam: is fine if you do not know the name.

If you do know the name, but are unsure of the gender, just put the persons name without a Mr/Mrs./Miss before it.

But Sir or Madam is usually best

Answer 9

To Whom It May Concern

Answer 10

To Whom It May Concern: