Page 371 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford

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Do you think Roberts would make a good President? The 5,000 metres was won by Jones.
I don't think Eliot is a very good dramatist.
Thatcher was the first British woman Prime Minister.
Surnames alone are sometimes used for employees (especially male employees), and by members of groups (especially all-male groups like soldiers, schoolboys, team members) when they refer to each other.
Tell Patterson to come and see me at once. Let's put Billows in goal and move Carter up.
talking to people
When we talk to people we generally name them in one of two ways.
a first name
This is informal, used for example to relatives, friends and children.
Hello, Pamela. How are you?
b title + surname
This is more formal or respectful.
Good morning, Miss WiUiamson.
Note that we do not usually use both the first name and the surname of a person that we are talking to. It would be unusual to say 'Hello, Peter Matthews', for example.
Members of all-male groups sometimes address each other by their surnames alone (e.g. 'Hello, Smith), but this is unusual in modem English.
Mr, Mrs and Ms are not generally used alone.
Excuse me. Can you tell me the time? (NOT &t;f;tSfJ file, M r or &t;f;tSfJ me. Mrs.)
Doctor can be used alone to talk to medical doctors whom one is consulting, but not usually in other cases.
Doctor, I've got this pain in my elbow.
Sir and madam are used in Britain mostly by people in service occupations (e.g. shop assistants). Some employees call their male employers sir, and some schoolchildren call their teachers sir or miss. Dear Sir and Dear Madam are common ways of beginning letters to strangers (see 146) - note the capital letters. In other situations sir and madam are unusual in British English.
Excuse me. Can you tell me the time? (NOT Exef;tSfJ me, ail' .•. )
In American English, sir and ma'am are less formal than in British English, and are quite often used (especially in the South and West) when addressing people.
notes on titles
Note the pronunciations of the titles Mr, Mrs and Ms (used before names): Mr /,rrusta(r)/ Mrs /'mIslz/ Ms /mIz/ or /maz/
Mr (= Mister) is not normally written in full, and the other two cannot be. Like Mr, Ms does not show whether somebody is married or not. It is often used, especially in writing, to talk about or address women when one does not know (or has no reason to say) whether they are married. Many women also choose to use Ms before their own names in preference to Mrs or Miss. Ms is a relatively new title: it has been in common use in Britain since the 1970s, and a
little longer in the United States.
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names and titles: Peter; Mr Lewis 363
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