The word mayor often confuses people when it comes to capitalization. Is it mayor or Mayor? When do you capitalize it?
The work mayor can be a proper noun or a common noun depending on the context in which it is used.
If Mayor is used to refer to a specific person with a title, then it is capitalized such as:
- Mayor Michael Bloomberg
- Mayor Jenny Durkan
If used as a common noun, then the word mayor is lowercased such as in the following sentences:
- The mayor will announce his candidacy this morning.
- Michael Bloomberg was a great mayor.
According to English capitalization rules, proper nouns are always capitalized. Therefore, when referring to a person with the title Mayor, always capitalize the word.
What about mayoral? Should mayoral be capitalized?
Mayorial is not a proper noun naturally, so it should be lowercased unless used in an official event title such as the “50th Mayoral Inauguration.” However, if you are referring to an even that takes a while, such as the election cycle, then you would lowercase mayoral such as in “2017 Seattle mayoral election.”
For more title capitalization questions, use our free title capitalization tool here.
