<P> During the Ancien Régime, a female commoner was always addressed as mademoiselle, even when married, madame being limited to women of the high nobility, even if they were not married . This practice ceased after the French Revolution . </P> <P> A traditional address to a crowd of people is Mesdames, Messieurs or Mesdames, Mesdemoiselles, Messieurs--whose order of words represents decreasing degrees of respect . An informal variant is Messieurs - Dames; it is considered as ill - mannered by purists . </P> <P> It is normally impolite to address people by their given names unless one is a family member, a friend or a close colleague of comparable hierarchic importance . One also does not address people by their last name only unless in a work environment . Also, contrary to English or German usage, it is considered impolite to address someone as monsieur X when talking to that person: a mere monsieur should be used, monsieur X being reserved for talking about M. X to another person . </P> <P> When speaking of someone, monsieur / madame given name family name, by far the most polite form of address, is generally reserved for the most solemn occasions . Monsieur / madame family name or given name family name is polite and used in normal formal occasions, as well as in the formal quality press (Le Monde, Le Monde diplomatique, for example). By contrast, in colloquial usage the family names of personalities are used alone . Formally, a married or widowed woman can be called by the given name of her husband (madame (given name of husband) family name or madame veuve (given name of husband) family name); this is now slightly out of fashion, except on formal invitation cards (in France, on a formal invitation card, the traditional formula is always a variant of "Madame Jean Dupont recevra ...". The traditional use of the first name of the woman's husband is now felt in this context as a way to include the husband as equally inviting alongside his wife, while keeping the tradition of reception being formally held by the wife . </P>

Where does the last name real come from