Forum: english.stackexchange.com
Tags: <grammar><punctuation><commas><proper-nouns>
Title: Where should the comma be placed in the salutation of a letter?
Question: Sometimes I see a comma  after  the proper name:   Hello Mr. Black,  In order to give you....   But my native language is not English and I think that the comma in this phrase should be placed  before  the proper name:    Hello, Mr. Black.  In order to give you....   What is the correct punctuation in English?

Answers:
sents: text: Both are correct.
text: In a dialogue, a pause can be used for effect, putting emphasis on the greeting, eg:
text: Hello, Mr. Black.
text: "Hello" is said first, then a pause, then the name.
text: Normally, people would say: Hello Mr. Black.
text: Without any pauses in their speech.
text: When writing a letter or email, it is quite common to do this: Hello
text: Mr. Black, Bla bla bla... Or in a more formal situation: Dear Mr. Black, Bla bla bla...
text: It is uncommon to put a comma before the title even in an informal email salutation (though quite acceptable), but it would never be done in a formal letter/email.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/140/Vincent McNabb
score: 20
sents: text: Not placing a comma before a proper noun will change the object of the sentence.
text: These examples should explain: Let's eat, John!
text: (Correct)
text: Let's eat John!
text: (This means you'd like to eat John.)
text: Let's eat, everybody.
text: (Correct)
text: Let's eat everybody
text: (This means you'd like to eat everybody.)
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/53069/Peter Cornish
score: 9
sents: text: When I read Hello, Mr. Black
text: I find that I mentally need there to be a comma at the end as well, or perhaps a full stop.
text: Hello, Mr. Black, how are you today?
text: Hello, Mr. Black.
text: And the result is that the name is emphasized.
text: Whether you want to do this or not depends on the circumstances, but for letter writing this is usually not what you want.
text: If you simply want a standard greeting put the comma after the name (or a full stop if the greeting is your whole sentence).
text: Hello Mr. Black.
text: Hello
text: Mr. Black, how are you today?
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/380/Mr. Shiny and New 安宇
score: 6
sents: text: In formal writing you would put a comma after greetings: "Hello, Mark."
text: In emails and informal writing, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.
text: I, for one, feel self-conscious about using commas like that in emails; it seems too formal.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/2303/Robusto
score: 6
sents: text: In the specific case of the opening salutation I would not insert a comma between the greeting and the name if a comma came after the name, but I would if some other punctuation followed the name.
text: The following examples all "look correct" to me: "
text: Hi Mark, how are you?"
text: "Hi, Mark.
text: How are you?"
text: "Hello Mark, what's up?"
text: "Hello, Mark!
text: What's up?
text: "
text: But the "Hi, Mark, how have you been?"
text: example that you gave looks over-punctuated to me.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/2490/Hellion
score: 5
sents: text: The title of the question said “in a letter” in which case you would be better sticking to: Dear Mr. Black,
text: How are you today?
text: (The the rest of the letter follows.)
text: Other forms may be grammatically correct and certainly not a problem in an email.
text: But for a the more traditional context of a letter, I think your safest bet is this one.
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/19071/Philip Jones
score: 5
sents: text: You need to place a comma between the salutation and the name of the person addressed.
text: "
text: Hello, Mr. Black.
text: How are you today?"
answer_details: author: english.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 3

Summary of the answers:
It is considered that putting the comma before or after a persons name in a salutation is correct. There should be a comma after a greeting, but it may not be correct to place another comma after the person's name. In fact, it may be best not to place a comma before the name if a comma already follows the name.
There is no hard and fast rule but in salutations it is much more common to put the comma only after the name.
It is considered that putting the comma before or after a persons name in a salutation is correct. There should be a comma after a greeting, but it may not be correct to place another comma after the person's name. In fact, it may be best not to place a comma before the name if a comma already follows the name.
Some suggest that in case of the opening salutation you should not insert a comma between the greeting and the name if a comma came after the name, but only if some other punctuation followed the name.  Others say that you need to place a comma between the salutation and the name of the person addressed. The title of the question said “in a letter” in which case you would be better sticking to:   Dear Mr. Black,       
In a letter, it would be best to use "Dear Mr. Black,". It is uncommon to put a comma before the title even in an informal email salutation (though quite acceptable), but it would never be done in a formal letter/email.
The answer to this question appears to be subjective and there does not seem to be a correct answer. Some people will advocate avoiding commas before names whilst other may feel it is required. Other people may feel that a comma needs to follow the name. In any case, it is unlikely to have much importance which you choose.