I am from the United States, and here, married women can be called either Mrs. or Ms., and unmarried women can be called either Miss or Ms., while men remain Mr. whether they are married or not. I've studied Spanish, which has Señorita for unmarried women and Señora for married women, and men remain Señor. In looking up this subject, I found this article that discussed the subject in England and France. In addition to England and France, is this pretty consistent throughout other languages and societies in the world? Has it changed over time? Is this because of patriarchy, and is it different in places like Iceland, where (I've been told) last names are passed down from the mother's side?
Thank you very much!
Related question, what's the story with Master? I rarely see it in books but formal post addressed to under-18 males commonly seems to use it instead of Mister, although that seems to have got less common over time. Was it once more widely used?
Iceland doesn't have last names as such. Usually they have patronyms which are passed through the father's side. As in father-name + "son"/"daughter".