1. In an electronic mail system, a method for resolving a display name associated with an intended recipient of a message item, comprising the steps of: receiving in an address field said display name; determining whether said display name uniquely matches one of a plurality of registered users of said electronic mail system; and in response to said display name uniquely matching one of said registered users, displaying in said address field recipient data corresponding to said matching registered user, otherwise, displaying ambiguous address data in said address field.