Email addresses often utilize special characters. The inclusion of a hyphen within the local part (the portion before the “@” symbol) is generally permitted, according to Internet standards outlined in RFC 5322. For instance, “john-smith@example.com” is a syntactically valid email address.
The acceptance of hyphens contributes to address flexibility, allowing for more descriptive or personalized identifiers. Historically, email address structures were more restrictive, but evolving standards have broadened acceptable character sets. This enables users and organizations to create addresses that are easier to remember or align with branding conventions.