Title


A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the first and last name. Some titles are hereditary.

Types

Titles include:

Titles in English-speaking areas

Common titles

  • Mr. – All males
  • Ms. – Adult women
  • Mrs. – Married women
  • Miss – Unmarried women and girls
  • Madam – Formal form of address for an adult woman. Also used with an official position, similar to "Mister" for men, e.g. "Madam/Mister Ambassador"

Controversy around usage of common titles

Some people object to the usage of titles to denote marital status, age or gender. In 2018, a campaign named GoTitleFree was launched to encourage businesses to stop requesting, storing and using marital status titles in their registration forms, and when speaking with customers, launched on the grounds that titles often lead to assumptions about a woman's age or availability for marriage, and exclude non-binary people. This is in line with established practice advocated by the World Wide Web Consortium and the Government Digital Service, which sets the standard for UK government online services. This in turn means that titles are optional on UK passports and driving licences.

Familial

Family titles in English-speaking countries include:
  • Uncle – one's parent's brother
  • Cousin _ son or daughter of either parent's brother or sister
  • Aunt or Aunty – one's parent's sister
  • Granny, Gran, Grandma or Nana – one's grandmother
  • Pop, Grandpa, Gramps or Grandad – one's grandfather

Legislative and executive titles

Some job titles of members of the legislature and executive are used as titles.

Aristocratic titles

  • Prince/Princess – From the Latin princeps, meaning 'first person' or 'first citizen'. The title was originally used by Augustus at the establishment of the Roman Empire to avoid the political risk of assuming the title Rex in what was technically still a republic. In modern times, the title is often given to the sons and daughters of ruling monarchs. Also a title of certain ruling monarchs under the Holy Roman Empire and its subsidiary territories until 1918 which is still used in Liechtenstein, and in Imperial Russia before 1917. The German title is Fürst, a translation of the Latin term; the equivalent Russian term is князь.
  • Archduke/Archduchess – A title derived from the Greek and the Latin Dux. It was used most notably by the Habsburg Dynasty, who ruled Austria and Hungary until 1918.
  • Grand Duke/Grand Duchess – 'Big; large' + Latin Dux. A variant of Archduke, used particularly in English translations Romanov Dynasty Russian titles. Also used in various Germanic territories until World War I. Still survives in Luxembourg.
  • Duke/Duchess – From the Latin Dux, a military title used in the Roman Empire, especially in its early Byzantine period when it designated the military commander for a specific zone.
  • Marquis, Marquess/Marquise, or Marchioness – From the French marchis, literally 'ruler of a border area' – From the Germanic jarl, meaning 'chieftain', the title was brought to the British Isles by the Anglo-Saxons and survives in use only there, having been superseded in Scandinavia and on the European continent.
  • Viscount/Viscountess - From the Latin vicarius appended to Latin comes. Literally translates as 'Deputy Count'.
  • Baron/Baroness - From the Late Latin Baro, meaning 'man, servant, soldier'. The title originally designated the chief feudal tenant of a place, who was in vassalage to a greater lord.
In the United Kingdom, Lord and Lady are used as titles for members of the nobility. Unlike titles such as Mr and Mrs, they are not used before first names except in certain circumstances, for example as courtesy titles for younger sons, etc., of peers. In Scotland, Lord of Parliament and Lady of Parliament are the equivalents of Baron and Baroness in England.
  • Lord – From the Old English hlāford, hlāfweard, meaning, literally, 'bread-keeper', from hlāf + weard and by extension 'husband, father, or chief'. The feminine equivalent is Lady from the related Old English hlǣfdīġe meaning, literally, "bread-kneader", from hlāf + dīġe, and by extension wife, daughter, or mistress of the house.
  • Emperor/Empress – From the Latin Imperator, meaning 'he/she who holds the authority to command '.
  • King/Queen – Derived from Old Norse/Germanic words. The original meaning of the root of king apparently meant 'leader of the family' or 'descendant of the leader of the family', and the original meaning of queen meant 'wife'. By the time the words came into English they already meant 'ruler'.
  • Tsar/Tsarina – Slavonic loan-word from Latin.
  • Caesar – The name of Julius Caesar taken by his heir Augustus and thereafter by Augustus' successors as Roman Emperor through the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Loaned into German as Kaiser.
  • Leader – From Old English lædan, meaning "to guide". The head of state of North Korea is titled Great Leader. The de facto head of state of Iran is titled Supreme Leader.
  • Chief – A variation of the English "Prince", used as the short form of the word "Chieftain". Generally used to refer to a recognised leader within a chieftaincy system. From this come the variations paramount chief, clan chief and village chief. The feminine equivalent is Chieftess.
Male versionFemale versionRealmAdjectiveLatinExamples
Popen/aPapacyPapalPapaMonarch of the Papal States and later Sovereign of the State of Vatican City
EmperorEmpressEmpireImperator Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Russia, First and Second French Empire, Austria, Mexican [Empire (disambiguation)|Mexican Empire], Empire of Brazil, German Empire, Empress of India, Japan.
KingQueenKingdomRoyalRex Common in larger sovereign states
ViceroyVicereineViceroyaltyViceroyal, ViceregalProconsulHistorical: Spanish Empire, Portuguese Empire, British Empire
Grand DukeGrand DuchessGrand duchyGrand DucalMagnus DuxToday: Luxembourg; historical: Lithuania, Baden, Grand [Duchy of Finland|Finland], Tuscany et al.
ArchdukeArchduchessArchduchyArchducalArci DuxHistorical: Unique only in Austria, Archduchy of Austria; title used for member of the Habsburg dynasty
PrincePrincessPrincipality, Princely statePrincelyPrincepsToday: Monaco, Liechtenstein, Asturies, Wales; Andorra. Historical: Albania, Serbia
DukeDuchessDuchyDucalDuxDuke of Buccleuch, Duke of York, Duke of Devonshire et al.
CountCountessCountyComitalComesMost common in the Holy Roman Empire, translated in German as Graf; historical: Portugal, Barcelona, Brandenburg, Baden, numerous others
BaronBaronessBaronyBaronialBaroThere are normal baronies and sovereign baronies, a sovereign barony being comparable to a principality; however, this is an historical exception: sovereign barons no longer have a sovereign barony, but only the title and style
ChiefChieftainessChiefdom, ChieftaincyChieflyCapitaneusThe clan chiefs of Scotland, the grand chiefs in the Papua New Guinean honours system, the Principal Chiefs of the Cherokee|chief of the Cherokee nation], the chiefs of the Nigerian chieftaincy system, numerous others

Titles used by knights, dames, baronets and baronetesses

Both the titles "Sir" and "Dame" differ from titles such as "Mr" and "Mrs" in that they can only be used before a person's first name, and not immediately before their surname. Neither "Sir" or "Dame" confer nobility upon the titleholder.
  • Chevalier
  • Cavaliere

Judicial titles

Historical

Ecclesiastical titles (Christian)

Titles are used to show somebody's ordination as a priest or their membership in a religious order. Use of titles differs between denominations.

Religious

Priests

Christian priests often have their names prefixed with a title similar to The Reverend.

Used for deceased persons only

Other

Academic titles

  • Dr. – Short for doctor, a title used by those with doctoral degrees, such as PhD, DPhil, MD, DO, DDS, EdD, DCN, DBA, DNP, PharmD, DVM, and LLD. Those with JD degrees, although technically allowed, do not use this as a title by convention.
  • Prof. – Professor
  • Doc. – Docent
  • EUR ING – Short for European Engineer, an international professional qualification and title for highly qualified engineers used in over 32 European countries.

Military titles

Military ranks are used before names.

Maritime titles

The names of shipboard officers, certain shipping line employees and Maritime Academy faculty/staff are preceded by their title when acting in performance of their duties.
  • Captain – a ship's highest responsible officer acting on behalf of the ship's owner or a person who is responsible for the maintenance of the vessels of a shipping line, for their docking, the handling of cargo and for the hiring of personnel for deck departments.
  • Chief – a licensed mariner in charge of the engineering or deck department
  • Mate – licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship
  • Cadet – unlicensed trainee mate/officer or engineer under training

Law enforcement

The names of police officers may be preceded by a title such as "Officer" or by their rank.

Protected professional titles

In several jurisdictions, the use of some professional titles is restricted to people holding a valid and recognised license to practice. Unqualified individuals who use these reserved titles may be fined or jailed. Protected titles may be limited to those professions that require a bachelor's degree or higher and a state, provincial, or national license.
Usage varies between countries. For example, in the United Kingdom nutritionist and psychologist, titles protected in many countries, are not protected, and anybody can so describe themselves, while dietitian and clinical psychologist are protected. An international survey on the different protection of terms for psychologists found wide differences in regulations across different jurisdictions.

Other organizations

Some titles are used to show a person's role or position in a society or organization.
Some titles are used in English to refer to the position of people in foreign political systems

Non-English speaking areas

Default titles in other languages

In many of those languages the title for unmarried female is considered to be antiquated and may be considered as legally improper.

Martial arts

  • Sensei - used for martial arts instructors
  • Senpai - used for junior karate instructors and karate instructors in training
  • Karate-ka - used for karate students
  • Judge - used for the judges and referees at martial arts tournaments
  • Master - used for kung-fu instructors or people who have studied the art their entire life

Academic

Religious

Honorary titles

Rulers

Historical titles for heads of state

The following are no longer officially in use, though some may be claimed by former regnal dynasties.
Appointed
When a difference exists below, male titles are placed to the left and female titles are placed to the right of the slash.

Aristocratic

Historical

Other

Historical

Post-nominal letters

Members of legislatures often have post-nominal letters expressing their membership.

University degrees