Atitle 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 (for example,Graf inGerman or clerical titles such asCardinal inCatholic usage –Richard Cardinal Cushing). Some titles arehereditary.
Mrs. – Married women (includes widows and divorcées)
Miss – Unmarried women and girls (form of address)
Madam (also Madame and Ma'am) – Formal form of address for an adult woman. Also used with an official position, similar to "Mister" for men, e.g. "Madam/Mister Ambassador"
Some people object to the usage of titles to denote marital status, age or gender. In 2018, a campaign named GoTitleFree[1] 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 (though various titles, such as Mx., are increasingly used in some countries). This is in line with established practice advocated by the World Wide Web Consortium[2] and the Government Digital Service,[3] which sets the standard for UK government online services. This in turn means that titles are optional on UK passports and driving licences.
Prince/Princess – From theLatinprinceps, meaning 'first person' or 'first citizen'. The title was originally used byAugustus at the establishment of theRoman Empire to avoid the political risk of assuming the titleRex ('King') 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 theHoly Roman Empire and its subsidiary territories until 1918 which is still used inLiechtenstein (Monaco still uses the title Prince to this day, even though it was not a part of the Holy Roman Empire), and inImperial Russia before 1917. The German title isFürst ('first'), a translation of the Latin term;[a] the equivalent Russian term isкнязь (knyaz).
Grand Duke/Grand Duchess – 'Big; large' + LatinDux ('leader'). A variant ofArchduke, used particularly in English translationsRomanov Dynasty Russian titles. Also used in various Germanic territories untilWorld War I. Still survives inLuxembourg.
Duke/Duchess – From the LatinDux, a military title used in theRoman Empire, especially in its earlyByzantine period when it designated the military commander for a specific zone.
Marquis,Marquess/Marquise, orMarchioness – From the Frenchmarchis, literally 'ruler of a border area' (from the Old Frenchmarche meaning 'border'; exact English translation is 'March Lord', or 'Lord of the March'.
Count/Countess - From the Latincomes meaning 'companion'. The word was used by the Roman Empire in its Byzantine period as an honorific with a meaning roughly equivalent to modern Englishpeer. It became the title of those who commanded field armies in the Empire, as opposed toDux, which commanded locally based forces.
Earl (used in theUnited Kingdom instead ofCount, but the feminine equivalent isCountess) – From the Germanicjarl, 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 Latinvicarius ('Deputy; substitute'. Hencevicar and prefixvice-) appended to Latincomes. Literally translates as 'Deputy Count'.
Baron/Baroness - From theLate LatinBaro, meaning 'man, servant, soldier'. The title originally designated the chief feudal tenant of a place, who was in vassalage to a greater lord.
In theUnited Kingdom, Lord and Lady areused 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. InScotland,Lord of Parliament and Lady of Parliament are the equivalents of Baron and Baroness inEngland.
Lord – From the Old Englishhlāford,hlāfweard, meaning, literally, 'bread-keeper', fromhlāf ('bread') +weard ('guardian, keeper') and by extension 'husband, father, or chief'. (From which comes modified titles such asFirst Sea Lord andLord of the Manor.) The feminine equivalent isLady from the related Old Englishhlǣfdīġe meaning, literally, "bread-kneader", fromhlāf ("bread") +dīġe ("maid"), and by extension wife, daughter, or mistress of the house. (From which comesFirst Lady, the anachronisticSecond Lady, etc.)
Emperor/Empress – From the LatinImperator, meaning 'he/she who holds the authority to command (imperium)'.
King/Queen – Derived fromOld Norse/Germanic words. The original meaning of the root ofking apparently meant 'leader of the family' or 'descendant of the leader of the family', and the original meaning ofqueen meant 'wife'. By the time the words came into English they already meant 'ruler'.
Tsar/Tsarina (Tsaritsa) – Slavonic loan-word from Latin.
Chief – A variation of the English "Prince", used as the short form of the word "Chieftain" (except for inScotland, where "Chieftain" is a title held by a titleholder subordinate to a chief). Generally used to refer to a recognised leader within achieftaincy system. From this come the variationsparamount chief,clan chief andvillage chief. The feminine equivalent isChieftess.
There 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
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.
Dr. – Short fordoctor, a title used by those with doctoral degrees, such asPhD,DPhil,MD,DO,DDS,EdD,DCN,DBA,DNP,PharmD,DVM, andLLD. Those withJD degrees, although technically allowed, do not use this as a title by convention.
EUR ING – Short forEuropean Engineer, an international professional qualification and title for highly qualified engineers used in over 32 European countries.
The names of shipboard officers, certain shipping line employees andMaritime 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 (Master) 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 (Port Captain).
Chief – a licensed mariner in charge of the engineering (Chief Engineer) or deck (Chief Mate or Officer) department
Mate – licensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship (seeSecond Mate &Third Mate)
Cadet – unlicensed trainee mate/officer or engineer under training
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 abachelor's degree[5] or higher and a state, provincial, or national license.
Usage varies between countries. For example, in the United Kingdom "nutritionist" and "psychologist",[6][7] titles protected in many countries, are not protected, and anybody can so describe themselves, while "dietitian" and "chartered psychologist" (and many specialist psychologist terms) are protected. An international survey on the different protection of terms for psychologists found wide differences in regulations across different jurisdictions.[8]
It should be, noted, however, that in many of those languages the title for unmarried female is considered to be antiquated and may be considered as legally improper.
"Dear Leader" and "Supreme Leader" referred toKim Jong-il as chief of North Korea. The title now refers to his son and successorKim Jong-un. (친애하는 지도자,ch'inaehanŭn jidoja)
Mirza, Persian/Iranian, Indian and Afghanistan and Tajikistan King
Beg (Begzada or Begzadi, son-daughter ofBeg),Baig orBey in UnderMirza and using King or Military title.
Patil – meaning 'head' or 'chief'; an Indian title. The Patil is in effect the ruler of this territory as he was entitled to the revenues collected therefrom.
Phrabat Somdej Phrachaoyuhua –King of Thailand (Siam), the title literally means 'the feet of the Greatest Lord who is on the heads (of his subjects)'. This royal title does not refer directly to the king himself but to his feet, according to traditions.
Aceh,Brunei,Java,Oman,Malaysia, Sultan is the title of seven (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu) of the nine rulers of the Malay states.
Susuhanan – the Indonesian princely state of Surakarta until its abolition
Tengku –Malaysia,Indonesia, Tengku (also spelled Tunku in Johor), Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Deli Sultanate of Indonesia is roughly equivalent to Prince or Princess
Großbürger/Großbürgerin (English: Grand Burgher) – historical German title acquired or inherited by persons and family descendants of theruling class in autonomous German-speaking cities and towns of Central Europe, origin under theHoly Roman Empire, ceased after 1919 along with all titles of German nobility.
Kaiser/Kaiserin – Imperial rulers of Germany and of Austria-Hungary
Kniaz'/Knyaginya/Knez/Knjeginja (generally translated as 'prince') – Kievan Rus'/Serbia
Rí, Rí túaithe, Ruiri, Rí ruireach, andArd Rí – King, local king, regional overking, (provincial) king of overkings, andHigh King inGaelic Ireland, also Scotland
Mo'i – normally translated as King, used by Hawaiian monarchs since unification in 1810. The last person to hold the title wasQueen Lili'uokalani.[citation needed]
Maid – archaic title denoting an unmarried woman, such as the characterMaid Marian. Should not be confused with the general term for a youngdomestic worker/housemaid.
^Popess, the title of a character found inTarot cards, is based upon thePope of the Roman Catholic Church. As the Bishop of Rome is an office always forbidden to women, there is no formal feminine of Pope, which comes from the Latin wordpapa (an affectionate form of the Latin for "father"). The legendary femalePope Joan is also referred to asPopess.[4] Nonetheless, some European languages, along with English, have formed a feminine form of the wordpope, such as the Italianpapessa, Frenchpapesse, Portuguesepapisa, and GermanPäpstin.
^Prince of Wales is a title granted, following an investiture, to the eldest son of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom – he is not a monarch in his own right.
^Kirsch, Johann Peter (October 1, 1910)."Popess Joan".Catholic Encyclopedia.New Advent.Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. RetrievedNovember 10, 2023.
Media related toTitles at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition oftitle at Wiktionary