title

Types

Titles include:

Honorific titles or styles of address, a phrase used to convey respect to the recipient of a communication, or to recognize an attribute such as:

Imperial, royal and noble rank

Academic degree

Social title, prevalent among certain sections of society due to historic or other reasons.

Other accomplishment, as with a title of honor

Title of authority, an identifier that specifies the office or position held by an official

Titles in English-speaking areas

Common titles

Mr. – All males

Ms. – Adult women

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 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 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.

Family titles in English-speaking countries include:

Uncle – one's parent's brother (may also include great uncles)

Cousin – son or daughter of either parent's brother or sister

Aunt or Aunty – one's parent's sister (may also include great aunts)

Granny, Gran, Grandma or Nana – one's grandmother (may also include great-grandmothers)

Pop, Grandpa, Gramps or Grandad – one's grandfather (may also include great-grandfathers)

Legislative and executive titles

Hon. (Honourable), for younger sons and daughters of barons, and Rt. Hon. (Right Honourable), for Privy Councillors, used in the United Kingdom

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

MP, for members of the Parliament (usually the lower house)

MYP, for members of the UK Youth Parliament

MSYP, for members of the Scottish Youth Parliament

Representative

Senator, for members of the American or Australian upper house

Speaker, for speaker of Parliament

President (from which comes such titles as Deputy President, Executive Vice President, Lord President of the Council, and Vice President)

Councillor, for member of a council

Youth Councillor (YC)

Alderman/Selectman

Delegate

Mayor and related terms such as Lady Mayoress and Lord Mayor

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Prefect

Prelate

Premier

Burgess

Ambassador

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 ('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 the Holy Roman Empire and its subsidiary territories until 1918 which is still used in Liechtenstein (Monaco still uses the title Prince to this day, even though it was not a part of the Holy Roman Empire), and in Imperial Russia before 1917. The German title is Fürst ('first'), a translation of the Latin term; the equivalent Russian term is князь (knyaz).

Archduke/Archduchess – A title derived from the Greek Archon ('ruler; higher') and the Latin Dux ('leader'). It was used most notably by the Habsburg Dynasty, who ruled Austria and Hungary until 1918.

Grand Duke/Grand Duchess – 'Big; large' + Latin Dux ('leader'). 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 Old French marche meaning 'border'; exact English translation is 'March Lord', or 'Lord of the March'.

Count/Countess - From the Latin comes meaning 'companion'. The word was used by the Roman Empire in its Byzantine period as an honorific with a meaning roughly equivalent to modern English peer. It became the title of those who commanded field armies in the Empire, as opposed to Dux, which commanded locally based forces.

Earl (used in the United Kingdom instead of Count, but the feminine equivalent is Countess) – 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.

Titles used by knights, dames, baronets and baronetesses

Sir – Used by knights and baronets

Dame – Used by dames 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 (French)

Cavaliere (Italian)

Judicial titles

Advocate

Advocate General (AG)

Attorney

Bailiff

Barrister

Chancellor (C) (of the High Court)

Judge and Admiralty Judge

Justice (J)

Chief Justice or Lord Chief Justice (CJ) (of the judiciary)

Lord Justice Clerk

Lord Justice of Appeal (LJ) (of the Court of Appeal)

Justice of the Peace

Magistrate and Promagistrate

Master of the Rolls (MR) (of the Court of Appeal)

Member and Chairman, for members of quasi-judicial boards

Mufti and Grand Mufti

Notary

President (P) (of the Queen's/King's Bench Division) or President (P) (of the Family Division)

Lord President of the Court of Session

Privy Counsellor (or Privy Councillor) (PC) (of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council)

Queen's Counsel (QC) (King's Counsel (KC) when monarch is male)

Solicitor

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.

Abbess

Abbot

Brother – also for monks

Friar

Mother, Mother Superior, and Reverend Mother

Reverend

Sister – for religious sisters and nuns

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

Bishop (from which come Archbishop, Boy Bishop, Lord Archbishop, Metropolitan Bishop, and Prince Bishop)

Presbyter

Priest (from which comes High Priest. The feminine equivalent is Priestess.)

Father (Fr.)

Patriarch

Pope

Catholicos

Vicar

Chaplain

Canon

Pastor

Prelate

Primate

Dom – from Latin: Dominus, 'Lord'. Used for Benedictine monks in solemn religious vows, but reserved for abbots among the Trappists. In Brazil, it is used for bishops.

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.

Admiral (from which come Grand Admiral, Fleet Admiral, Lord High Admiral, Rear Admiral, and Vice Admiral)

Brigadier

Captain (from which comes Group Captain)

Colonel (from which comes Lieutenant Colonel)

Commander (from which come Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant Commander, and Wing Commander)

Commodore (from which comes Air Commodore)

Corporal (from which come Lance Corporal and Staff Corporal)

General is usually used as a sort of shorthand for "general military commander". The term's far-reaching connotation has provoked its use in a very broad range of titles, including Adjutant General, Attorney General, Captain General, Colonel General, Director General, Generalissimo, General of the Army, Governor General, Lieutenant General, Lord Justice General, Major General, Resident General, Secretary General, Solicitor General, Surgeon General and Vicar General

Lieutenant (from which come First Lieutenant, Flight Lieutenant and Lord Lieutenant)

Major

Marshal (from which comes Air Chief Marshal, Air Marshal, Air Vice Marshal and Field Marshal)

Mate, more often titled as Chief Mate or First Mate

Officer, a generic sort of title whose use has spread in recent years into a wide array of mostly corporate and military titles. These include Air Officer, Chief Academic Officer, Chief analytics officer, Chief Business Development Officer, Chief Credit Officer, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Information Security Officer, chief knowledge officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Petty Officer, Chief Risk Officer, Chief Security Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Technical Officer, Chief Warrant Officer, Corporate officer, Customs officer, Field officer, First Officer, Flag Officer, Flying Officer, General Officer, Intelligence Officer, Junior Warrant Officer, Master Chief Petty Officer, Master Warrant Officer, Officer of State, Petty Officer, Pilot Officer, Police Officer, Political Officer, Revenue Officer, Senior Officer, Ship's Officer, Staff Officer, and Warrant Officer.

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 (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 (see Second Mate & Third Mate)

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.

Constable (from which come Lord High Constable and Senior Constable)

Agent

Sergeant

Officer

Chief

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 (and many specialist professional psychologists) are protected. An international survey on the different protection of terms for psychologists found wide differences in regulations across different jurisdictions.

Professional Engineer, Registered Engineer, Engineer (in Quebec)

Professional Nurse, Registered Nurse, Nurse

Other organizations

Some titles are used to show a person's role or position in a society or organization.

Principal

Nanny

Coach

Wizard, such as the Grand Wizard and Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan

Brother or Sister, often used, in particular, to signify membership of some religious orders

Father, often used to identify a priest

Chief Scout (The Scout Association) – the head of The Scout Association

King's Scout – title conferred upon a scout upon achieving highest attainable award achievable in the Scouting movement

Queen's Guide – title conferred upon a guide upon highest attainable award for members of the Girl Guiding movement

Scout, Eagle Scout

Grandmaster

Doctor is often used to identify a person as a physician, but is also an honorific for anyone holding a doctorate in any field.

Some titles are used in English to refer to the position of people in foreign political systems

Citizen, First Citizen

Comrade

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

Docent

Doctorandus, abbreviated as drs.

Religious

Ayatollah

Seghatoleslam

Bodhisattva

Bhagat

Druid and Archdruid

Granthi

Guru

Hakham

Buddha

Hajji

Imam

Jathedar

Jathedarni

Kohen

Lama and the related Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama

Mahatma

Mahdi

Mullah

Mawlana

Mawlawi

Nath

Pastor

Pujari

Rabbi

Rebbe

Reverend

Rosh HaYeshiva

Rishi

Saoshyant

Sadhu

Sadhvi

Sardar

Sardarni

Honorary titles

Mahatma

Oknha

Pandit

Sant

Sheikh

Swami

Ustad

Rulers

Chancellor (from which come Lord Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor)

"Dear Leader" and "Supreme Leader" referred to Kim Jong-il as chief of North Korea. The title now refers to his son and successor Kim Jong-un. (친애하는 지도자, ch'inaehanŭn jidoja)

Elder

Emir/Emira – Arabic Prince/Princess

Eze

Maharajah

Rajah

Rai

Babu

Dato

Mwami

Nizam

Oba

Obi

Sultan/Sultana (title) – Arabic for 'powerful ruler'

Chief – origin of Chief of Staff, Chieftain, Clan Chief, Hereditary Chief, and War Chief. The present head of Samoa is titled a Paramount Chief

Vizier and Grand Vizier

Stadtholder

The following are no longer officially in use, though some may be claimed by former regnal dynasties.

Caesar (an honorific family name passed through Roman emperors by adoption)

Legate

Satrap

Tetrarch

Aristocratic

Russian:

Boyarin

Dyak

Knyaz (and Veliky Knyaz)

Namestnik

Okolnichy

Posadnik

Voyevoda

German:

Burggraf

Graf

Freigraf

Landgraf

Markgraf

Pfalzgraf

Reichsgraf

Spanish:

Don

Hidalgo

Others:

Augusta (feminine equivalent of Augustus)

Bitwoded (translates as 'beloved')

Comes

Concubine (the Chinese imperial system, for instance, had a vastly complex hierarchy of titled concubines and wives to the emperor)

Dejazmach (translates as 'Commander of the Gate')

Fitawrari (translates as 'Leader of the Vanguard')

Gentleman (used as a title in such forms as Gentleman at Arms, Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and Gentleman Usher. The feminine equivalent is Gentlewoman, or, in some circumstances, Lady.)

Other

Commissioner (from which come First Church Estates Commissioner and High Commissioner)

Comptroller (from which Comptroller General and Comptroller of the Household)

Courtier

Curator

Doyen

Edohen

Ekegbian

Elerunwon

Forester or Master Forester

Headman

Intendant (and the related Superintendent)

Lamido

Marcher or Lady Marcher

Matriarch or Patriarch

Prior, Lord Prior

Pursuivant

Rangatira

Ranger

Registrar (in a variant spelling in the title Lord Clerk Register)

Seigneur (from which come Monsignor and the French common polite term Monsieur, equivalent to Mister)

Sharif

Shehu

Sheikh

Sheriff (from which comes High Sheriff)

Subaltern

Historical

Abuna

Aedile

Ali'i

Aqabe sa'at (translates as Guardian of the Church Hours)

Balambaras (translates as Fortress Commander)

Bán

Baig

Bey

Boyar

Castellan

Cellarer

Censor

Centurion

Circuitor

Commissar, often as People's Commissar

Conquistador

Daimyō

Dey

Dux

Elector

Gauleiter

Guardian

Ichege

Infirmerer

Inquisitor and Grand Inquisitor

Jemadar

Kitchener

Mage

Magister Militum

Majordomo

Maid – archaic title denoting an unmarried woman, such as the character Maid Marian. Should not be confused with the general term for a young domestic worker/housemaid.

Post-nominal letters

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

Member of Congress: MC

Member of Parliament: MP

Member of the European Parliament: MEP

Member of the Scottish Parliament: MSP

Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament: MSYP

Member of the Youth Parliament: MYP

Member of Provincial Parliament: MPP

Member of the National Assembly: MNA

Member of the House of Keys: MHK

Speaker of the House of Keys: SHK

Member of the Legislative Council: MLC

Member of the Legislative Assembly: MLA

Member of the House of Representatives: Rep.

Member of the House of Assembly: MHA

University degrees

Associate

AA – Associate of Arts

AAS – Associate of Applied Science

AS – Associate of Science

Bachelor

BA – Bachelor of Arts

BArch – Bachelor of Architecture

BBA – Bachelor of Business Administration

BSBA – Bachelor of Science of Business Administration

BBiotech – Bachelor of Biotechnology

BDS / BChD – Bachelor of Dental Surgery

BDentTech – Bachelor of Dental Technology

BDes – Bachelor of Design

BD / BDiv – Bachelor of Divinity

BEd – Bachelor of Education

BEng – Bachelor of Engineering

BEnvd – Bachelor of Environmental Design

BFA – Bachelor of Fine Arts

LLB – Bachelor of Laws

BMath – Bachelor of Mathematics

MB, ChB / MB, BS / BM, BCh / MB, BChir – Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery

BMus – Bachelor of Music