Royal And Noble Ranks - Nobility Titles

Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and between geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duke), the following is a reasonably comprehensive list that provides information on both general ranks and specific differences.

Ranks and title

Sovereign

• The word monarch is derived from the Greek μονάρχης, monárkhÄ"s, "sole ruler" (from μόνος, mónos, "single" or "sole", and ἄρχων, árkhōn, archon, "leader", "ruler", "chief", the word being the present participle of the verb ἄρχειν, árkhein, "to rule", "to lead", this from the noun ὰρχή, arkhÄ", "beginning", "authority", "principle") through the Latinized form monarcha.
• The word sovereign is derived from the Latin above.
• Autocrat is derived from the Greek αὐτοκράτωρ: αὐτός ("self") and κρατείν ("to hold power"), and may be translated as "one who rules by himself".

Common titles for European and Near Eastern monarchs

Note that many titles listed may also be used by lesser nobles â€" non-sovereigns â€" depending on the historical period and state. The sovereign titles listed below are grouped together into categories roughly according to their degree of dignity; these being: imperial (Emperor, Empress, etc.), high royal (King of Kings etc.), royal (King/Queen, sovereign Grand Duke or Grand Prince, etc.), others (sovereign Prince, sovereign Duke, etc.), and religious.

Imperial titles

• Emperor, from the Latin Imperator, meaning "commander" or "one who commands". In English, the feminine form is Empress (the Latin is imperatrix). The realm of an emperor or empress is termed an Empire. Other words meaning Emperor include:
  • Caesar, the appellation of Roman emperors derived from the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, whose great-nephew and adopted son Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus became the first emperor of Rome. Augustus' four successors were each made the adoptive son of his predecessor, and were therefore legally entitled to use "Caesar" as a constituent of their names; after Nero, however, the familial link of the Julio-Claudian dynasty was disrupted and use of the word Caesar continued as a title only.
  • Kaiser, derived from Caesar, primarily used in Germanic countries.
  • Basileus, from Mycenaean Greek meaning "chieftain", later used for the Roman emperors of the Byzantine period.
  • Tsar / Czar / Csar / Tzar, derived from Caesar, the feminine form Tsarina, primarily used in Bulgaria, and after that in Russia and other Slavic countries.
  • Samraat, (Sanskrit: samrāṭ or सम्राज् samrāj) is an Ancient Indian title sometimes translated into modern English as "Emperor". The feminine form is Samrãjñī.
  • Chhatrapati, (Devanagari: छत्रपती) is the Indian royal title equivalent to an Emperor. The word ‘Chhatrapati’ is from Sanskrit chatra (roof or umbrella) and pati (master/Owner/ruler); Chhatrapati thus indicates a person who gives shade to his followers and protects their success.
  • Sapa Inca,The Sapa Inca (Hispanicized spelling) or Sapa Inka (Quechua for "the only Inca"), also known as Apu ("divinity"), Inka Qhapaq ("mighty Inca"), or simply Sapa ("the only one"), was the ruler of the Kingdom of Cusco and, later, the Emperor of the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu) and the Neo-Inca State.

High royal titles

• King of Kings mostly used in Christian contexts to denote Jesus Christ or the Christian Roman emperors of the Late Empire and Byzantine periods.
  • Shahanshah, literally "King of Kings" in Middle Persian šāhān šāh, meaning "King's King." Used in Persia and surrounding countries.
  • Sultan of Sultans, literally "King of Kings" in Ottoman Turkish Sulṭānü's-Selāṭīn, meaning "King's King." Used in Turkey and surrounding countries of the Ottoman dynasty.
  • Taewang, literally "Supreme King", a Korean title for the rulers of the Goguryeo Empire and later dynasties such as the Kingdom of Joseon.
  • NÉ™gusä Nägäst, title of the Emperors of Ethiopia, meaning "King of Kings".
  • Mansa, title of the Emperors of the Mali Empire, meaning King of Kings.
  • Mepe-Mepeta, Georgian for "King of Kings."
  • Khagan, derived from Khan of Khans, used by the Central Asian nomads.
• High king, A king who rules over lesser kings.
  • Devaraja, literally "God King", a title in the Khmer Empire and throughout Java.
  • Mahārāja, Sanskrit for a "great king" or "high king". The female form is Maharani.
  • Padishah, Persian pād "master" and shāh "king". Used in the Ottoman Empire.
  • Anax, from Mycenaean wanax for "High King". Outranked Basileus in Mycenaean usage.
  • Nam-Lugal High kings of ancient Sumer (Mesopotamia).
  • Pharaoh, "Man of the Great House (Palace)" used in Ancient Egypt to denote the High kings of the upper and lower kingdoms of the Nile river valley.
  • Ard Rí, Gaelic for high king, most notably used for high kings of Ireland and Scotland.
  • Bretwalda, high kings of Anglo-Saxon England.
  • Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the official title of the Malaysian head of state, and means "He who is Made Supreme Lord" and is generally glossed in English as "king". The officeholder is elected from among the heads of the nine royal states, so the office may also be analogous to that of a high king.

Royal titles

• King, from the Germanic *kuningaz, roughly meaning "son of the people." (See: Germanic kingship) The realm of a King is termed a Kingdom (sovereign kings are ranked above vassal kings)
  • Rex Latin for "ruler". Cognate with Raja, Rí, Reign, Regina, etc.
  • Korol Derived from Old East Slavic Король king, used in Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh, Tatar, and Kyrgyz languages.
  • Raja, Indian for "ruler and King.". Cognate with Latin Rex, Gaelic Rí, etc.
  • Rana, was used to be a title for martial sovereignty of Rajput kings in India.
  • Deshmukh, Indian for "ruler and king."
  • Rí, Gaelic title meaning king, of which there were several grades, the highest being Ard Rí (High king). Cognate with Indian Raja, Latin Rex, and ancient Gaulish rix.
  • Khan, from the Turco-Mongol word for "lord," like Duke it was originally a military rank. A Khan's realm is called a Khanate.
  • Lamane, "master of the land" or "chief owner of the soil" in old Serer language were the ancient hereditary kings and landed gentry of the Serer people found in Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. The Lamanes were guardians of Serer religion and many of them have been canonized as Holy Saints (Pangool).
  • Eze, the Igbo word for the King or Ruler of a kingdom or city-state. It is cognate with Obi and Igwe.
  • Oba, the Yoruba word for King or Ruler of a kingdom or city-state. It is used across all the traditional Yoruba lands, as well as by the Edo, throughout Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.
  • Omukama, King of Bunyoro-Kitara in Uganda, also the title of the Omukama of Toro.
  • Kabaka, King of Buganda, a realm within Uganda in East Africa.
  • Shah, Persian word for King, from Indo-European for "he who rules". Used in Persia, alongside Shahanshah (see above). The title of the sons of a Shah is Shahzada / Shahzadah.
  • Sultan, from Arabic and originally referring to one who had "power", more recently used as synonym for King.
  • Malik, Arabic for King.
  • Tlatoani, Ruler of the atlepetl or city state in ancient Mexico. Title of the Aztec Emperors. The word literally means "speaker" in Nahuatl, but may be translated into English as "king".
  • Ajaw, In Maya meaning "lord", "ruler", "king" or "leader". Was the title of the ruler in the Classic Maya polity. A variant being the title of K'inich Ajaw or "Great Sun King" as it was used to refer to the founder of the Copán dynasty, K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'.
  • Halach Uinik, In Maya meaning "real man", "person of fact" or "person of command". Was the title of the ruler in the Post-Classic Maya polity(Kuchkabal).
  • Lakan, Filipino title (mostly on the island of Luzon) which, together with the term Datu in the Visayas and Mindanao, is an equivalent of Raja and thus glossed as "king" or "sovereign prince".
  • Tuanku, literally "My Lord", the title of the kings of the nine Royal states of Malaysia; all princes and princesses of the Royal Families also receive the appellation Tengku,
  • Mwami in Rwanda
  • Maad a Sinig, King of Sine, a pre-colonial kingdom of the Serer people. From the old Serer title "Maad" (king).
  • Maad Saloum, King of Saloum, a pre-colonial kingdom of the Serer people.
  • Ratu, A Fijian chiefly title that is also found in Javanese culture.
  • Teigne, King of Baol, previously a pre-colonial Serer kingdom.
  • Nizam, The word is derived from the Arabic language Nizām (نظام), meaning order, arrangement. Nizām-ul-mulk was a title first used in Urdu around 1600 to mean Governor of the realm or Deputy for the Whole Empire.
• Queen, from the Germanic *kwoeniz, or *kwenon, "wife"; cognate of Greek γυνή, gynÄ", "woman"; from PIE *gʷḗn, "woman". The female equivalent of a King, or the consort of a King; a Queen's realm is also a kingdom.
  • Rani, Indian for Queen. See Raja, above.
  • Shahbanu, Persian for Empress. See Shah, above.
  • Sultana, Arabic for Queen. See Sultan, above.
  • Malika, Arabic for Queen.
  • Ix-ajaw, See Ajaw above, it was a title was also given to women, though generally prefixed with the sign Ix ("woman") to indicate their gender.
  • Diyan, Filipino feminine equivalent of "Datu". See Datu
  • Hara, Filipino feminine equivalent of "Raha". See Raja, above.
• Sovereign Grand Dukes or Grand Princes are considered to be part of the reigning nobility ("Royalty", in German Hochadel; their correct form of address is "Royal Highness")

Princely, ducal, and other sovereign titles

• Prince, from the Latin princeps, meaning "first citizen". The feminine form is Princess. Variant forms include the German Fürst and Russian Tsarevich (царевич) and the feminine form Tsarevna (царевна).
  • Bai, Filipino feminine equivalent of a prince.
  • Ampuan, Maranao royal title which literally means "The One to whom one asks for apology"
  • Ginoo, Ancient Filipino equivalent to noble man or prince (now used in the form "Ginoóng" as the analogue to "mister").
  • Pillai, Ancient South Indian Title meaning Prince for junior children of Emperors
  • Morza, a Tartar title usually translated as "prince", it ranked below a Khan. The title was borrowed from Persian and Indian appellation Mirza added to the names of certain nobles, which itself derived from Emir.
  • Knyaz, a title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a ruling or noble rank. It is usually translated into English as "Duke".
• Despot, Greek for "lord, master", initially an appellation for the Byzantine emperor, later the senior court title, awarded to sons and close relatives of the emperor. In the 13th-15th centuries borne by autonomous and independent rulers in the Balkans.
• Duke, from the Latin Dux, meaning "leader," a military rank in the late Roman Empire. Variant forms include Doge, and Duce; it has also been modified into Archduke (meaning "chief" Duke), Grand Duke (literally "large," or "big" Duke; see above under royal titles), Vice Duke ("deputy" Duke), etc. The female equivalent is Duchess.
• Sheikh, is often used as a title for Arab royal families. Some Emirs of the Arabian Peninsula use the title Sheikh ("elder" or "lord"), as do other members of the extended family.
• Emir, often rendered Amir in older English usage; from the Arabic "to command." The female form is Emira (Amirah). Emir is the root of the English military rank "Admiral"
  • Amir al-umara, Emir of Emirs.
• Mir, According to the book Persian Inscriptions on Indian Monuments, Mir is most probably an Arabized form of Pir. Pir in Old Persian and Sanskrit means the old, the wise man, the chief and the great leader. It was Arabized as Mir then, with Al(A) (Arabic definite article), it was pronounced as Amir.
• Bey, or Beg/Baig, Turkish for "Chieftain."
  • Begum, female royal and aristocratic title from Central and South Asia.
  • Beylerbey, Bey of Beys.
  • Atabeg, word is a compound of two Turkic words: ata, "ancestor", and beg.
  • Beg Khan, concatenation of Baig and Khan.
  • Khagan Bek, title used by Khazars.
• Buumi, first in line to the throne in Serer pre-colonial kingdoms.
• Thilas, second in line to the throne in Serer pre-colonial kingdoms.
• Loul, third in line to the throne in Serer country.
• Dey, title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers and Tripoli under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards.
• Sahib, name of Arabic origin meaning "holder, master or owner."
• Zamindar, were considered to be equivalent to lords and barons in some cases they were seen as independent, sovereign princes.
• Jagir, also spelled as Jageer (Devanagari: जागीर, Persian: جاگیر, ja- meaning "place", -gir meaning "keeping, holding") The feudal owner/lord of the Jagir were called Jagirdar or Jageerdar
• Sardar, also spelled as Sirdar, Sardaar or Serdar, is a title of nobility (sir-, sar/sair- means "head or authority" and -dār means "holder" in Sanskrit and Avestan)

Religious titles

• Pope, derived from Latin and Italian papa, the familiar form of "father" (also "Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church and Vicar of Christ"); once wielding substantial secular power as the ruler of the Papal States and leader of Christendom, the Pope is also the absolute ruler of the sovereign state Vatican City. Also the title of the leader of the Coptic Church.
• Caliph, was the ruler of the caliphate, an Islamic title indicating the successor to Muhammad. Both a religious and a secular leader; the Ottoman sultans continued to use Caliph as another of their titles. However, in later Ottoman times the religious function was practically exercised by the Sheikh ül-Islam; after the establishment of the Turkish Republic, a solely religious Caliphate, held by members of the Sultans' family, was established for a short period of time.
• Saltigue, the high priests and priestesses of the Serer people. They are the diviners in Serer religion.

Other sovereigns, royalty, peers, and major nobility

Several ranks were widely used (for more than a thousand years in Europe alone) for both sovereign rulers and non-sovereigns. Additional knowledge about the territory and historic period is required to know whether the rank holder was a sovereign or non-sovereign. However, joint precedence among rank holders often greatly depended on whether a rank holder was sovereign, whether of the same rank or not. This situation was most widely exemplified by the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) in Europe. Almost all of the following ranks were commonly both sovereign and non-sovereign within the HRE. Outside of the HRE, the most common sovereign rank of these below was that of Prince. Within the HRE, those holding the following ranks who were also sovereigns had (enjoyed) what was known as an immediate relationship with the Emperor. Those holding non-sovereign ranks held only a mediate relationship (meaning that the civil hierarchy upwards was mediated by one or more intermediaries betw een the rank holder and the Emperor).

TITLES

• Archduke, ruler of an archduchy; used exclusively by the Habsburg dynasty and its junior branch of Habsburg-Lorraine which ruled the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806), the Austrian Empire (1804-1867), and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867-1918) for imperial family members of the dynasty, each retaining it as a subsidiary title when founding sovereign cadet branches by acquiring thrones under different titles (e.g., Tuscany, Modena); it was also used for those ruling some Habsburg territories such as those that became the modern so-called "Benelux" nations (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg); The title was created in 1358 by the Habsburgs themselves to establish a precedence of their princes over the other titleholders of high nobility of the era; therefore the rank was not recognized by the other ruling dynasties until 1453
• Grand Duke, ruler of a grand duchy; nowadays considered to be in precedence the third highest monarchial rank in the western world, after "Emperor" and "King" or "Queen"
• Grand Prince (Velikiy Knyaz), ruler of a grand principality; a title primarily used in the medieval Kyivan Rus' principalities; It was also used by the Romanovs of the Russian Empire for members of the imperial family, although then it is more commonly translated into English as Grand Duke
• Duke (Herzog in German), ruler of a duchy; also for junior members of ducal and some grand ducal families
• Prince (Prinz in German), junior members of a royal, grand ducal, ruling ducal or princely, or mediatised family. The title of Fürst was usually reserved, from the 19th century, for rulers of principalitiesâ€"the smallest sovereign entities (e.g., Liechtenstein, Lippe, Schwarzburg, Waldeck-and-Pyrmont)â€"and for heads of high-ranking, noble but non-ruling families (Bismarck, Clary und Aldringen, Dietrichstein, Henckel von Donnersmarck, Kinsky, Paar, Pless, Thun und Hohenstein, etc.). Cadets of these latter families were generally not allowed to use Prinz, being accorded only the style of count (Graf) or, occasionally, that of Fürst (Wrede, Palffy d'Erdod) even though it was also a ruling title. Exceptional use of Prinz was permitted for some morganatic families (e.g., Battenberg, Montenuovo) and a few others (Carolath-Beuthen, Biron von Kurland).
  • In particular, Crown prince (Kronprinz in German) was reserved for the heir apparent of an emperor or king
• Dauphin, title of the crown prince of the royal family of France, as he was the de jure ruler of the Dauphiné region in southeastern France (under the authority of the King)
• Infante, title of the cadet members of the royal families of Portugal and Spain
• Elector (Kurfürst in German), a rank for those who voted for the Holy Roman Emperor, usually sovereign of a state (e.g. the Margrave of Brandenburg, an elector, called the Elector of Brandenburg)
• Marquess, Margrave, or Marquis (literally "Count of a March" (=Border territory)) was the ruler of a marquessate, margraviate, or march
• Landgrave (literally "Land Count"), a German title, ruler of a landgraviate
• Count, theoretically the ruler of a county; known as an Earl in modern Britain; known as a Graf in German, known as a Serdar in Montenegro and Serbia
• Viscount (vice-count), theoretically the ruler of a viscounty or viscountcy
• Freiherr, a German word meaning literally "Free Master" or "Free Lord" (i.e. not subdued to feudal chores or drudgery), is the German equivalent of the English term "Baron", with the important difference that unlike the British Baron, he is not a "Peer of the Realm" (member of the high aristocracy)
• Baron, theoretically the ruler of a barony â€" some barons in some countries may have been "free barons" (liber baro) and as such, regarded (themselves) as higher barons.

Regarding the titles of Grand Duke, Duke and Prince:

In all European countries, the sovereign Grand Duke (or Grand Prince in some eastern European languages) is considered to be the third highest monarchic title in precedence, after Emperor and King.

In Germany, a sovereign Duke (Herzog) outranks a sovereign prince (Fürst). A cadet prince (Prinz) who belongs to an imperial or royal dynasty, however, may outrank a duke who is the cadet of a reigning house, e.g. Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Mecklenburg or Oldenburg.

The children of a sovereign Grand Duke may be titled "Prince" (Luxembourg, Tuscany, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Saxe-Weimar) or "Duke" (Oldenburg) in accordance with the customs of the dynasty. The heir of the throne of a Grand Duchy is titled "Hereditary Grand Duke", as soon as he reaches the full legal age (majority).

Children of a sovereign (i.e. ruling) Duke and of a ruling Prince (Fürst) were, however, all titled prince (Prinz).

The heir apparent to a ruling or mediatised title would usually prepend the prefix Erb- (hereditary) to his or her title, e.g. Erbherzog, Erbprinz, Erbgraf, to distinguish their status from that of their junior siblings.

Children of a mediatised Fürst were either Prinzen or Grafen (counts), depending upon whether the princely title was limited to descent by masculine primogeniture or not. In the German non-sovereign nobility, a Duke (Herzog) still ranked higher than a Prince (Fürst).

Minor nobility, gentry, and other aristocracy

The distinction between the ranks of the major nobility (listed above) and the minor nobility, listed here, was not always a sharp one in all nations. But the precedence of the ranks of a Baronet or a Knight is quite generally accepted for where this distinction exists for most nations. Here the rank of Baronet (ranking above a Knight) is taken as the highest rank among the ranks of the minor nobility or gentry that are listed below.

Titles

• Baronet is a hereditary title ranking below Baron but above Knight; this title is granted only in the British Isles and does not confer nobility.
• Dominus was the Latin title of the feudal, superior and mesne, lords, and also an ecclesiastical and academical title (equivalent of Lord)
• Vidame, a minor French aristocrat
• Vavasour, also a petty French feudal lord
• Seigneur or Lord of the manor rules a smaller local fief
• Knight is the basic rank of the aristocratic system
• Patrician is a dignity of minor nobility or gentry (most often being hereditary) usually ranking below Knight but above Esquire
• Fidalgo or Hidalgo is a minor Portuguese and Spanish aristocrat (respectively; from filho d'algo / hijo de algo, lit. son of wealth, mediaeval Galician-Portuguese and Spanish "algo" = wealth, riches, fortune, nowadays "algo" = something)
• Nobile (aristocracy) is an Italian title of nobility for prestigious families that never received a title
• Principalía the aristocratic class of Filipino nobles, through whom the Spanish Monarchs ruled the Philippines during the colonial period (c. 1600s to 1898).
• Edler is a minor aristocrat in Germany and Austria during those countries' respective imperial periods.
• Jonkheer is an honorific for members of noble Dutch families that never received a title. An untitled noblewoman is styled Jonkvrouw, though the wife of a Jonkheer is a Mevrouw or, sometimes, Freule, which could also be used by daughters of the same.
• Junker is a German noble honorific, meaning "young nobleman" or otherwise "young lord"
• Skartabel is a minor Polish aristocrat.
• Scottish Baron is a hereditary feudal nobility dignity, outside the Scots peerage, recognised by Lord Lyon as a member of the Scots noblesse and ranking below a Knight but above a Scottish Laird in the British system. However, Scottish Barons on the European continent are considered and treated equal to European barons.
• Laird is a Scottish hereditary feudal dignity ranking below a Scottish Baron but above an Esquire
• Esquire is a rank of gentry originally derived from Squire and indicating the status of an attendant to a knight, an apprentice knight or a manorial lord; it ranks below Knight (or in Scotland below Laird) but above Gentleman
• Gentleman is the basic rank of gentry, historically primarily associated with land; within British Commonwealth nations it is also roughly equivalent to some minor nobility of some continental European nations
• Bibi, means Miss in Urdu and is frequently used as a respectful title for women in South Asia when added to the given name

In Germany, the constitution of the Weimar Republic in 1919 ceased to accord privileges to members of dynastic and noble families. Their titles henceforth became legal parts of the family name, and traditional forms of address (e.g., "Hoheit" or "Durchlaucht") ceased to be accorded to them by governmental entities. The last title was conferred on 12 November 1918 to Kurt von Klefeld. The actual rank of a title-holder in Germany depended not only on the nominal rank of the title, but also the degree of sovereignty exercised, the rank of the title-holder's suzerain, and the length of time the family possessed its status within the nobility (Uradel, Briefadel, altfürstliche, neufürstliche, see: German nobility). Thus, any reigning sovereign ranks higher than any deposed or mediatized sovereign (e.g., the Fürst of Waldeck, sovereign until 1918, was higher than the Duke of Arenberg, head of a mediatized family, although Herzog is nominally a higher title th an Fürst). However, former holders of higher titles in extant monarchies retained their relative rank, i.e., a queen dowager of Belgium outranks the reigning Prince of Liechtenstein. Members of a formerly sovereign or mediatized house rank higher than the nobility. Among the nobility, those whose titles derive from the Holy Roman Empire rank higher than the holder of an equivalent title granted by one of the German monarchs after 1806.

In Austria, nobility titles may no longer be used since 1918.

In Switzerland, nobility titles are prohibited and are not recognized as part of the family name.

Corresponding titles of nobility between languages

Below is a comparative table of corresponding royal and noble titles in various European countries. Quite often, a Latin 3rd declension noun formed a distinctive feminine title by adding -issa to its base, but usually the 3rd declension noun was used for both male and female nobles, except for Imperator and Rex. 3rd declension nouns are italicized in this chart. See Royal and noble styles to learn how to address holders of these titles properly.