Peerage

Last updated September 30, 2025

A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.

Australia

Australian peers

Belgium

Belgian nobility

Canada

China

Chinese nobility

France

Malta

Maltese nobility

Japan

Portugal

Chamber of Most Worthy Peers

Spain

United Kingdom

Overview

Peerage (general introduction)

Social class in the United Kingdom

Peerage Titles (nobility), ranked by order

(highest-ranking hereditary titles in the British peerage system)

Duke § United Kingdom

Marquess § United Kingdom

Earl

Viscount § United Kingdom / Viscountess

Baron

Victory title 👑 (peerage granted for military victories, e.g., Duke of Wellington; coronet varies by rank)

Peer of the realm (legal term for members of the peerage with full rights)

Lord (general title for many peers, also used informally)

Representative peer (elected member of the Scottish [1707–1963] or Irish [1801–1922] peerage who sat in the UK House of Lords on behalf of their peerage group)

Hereditary peer

(peerage title that is passed down through inheritance; coronet depends on rank)

Life peer

(peerage title granted for lifetime service; and, the title cannot be inherited; wears a Baron’s coronet)

Titled but Below the Peerage

(honorary or hereditary titles that do not grant peerage status)

Baronet (hereditary title ranking below a baron, but above a knight)

Knight (non-hereditary honor awarded for service or merit)

Dame (female equivalent of a Knight, awarded for distinguished service)

Privilege of peerage (legal rights and privileges associated with being a peer, even if not sitting in Parliament)

Commoners and Gentry

(non-peerage ranks historically associated with privilege and status)

Courtesy title (honorific used by heirs of peers, not legally recognized)

Esquire (once a rank below knight, now an informal designation)

Gentleman

(traditional term for men of status and refinement)

Baronage (collective term for barons, historically linked to landownership)

Laird (Scottish landowner, similar to an esquire or lord of the manor, but not a peer)

Scottish clan (traditional kinship-based groups in Scotland, some led by clan chiefs)

Scottish clan chief (leader of a Scottish clan, recognized under Scottish heraldic law)

List of Scottish clans (directory of notable historical and modern Scottish clans)

Concepts Related to the Peerage (and Non-Peerage)

(broader ideas, historical context, and legislative aspects of the peerage system)

Peerage Bill (legislation related to the peerage, including reforms)

British nobility (wider concept of noble ranks, including those not part of the peerage)

Noblesse in Scotland (Scottish equivalent of nobility, often distinct from peerage)

English heraldry (system of coats of arms and noble symbols in England)

Territorial designation (titles associated with land, e.g., Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Wessex )

Forms of address in the United Kingdom (proper ways to address peers and titled individuals)

Lord § Modern usage (explanation of how "Lord" is used today, both formally and informally)

Regalia and Symbols

(items associated with noble status and rank)

Robes of the British peerage (ceremonial garments worn by peers at state occasions)

Coronet (small crown worn by peers, indicating rank in the hierarchy)

Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom → (hierarchy of ranking among nobles and officials)

Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom

Order of precedence in Scotland

Order of precedence in England and Wales

Order of precedence in Northern Ireland

Honors and Nobiliary Elements

Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom

Post-nominal letters § Civil usage in the UK

Post-nominal letters § Academic usage in the UK

List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom)

Nobiliary particle § United Kingdom

College of Arms

Herald

(officer of arms responsible for heraldry and ceremonial functions)

Garter Principal King of Arms

King of Arms

Lord Lyon King of Arms

Order of the Garter

Order of the British Empire

Order of St Michael and St George

List of people who have declined a British honour

Scottish and Other Nobility Structures

Scottish clan

Baronage of Scotland

Substantive title

🏰 Early Peerages (Before 1707)

Peerage of England (English titles created before the 1707 Acts of Union)

Welsh peers and baronets (holders of British peerage and baronetcy titles associated with Welsh lands or heritage)

Peerage of Scotland (Scottish titles created before 1707; some later sat in the House of Lords, with all gaining seats from 1964 to 1999)

List of Scottish representative peers (elected Scottish peers in the House of Lords from 1707 to 1963)

Jacobite peerage (titles granted by exiled Stuart monarchs (1689–1766) in opposition to the British and Irish peerage systems)

🇬🇧 Peerages of Great Britain and Ireland (1707–1801)

Peerage of Great Britain (titles created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between 1707 and 1800)

Peerage of Ireland (Irish titles created before 1920; held seats in the Irish House of Lords until 1801, with some later sitting in the UK House of Lords)

List of Irish representative peers (elected Irish peers in the House of Lords from 1801 to 1922)

🏛 Peerages of the United Kingdom (1801–Present)

Peerages in the United Kingdom (titles created since 1801 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland – renamed the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after 1921)

Life Peerages Act 1958 (established non-hereditary life peerages in the House of Lords)

Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 (created judicial life peers for the House of Lords)

List of spiritual peers (Bishops in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual)

📜Other Peerage-Related Topics

Peerage Act 1963 (allowed hereditary peers to disclaim their titles for life; ended Scottish representative peers)

History of the British peerage (development and evolution of the peerage system)

Peerage of Britain and Ireland by date (chronological list of peerage creations)

List of British Jewish nobility and gentry (Jewish peers, baronets, and gentry in the UK)

Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom (honorific titles used by heirs of peers)

List of courtesy titles in the peerages of Britain and Ireland (specific courtesy titles and their holders)

Channel Islands