Younger is a Scottish convention, style of address, or description traditionally used by the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to: #A current

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

(owner of a substantial and landed estate in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

) #Someone whose name includes a territorial designation (i.e. a family who were previously lairds but who are no longer – this applies mainly to armigerous families who had a territorial designation which formed part of their name. Their arms being registered with the inclusion of the territorial designation, having become landless, still retain the full name – including the territorial designation – pertaining to the Grant of Arms) #A Scottish chieftainship (the head of a cadet branch of a clan which has a chief) #A

clan chief The Scottish Gaelic word means children. In early times, and possibly even today, Scottish clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the clan, after whom the clan is named. The clan chief (''ceannard c ...

. #A Scottish Baron. The style of using the term "Younger" applies equally to a woman who is heir in her own right as to a man. The style of "Younger" is neither a title of

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

nor a peerage and does not carry voting rights either in the

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

or the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, ...

. The abbreviation of Younger is Yr. The wife of such an heir may adopt this style also. When a person bearing this suffix becomes the laird or Baron in their own right or succeeds to the arms of a now landless family or inherits the chieftainship of a cadet branch or the chiefship of the clan, they then drop the suffix and the next

may add the style to their name.

Forms of address

* The written style of address of the heir to a baron is (for example) "John Smith of Edinburgh, Younger", abbreviated "John Smith of Edinburgh, Yr.", or "John Smith Yr. of Edinburgh". In the case of the heir to a chief "James Salmond of that Ilk, Yr." or "James Salmond of Salmond, Yr." * If a female is the heir in her own right, then she is styled in the same way as a male. * The wife of the heir may adopt the same style as her husband and would be addressed in writing as Mrs. John Smith of Edinburgh, Younger (she might use her own forename but this might imply that she was divorced). * An heir can also be referred to and addressed as "The Younger (of) , for example "The Younger (of) Edinburgh". * If a baron has any younger sons they are styled as "Mr. orename urname. The younger son would not have the territorial surname unless he was the nominated heir presumptive.

References

{{reflist Scottish society Scottish titles Feudalism in Scotland

Forms of address

See also

References