Pre-nominal letters are a

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

which is placed ''before'' the name of a person as distinct from a post-nominal title which is placed ''after'' the name. Examples of pre-nominal titles, for instance professional titles include: Doctor, Captain, EUR ING (European Engineer), Ir ( Ingenieur), CA (Indian Chartered Accountant) and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

; whilst other common social titles are Mr., Master,

The Honorable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

, Ms., Mrs. and Miss. Pre-nominal letters are generally

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

, but can be professional in nature (e.g. EUR ING).

Academic degrees

In some Continental European countries all academic degrees were traditionally pre-nominal. Pre-nominal academic degrees in German-speaking countries include: '' Dipl.-Ing.'' (Master's degree in Engineering), '' Dipl.-Kfm.'' (master's degree in management), ''Dipl.-Phys.'' (master's degree in physics), ''Dipl.-Inf.'' or ''Dipl.-Inform.'' (master's degree in computer science), ''Dr.-Ing.'' (German

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

in engineering), ''Dr. med.'' (German

in Medicine) and ''Mag.'' (Austrian master's degree (Magister) in all disciplines except engineering). Pursuant to the Bologna process, most of these pre-nominal degrees will be replaced by post-nominal bachelor's and master's degrees; but people who held academic degrees before the Bologna process may continue to use the pre-nominal academic degrees. In contexts where pre-nominal academic letters are used, such degrees may be placed prenominally for consistency (for example, " MMathPhil Marcos Cramer"). In Finland, abbreviated academic titles can appear before or after the name (for example, FM Matti Meikäläinen or Matti Meikäläinen, FM). In the United States a person may at their discretion use "Dr." as a pre-nominal or their doctoral degree's initials as a post-nominal, but rarely at the same time. It would also be very unusual to see a professional license (such as for an engineer) used as a pre-nominal in any form. In Poland, abbreviated academic titles appear as pre-nominal letters: ''inz.'' for holders of inżynier degree (Polish equivalent for a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

(BSc), Bachelor of Engineering (BEng), or Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc)) awarded by a polytechnical university or faculty; ''mgr'' for holders of a

Magister Magister is Latin for "master" or "teacher". It may refer to: Positions and titles * Magister degree, an academic degree * Magister equitum, or Master of the Horse * Magister militum, a master of the soldiers * Magister officiorum (''master of o ...

(Polish equivalent for a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

); ''mgr inz.'' for holders of a

awarded by a polytechnical university or faculty; ''dr'' for holders of a Doktorat (Polish Doctorate); ''dr inz.'' for holders of a Doktorat awarded by a polytechnical university or faculty; ''dr hab.'' for holders of a Doktorat and a habilitacja (Polish post-doctoral

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

qualification); ''dr hab. inz.'' for holders of a Doktorat and a habilitacja awarded by a polytechnical university or faculty. In

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

and the other

Portuguese-speaking countries The Community of Portuguese Language Countries ( Portuguese: ''Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa''; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (''Comunidade Lusófona''), is an international organization and po ...

, it is usual for a person with a university degree to be generally referred by the abbreviated pre-nominal title ''dr.'' (''doutor''), independently of the real degree that he or she holds. The main exceptions to this are the holders of degrees in engineering and architecture, who are referred respectively by the pre-nominal abbreviated titles ''eng.'' (''engenheiro'') and ''arq.'' (''arquiteto'').

Order of titles

In the UK, those with both a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

and rank in the

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

(or

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the t ...

, or academic titles) put the '' Sir'' after the other title; for example:

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Sir William Leishman; His Eminence Sir Norman Cardinal Gilroy,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

;

Sir Richard Peto.

References

{{Personal names Titles

Academic degrees

Order of titles

See also

References