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 their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

which is placed ''before'' the name of a person as distinct from a

post-nominal Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

title which is placed ''after'' the name. Examples of pre-nominal titles, for instance professional titles include:

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, EUR ING (European Engineer), Ir. (

ingenieur An engineer's degree is an advanced academic degree in engineering which is conferred in Europe, some countries of Asia and Latin America, North Africa and a few institutions in the United States. The degree may require a thesis but always require ...

), Ts. ( professional technologist), Ar. (

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

), Sr. (

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

), Br. (certified builder), Gs. (

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

), Mons. ( monsignore), CA (Indian chartered accountant) and

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

. These distinctive titles replace the standard honorifics used in polite address, indicating gender and, for women, marital status; the common English forms are Mr.,

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

, Mrs. and

Miss Miss (pronounced ) is an English-language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as " Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century ...

. These honorifics are not normally considered as titles.

Academic degrees

In some

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

an countries, all

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

s 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 ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

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

in Medicine) and ''Mag.'' (Austrian master's degree (Magister) in all disciplines except engineering). Pursuant to the

Bologna process file:Bologna-Prozess-Logo.svg, 96px, alt=Logo with stylized stars, Logo file:Bologna zone.svg, alt=Map of Europe, encompassing the entire Bologna zone, 256px, Bologna zone The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements b ...

, 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 the Czech Republic, all academic degrees are widely used before the name: ''Bc.'' – for Bachelor, ''Mgr.'' – for Master, ''Ing.'' – for Engineer, "lesser" doctors such as ''MUDr.'' (doctor of medicine), ''MDDr.'' (dentist doctor), ''JUDr.'' (doctor of Law), ''RNDr.'' (doctor of Natural Sciences), ''PhDr.'' (doctor of Philosophy), ''ThDr.'' (doctor of Theology). Before them appeare titles given to university teachers (''prof.'' for Professor and ''doc.'' for "docent" = Associated Professor). These degrees could be combined, with the highest degree appearing first, e. g. ''prof. JUDr. Ing. Bc.'' The titles of the same rank are separated by "et", e. g. ''Mgr. et Mgr.'' Army titles include ''gen.'' for General, ''plk.'' for Colonel; Church titles include P. (pater) and R.D. (Reverendissimus Dominus). 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: ''inż.'' for holders of inżynier degree (Polish equivalent for a

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

(BSc), Bachelor of Engineering (BEng), or

Bachelor of Applied Science A Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS or BASc) is an undergraduate academic degree of applied sciences. Usage In Canada, the Netherlands and other places the Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) is equivalent to the Bachelor of Engineering, and is cl ...

(BASc)) awarded by a polytechnical university or faculty; ''mgr'' for holders of a Magister (Polish equivalent for a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

); ''mgr inż.'' for holders of a Magister awarded by a polytechnical university or faculty; ''dr'' for holders of a Doktorat (Polish Doctorate); ''dr inż.'' 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 Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

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

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and the other

Portuguese-speaking countries The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (; : CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth or Lusophone Community (), is an international organization and political organisation, political association of Lusophone nations across four co ...

, 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 a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a 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. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

(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 ter ...

, or

academic titles Academic titles may refer to: * Academic degrees * Academic ranks * Titles of works in academic publishing Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes Research, academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is p ...

) put the '' Sir'' after the other title; for example:

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

Sir William Leishman;

His Eminence His Eminence (abbreviation H.Em. or HE) is a style (manner of address), style of reference for high nobility, still in use in various religious contexts. Catholicism The style remains in use as the official style or standard form of address in ...

Sir Norman Cardinal Gilroy, KBE;

Sir Richard Peto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pre-Nominal Letters Titles

Academic degrees

Order of titles

See also

References