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Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families.

Some hereditary titles are inherited only by the eldest son (see primogeniture)^[1]; others may pass to the eldest child of either gender, or to all children of a family equally (although this is rare), or can be shared and thus multiplied in the case of a title and/or divided in the case of a 'real' object. In some traditions adoption is a common way around biological kinship, as in the Hindu tradition to assure there is a male heir of the same caste.^{[citation needed]}

Prominent examples of hereditary titles include:

• Hereditary monarchy - in the United Kingdom (and the various Commonwealth realms), Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tonga and Bahrain. Different national constitutions use different modes of succession to the inheritance in their monarchies, especially in the Orient often adding a choice moment (e.g. at a family council) to mere birth right which thus only grants only eligibility. A special case are the two elective monarchies, Malaysia^[2] and the United Arab Emirates, where the constituent states of each federation are hereditary monarchies but those rulers form an electoral college which assigns the federal position of head of state to one of their number for a term (of five years).
• Titles of nobility in the United Kingdom and other countries (see peerage). In the United Kingdom, most titles of nobility (peerages and the lower title of Baronet) pass only to the eldest son (or occasionally the eldest daughter in the absence of heirs male); all other sons and daughters of peers are commoners though they may use one or more not independently heritable courtesy titles, either just Lord, Lady or Honourable depending on the rank of the peerage held by their father or mother, or also a title styled like a peerage without a seat in the Lords, usually one or two ranks below father's.^[3] In many European countries titles may be inherited by all the heirs male of a family whose members all share the same title at the same time (for instance, within the szlachta nobility of Poland or in the nobilities of the successor states of the Holy Roman Empire). In the Far East the main (Chinese-induced) tradition is rather for titles to devaluate as the generations succeed to each other, but not to the same rank.
• Some court titles, e.g. in the United Kingdom, including Earl Marshal^[4] and Lord Great Chamberlain. Most of these are sinecures, i.e. purely ceremonial. They pass generally to the eldest son (except for that of Lord Great Chamberlain, which is split between the heads of the Cholmondeley and Willoughby families).
• Many other -especially feudal age- offices became inheritable, often connected to military (e.g. keeper of a castle; in Japan even Shogun) and/or domanial functions, which is also why some such functions became noble titles (e.g. Burgrave, Margrave)
• While the hereditary membership of a privileged class or caste may imply a title (sometimes confusingly called untitled nobility) or not it frequently forms a prerequisite for various titled positions, e.g. quarters of nobility required by a military order.^{[citation needed]}

• aristocracy
• Great Officers of State (United Kingdom)
• monarchy
• nobility
• peerage
• royal and noble ranks

1. ^ Murphy, Michael Dean. A Kinship Glossary: Symbols, Terms, and Concepts. Retrieved on October 5, 2006.
2. ^ http://www.malaysianmonarchy.org.my/portal_bi/rk1/rk1.htm
3. ^ Burke's Guide to British Titles: Courtesy Titles. Burke's Peerage and Gentry (2005). Retrieved on November 13, 2007.
4. ^ http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Documents/earl_marshal.htm