What do you call the child of a . . .?

Question

baron and baroness?

lord and lady?

count and countess?

duke and duchess?

Answer 1

It would simply be Miss or Master until their parents died and then they could assume the title, however only the eldest child can take the title. If they dies it goes to the next eldest child etc.

Answer 2

That would be Miss or Master.

Answer 3

Assuming you are talking about the English aristocracy (other countries have quite different customs):

- The children of a baron have no title, but are customarily by courtesy referred to as "Honourable", as in "The Hon. Jane Smith" and "The Hon. John Smith" You would use this title on an envelope, for an example, but you would never address someone by it - you would say "Good morning, Miss/Mr Smith". ("Master Smith" is correct only for boys younger than 7).

- "Lord" and "Lady" are not specific ranks in the English aristocracy. All peers and their wives below the rank of duke and duchess are addresses, and referred to in speech, as Lord X and Lady X.

- There are no counts in the English aristocracy; the equivalent rank is "earl". An earl's wife is a countess, though. An earl pretty much always has a lesser title, e.g. a viscountcy, which he doesn't normally use, so his eldest son gets to use it "by courtesy"; e.g. the eldest son of the Earl of Thing is called Viscount Somesuch. All his other sons are Honourables, as for barons' sons, and all the daughters are Lady Jane Smith and Lady Mary Smith (never ever "Lady Smith" - that's only correct for the wife of a peer).

- Dukes also always have lesser titles, and the eldest son uses one of them in the same way as the eldest son of an earl. All the younger sons are called "Lord" plus their first name and surname, e.g. "Lord John Smith" (never ever "Lord Smith", which is how you refer to a baron, viscount, earl or marquess).   All the daughters are Lady Jane Smith and Lady Mary Smith, just like an earl's daughters.

The website below explains all this and more specifically in relation to Regency romances, but the rules haven't changed in the last 200 years, so the information it gives is all still correct.

Answer 4

A child of a Baron (aka Lord) or Baroness has no title, if the peerage is hereditary then the eldest son (or nearest male relative) will inherit the title. Some oldest children will have a courtesy title (usually Lord)

Lord and Lady is exactly the same as Baron and again their children are untitled.

There is no such thing as a count in the UK, the equivalent rank is Earl, the daughters will have the title "Lady" and the oldest son will normally have a subsidary title of his father.

Dukes and Duchesses are unusual in that the titles of their children will differ depending on whether they also have the title HRH. If they are children of a sovereign then they will have the title HRH and if they are male then their children will normally be "Prince" or "Princess" whilst their parents are still alive unless they are children of the eldest son in which case it is likely they will be given a Dukedom of their own upon marriage.

If the Duke is not a Royal Duke then the eldest son will normally be given a subsidary title and the other children will have the courtesy titles "lord" and "lady"