Levels of the Peerage, Plus a Sprinkling of Some Other Titles
Peers’ titles below are listed in descending order of rank. Though there are life peers (peerages, usually a baronage, bestowed by the monarch for a person’s lifetime and not hereditary), peerages have traditionally been hereditary, with the eldest son, or, depending on the terms of the peerage’s creation, another male relative, inheriting the title. In rare cases, particularly in Scotland, peerages can pass through the female line.