Russian Imperial and Other Titles

[magnik]

In Polish that mean:
Tsar - Emperor - Car, Imperator;
Tsaritsa - Empress - Caryca or Cesarzowa as a wife or as a ruler (like Catherine II), or Carowa;
Tsarevich - Carewicz - (from Tsar) it was used as heir to the throne, Emperor's son or just a prince;
Tsarevna - Carewna - (from Tsar) Emperor's daughter;
Grand Duchess - Wielka Księżna - used as Emperor's daughter, granddaughter or GDuke's wife;
Grand Duke - Wielki Książę - Emperor's son, grandson;
Prince - Książę - used to Tsarevitch or any other Prince: like grandson of the Emperor or Grand Duke;
Princess - Księżniczka - the same as Prince.

On Russian:
царь - from Latin Caesar, was in using from 1547 to 1721;
Император - Emperor using 1721 - 1917 - from Peter I the Great
Царица - Imperator's wife
Цесаревич - Tsarevitch - Heir to the throne since 1797 (Alexander I)
Царевич - Tsarevitch, Tsar's son
Царевна - Tsarevna, Tsar's daughter
Цесаревна - Tsitsarevna, Tsarevitch's wife
Великий князь - Grand Duke, first as ruler, from 1791? so Emperor's son;
Кронпри́нц - (German- Kronprinz, Russian- принц (князь) короны ), in Russia it was be used to some second Emperor's sons /heir to the throne/ ; it was used to Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel - wife of Alexei son of Peter the Great.
Князь - (from KONb - horse) Принц - Knyaz - smth. like Duke or Prince.
Княгиня - Knyagina
княжич - Knyagitch , Knyaz's son
княжна - Knyagna, Knyaz's daughter
Граф - Graf, Count; in Russia Peter the Great use this title in 1706 to Boris Petrovitch Sheremetyev. On XIXth century in Russia were about 300 county familiies.
Барон - Baron; in Russia Peter the Great use it in 1710 to Schafirov. On XIXth century in Russia were 240 baronial families.

[Leslie2006]

Thanks for the reminder, magnik...I forgot count/countess

Nicholas II's youngest brother, Mikhail married a commoner Natalia Sheremetevskaya. After they were allowed back into Russia, Nicholas created Natalia and their son (Vladimir?) Countess and Count Barissova. (I might've mispelled that). Does anyone know who in the Imperial family would hold the title Prince/Princess of the Imperial Blood and what would their relation be? (cousin, relative by marriage?)

Thanks. :)

[magnik]

Originally Posted by Leslie2006

Nicholas II's youngest brother, Mikhail married a commoner Natalia Sheremetevskaya. After they were allowed back into Russia, Nicholas created Natalia and their son (Vladimir?) Countess and Count Barissova. (I might've mispelled that).
Does anyone know who in the Imperial family would hold the title Prince/Princess of the Imperial Blood and what would their relation be? (cousin, relative by marriage?)

Yes Natalia Sergeyevna Wulffert nee Sheremetevskaya was twice=divorced commoner. She and her son (died in a car crash on 1931) were created Css&Ct Brasov.She was granted the title of HSH Princess Romanovskaya-Brasova by HIH GD Cyril on 1935.

About Romanovs more here:
http://pages.prodigy.net/ptheroff/gotha/russia.html


From Wikipedia:
A Prince of the blood (in some monarchies, however, this is an actual title in its own right, of more restricted use; thus Prince du sang in the French kingdom, restricted to the royal descendents in the male line) is a male member of royalty, i.e. of a princely house, such as an imperial - or royal family. Depending on individual national tradition, this may either be restricted (often to one or two generations after the monarch, and/or the line of succession), or it may be allowed to run into very high numbers (as often applies in oriental dynasties).
Generally, when such a prince takes a (royal, imperial, etc.) throne he stops being styled a mere "Prince" when he becomes the ruling (or at least titular) monarch, King, Emperor, Grand Duke or one of many other ruler-styles, usually of higher rank, except in the case of a ruler styled "Prince" (see below) of a principality (idem: "Princess" becoming a Queen).[...]
Regardless of birth rank, marriage to a prince(ss) generally means accession to the ruling house (dynasty), but often the princely style is subject to an explicit conferral (by the Monarch or a political authority with in say in the succession, e.g. certain parliaments), which may be delayed, withheld or even reversed.[...]
Although the definition above is the one that is most commonly understood, there are also different systems: depending on country, epoch and translation other meanings of "Prince" are possible. Over the centuries foreign-language titles such as Italian principe, French prince, German Fürst, Russian kniaz, etc., are often rendered as "prince" in English.
Many princely styles and titles are used in various monarchies, often changing with a new dynasty, even altered during one's rule, especially in conjunction with the style of the ruler. Indeed, various princely titles are derived from the ruler's, such as (e)mirza(da), khanzada, nawabzada, sahibzada, shahzada (all using the Persian patronymic suffix -zada, "son, descendant", (maha)rajkumar from Raja, or even from a unique title, e.g. mehtarjao. However, often such style is used in a way that may surprise as not apparently logical, such as adopting a style for princes of the blood which is not pegged to the ruler's title, but rather continues an old tradition, asserts genealogical descendency from and/or claim of political succession to a more lofty monarchy, or simply is assumed 'because we can'.

• Sometimes a specific title is commonly used by various dynasties in a region, e.g. Mian in various of the Punjabi princely Hill States (lower Himalayan region in British India)
• Some monarchies also commonly awarded some of their princes of the blood various lofty titles, some of which were reserved for royalty, other also open to the most trusted commoners and/or the highest nobility, as in the Byzantine empire (e.g. Protosebastos reserved).

Independently of such traditions, some dynasties more or less frequently awarded apanages to princes of the blood, typically carrying a feudal type title (often as such of lower protocollary rank than their birth rank) and some income.[...]

[marina85]

For pronunciation purposes, the word его (his in Russian) is pronounced yevoh while the letter ж sounds like the second g in garage or the g in mirage. I have seen some discrepencies in how some of these words are translated on this board. This could be from strict transliteration, but words such as его may not be properly (and often aren't) transliterated if the person is using a computer transliterating system.

[RussianHistoryBuff]

There is a common misconseption concerning what a Czar, Czaritsa, Czarevich, and Czarevna is.
First, a Czar is equivilent to a King and Emperor. Peter the Great (Peter Alexeevich Romanovich) was the first Czar however to accept the title Czar and EMPEROR of All Russias. He accepted this title after he defeated the Swedes. The title lasted until 1918.
Second, a Czaritsa is equivelent to a Queen and Empress. Most people are confused because they do not open a Russian dictionary to find out that a Czarina is a widowed Czaritsa.
Third, a Czrarevich is a Grand Duke. During the reign of Alexander III a Czarevich (or Czarevna) became a term used only for the immediate family of the Czar.
Fourth, a Czarevna is a Grand Duchess, and the same "rule" concerning titles came into effect for the Czarevnas during the reign of Alexander III.

[carol_romanoff]

Originally Posted by Fireweaver

And I thought the British system was confusing... oy!

\


my grandmother was titled princess third cousin to tzar....left in 1916 when she married a jew...lol oy you say!!:)

[juliamontague]

Originally Posted by carol_romanoff

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my grandmother was titled princess third cousin to tzar....left in 1916 when she married a jew...lol oy you say!!:)

lol your grandmother?

[Mapple]

Originally Posted by RussianHistoryBuff

...
Second, a Czaritsa is equivelent to a Queen and Empress. Most people are confused because they do not open a Russian dictionary to find out that a Czarina is a widowed Czaritsa.
...

I am from Russia, and I assure you that there is no such word as 'czarina', царина, in any of the dictionaries of Russian. It doesn't matter whether the empress was widowed or not -- she was called царица, 'tsaritsa'.

'Tsarina' is an example of mistranslation.

Originally Posted by RussianHistoryBuff

...
Third, a Czrarevich is a Grand Duke. During the reign of Alexander III a Czarevich (or Czarevna) became a term used only for the immediate family of the Czar.
Fourth, a Czarevna is a Grand Duchess, and the same "rule" concerning titles came into effect for the Czarevnas during the reign of Alexander III.

That is manifestly incorrect; no Grand Duke from the times of Alexander III has ever been called 'Tsarevich' in any official document etc. The same goes for the Grand Duchesses.

On the other hand, Tsesarevich was a title for a Grand Duke who was an heir to the Russian throne.

[kayla]

can anyone answer this question for me, my girlfriend just married a Russian Count who is one of 6 sons. If he is a count, his new wife would be a countess correct? His mother is saying that firstly as long as she is alive there is no other countess, then she said only the eldest sons wife holds the title. If the sons are all counts, wouldnt all the wives be countess. You cant have a count such and such and his wife mrs. Right? thanks kay

[magnik]

There were two forms of nobility in the Russian Empire: hereditary and personal. Whereas Hereditary nobility passed down to subsequent generations, personal nobility could not be inherited from the person who was awarded the status of personal nobleman. This article focuses on the specific registration of hereditary nobility in the Russian Empire.
According to Russian Nobility Law, every member of each generation of an inheredited noble, had to be registered in one of the following six parts of the provincial Noble Register (Noble Genealogical Book).

From: http://feefhs.org/blitz/HEREDITARY_NOBILITY.htm

More you can find in Glagoleva, O. E. (Ol'ga Evgen'evna) "The Illegitimate Children of the Russian Nobility in Law and Practice, 1700-1860".

[kayla]

thank you for that, I am quite certain they have verified the status throught he historical society and I am quite sure that it would be hereditary. So if that were the case.... if the sons are indeed counts, then the wives would be countess- correct? I am curious to find out if there are any other rules such as only while the Mother is alive or the eldest sons daughter etc. Thanks again. Kayla

[kayla]

so Im new at this posting/forum thing so please be patient. I am trying to find clarity on the title of Russian Count/graf and I cant seem to find the right place to post, so hopefully this works...

my friend married a Russian count (verified by the historical society) I am trying to deteriming the rules of the title. his mother says that as long as she is alive that there is only one countess. If that were true then wouldnt that be the same for the men- the sons wouldnt be counts unless the father had passed. If they are counts, which she does acknowlege, then would all of their wives be countess? Are there rule such that only the eldest son and his wife get the title? Kayla

[Monna]

The official documents of Nikolai II begin in this way:
Божиею милостию Мы Николай Вторый императоръ и самодержецъ всероссийский, царь польский, великий князь финляндский /bozhyeyu milostiyu my Nikolaj Vtoriy imperator y samodyerzhets vsyerossiyskiy tsar polskiy velikiy knyaz finlandskiy/ = we Nikolai II from the grace of God Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russia, Czar (king?) of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. So I think that these are the official titles of the Emperor.

In the document released after Alexei`s birth the Emperor says his son will have the title наслъдникцесаревич/naslednik tsesarevitch/ = successor of the czar.

And in another document the Empress is titled Государьиня импервтрица /gosudarynya imperatritsa/ = wife of the monarch empress

In Czech that means:
Tsar - Emperor - Car
Tsaritsa - Empress – Carevna
Tsesarevich – Carevič = in Czech the heir of the throne
Tsarevna – there is no term for Emperor`s daughter, but in the fairy-tails is used the word carevice = Emperor's daughter
Velikiy knyaz - Grand Duke – Velkokníže = Emperor's son, grandson
Velikaya knyazhna - Grand Duchess – Velkokněžna = Emperor's daughter, granddaughter or GDuke's wife;
Prince - Princ
so you can see that the words carevna and carevič don`t have the same meaning like in Russian...confusing

[snowmaiden]

Thanks for the information. I have been recently trying to figure out how Russian titles work.

[CasiraghiTrio]

My question is about the so-called title "Prince/Princess of Russia." Some very respectable online geneaologies, including Peerage.com, use this for some of the Romanov descendents. But when did this title come into use? Before the revolution, this was unheard of. There was no such thing.
Another one that is equally confusing is "Prince/Princess Romanov/a" because this, also, was not existing in the true Tsarist times.
Who conferred these new titles? When? Was is only for the purpose of giving a courtesy to the family? Did other royal families recognize these titles? I know, obviously, the Soviet Union could never recognize them.

Prince of Russia?! It's so weird to me! Who made this up and why couldn't they use something that was actually "real" for Russian history?

[kiwi]

The Emperor and Empress first born son - His Imperial Highness Tsarevich -

Ther second born son - His Imperial Highness Grand Duck. Ther daugthers all

had the same titel - Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess. The Tsars brothers

and sisters had the same titel as his childen. The Tsars brother and sisters

childen - His Highness Prince og Her Higness Princess.

[kelausha]

Originally Posted by CasiraghiTrio

My question is about the so-called title "Prince/Princess of Russia." Some very respectable online geneaologies, including Peerage.com, use this for some of the Romanov descendents. But when did this title come into use? Before the revolution, this was unheard of. There was no such thing.
Another one that is equally confusing is "Prince/Princess Romanov/a" because this, also, was not existing in the true Tsarist times.
Who conferred these new titles? When? Was is only for the purpose of giving a courtesy to the family? Did other royal families recognize these titles? I know, obviously, the Soviet Union could never recognize them.

Prince of Russia?! It's so weird to me! Who made this up and why couldn't they use something that was actually "real" for Russian history?

The title Prince/ss of Russia, or Prince/Princess of the Blood Imperial was created with Alexander III's ukaze in 1886. He limited the title of Grand Duke/Duchess with the style of Imperial Highness to the children and male line grandchildren of the Emporer. Other family members were Prince/ss with the style of His/Her Highness or His/Her Serene Highness.

[wittykitty]

I think alot of the distant descendants of the earler Tsars use the Prince/Princess in perputity ? so that commoners in other counties treat them better or are impressed that they are in the company of a Russian
royal descendant?
but didn't Tsar Alexander III change the rules regarding gettting permision for new surnames even if there is a equal marriage so in the future there won't be a million people running around calling themselves Romanovs? today?
witttykitty

[kelausha]

In many Royal Houses it is (or was) common that the title of Prince continued in theory in perpepuity, if the person made an equal marriage. That was also the case with Russian Princes. That has nothing to do with impressing people. Today there are no Russian Princes alive (or most people think so), only their morganatic descendants.
All members of the Imperial Family had the surname Romanov. Alexander III didn't change that.
The title Prince/ss Romanov/a is not and has never been a real title. Morganatic spouses and descendants could sometimes be given a surname that included Romanovski/skaya.

[Next Star]

I know that the internet is not the most reliable source of information to go by but the web says that Czar is equal to a King and not a Emperor. I doubt that is true because I have only seen one web page with this claim all other claims I have seen it states a Czar is equal to a Emperor which I do believe.