Surnames Categorized "noble titles"

CHEVALIER French
From a nickname derived from French chevalier meaning "knight", itself from cheval meaning "horse", ultimately from Latin caballus.

DUKE English
From the noble title, which was originally from Latin dux "leader". It was a nickname for a person who behaved like a duke, or who worked in a duke's household.

EARL English
From the aristocratic title, which derives from Old English eorl meaning "nobleman, warrior". It was either a nickname for one who acted like an earl, or an occupational name for a person employed by an earl.

FÜRST German
From a nickname meaning "(sovereign) prince" in German. The word fürst itself is derived from Old High German furisto "first".

GRAF German
From the German noble title Graf meaning "count", ultimately from Greek γραφευς (grapheus) meaning "scribe".

HEEREN Dutch
From Dutch heer "lord, master", a nickname for a person who acted like a lord or who worked for a lord.

HERZOG German
From a German title meaning "duke", a nickname for a person who either acted like a duke or worked in a duke's household.

HRABĚ Czech
Means "count" in Czech, perhaps used to denote someone who worked for a count or acted like a count.

JONKER Dutch
From the Dutch title jonkheer meaning "young lord". It was originally a medieval noble designation (not an actual title) for a young nobleman.

KAISER German
From Middle High German keiser meaning "emperor", originally a nickname applied to someone who acted kingly. The title ultimately derives from the Roman name CAESAR.

KAUR Indian (Sikh)
Means "princess", ultimately from Sanskrit कुमारी (kumari) meaning "girl". In 1699 Guru Gobind Singh gave all his Sikh female followers the surname Kaur and all males Singh. In many instances, it is also used as a middle name with the family name serving as the surname.

KING English
From Old English cyning "king", originally a nickname for someone who either acted in a kingly manner or who worked for or was otherwise associated with a king.

KIRÁLY Hungarian
Means "king" in Hungarian, of Slavic origin (a cognate of KRÓL).

KNEŽEVIĆ Croatian, Serbian
Patronymic of Serbo-Croatian knez meaning "prince" (ultimately of Germanic origin).

KÖNIGSMANN German
Means "king's man", or someone who played a king in a play.

KRÓL Polish
Means "king" in Polish. The name referred to one who acted like a king or was connected in some way with a king's household.

KUMAR Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Gujarati, Odia, Malayalam, Tamil
Means "boy, prince" in Sanskrit.

QUEEN English
From a given name that was derived from Old English cwen meaning "queen, woman". In some occurrences it may have been a nickname.

REY (1) English, Spanish, French, Catalan
Means "king" in Old French, Spanish and Catalan, ultimately from Latin rex (genitive regis), perhaps originally denoting someone who acted like a king.