The Queen of England came up with the name Duchess of Cambridge" for Catherine Middleton, but I know other names could have been chosen-how?

A. All the ones not currently held or suspended under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. The Duke of Cambridge title was created in the 17th century and has been re-used several times. Any title can be devised, it is up to the Queen (who is Queen of the UK, not England).

B. Nobody currently has the title. Usually because the last holder had no male heir to pass it on to.

C. You either inherit the title, or you have it conferred. Children of a king have to have their titles conferred as the Crown does not hold hereditary titles in the ordinary way. The monarch is always the Duke of Normandy, the Duke of Lancaster. The heir apparent (if male) is usually created Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. Women will take their husbands titles upon marriage, but not the other way around.

D. Only royalty get this - the last non-royal Dukedom was created in the 19th century. Titles are conferred since you are either, the sovereign a peer or a commoner. Royalty without peerage titles eg the Princess Royal are commoners.

E. They are long since dead - the last duke died over a century ago.

F. I would say it is a branch of genealogy - since you need to understand the ancestry to know how titles are passed on or become extinct.

In the first place, HM The Queen did not 'come up' with the title Duchess of Cambridge for Catherine Middleton. She gave the title Duke of Cambridge to Prince William. His wife is the Duchess of Cambridge, whomever she may be. It is not Catherine's by right, but by marriage.

You are over-thinking things. When there is no heir available then a title dies out. It can then be recreated by the monarch at a later time to someone new.

The Queen is the fount of all honour, so her choice of titles to give away is hardly 'meaningless' as you put it. It is a very great honour bestowed only upon a very select few of people. She is THE QUEEN after all! Her word is final.

A title is not the same thing as a name. The Queen bestowed the titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus upon her grandson, William. The monarch has many titles used in the past by the royal family and can choose from these titles.Or, she can make titles of her own. Catherine, as a spouse, only assumes titles and stylings of William. A woman who marries into a royal family is royal only through marriage, is not a royal in her own right, which means that the title was either her's through birth or bestowal.

Royal peerages are meant to be hereditary, but without a male heir, the titles revert to the crown which means the monarch can bestow the titles onto another royal male if it is desired.

Other possibilities: Duke of Clarence, Duke of Avondale, Earl of Athlone, Duke of Connaught, Duke of Albany, Duke of Windsor.... some of these titles have a negative history attached, though. A Duke of Albany was stripped of his title for siding with Germany during WWI, and the Windsor title is part of the Abdication Crisis caused by Edward VIII.

And---there is no Queen of England, the title ceased to be May 1, 1707, under the Acts of Union. There is a Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. England is only a part of the UK which is made up of England, Scotland and Wales.

Interesting that you have "Queen of England" in your question about titles, as that title has not existed since 1707. There is no Queen of England, and there hasn't been one for over 300 years!

The Queen (of the UK) can use any title she wishes. She can create them, invent them, destroy them - whatever she wishes. There are conventions, e.g., the male heir is usually made the Prince of Wales. This is not automatic though, and has to actually be granted. The second son is usually the Duke of York, as Prince Andrew is. These are conventions though. Edward wanted to be an Earl, so, that is what he is, rather than the (higher) Duke title.

a. Anything not already used.

b. There is a Duke of Norfolk, meaning that title is used, ad not available. If a place has no title associated with it, that is available.

c. Usually, one inherits their title. Women can marry a man with a title, and they get a "style" (not an actual title). However, the Queen can create a title, and bestow it. She does this very rarely now, usually only Life Peerages, and Royals getting married.

d. It is not meaningless. At one time, all Peers could sit in the House of Lords. Now, you have to be elected from the Peers, but, you need to be a Peer first! That is what a title gives you.

e. There isn't one. If there were, they have to be dead for the title to be re-issued.

f. There really isn't a name for it. Heraldry is part of it - the study of coats of arms, but, studying of the Peerage is too small a field to have it's own name. Burke's does it, but, not many others professionally.

The Queen can make up a title if she likes; it's often been done. Or she can recreate one that hasn't been used for a long time. That means that it's impossible to say what "available" titles there are, because there are so many that have died out, mostly for lack of heirs, and that probably won't ever be revived because there will be no need for them. The number of new, high-ranking peerage titles is always going to be very limited in the future. Aside from royals, no one's gotten a new ducal title in over 100 years.

The Cambridge title had actually been used before, as you can see below. There was no older Duke of Cambridge to be at all upset about the title's being bestowed on Prince William. Titles aren't "taken away" from living people. The last Duke of Cambridge had died in 1904. He left no son who could have inherited the title.

Yes, normally one inherits a title, but one can be bestowed upon you. Think about it: every aristocratic family's peerage had to begin somewhere, at some point. Families didn't have these titles tens of thousands of years ago, after all. The country didn't even exist. The oldest peerage title still in use was created in the 12th century, but many are far more recent than that.

Edit: When a title dies out because there is no one to inherit it, it doesn't "go" anywhere. It just doesn't exist until and unless the monarch decides to recreate it and bestow it on someone new.

There is no special name for "the study of titles". However, if you are interested in existing titles and their current holders, you can look at either Burke's Peerage or Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. They are available in most large libraries here in the States, if that's where you are.

Finally, I think you may be a little confused about who holds the Cambridge title. It, along with a couple of others, was bestowed on Prince William, not his wife, who derives her titles and styles from him. The wives of peers are called peeresses, but except in rare cases, they do not hold peerages themselves. The full set of titles is: Prince and Princess William of Wales, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Earl and Countess of Strathearn, and Baron and Baroness Carrickfergus. It is actually more prestigious to be Duke and Duchess of Cambridge than Prince and Princess William, since the ducal title is a peerage and meant that William was no longer a commoner (yes, a prince can be a commoner), so the Cambridge title is the one that is supposed to be used officially for BOTH William and Catherine.

By the way: if a monarch can't make up a title, who can? Why would doing so be "meaningless"? It's not as though these titles are normally handed out by God. They've always been created and bestowed by monarchs.

Oh yes, it is a recycle bin of titles, if you die without heirs your title is recycled. When the Duke of Edinburgh dies his title will be recycled to Edward. At one point you could sell your title for money which was a common practice for many years. Recent trends suggest that Royalty is shrinking, mostly because tax payer have a VOICE they can say whether or not people live in opulence and luxury meanwhile their families struggle for food and basic needs. Why should a certain privileged population who have neither extraordinary intelligence or talent be given authority or privilege over you? They shouldn't. The world wakes up.

I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic, but the study of one's ancestry is called genealogy. Princess Posh and Lili already touched on the rest of your questions.

When a title dies out, it is called 'going into abeyance' - if it cannot be recreated (as in the case of some Irish titles which are in places no longer under British rule) then it becomes extinct.

There is no such person or TITLE as QUEEN OF ENGLAND..ASKING about titles and coming up with this OLD CHESTNUT does NO FAVOURS....Is the BRITISH MONARCHY & has been in one form or other since 1707.....The woman in question was crowned that of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ,Her Other Realms & Territories etc etc..Pass it on and digest, as nothing get up our NON English BRITISH noses in Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland MORE .....They choose because they have things called traditions and funny little ways..

They choose what they want. Harry is in Australia under the name of Wales. Did he think for one moment to ask the Welsh.

His father might have the title of prince of Wales but what surname is HE going under? Doesn't really matter because I believe Charles is enough.

There are titles in the gift of the queen, they just pick one! and there has not been a queen of england for 300 years.