Why is Lord Alfred Tennyson often written as Alfred Lord Tennyson? This occurs with and without a comma after Alfred: Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Should Lord precede the entire name, and not just the last name?
Learn English – Why is Lord Alfred Tennyson often written as Alfred Lord Tennyson
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Related Solutions
Both are correct.
In a dialogue, a pause can be used for effect, putting emphasis on the greeting, eg:
Hello, Mr. Black.
"Hello" is said first, then a pause, then the name. Normally, people would say:
Hello Mr. Black.
Without any pauses in their speech.
When writing a letter or email, it is quite common to do this:
Hello Mr. Black,
Bla bla bla...
Or in a more formal situation:
Dear Mr. Black,
Bla bla bla...
It is uncommon to put a comma before the title even in an informal email salutation (though quite acceptable), but it would never be done in a formal letter/email.
Well, this is an example of why Google NGrams isn't a precise indicator. When we compare the two directly, aircrafts simply can't get off the ground:
Now, this result is also flawed since it is impossible to separate uses of aircraft (singular) and aircraft (plural). It is also impossible to factor out typos (aircrafts vs. aircraft's) and so on.
The point is, don't read too much into what an NGram shows (or at least take the graphs with a grain of salt), because a great deal of the time what you wind up with is this sort of thing:
(BTW, the huge spike in the use of aircraft in the early '40s is almost certainly due to the air war in Europe and the Pacific.)
Best Answer
The simple answer is...
Alfred Tennyson was created a hereditary baron, 1st Baron Tennyson. Barons are known by their title, Lord Tennyson, preceded if necessary by their Christian name.
The same applies to current Life Barons, who are not created with hereditary titles. Thus it's John, Lord Prescott of Kingston-upon-Hull.
Sons of hereditary peers are given a courtesy title. The sons of barons, that being the lowest order of the peerage, are simply known as The Honourable. Alfred's son was The Hon Hallam Tennyson until Alfred died, after which he became Hallam, 2nd Baron Tennyson, or simply Hallam, Lord Tennyson.
The eldest sons of higher ranks of the peerage generally get a courtesy title (the eldest son of a Duke will be granted the use of an Earl's title, and so on). Subsequent sons are known as Lord, using the family surname. The second son of one of the Dukes of Devonshire would be [for example] Lord James Cavendish. It's not correct to call that person "Lord Cavendish".
Thus it's possible to distinguish between Lord James Cavendish as coming from a higher rank of the peerage than Alfred Lord Tennyson.
For a more complicated answer with all the intricacies of the peerage, you will need to consult a reference like Debrett's.