Many titles after the fall of the Roman Empire are a regional translation for Roman Emperor's title of Caesar, for example Kaiser for Germans or Tsar for Russians. This is an attempt to lock down a claim towards a very powerful title. The first attempts to claim the seat of Rome, such as Charlemagne, often led to the leader making the claim, using rituals or traditions of crowning similar to cement their claim. The subsequent leaders, for example the tsars, continued to hold the title, rather than choose it.

Malay and Indonesian sovereign titles went through several changes as the culture assimilated various other cultures. Dato' and Ratu came from the same word atu, and the remnants of their use still exists as place names Kedatwan/Kedatuan and Kratong/Keratuan while the current Malay word for government, kerajaan is derived from sanskrit Raja as Raja and Shah begin to be used as the highest titles while Dato became a lesser title. Ratu still remain the sovereign title in for some at the time especially for female rulers. When Islam began to spread through the area rulers changed titles from Raja to Sultan as they embraced Islam.