King

King is a royal title given to a male monarch.^[1] A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. In a modern context, the title may refer to the ruler of one of a number of modern monarchies (either absolute or constitutional).^[2]^[3] The title of king is used alongside other titles for monarchs: in the West, emperor, grand prince, prince, archduke, duke or grand duke, and in the Islamic world, malik, sultan, emir or hakim, etc.^[4]

The term king may also refer to a king consort, a title that is sometimes given to the husband of a queen regnant, but the title of prince consort is more common.

Etymology

The word king traces back to late Old English cyning, meaning “ruler” or “leader,” derived from Proto-Germanic kuningaz. This root also gave rise to similar terms across other Germanic languages, such as Dutch koning, Old Norse konungr, Danish konge, and German König. The precise origin of "kuningaz" remains uncertain, but it may be linked to Old English cynn (“family, race”), suggesting that a king was originally viewed as the “leader of the kin” or “head of the people.” Another theory proposes that the term referred to one “of noble descent,” connecting kingship with divine or aristocratic lineage. Linguists and historians have long debated the social and ideological meanings behind this relationship between king and kin, though the linguistic connection is widely accepted.^[5]

Current kings

Currently (as of 2023^[update]), eighteen kings are recognized as the heads of state of sovereign states. Most of these kings serve as heads of state in constitutional monarchies. However, those ruling over absolute monarchies include the King of Saudi Arabia and the King of Eswatini.^[6]^[7]

Sovereign state	King	Title	House	Since	Monarchy
Antigua and Barbuda	Charles III	King	Windsor (official) Glücksburg (agnatic)	8 September 2022	Hereditary, constitutional
Australia		King
The Bahamas		King
Belize		King
Canada		King, Roi
Grenada		King
Jamaica		King
New Zealand		King, Kīngi
Papua New Guinea		King
Saint Kitts and Nevis		King
Saint Lucia		King
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines		King
Solomon Islands		King
Tuvalu		King
United Kingdom		King
Bahrain	Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa	ملك (malik)	Khalifa	14 February 2002	Hereditary, semi-constitutional
Belgium	Philippe	Koning, Roi, König	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	21 July 2013	Hereditary, constitutional
Bhutan	Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck	འབྲུག་རྒྱལ་པོ་ (druk gyalpo)	Wangchuck	9 December 2006	Hereditary, constitutional
Cambodia	Norodom Sihamoni	ស្ដេច (sdac)	Norodom	14 October 2004	Elective, constitutional
Denmark	Frederik X	Konge	Glücksburg (official) Monpezat (agnatic)	14 January 2024	Hereditary, constitutional
Eswatini	Mswati III	Ngwenyama	Dlamini	25 April 1986	Hereditary, absolute
Jordan	Abdullah II	ملك (malik)	Hashim	7 February 1999	Hereditary, semi-constitutional
Lesotho	Letsie III	Morena, King	Moshesh	7 February 1996	Hereditary, constitutional
Malaysia	Ibrahim Iskandar	Yang di-Pertuan Agong (يڠ دڤرتوان اݢوڠ)	Temenggong	31 January 2024	Elective, constitutional
Morocco	Mohammed VI	ملك (malik), ⴰⴳⵍⵍⵉⴷ (agllid)	Alawi	23 July 1999	Hereditary, semi-constitutional
Netherlands	Willem-Alexander	Koning	Orange-Nassau (official) Amsberg (agnatic)	30 April 2013	Hereditary, constitutional
Norway	Harald V	Konge	Glücksburg	17 January 1991	Hereditary, constitutional
Saudi Arabia	Salman	ملك (malik)	Saud	23 January 2015	Hereditary, absolute
Spain	Felipe VI	Rey	Bourbon	19 June 2014	Hereditary, constitutional
Sweden	Carl XVI Gustaf	Konung	Bernadotte	15 September 1973	Hereditary, constitutional
Thailand	Vajiralongkorn (Rama X)	กษัตริย์ (kasat)	Chakri	13 October 2016	Hereditary, constitutional
Tonga	Tupou VI	Tuʻi, King	Tupou	18 March 2012	Hereditary, constitutional