Why do some Time Lords choose to have a title, and why does everyone else go along with the title they choose?

Question

In one of the episodes of the Master Saga, The Master is talking with The Doctor and says "You chose your name, the one who helps everyone", when they are making their "greetings". (I'm looking for the exact words, but I don't remember the exact episode, so is taking a while to find them.)

As Frank's Lazar answer pointed out "the Doctor's name is the Answer That Must Never Be Spoken" — but

he said it to River Song. Ok, she is his wife. But he will/already have spoken it once.

So, titles can be assumed to have some connotation of power. After all, the Time Lords who had titles appear to have some extra power or intelligence than the rest of the Time Lords.

---

My question is: why are those specific Time Lords able to chose "titles" for themselves, and have everyone follow their choice by using that title when referring to them?

I read the question "Why Do Some Timelords Use Names (And Why Does The Doctor Keep His Secret)?" and couldn't find the answer for this.

I know that it's very similar to that question, but if you look at the answers, they explain why certain Time Lords chose their particular title, but not why they chose to have a title in the first place, and why everyone calls them by those titles.

Answer 1

The episode with the quote you're thinking of is The Sound of Drums, in which The Master and The Doctor reveal that they personally chose their names:

The Master: [Talking on the phone] Doctor?

The Doctor: Master.

The Master: I like it when you use my name.

The Doctor: You chose it. Psychiatrist's field-day.

The Master: As you chose yours; "the man who makes people better", how sanctimonious is that?

It's never been stated in the show why they decided to use a title at all (as opposed to Romana or Rassilon). Non-television media has created explanations, but they aren't necessarily canon. A great summary of them (from Wikipedia):

Doctor Who spin-off media, which are of uncertain canonicity, have suggested that the character uses the name "the Doctor" because his actual name is impossible for humans to pronounce. For instance in the novel Vanderdeken's Children, it's told that the Doctor already told Sam his real name which is entirely alien and virtually unpronounceable. This is also repeated by companion Peri Brown in the radio serial Slipback.

The Faction Paradox encyclopaedia The Book of the War states that all renegades from the Homeworld/Gallifrey abandon their names to symbolise how they leave their culture. Similarly, the novel Lungbarrow reveals that the Doctor's name has been struck from the records of his family and therefore cannot be spoken.

And of course, recent episodes have alluded to the fact that the Doctor's true name is important somehow and that he uses the title The Doctor to hide it. Stephen Moffat apparently said in a BBC podcast that the reason he does not tell his companions his closest name must be because there is "a dreadful secret" about it, implying that it was chosen intentionally to conceal his true identity.

Answer 2

In the episode “The Name of the Doctor” the Doctor explain to Clara that the name “Doctor” is chosen as a promise.

The name you chose is like a promise that you make

---

As pointed in the comments, there is still a piece of the puzzle that is missing. the WHY he picked it. We now know that the "Title" is like a promise made for "Someone/something" where YOU pick it by yourself

Answer 3

It could just be a general identification thing. For example, Elvis was coined the King. Maybe someone got saved by "the Doctor" and called him it, word of mouth spread and eventually that was what he was known as.

It could also be like a knighthood - when someone gets knighted they are a Sir etc. - maybe its the same for Timelords except they pick their own title?

Answer 4

"Doctor" can also mean "learned person", and arguably that was the original meaning (Capt Holt of Brooklyn 99 has a particular pet peeve about how the doctorate was "stolen" from actual scholars by medical practioners). That may be why the First Doctor chose the name.

As to why others call them that, it may just be a cultural protocol among Time Lords, much as, say, the Earl of Oxford would often just called "Oxford" by his peers rather than his personal name. Recall the Doctor rather peevishly insisting that Drax (who notably has not taken such a title, unless "Drax" is a title from some culture, like "Rani") call him "Doctor" instead of "Theta" (interestingly, the Doctor never denies being called Theta, he just prefers "Doctor"; the show waited until the 7th Doctor to explain "Theta Sigma" was just a nickname, which meant that, for years, some fans may well have thought they knew the Doctor's real name!).

Answer 5

From my understanding of the show, The doctor chose the title "the doctor" because he helps others and aids/heals struggling planets or people/aliens. This brings up the undertone of what a doctor really is and how the character relates to the definition.

Answer 6

A recurring theme in the early seasons of the new series is that Names Have Power. More than once The Doctor made the baddies rear back in fear and consternation when he successfully identified them. The Carrionites are one of the best examples - all of their technologies were connected to words and names.

A lot of fantasy work hovers around the idea that learning an entity's True Name gives you power over the entity.

Other time travel characters like Rip Hunter take pseudonyms so as to protect their personal timelines. If they knew that Rip Hunter was actually Bill Hanratty from Boston, they could theoretically go visit Boston thirty years ago and eliminate their problems at the root.