Being an elite samurai family the Tokugawa clan was treated as nobles even after the Meiji Restoration with a line of priority: the family head as a Duke, the 3 main families as Marquis, and heads of the 3 families as Counts.
明治維新の後も、徳川氏は武家の最上流として華族に遇せられ,宗家は公爵、御三家は侯爵、御三卿は伯爵に列せられた。