Sort of. It is possible to buy yourself a title. Many Europeans are descended from people that potentially give them the right to nobility. Few invoke that in

Sort of. It is possible to buy yourself a title. Many Europeans are descended from people that potentially give them the right to nobility. Few invoke that in everyday life though. So you could become an aristocrat if you really wanted to be, by blue blood or by financial assistance. In the old days somebody successful in business would often transition to aristocracy by taking on a name and the associated trappings. It is something of a controversial area! In Japan it is still common for an unrelated successful young man to be adopted into the family tree of a business dynasty. I suspect the upper class alternates between being meritocratic and being hereditary, while claiming 'it ever twas'.