Are these ranks?

[hkBattousai]

I want to ask the meaning of the words above the user avatars.
Some of those are :

Do these images indicate the rank of the user? Or mean something else?

 

[DoctorP]

check this post for your answer!

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

DoctorP to the rescue! Just follow his link and it explains it all!

 

[EmperorHirohito]

Also the same sort of Rankings apply on the Europe Forum and I dare say it also applies to the China Forum as well