Since 1766, the title has been associated with a Grandeza de España, or a place in the Spanish peerage — the highest honor accorded to Spanish nobility (see also Mexican nobility).

Charles II of Spain later granted the second holder of this title the qualification of de Tultengo, in reference to a town in the Mexican state of Hidalgo which was part of the inheritance of Moctezuma's son Pedro.

The title of Duke of Moctezuma (without the qualification of 'de Tultengo') was granted to Antonio María Marcilla de Teruel-Moctezuma y Navarro, 14th Count of Moctezuma de Tultengo and 11th Marquis of Tenebrón on October 11, 1865 by Queen Isabella II of Spain.

The current holder of the title is Juan José Marcilla de Teruel-Moctezuma y Valcárcel, 6th Duke of Moctezuma.

His father had assumed the title, and was regranted the qualification of de Tultengo (as the second Count of Moctezuma was in 1639) by King Juan Carlos I of Spain in 1992.