The tits, chickadees, and titmice (titmouses) constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which are found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Species found in North America are referred to as chickadees; species found elsewhere in the world are called tits.

Most were formerly classified in the genus Parus. Nowadays, the genera are:
- The genus Baeolophus is endemic to North America. 
- The genus Parus includes the great tit that ranges from Western Europe to Indonesia. 
- Cyanistes has a European and Asian distribution (also into northern Africa), 
- The three remaining genera: Pseudopodoces, Sylviparus, and Melanochlora, are all restricted to Asia.

Paridae: New Latin, from Latin Parus, type genus + -idae.
parus or paru: tit or chickadee.