The title of Earl of Lytton was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1880 for Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron Lytton, the former Viceroy of India and son of the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

The Earl bears the subsidiary titles of Viscount Knebworth (1880) and Baron Lytton (1866) in the Peerage of the UK, and also the title of Baron Wentworth (1529) in the Peerage of England, a barony by writ.

Barons Lytton (1866)

• Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803-1873)
• Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Baron Lytton (1831-1891) (became Earl in 1880)

Earls of Lytton (1880)

• Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (1831-1891)
• Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton (1876-1947)
• Neville Stephen Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton (d. 1951)
• Noel Anthony Scawen Lytton-Milbanke, 4th Earl of Lytton (d. 1985)
• John Peter Michael Scawen Lytton, 5th Earl of Lytton (b. 1950)