agree. Do you engineer software? Congrats, you're officially a software engineer :)
Start doing it for money, and you're officially a professional software engineer.
Make software that genuinely improves peoples lives (like the Linux kernel currently running the computer I'm typing these words on), and you can call yourself a good software engineer ^_^
There are places (eg Canada) where engineer is a protected title like lawyer or doctor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_and_licensure_in_en...
Yes but not a single software engineer or other engineer in my field has a professional engineer designation. It's not required to practice in most fields outside of civil/structural engineering.
It really depends on where you live and in some places that distinction does not matter. See for example https://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/quebec-order-of-e...
The main qualification of one of the best electronics engineers I knew (UK) was Bachelor of Music.
Most of us in electronics in the 1970s in the UK had physics degrees I think. And when I moved sideways into software much later the physics background was eminently useful when modelling machinery and physical processes.
But I too have met engineers with music and also medical backgrounds. But that's all more than half a century ago, it seems that employers expect much more narrowly focussed qualifications these days.
Professional Engineer (P.E.) is the protected title in the US
"15 Year Old Wannabe" clearly differentiates him from any credentialed engineer.