The ruling monarch granted a noble title and the right to use a coat-of-arms as a reward for persons who performed a heroic deed, achieved a notable accomplishment, or held a prominent government position. Persons who bear a noble or noble-sounding surname without belonging to the historical nobility according to Salic law are classified as Nichtadelige Namenstrger, or "non-noble name-carriers". Moreno Family History | Find Genealogy Records & Family Crest Originally, coats-of-arms were granted to individuals, not families. Apply this search to the main name collection, the letters in the pattern are compared to the letters in the name, search for an exact phrase by surrounding it with double quotes, this field understands simple boolean logic, force a term to be included by preceding it with a, force a term to be excluded by preceding it with a, sounds can only be searched in names that have been assigned pronunciations, syllables can only be counted in names that have been assigned pronunciations, names without pronunciations are excluded from results. Examples: Burgrave of Nuremberg, Burgrave of (Burggraf zu) Dohna-Schlobitten. If you wish your surname had more of a noble connotation, it may be possible to legally change your name to include that aristocratic Von or Zu prefix. Ostlichter LTA In Switzerland, the title is not acknowledged in law. Originated as a name for the steward of a large farm. Facebook: NobilityTitles.Privacy & legal notice. This is a quick reference list of German noble families. It also has Irish roots and is derived from the word lainn, that means handsome. If youre looking for inspiration, studies have revealed that people with German surnames that suggest royal or noble rank, such as Kaiser (emperor), Frst (prince) or Knig (king) are more likely to work in more esteemed professions than surnames that alluded to more common jobs. Jews have some of the largest varieties of surnames among any ethnic group, owing to the geographically It originated with people who had power, influence, and land in ancient times or who received a grant of nobility from a king. While nominally retaining only a comital title, he was accorded princely rank and, usually, arms by the Emperor. This excluded marriages with women of the lower social classes, but did not mean a woman had to come from nobility herself. Untamed and wild is the meaning of this hip name, which has German roots and a long history as a surname that dates back to the 10th century. Neues allgemeines Deutsches Adels-Lexicon, https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=Germany_Nobility&oldid=5187191. A Landgraf or Landgrave was a nobleman of comital rank in feudal Germany whose jurisdiction stretched over a territory larger than usually held by a count within the Holy Roman Empire. "von der" or von dem "vom" ("of the"), zu der "zur" or zu dem "zum" ("of the", "in the", "at the"). An informative article about the differing ranks and titles of the German nobility can be found here. If learning about the background to these German names and their titles has piqued your interest about acquiring a prestigious Noble Title of your own get in touch using the enquiry form in the sidebar or you can contact our Geneva office directly between 10.00-19.00, Monday to Friday on +41 225 181 360. 7. Barrett - German origin. Usually a hyphenated suffix indicated which of the familial lands a particular line of counts held, e.g. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. You can try our Family Coat of Arms Search page which would The suffix -graf occurs in various office titles which did not attain nobiliary status but were either held as a sinecure by nobleman or courtiers, or functional officials such as the Deichgraf (in a polder management organization). Germany follows Salic law, as most Continental European countries. Erich von Dniken); Added to the surname upon ennoblement (meaning "of the house of"). The word Graf derives from Middle High German: grave, which is usually derived from Latin: graphio. [3] In Austria, its use is banned by law, as with all hereditary titles and nobiliary particles. [1]. Like many of their European neighbours, the nobility of Germany adopted the custom of using the name of their estate or region as their surname or integrating it into their given family name. WebGraf (feminine: Grfin) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count".Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as Four Volumes in Two. Many German states, however, required a marriage to a woman of elevated social status in order for a nobleman to pass on his titles and privileges to his children. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. (For a modern example, think of the Earl. Noble For additional resources, do a Place Search for Germany and view the selections under Germany - Nobility, as well as Germany - Genealogy, Germany - Biography, and Germany - Heraldry. A comprehensive index of four published serials on German nobility is found on pages 187 to 349. In medieval times the borders of the Holy Roman Empire were especially vulnerable to foreign attack, so the hereditary count of these "marches" of the realm was sometimes granted greater authority than other vassals to ensure security. The comital title of Graf is common to various European territories where German was or is the official or vernacular tongue, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Alsace, the Baltic states and other former Habsburg crown lands. 14. Nobel Name Meaning & Nobel Family History at Ancestry.com I am still not sure my GF's father was not a member of the Saxe-Coburg family, but now it is pointing at the House of Battenburg (Hesse). and there were a lot of family stories about goings on at Windsor Palace (Castle). The exiled heirs to Hanover and Nassau eventually regained sovereignty by being allowed to inherit, respectively, the crowns of Brunswick (1914) and Luxembourg (1890). Graf (feminine: Grfin) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Rue du March 7 Quick links Napoleonic Wars Team Page .French_Revolutionary_Wars_Timeline_-_1792 List of German Monarchs , The German nobility (German: deutscher Adel) was a class of persons which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other members of society under the laws and customs of various regimes of what is now Germany until 1919. In regions of Europe where nobles did not actually exercise Landeshoheit over the populace, the Graf long retained specific feudal privileges over the land and in the villages in his county, such as rights to peasant service, to periodic fees for use of common infrastructure such as timber, mills, wells and pastures. I have it on MacFamilyTree. If youre looking for inspiration, studies have revealed that people with German surnames that suggest royal or noble rank, such as Kaiser (emperor), Frst We still see examples of this custom in modern times. FS Library Collection. The nobility is a class of people who had special political and social status. Temple City High School - Class of 1974 - Classreport.org While many of the official privileges that German nobles had enjoyed for centuries were revoked, the right to include the Von or Zu prefix in the surname was one way that noble families could retain an air of their previous aristocratic rank, as well as bequeathing a noble name and lineage to future generations. Nobility was inherited equally by all legitimate descendants in the male line. Higher-ranking noble families of the Niederer Adel bore such hereditary titles as Ritter (knight), Freiherr (or baron) and Graf. 308, Augsburg 1515 - 1650, Wappenbuch des churbayrischen Adels (Copie eines Originals von 1560), Vol. Which title do you prefer? Various organisations[citation needed] perpetuate the historical legacy of the former nobility, documenting genealogy, chronicling the history of noble families and sometimes declining to acknowledge persons who acquired noble surnames in ways impossible before 1919. WebGeiselhart German (Silesian, Rare), Lombardic (Rare), Old High German (Rare) Possibly after the Geisel, a river in Saxony-Anhalt, which likely received its name from either the [12] Nobiliary particles are not capitalised unless they begin a sentence, and then they are usually skipped,[13] unless this creates confusion. WebGraf (feminine: Grfin) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count".Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "countess").. In the Holy Roman Empire, many Imperial counts (Reichsgrafen) retained near-sovereign authority in their lands until the Congress of Vienna subordinated them to larger, neighboring monarchs through the German mediatisation process of 1815, preserving their precedence, allocating familial representation in local legislatures, some jurisdictional immunities and the prestigious privilege of Ebenbrtigkeit. In this respect, the General State Laws for the Prussian States of 1794 spoke of marriage (and children) "to the right hand". Those who had been quasi-sovereign until German mediatisation retained, until 1918, status and privileges pertaining to members of reigning dynasties. This page was last edited on 17 March 2023, at 17:20. Any dynast who did not reign prior to 1918 but had held a specific title as heir to one of Germany's former thrones (e.g., Erbprinz ("hereditary prince"))along with any heir to a title of nobility inherited via primogeniture, and their wiveswere permitted to incorporate those titles into elements of the personal surname. However, the Grimms preferred a solution that allows a connection to Old English: gerfa 'reeve', in which the ge- is a prefix, and which the Grimms derive from Proto-Germanic *rva 'number'.[2]. Perhaps one of the most famous examples of a noble German surname is that of the pioneering aerospace engineer, Wernher von Braun or to give him his full title: Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun. Article 109 of the Weimar Constitution constitutes: Learn how and when to remove this template message, WorldStatesmen: see every modern state; here Germany/Holy Roman Empire, "Evolution of the Council of Princes from 1582 to 1803", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Graf&oldid=1137724259, Articles needing additional references from June 2018, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing Middle High German (ca. Except in the Kingdom of Prussia from the 19th century, the title of Graf was not restricted by primogeniture: it was inherited by all legitimate descendants in the male line of the original titleholder, the males also inheriting an approximately equal share of the family's wealth and estates. This is similar to the practice of shortening a noble title to merge with the surname that was a popular practice towards the latter days of the aristocracy. However, the zu particle can also hint to the split of a dynasty, as providing information on the adopted new home of one split-off branch: For instance, a senior branch owning and maybe even still residing at the place of the dynasty's origin might have been called of A-Town [{and at} A-Town] furthermore, while a new, junior branch could then have adopted the style of, say, of A-town [and] at B-ville, sometimes even dropping [and] at, simply hyphenating the names of the two places. However, with few exceptions, this did not apply to higher nobility, who largely continued to marry among themselves. The nobility is a class of people who had special political and social status. Noble status was usually inherited. A noble or noble-sounding surname does not convey nobility to those not born legitimately of a noble father, and these persons are not allowed to join a nobility association. 2008 - 2023 INTERESTING.COM, INC. These were the families of kings (Bavaria, Hanover, Prussia, Saxony, and Wrttemberg), grand dukes (Baden, Hesse and by Rhine, Luxembourg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach), reigning dukes (Anhalt, Brunswick, Schleswig-Holstein, Nassau, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen), and reigning princes (Hohenzollern-Hechingen, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Liechtenstein, Lippe, Reuss, Schaumburg-Lippe, Schwarzburg, and Waldeck-Pyrmont). For example, in the British nobility, a Duke of Norfolk may be simply referred to as Norfolk by his peers in government or within the royal court. 6. ", Hurwich, Judith J. While Von or Zu can often indicate a history of aristocracy, or at least be a clue to a link to a noble lineage, it is not always an accurate indicator of aristocratic status. Whether Mitzi preferred to play down any noble lineage during the politically fractious period of the mid-20th century, or she simply adopted a more Americanised name to appease Hollywood filmmakers, she opted to be known by a name that didnt reflect or reveal the Von aspect of her surname. Means "castle defender." In Germany mainly the noble class, gentry, and some burghers (city residents with citizenship rights) were entitled to bear coats-of-arms. Since the feudal era, any count whose territory lay within the Empire and was under the immediate jurisdiction of the Emperor with a shared vote in the Reichstag came to be considered a member of the "upper nobility" (Hochadel) in Germany, along with princes (Frsten), dukes (Herzge), electors, and the emperor himself. Fritsch, Thomas, Freiherr von. Many Continental counts in Germany and Austria were titled Graf without any additional qualification. Over the years we would have gathered many more, as well as spelling variations to these. Traditionally these names mean son of or little In Polish, these last names are often denoted by -czak, -czyk, -iak, -ik, -ak, -ek, or -yk. This List of Bavarian noble families contains all 338 Bavarian aristocratic All of the 22 Monarchs below were forced to abdicate in November 1918: The local museum has a letter saying that local girls were forced to go to the palace to entertain the princes and visitors (mainly German Princes). One reason many German surnames feature the Von or Zu prefixes is that the right to include them in a surname was one of the few remaining aristocratic privileges allowed when the nobility was abolished in Germany in 1919. as an arbitrary distinction invented by the Kingdom of Prussia. This contrasts with Briefadel ("patent nobility"): nobility granted by letters patent. Limburg/Lahn, Germany: C. A. Starke, 1968. Hoffmann. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Subject class number 943 D65da. Leave a message for others who see this profile. Nobility that held legal privileges until 1918 greater than those enjoyed by commoners, but less than those enjoyed by the Hochadel, were considered part of the lower nobility or Niederer Adel. These grants were documented. Contact the Profile Managers privately: Public Comments: The former ruling houses of these states were still considered Hochadel under laws adopted by the German Empire. WebThis page uses content from the English language Wikipedia.The original content was at Category:German_noble_families.The list of authors can be seen in the page history.As 276 SW211C).jpg, Wapen Gerwin van Cobbenrode 1420-1483.svg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Noble_families_of_Germany&oldid=646884777, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The first known such document is from September 30, 1360, for Wyker Frosch in Mainz. Heraldry is the design, use, regulation, and recording of coats-of-arms. Last Names 50 German Last Names. [citation needed], A complete list of Reichsgrafen with immediate territories as of 1792 can be found in the List of Reichstag participants (1792). It also briefly describes the family's entitlement to that coat-of-arms. They bore the title "margrave" until the few who survived as sovereigns assumed higher titles when the Empire was abolished in 1806. Some minor noble families are not included in any books. Altogether abolished were titles of sovereigns, such as emperor/empress, king/queen, grand duke/grand duchess, etc. When a person by the common occupational surname of "Meyer" received nobility, they would thus simply become "von Meyer". In German, the word von is used to reflect where a person is from similar to of in English, de in French and di in Italian. Various authors have prepared armorial, or heraldry, books. [1] The nobility flourished during the dramatic industrialization and urbanization of Germany after 1850. Therefore, they can be transmitted according to civil law, for example from wife to husband, to illegitimate children and by way of adoption. Last Names Cecil, Lamar. This page was last edited on 29 December 2022, at 15:19. In this instance, zu is the German word for at, and suggests a noble family being resident at a particular place, usually a country estate, family seat or inherited region. 3. It is part of the larger Oldenburg house that has ruled many parts of Europe, including Germany, Former hereditary noble titles legally simply transformed into dependent parts of the legal surname (with the former title thus now following the given name, e.g. The nobility system of the German Empire was similar to nobility in the Austrian Empire; both developed during the Holy Roman Empire and both ended in 1919 when they were abolished, and legal status and privileges were revoked. Means "sword" or "fiery." [3] an exceptional practice regarding surnames borne by former members of the nobility: whereas the gender differentiation in German surnames, widespread until the 18th century and colloquially retained in some dialects, was abolished in Germany with the introduction of officially registered invariable surnames by the late 19th century, former noble titles transformed into parts of the surname in 1919 continue to appear in female and male forms.[4]. In August 1919, at the beginning of the Weimar Republic (19191933), Germany's new constitution officially abolished royalty and nobility, and the respective legal privileges and immunities appertaining to an individual, a family or any heirs. "The Titled Businessman: Prussian Commercial Councillors in the Rhineland and Westphalia during the Nineteenth Century", in David Blackbourn and Richard J. Eellung der Mediatisierten 18151918, This page was last edited on 16 April 2023, at 15:10. Many alternative spellings include Marian, Moratin, Moratn, This series is one of the most inclusive source of the German Aristocracy. In the cases of the former kings/queens of Saxony and Wrttemberg, the ducal title borne by non-ruling cadets of their dynasties before 1919, or Herzog/Herzogin for the six deposed grand dukes (i.e., the former rulers of Baden, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) and their consorts were retained. Moreno was a significant surname in medieval Christian kingdoms of Spain. However, sometimes the right to bear a coat-of-arms was inherited by the descendants of the person to whom it was granted. Popular Surnames Meaning Wolf. (FS Library book 943D22h; film 491,136 online. Although most German counts belonged officially to the lower nobility, those who were mediatised belonged to the Hochadel, the heads of their families being entitled to be addressed as Erlaucht ("Illustrious Highness"), rather than simply as Hochgeboren ("High-born"). Members of this class had titles such as Baron [Freiherr], Duke [Herzog], Count [Graf], Some impoverished nobles offered adoptions for money in the 20th century, and the adoptees adops extensively themselves, creating a "flood" of fake nobility. Armani DFG Regesta Imperii, 1360, Moguntie: Karl IV. Categories: Germany Genealogy Resources | German Nobility | European Nobility | Royalty, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. Switzerland Inv. One example of this is Karl Theodor Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg, or to give him his full title Karl Theodor Maria Georg Achaz Eberhardt Josef Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg. A family whose nobility dates back to at least the 14th century may be called Uradel, or Alter Adel ("ancient nobility",[15] or "old nobility"). Old Germanic Submitted Surnames - Behind the Name WebBelow are just some of the German Family Names (German Surnames) that we have on file. "Marriage strategies among the German nobility, 1400-1699,", Kaudelka-Hanisch, Karin. Jewish surname Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "countess"). The titles do, however, retain prestige in some circles of society. Almond - Middle Eastern origins. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. German nobility, although not abolished (unlike the Austrian nobility by the new First Austrian Republic in 1919), lost recognition as a legal class in Germany under the Weimar Republic in 1919 under the Weimar Constitution, article 109. In April 1919, Austrian nobility was abolished under the First Austrian Republic (19191934) and, contrary to Germany, the subsequent use and legal recognition of hereditary titles and aristocratic particles and use as part of surnames was banned. Their kin, spouse, and living children were not affected, but children born to a man after an Adelsverlust were commoners and did not inherit the father's former nobility. Governments which recognised or conferred nobility were the Holy Roman Empire (962-1806), the German Confederation (1814-1866) and the German Empire (1871-1918). Many became political leaders of new reform organizations such as agrarian leagues, and pressure groups. Limit 20 per day. Germany Nobility FamilySearch The following 200 pages are in this category, out of approximately 247 total. German titles of nobility were usually inherited by all male-line descendants, although some descended by male primogeniture, especially in 19th and 20th century Prussia (e.g., Otto von Bismarck, born a baronial Junker (not a title), was granted the title of count (Graf) extending to all his male-line descendants, and later that of prince (Frst) in primogeniture). The status of a landgrave was elevated, usually being associated with suzerains who were subject to the Holy Roman Emperor but exercised sovereign authority within their lands and independence greater than the prerogatives to which a simple Graf was entitled, but the title itself implied no specific, legal privileges.
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