I like the Dutch surnames with the Van in between
like Van de Velde or Amand van Buuren
like Van de Velde or Amand van Buuren
Which Country's Nobility has the Coolest Surnames?
Or other German places like: Elsey, Ecksey, Bredeney, Bathey, Hassley, Hengstey, Cley, Kray....
Or after every day German namen like: Wolf, Webber, Wild, Walker, Gold, Butt, Knoll...
Or after every day German namen like: Wolf, Webber, Wild, Walker, Gold, Butt, Knoll...
<<French and German territorial titles are the coolest, period.
Especially when there's a "von und zu" involved>>
There is no such thing as a French name with a 'von' or 'zu' Anyway, 'von's are good but 'zu's leave me cold, most likely coz of the exotic 'z'
I don't think most of the English world could detect the nobility of France based French names within each other - we just don't have the same instinctive feeling for them like Germans ones. It dose not take heaps of working out to know: a Herr Schmidt = worker and a Herr von Ribbentrop = overlord even with the -throp/-thorpe having lower class conotations in England. But then again even the Swedes fluffed it up with 'von Jenssen' - that's like an English noble called Lord x of Lotherland or something, bourgeoiseing his name into 'Lord from Johnson'
Especially when there's a "von und zu" involved>>
There is no such thing as a French name with a 'von' or 'zu' Anyway, 'von's are good but 'zu's leave me cold, most likely coz of the exotic 'z'
I don't think most of the English world could detect the nobility of France based French names within each other - we just don't have the same instinctive feeling for them like Germans ones. It dose not take heaps of working out to know: a Herr Schmidt = worker and a Herr von Ribbentrop = overlord even with the -throp/-thorpe having lower class conotations in England. But then again even the Swedes fluffed it up with 'von Jenssen' - that's like an English noble called Lord x of Lotherland or something, bourgeoiseing his name into 'Lord from Johnson'
encore
Good point about Marlborough versus Mountbatten/Battenborough, but obviously it was not just my opinion, but also the Mountbattens' own opinion.
JJ
Dutch -van surnames are usually not noble. (Though the Dutch nobility has some wonderful -van names: Van Bylandt, Van Lynden van Zandenburg, Van Zuylen Van Nyeveldt, Van Pallandt etc.)
Of course, in the US -van names do have a patrician ring, don't they, because of the Knickerbocracy of the New Netherlands? (E.g. Van Rensselaer, Van Buren, Vanderbildt etc.)
bigmeatybritishwilly
You don't make much sense.
Wilberfoss:
>>I don't think most of the English world could detect the nobility of France based French names within each other - we just don't have the same instinctive feeling for them like Germans ones.>>
What about the French noble particle "de", as in De Richelieu, De Rochefaucauld, D'Harcourt, De Beuaharnais, D'Arcy and D'Artagnan?
Granted, it's not an indicator of noble status in absolutely all cases (De Gaulle is an exception, for example), but neither is German "von".
I must say I am intrigued by those French noble names that consist of a bourgeois-looking, real surname followed by a territorial designation, like Tascher de La Pagerie. You can also find those in Germany, for example Schenk von Stauffenberg.
>>But then again even the Swedes fluffed it up with 'von Jenssen' - that's like an English noble called Lord x of Lotherland or something, bourgeoiseing his name into 'Lord from Johnson>>
Yes, Lord Johnson or perhaps Fitzjohn are the English equivalents to Danish Von Jenssen. (Von Jönsson in Swedish.) That there actually are British Hereditary Peers with simple patronymic surnames, e.g. the Queen's cousin Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield, is somewhat stunning to a foreigner.
On the Continent a simple Smith, for example, could never retain his name as a noble or peer. It would have to be noblefied or feudalized as Von Schmidt zu Schmiedefeldt, Lefebre de Hautebourg, Hammarskiöld etc.
Good point about Marlborough versus Mountbatten/Battenborough, but obviously it was not just my opinion, but also the Mountbattens' own opinion.
JJ
Dutch -van surnames are usually not noble. (Though the Dutch nobility has some wonderful -van names: Van Bylandt, Van Lynden van Zandenburg, Van Zuylen Van Nyeveldt, Van Pallandt etc.)
Of course, in the US -van names do have a patrician ring, don't they, because of the Knickerbocracy of the New Netherlands? (E.g. Van Rensselaer, Van Buren, Vanderbildt etc.)
bigmeatybritishwilly
You don't make much sense.
Wilberfoss:
>>I don't think most of the English world could detect the nobility of France based French names within each other - we just don't have the same instinctive feeling for them like Germans ones.>>
What about the French noble particle "de", as in De Richelieu, De Rochefaucauld, D'Harcourt, De Beuaharnais, D'Arcy and D'Artagnan?
Granted, it's not an indicator of noble status in absolutely all cases (De Gaulle is an exception, for example), but neither is German "von".
I must say I am intrigued by those French noble names that consist of a bourgeois-looking, real surname followed by a territorial designation, like Tascher de La Pagerie. You can also find those in Germany, for example Schenk von Stauffenberg.
>>But then again even the Swedes fluffed it up with 'von Jenssen' - that's like an English noble called Lord x of Lotherland or something, bourgeoiseing his name into 'Lord from Johnson>>
Yes, Lord Johnson or perhaps Fitzjohn are the English equivalents to Danish Von Jenssen. (Von Jönsson in Swedish.) That there actually are British Hereditary Peers with simple patronymic surnames, e.g. the Queen's cousin Thomas Anson, 6th Earl of Lichfield, is somewhat stunning to a foreigner.
On the Continent a simple Smith, for example, could never retain his name as a noble or peer. It would have to be noblefied or feudalized as Von Schmidt zu Schmiedefeldt, Lefebre de Hautebourg, Hammarskiöld etc.
<<bigmeatybritishwilly
You don't make much sense.>>
<<Thu May 06, 2010 6:23 pm GMT
If prince's true surname for example was not Battenberg,but Overwater,Herford,Buddenbrook,Cuxhaven,Moorfleet (placenames in North Germany)?>>
You don't make much sense.>>
<<Thu May 06, 2010 6:23 pm GMT
If prince's true surname for example was not Battenberg,but Overwater,Herford,Buddenbrook,Cuxhaven,Moorfleet (placenames in North Germany)?>>
encore:
<<Thu May 06, 2010 6:23 pm GMT
If prince's true surname for example was not Battenberg,but Overwater,Herford,Buddenbrook,Cuxhaven,Moorfleet (placenames in North Germany)?>>
Interesting idea.
Yes, they would be much more easily assimilated into / disguised as English, but remember that the branch of the Royal Family known as Dukes of Teck still changed their name/title to Marquess of Cambridge and Earl of Athlone during WW1, even though Teck (a castle in Württemberg in Southern Germany) doesn't sound frightfully Teutonic.
<<Thu May 06, 2010 6:23 pm GMT
If prince's true surname for example was not Battenberg,but Overwater,Herford,Buddenbrook,Cuxhaven,Moorfleet (placenames in North Germany)?>>
Interesting idea.
Yes, they would be much more easily assimilated into / disguised as English, but remember that the branch of the Royal Family known as Dukes of Teck still changed their name/title to Marquess of Cambridge and Earl of Athlone during WW1, even though Teck (a castle in Württemberg in Southern Germany) doesn't sound frightfully Teutonic.
The German name Teck of Burg Teck originates from "Thecche", compare to OE theccan (to cover, hide). A nearby village of this castle is Owen, a name which could also be English, just to mention it.
Since the local Swabian seems to have a tendency to voice plosives (e.g. Debbich for Teppich, blanket) I guess they could have tried to Anglify it as Deck! I guess it would have served naval officers like the Mountbattens better to be known as Lord Deck.
The Member of Parliament for South Dorset, who is a Tory, is called Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax. However, in his day-to-day life he calls himself just plain old Richard Drax.
Drax is a descendant of Admiral The Honourable Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (1880-1967), who was the younger son of the 17th Baron of Dunsany.
That great explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes actually goes by the gloriously British name of Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE.
Drax is a descendant of Admiral The Honourable Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax (1880-1967), who was the younger son of the 17th Baron of Dunsany.
That great explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes actually goes by the gloriously British name of Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, OBE.
Sir Stewkley Frederick Draycott Shuckburgh, 10th Baronet (England)
Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt (The Netherlands)
Wind-Vind-Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs (Denmark)
Goethals de Mude de Nieuwland (Belgium)
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (Sweden)
Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt (The Netherlands)
Wind-Vind-Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs (Denmark)
Goethals de Mude de Nieuwland (Belgium)
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre (Sweden)
Russian Noble names usually end on -ski, but not always.
You just have to know that some surnames are "noble". For example Moscow Sheremetyevo airport. Sheremetyev was a noble clan and the lands where the airport is now belonged to them before the revolution.
Some Noble Russian surnames: Golitsin, Orlov (he owned a piece of land near Paris, that's why they have airport Orly now, that means "eagles" in Russian).
Dostoyevski, Tchaikovsky are true Noble surnames.
But personally, I prefer German and Dutch surnames.
You just have to know that some surnames are "noble". For example Moscow Sheremetyevo airport. Sheremetyev was a noble clan and the lands where the airport is now belonged to them before the revolution.
Some Noble Russian surnames: Golitsin, Orlov (he owned a piece of land near Paris, that's why they have airport Orly now, that means "eagles" in Russian).
Dostoyevski, Tchaikovsky are true Noble surnames.
But personally, I prefer German and Dutch surnames.
<< Orlov (he owned a piece of land near Paris, that's why they have airport Orly now >>
-- Grotesque !
"Orly" est basé sur les racines celtiques
1. *oro ou *or- signifiant bord, limite (d'où les mots français "orée", "ourlet").
2. *leig signifiant marais, marécages, vase (à rapprocher des mots français "lie", "limon", "enlisé".
-- Grotesque !
"Orly" est basé sur les racines celtiques
1. *oro ou *or- signifiant bord, limite (d'où les mots français "orée", "ourlet").
2. *leig signifiant marais, marécages, vase (à rapprocher des mots français "lie", "limon", "enlisé".