Ancestor Surname: Do You Belong to an Ancient Noble Family?

The purpose of this article is to show what youunusual and different (which of course was a way
should look out for if you are searching for anto make it stand out).An incholate is typically the
ancestor's surname and want to know if it isgeographical predicate attached to a noble family.
noble.The most common noble predicates areE.g. for the Prince of Wales, "Wales" is the
"von", "de", "di" etc. (meaning "of") before theincholate. Incholates in another sense can be used
surname. A predicate among your ancestors is byby Church dignitaries, e.g. "Titular Bishop of X Y ".
no means proof of nobility, and some familiesIn many cases the incholate was the family's
have wrongly assumed predicates to makedomains, but later developed into a titular
themselves appear to be noble. In some countriesattribute. In some families the loss of the
the noble families do not have any predicates, butgeographical domain caused them to write the
are noble nonetheless. A predicate is annobiliary title between their first name and the
indispensable part of a surname if the surnamesurname - hence it was no longer "Count X Y",
was originally constructed with it - if it has beenbut "X Count Y", as the family name became the
assumed later (after the family was ennobled ornew incholate. Any incholate found among your
generally recognised as noble) it is sometimesancestors should be carefully examined.Jan-Olov
called a "prefix".A surname of a noble ancestorvon Wowern lives in Stockholm, Sweden, and is
with a predicate or prefix should properly bethe head of the Swedish branch of the von
registered on the first letter of the main name,Wowern family,
not on the predicate or prefix. Hence my name,dating back to its founder who was born around
von Wowern, is registered under "W", not under1090 and
"v".Many noble surnames include words such asmade a Marquis in 1141. He is active in European
"gold-" or "golden", "silver-", "sword" or symbolscharitable
which are used on the family's coat of arms.and nobiliary work. Visit his page at
Among your ancestors you may also find names
constructed from animals ("Wolf", "Lion") etc.and download a FREE chapter from his book.
Noble surnames often, but not always, seem