The Real Names Of The Royal Families


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Oldenburg (originally Aldenburg) is the name of the county in Germany from whence the current Oldenburgs, Schleswig-Holsteins etc descend.
Wettin comes from the name of a castle acquired by the family in the 11th century.
 
I think the "problem" is that most families we are discussing here date back into historical times when the idea of a "last name" did simply not exist.

People took their names from the place they came from or from their profession to be distinguished from others. As the world most people lived in was small, more information wasn't needed. Anybody in the vincinity of someone's birthplace could identify Robert the Miller or Wilhelm the Archer.

The Lord of a region took his name from his keep: Rudolf of Habsburg was Lord of Habsburg Castle. The Wittelsbach owned Wittelsbach Castle in Oberwittelsbach close to Augsburg in Bavaria around 900 AD. Once a member of the family ruling a "tribal castle" like that of Wittelbach earned a feudal title to service for the ruler of his country, he either took over the new title or added it to his old lordship. So a Wittelsbach allegedly was given the County of Scheyern (in which Wittelsbach Castle is situation) and started calling himself Count of Scheyern. Younger sons inherited after their father's death a smaller holding and took their name from that, founding new lines of the "House". Or he married an heiress and added her lands to his, adding her titles to his. He then styled himself as "Count of X" from the Family Lineage of Wittelsbach. But that's not a family name, really, it only told where the family, the "House", originally had risen to prominence.

But time advanced and the art of writing was taught to more and more people serving the rulers. And with the knowledge of writing documents became important as they offered a better possibility to prove claims.
With it, people tried to make their relations clear in order to settle inheritances etc. Thus, the way a Lord related to a family became more important. While this was true even to the Upper Nobility, it wasn't necessary for the ruling families. Some none-the-less decided to use the name of their family lineage or House as a family name, while others were content to be known by the lands they were holding.

So while all ruling families derived from the "House of Oldenburg" (which is the family who rose to prominence in the Oldenburg area of Northern Germany) are identifiable by their realm (former or current), it doesn't mean that Oldenburg is their family name, it only serves to identify their family lineage.

I hope it is clearer now. So in any case you have to look for official documents where a ruler decided to make his family identifiable officially by a family name. If there isn't such a document, then the family doesn't have a family name. They are then simply of the lineage of the lords of Wittelsbach, of Wettin, of Oldenburg, of Hohenzollern, of Habsburg. Because that's where their "famous" family started from.
 
The royal family from Denmark don´t juse the names Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderbug-Glucksburg BUT only Glucksburg.
The reason for this is when King Christian 9. lost the earldom Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg in 1864 he and his descendant lost the rigth to juse the names for the furtur.
 
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Just wanted to add that I think in England a change started with the inheritance of the Scottish kings who for some generations had used their former position at court (High Steward) as a family name: first Steward, then written as Stuart. Plus in Scotland the Clan system based on clan as family names. Lord X Campbell of Y surely was somehow related to Lord V Campbell of A.

IIRC you could see a change in historic documents from Elizabeth I to James I when they related to members of the aristocracy.
 
Sure, many royal houses take their names from their dominions, but so do many of the names common people hold as well. If one took a sample of commoners anywhere, some would have place-derived names, and others would have names derived from occupations or patriarchs' names. It is interesting that in some cultures, like Francophone ones, a manorial name is preferred to a familial one. So, for example, the Viscounts Carpentier de Changy would use the surname "de Changy", etc.
 
Crimean Tatar : Giray(Turkish), Geray(Crimean Tatar), Girey(Russian), Kerey(Mongolian)
 
According to Greece and Denmark I've always read that it is:

Greece: Schleswig - Holstein
Denmark: Sondeburg - Glucksburg

Is that right?
 
Windsor v Mountbatten WindsorI

I think there is generally some confusion about these names. At the time the Queen decided to honour Philip by the addition of Windsor the received interpretation was that this would only be for the non-royal decendants of Pr Andrew and Pr Edward. There was therefore surprise when Pss Anne married and used Mountbatten Windsor. Since Pr Andrew has no sons there will be no MWs there, but I understand that since Pr E decided not to accept royal style for his children their surnames are MW. Pr Charles and Wm and H are supposed to be just Windsor, but any non royal descendants may well also be MW.
 
Saudi Arabia 's House name is Saud I don't known their last name or if it' the same as their house name.
 
The Saudis are known as the House of Saud with the family or clan name of Al Saud.
 
Family Surname's

This question occurred to me in the Danish section of the forum.

There are a couple or several families that do not have a last-name.

My question is for example: What does Ingrid-Alexandra of Norway tell her friends when they ask her "what's your surname?" (to my knowledge she does not have one)
 
According to Greece and Denmark I've always read that it is:

Greece: Schleswig - Holstein
Denmark: Sondeburg - Glucksburg

Is that right?

Denmark was Glucksburg before Queen Margrethe changed the house name to Laborde De Monpezat.

Greece is the House of Glucksburg.
 
Denmark: Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg
Sweden: Bernadotte
Norway: Oldenburg
Belgium: Wettin/Saxe-Coburg (the surname of Leopold I)
Britain: Windsor (formerly Saxe-Coburg and Wettin before that; changed 1918); the descendants of QEII are officially Mountbatten-Windsor
Monaco: Grimaldi
Netherlands: Von Amsberg or Orange-Nassau
Serbia: Karađorđević
Spain: Borbon
Brazil: Braganza
Luxembourg: de Nassau
Hanover: Wettin
Scotland: Stuart
Italy: Bourbon-Parma & Savoy
Romania: Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Austria: Hapsburg & Braganza-Wettin

Thank you for that list.

I know there is some discussion about this but aren't the descendants of QEII allowed to decide what they call themselves?

Mountbatten-Windsor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
According the wikipedia it is the personal surname not the house name. As royals tend to use the names of their titles like William and Harry use Wales when at Sandhurst. Beatrice and Eugenie use York and so forth.
 
Denmark was Glucksburg before Queen Margrethe changed the house name to Laborde De Monpezat.

When did she change it? I only heard that she created the title of Count of Monpezat for her sons. But I never heard of changing the name of the house.
 
When did she change it? I only heard that she created the title of Count of Monpezat for her sons. But I never heard of changing the name of the house.
There was no change, there was only the the title of Count de Monpezat created.
The danish, norwegian and greek RFs have no surname. Maybe the kids are known in school as Ingrid Alexandra Norge or Christian de Monpezat (maybe this was a reason for QE to create the title).
Asfaik Haakon used 'Magnus' as a kind of surname when at University in the US, Frederik was know as Frederik Henriksen at Harvard.
The greek royals use 'de Grecia' (Konstantin and Anne-Marie), Nicolaos, Theodora and Philippos use 'Greece', I don't know which name is in Pavlos' passport.

A bit OT, but do one of you happen to know if all children of K&AM have danish passport as well?
 
When did she change it? I only heard that she created the title of Count of Monpezat for her sons. But I never heard of changing the name of the house.

Well Cp Frederik, Cp Mary, Christian, Isabella, Joachim, Marie, Nikolai, Felix and Baby NN there house has now changed to Laborde de Monpezat. Margrethe still says House of Glucksborg. She did create people Count and Countess of Monpezat, but some how the house of the above people have changed. :flowers:
 
Thank you for your answers, but unfortunately I now have two contradictory answers!
Via Google I couldn’t find much information either, except for a Wikipedia article that might not be accurate. It is followed by a discussion and several people saying that the information is wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_talk:House_of_Laborde_de_Monpezat
So, in the absence of an official announcement, I tend to believe that the name of the royal house is still Glücksburg.
But maybe someone else has better googling-skills than I and can provide a link to a reliable source? Thanks in advance.:flowers:
 
I also saw these pages on Wikipedia, but sometimes there are mistakes in the articles. And the discussion pages of the article some people really challenge the content. I just find it strange that no-one was able to quote a reliable source, e.g. an official announcement. So maybe the change of the house-name is just an internet rumour?
The Dutch RF e.g. is still the house of Orange-Nassau after three generations of queens. I guess I'm a bit stubborn here, I still want an official statement from the Royal House to confirm this.
 
Kongehuset - Aktuelt - Nyheder

Here is an article regarding the titles.

What wikipedia says is the only information I can find. I believe it changed due to Margrethes marriage. as it says in the article Frederik, Joachim and there descendants are agnatically (through Henrik) in line to the family of Laborde De Monpezat.

It likes the windsor house should be mountbatten as a wife usually takes her husbands surname, but Elizabeth didn't want to change it.

Maybe Margrethe did.

Category:House of Glücksburg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frederik, Joachim, Christian, Isabella, Nikolai, Felix and baby NN have also been removed from the article above which are people belonging to the house of Glucksburg.
 
:previous:
Your Kongehuset link is a press release dated 30 April 2008. It advises that Frederik and Joachim will bear the additional title of 'greve af Monpezat'; Mary and Marie 'grevinde af Monpezat'; Christian bears 'greve af Monpezat' and Isabella 'komtesse af Monpezat'. It says nothing about surnames.

Beware of Wikipedia when an entry makes claims which are unsourced and unsubstantiated.

The argument that the House of Windsor should be the House of Mountbatten has no more relevance than the House of Windsor being the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
 
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:previous:
Your Kongehuset link is a press release dated 30 April 2008. It advises that Frederik and Joachim will bear the additional title of 'greve af Monpezat'; Mary and Marie 'grevinde af Monpezat'; Christian bears 'greve af Monpezat' and Isabella 'komtesse af Monpezat'. It says nothing about surnames.

Yes I realised that. I went back and edited my post afterwards and wrote undfer neither that it was an article refering to the titles. :flowers:
 
Though Windsor is the royal family of the United Kingdom's house name I did hear that upon their wedding's such as for the register Charles and Anne both used the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. I also read somewhere that upon the birth of Lady Louise (Prince Edward's daughter) that she became the first royal to actually have the surname Mountbatten-Windsor since the law changed in the 60's when Prince Philip complained he was the only man in the UK not allowed to give his children his name.
 
European: Riegning Families-
Belgium- Wettin
Denmark- Oldenberg
Great Britain- Windsor
Liechtenstein- Liechtenstein
Luxembourg- Nassau
Monaco- Grimaldi
Netherlands- Orange-Nassau
Norway- Oldenburg
Spain- Borbon
Sweden- Bernadotte
Non-reigning Families-
Albania- Zogu
Austria- Habsburg-Lorraine
Bulgaria- Wettin
1- France- Bourbon
2- France- Bonaparte
Prussia- Hohenzollern
Bavaria- Wittlesbach
Hanover- Guelf
Saxony- Wettin
Wurttemberg- Wurttemberg
Greece- Oldenburg
Italy- Savoy
Montenegro- Petrovic-Njegos
Portugal- Braganza
Roumania- Hohenzollern
Russia- Romanov
The Two Sicilies- Bourbon
Yugoslavia/Serbia- Karadjordjevic

Source of information- Europe's Royal Families
By-Maria Kroll & Jason Lindsey
Compiled and edited by Burke's Peerage
Copyright- 1979 :heart:


Although these are semi correct lol , they are semi- incorrect. Usually there is more then one House name Romanov is actually Parent House Oldenburg- Holstein - Gottorp -Romanov
Windsors were actually Saschen-Coburg -un Gotha -Aldenburg then by decree they changed the name to Windsor ( like the Palace) which was named after the Windsor Territory in Old Germany. Our Greek lines were Hesse main house plus the cadet house names per lines. If you look up each you will find most have 3 which was traditional with Parent House line first. Some have more and many have changed or abbreviated names over the decades.
 
Here is an article regarding the titles.

What wikipedia says is the only information I can find. I believe it changed due to Margrethes marriage. as it says in the article Frederik, Joachim and there descendants are agnatically (through Henrik) in line to the family of Laborde De Monpezat.

It likes the windsor house should be mountbatten as a wife usually takes her husbands surname, but Elizabeth didn't want to change it.

Maybe Margrethe did.

Category:House of Glücksburg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

People here are confusing Surnames with House, Line names in some countries they are the same in Royal lines they are usually different or some combination of both is used. Prince Philip abdicated rights and throne succession to Greece in marrying Her Majesty Elizabeth as such The English House name takes precedence. They do use Mountbatten- Windsor as last name just Windsor as House name. The press in general will call us as they like lol the public should look these things up. Press in general will mis-inform the public as writers tend to take creative freedoms, leave things out, add things etc.
 
what's written is royal's diploma? for example Prince Frederik? Frederik Monpezat? or Haakon? What?
 
My impression is, there are three names that have evolved in this discussion, namely:
i) House name
ii) (House) Family name. I think this is what Tommix has been posting.
iii) (Passport) family name. This is what I was referring to, namely ....

... in regards to the UK Royals, I understand it is because of some passport requirement of around the 1950's? that they were 'compelled' to select the name "Windsor" as their family name.

With the House of Hannover, two points
1.) If the European Court of Human Rights uses the family name "von Hannover", then in officialese their name is 'von Hannover'. That is the name that (I presume) is printed in their passports.
2.) With respect to Guelf, I think there might be a spelling mistake here. I think the real spelling is
a. "Guelpf" (German practice that 'pf' is pronounced as 'f') or
b. "Guelph" (also the name of a town in Ontario, Canada), but I'm not an expert.

And as Tommix has mentioned, the Royal Houses can have many names. The reason being that over time (before World War One) they collected property by war/treaty, they married into it, or it was given to them.

Windsor was an old section in Germany in the 1400's ( I am a duke of Original Windsor (old Windsor by blood) The Palace was named Windsor Palace in England after Windsor in Germany- and England officiated Duke of Windsor as one of it's titles and stylings. The Royal Family then took the name of the palace during the War to dis-associate with the Third Reich (from Sachen-Coburg-un gotha -Aldenburg) to Mountbatten-Windsor. Generally just used as the House of Windsor and last name of Windsor
 
HIRM&DSS Darius said:
Windsor was an old section in Germany in the 1400's ( I am a duke of Original Windsor (old Windsor by blood) The Palace was named Windsor Palace in England after Windsor in Germany- and England officiated Duke of Windsor as one of it's titles and stylings. The Royal Family then took the name of the palace during the War to dis-associate with the Third Reich (from Sachen-Coburg-un gotha -Aldenburg) to Mountbatten-Windsor.

George V changed the House and Family name to Windsor in 1917 during WWI. From 1901 to this date the House name was Saxe-Coburg & Gotha with the Family name of Wettin (that being the name of the Saxon Royal House and Duchies). Windsor was chosen because this British castle/fortress had the image of tradition, strength and stability. The Third Reich was Hitler's creation and came some years later. The 'Duke of Windsor' title was created in 1937.

Windsor Castle is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name of Windsor originates from old English Windles-ore or 'winch by the riverside' (according to Wiki).
I can't find any reference to a Windsor in Germany.

Mountbatten-Windsor is a more recent creation and seems to be the preferred Family name of most of the Queen's children, at least on marriage certificates.
 
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