The Slovaks and the Czech surnames have only a letter for a prefix — the letter z. Some people adopted surnames from a point of reference — something that identifies themselves from others. Both von and van act as glue between the given name and the surname.
That is the only similarity between the two. First, von is German in origin. It has been used by all members of the noble families in German countries until the Middle Ages. After the Middle Ages, it has been transformed into a common prefix to any Germanic surname and was later used by commoners.
It has been a familiar pattern in German surnames to begin with von. Since German blood also flourishes in Austria and Russia, many Austrian and Russian citizens carry the prefix as part of the German surname.
On the other hand, van is Dutch in origin. Unlike the German von, van is used by common folk and is found in common places — from shops to elegant mansions. Van usually indicates a geographical location or a place.
In interpreting some surnames, van is attached to the surname itself. There's regional differences: In most of southern Germany and Austria "von" and "von und zu" see below means "nobility". The constitution of claimed: Advantages or disadvantages under the public law caused by birth or social rank are to be suspended.
This "no longer" is an idealised goal, written in law, but not achieved in all parts of real life. I strongly disagree. One says von Neumann ; nobody would understand Neumann. I totally agree. But I don't see how one counterexample leads you to disagree with what is true in every other case you could name? Do you also disagree with the idea that the plural in English is formed by adding -s to a word? Actually I oversaw the almost before always. So I cannot contradict your answer.
And I didn't analyse the case that it can be due to the English language usage, since we also in German say von-Neumann-Algebra , etc. Show 2 more comments. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown.
Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Related Alex US English. David US English. Mark US English. Daniel British. Libby British. Mia British. Karen Australian. Hayley Australian. Natasha Australian. Veena Indian. Priya Indian. Neerja Indian. Zira US English. Oliver British. Wendy British. By the way, Germans pronounce "v" as an "f", so "von" sounds like "fonn. But that von in all those names- what does it mean?
It means nobility. Not just in German, but French, Italian, Spanish etc. French has de , Italian has di and its variants, English has of, which indicated where a person was from- in none of these languages was it used exclusively for nobles, but most noble families used it to indicate their land holding, a central basis for noble status.
English and French Names Show "from" as well. Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, that murdered prince. The English prince John of Gaunt was so called simply because he was the John who had been born in Ghent Gaunt, in those days. Several French presidents helped themselves to a noble-sounding de without such heritage.
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