Von
Von (generally in small case only as
von) is a
German preposition which approximately means
of or
from.
When it is used as a part of a German
family name, it can indicate a member of the
nobility, like the
French and
Spanish "de". At certain times and places, it has been illegal for anyone who was not a member of the nobility to use
von before their
family name. However, in the middle ages the "von" particle was still a common part of names and was widely used also by commoners, e.g. "Hans von Duisburg" meant Hans from (the city of)
Duisburg.
The abolition of the
monarchies in
Germany and
Austria in
1919 meant that neither state had a privileged nobility, and both had exclusively
republican governments. In Germany, this meant that in principle
von simply became an ordinary part of the names of the people who used it. There were no longer any legal privileges or constraints associated with this naming convention, although in practice, many people with
von in their names are still listed in
telephone books and other files under the rest of their name. (e.g.
Ludwig von Mises would be under
M in the phone book rather than
V). In Austria, in contrast, not only were the privileges of the nobility abolished, their
titles and
prepositions were abolished as well. Thus, for example,
Friedrich von Hayek became
Friedrich Hayek in
1919 when Austria abolished all indicators of nobility in family names. On this issue, also see
Austrian nobility.
In the
Nordic countries,
von is common but not universal in the names of noble families of German origin and has occasionally been used as a part of names of ennobled families of native or foreign, but non-German, extraction, as with the family of the philosopher
Georg Henrik von Wright, which is of
Scottish origin.
Not all members of families whose names begin with "von" are holders of a title of some kind, regardless of whether their parents are living or dead—while it can be said that almost all German nobles use
von not all users of
von are noble. (Some very old noble families, usually members of the
Uradel, do not use
von but are nevertheless still noble.) Also, a very few German families were elevated to the nobility without the use of the preposition
von. Ancient families distinguish themselves from newly ennobled ones by abbreviating
von to
v. This is also the traditional practice of nobles in North Germany.
Some people confuse "von" of German origin with "
van" of Dutch origin.
*
Zu*
Van
