Many of us are intrigued by our ancestry and are eager to unearth potential links to famous figures, especially if those well-known people are members of the Royal Family. There are many surnames which would immediately indicate a link to the most famous family in the world – but some are less obvious.
In 1,000 years of royal history, the name of the royal house has changed a number of times, including the House of Tudor, the House of Stuart and the House of Hanover. The most notable shift in recent history came in 1917 during World War One when King George V issued a Letters Patent changing the Firm’s last name from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor.
So what are some of the most popular last names today that might suggest you are descended from royalty?
King George V’s rule also saw several descendants of Queen Victoria change their German-sounding last names to more Anglican ones. This includes Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was previously known as Prince Louis of Battenberg.
The singular last name of Windsor remained in place until 1960, when Queen Elizabeth issued a declaration in Council saying that her descendants should use the surname Mountbatten-Windsor, therefore combining her husband’s adoptive surname.
The surname is available to all descendants of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. It combines the Royal Family’s name of Windsor and the late Duke’s adopted surname of Mountbatten, which he took from his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, when he renounced his Greek and Danish royal titles in 1947.
With all these changes over the years, there is a significant chance that many people could be centuries-old descendants of some of history’s most famous figures. Find out if you could be below.
Windsor: The current British royal family’s surname since 1917.
Tudor: The Welsh dynasty that produced monarchs like Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
Stuart: A Scottish house that ruled England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Plantagenet: A royal house that provided England with monarchs from Henry II to Richard III.
Capet: The dynasty that ruled France from 987 to 1328.
Bourbon: A European royal house that ruled France, Spain, and other territories.
Habsburg: A prominent royal house of Europe, known for ruling the Holy Roman Empire.
Hanover: The British royal house from George I to Queen Victoria.
Valois: A cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty that ruled France.
Lancaster: A branch of the Plantagenet dynasty, known for its role in the Wars of the Roses.
York: Another Plantagenet branch, also central to the Wars of the Roses.
Bruce: A Scottish royal house, with Robert the Bruce being a notable king.
de Valois: A French royal house that produced several kings.
de Medici: An influential Italian family that produced royalty and popes.
Savoy: A royal family that once ruled parts of Italy and France.
Orange-Nassau: The Dutch royal family.
Oldenburg: A European royal house that includes the current Danish royal family.
Glucksburg: A branch of the House of Oldenburg, associated with Danish and Norwegian royalty.
Romanov: The last imperial dynasty to rule Russia.
Baskerville: A noble family name with historical ties to English aristocracy.
Darcy: A surname associated with medieval nobility and landowners in England and Ireland.
Neville: A powerful English noble family with significant influence during the medieval period.
Percy: An aristocratic English family known for their role in British history.
Astley: A noble surname linked to the English peerage.
Capell: A distinguished English family with historical ties to the aristocracy.
Howard: A prominent aristocratic family in the UK, holding the title of Dukes of Norfolk.
Seymour: The family of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, with ties to the Dukedom of Somerset.
Grey: Associated with Lady Jane Grey, England’s nine-day queen.
FitzAlan: A powerful medieval family, former Earls of Arundel.
Courtenay: A noble family with connections to English and French royalty.
Manners: The surname of the Dukes of Rutland, a high-ranking noble family.
Russell: Connected to the Dukes of Bedford, an influential aristocratic lineage.
Cavendish: The surname of the Dukes of Devonshire, a powerful British noble family.
Talbot: A noble family holding the Earldom of Shrewsbury.
Spencer: The family name of Princess Diana, tying it to the modern British royal family.