Really, aren't you ignorant Dutch last names often start with van, or van der ### If it starts with von, then it is more likely German You might as well say last names that start with Mc### or end with ###son. |
If you see 'von' in a German name, this generally means the person is descended from nobility. And yes, most of these people do care about that, and do see themselves as something quite special, even though the country hasn't had a true noble class in a long time. So yes, I'd say 'von' in a name screams 'I'm better than you!' |
Ovaltine? Like the milk flavouring product? |
Don't you mean to say that some German nobles had von in front of their last name. It is just a name, not a sign of nobility, never was. Battenberg was renamed Mountbatten. BRM changed their last name to Windsor to cover up their German heritage during ww1 |
| Trevor, Kent, Muffy.. basically any country club-sounding name. |
| Unless the name is "I'm better than you" no other name says that about a person. |
| Any girl with the middle name James |
Why? |
What I did say means essentially the same thing: the 'von' 'generally means the person is descended from nobility'. Or, as you said, 'some German nobles had von in front of their last name'. I live in Germany. I know what I am talking about here. |
Man I don’t have a Theo but I think it’s an adorable name! |
Funny, to me it’s very Catholic working-class, but that just shows my own bias. |
| Mary |
| Suzanne, pronounced the French way (Sue Zonn) |
Do you? The van/von means from. Usually a place name, sometimes not. It is so common, there are so many variants and the people are not Euroopan royalty or nobles. Most likely villagers, peasantry |
Same. My daughter’s best friend in nursery school was a Theo. They would always pair up for walks and hold each other’s hands. I only have sweet associations with the name now. |