Names from the Royal Lines of Moldavia and Wallachia

by Aryanhwy merch Catmael (Sara L. Uckelman)

© 2000 Sara L. Friedemann
© renewed 2005-2006 Sara L. Uckelman; all rights reserved
last updated 15Aug06

Introduction

The source for these names is http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/istorie/hi93.html, a list of the rulers of Moldavia from c.1351 to 1859, and http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/istorie/hi92.html, a list of the rulers of Wallachia from c.1247 to 1859. I have extracted the names found before 1600, 47 from Moldavia and 54 from Wallachia, and resorted them here according to frequency. The dates following each name are the dates of the bearer's rule. Because there are names from two different royal lines compiled here, there will be overlap in some of the dates; this is just meant to give a general idea for when the specific names were used. The most common names are Petru (11, 10.9%), Radu (8, 7.9%), and Stefan (8, 7.9%). Of the 101 people, 55 had surnames (54.4%). 4 of these people had two surnames.

I have given after each surname the modern Romanian translation of the elements; most of these translations are probably accurate for medieval Romanian, but I cannot say for sure.

Feminine Name

There was one feminine name.

Name Date Notes
Musatei c.1374-1392 She was known as Margareta in Latin.

Masculine Names

Name Number Dates Notes
Petru 11 c.1374-1392, 1444-1449, 1451-1452, 1454-1457, 1527-1528, 1534-1545, 1541-1546, 1559-1568, 1574-1579, 1583-1585, 1592
Radu 8 c.1377-1383, 1420-1422, 1462-1475, 1495-1508, 1522-1524, 1523-1524, 1534-1545, 1552-1553
Stefan 8 c.1394-1399, 1433-1447, 1457-1504, 1538-1540, 1551-1552, 1563-1564, 1591-1592, 1595
Alexandru 7 1400-1432, 1431-1436, 1540-1541, 1552-1568, 1568-1577, 1592, 1592-1593
Vlad 7 1394-1397, 1436-1442, 1456-1462, 1481, 1510-1512, 1530-1532, 1532-1525
Ioan 5 1552, 1561-1563, 1572-1574, 1577, c.1590
Mircea 5 1386-1418, 1442, 1481, 1509-1510, 1545-1559,
Basarab 4 c.1310-1352, 1442-1443, 1473-1476, 1477-1481
Bogdan 4 c.1359-c.1365, 1449-1451, 1504-1517, 1568-1572
Alexandrel 3 1449, 1452-1454, 1455
Vladislav 3 1364-c.1377, 1446-1456, 1523-1524 Also found once as Vlaicu.
Aron 2 1591-1592, 1592-1595
Dan 2 c.1383-1386, 1422-1431
Ilias 2 1432-1433, 1546-1551
Mihai 2 1593-1600, 1600
Mihnea 2 1508-1509, 1577-1591
Roman 2 1392-1394, 1447
Balc 1 1359
Barbat 1 c.1273-c.1290
Ciubar 1 1448-1449 Also found as Csupor.
Dragos 1 c.1351-1353
Iacob 1 1561-1563 Found in the compound name Ioan Iacob.
Iancu 1 1578-1582
Ieremia 1 1595-1600
Iuga 1 1399-1400
Latcu 1 c.1365-c.1374
Litovoi 1 1247-c.1273
Mihail 1 1418-1420
Moise 1 1529-1530
Nicolae 1 1599-1600
Nicolae-Alexandru 1 1352-1364
Patrascu 1 1554-1557
Pirvu 1 c.1500
Sas 1 c.1354-1358
Seneslav 1 1247
Simion 1 1600-1601
Stefanita 1 1517-1527 A pet form of Stefan.
Teodosie 1 1521
Tihomir 1 c.1290-c.1310 Also found as Tugomir.
Vintila 1 1574

Surnames

Much of the information about the grammatical constructions of the surnames and their meanings come from Walraven van Nijmegen, to whom I'm very grateful for his help. He says:

Three constructions in the data are locative: (1) <de la> [place], (2) [place] + <-escu>, and (3) [place] + <-eanu>. The latter two can also appear as patronymic endings in certain cases, but don't seem to be so in any of the names here.

There are two contructions in the surnames that may be translated into English as "the [POS]", where [POS] will stand for "part of speech". The construction <cel> + [adjective] can be translated as "the [adjective]", and [noun] + <-ul> can likewise be translated as "the [noun]". So, a <cel> construction means that the following word must originally be an adjective, never a noun.

Name Number Dates Notes
cel cumplit, cel Cumplit 3 1572-1574, c.1590, 1591-1592 cumplit, "terrible, grievous, ferocious, outrageous, grim."
cel Rau 3 1508-1509, 1592, 1592-1593 'the evil'
cel Tinar 3 1477-1481, 1510-1512, 1559-1568 'the young'
Aron 2 1451-1452, 1454-1457 patronymic from Aron
cel Batrin 2 1386-1418, 1473-1476 'the old'
cel bun, cul Bun 1 1400-1432, 1554-1557 'the good, kind'
cel Mare 1 1457-1504, 1495-1508 'the big, great'
Movila 1 1595-1600, 1600-1601 'mound, knoll, hillock'
Rares 2 1527-1538, 1541-1546 'rarely, seldomly, sometimes'
Tiranul 2 1591-1592, 1592-1595 'the tyrant'
Viteazul 2 1593-1600, 1600 'the brave man'
Voda 2 1572-1574, c.1590 'prince'
Badica 1 1523-1524
Calugarul 1 1481 'the monk'
Cazacul 1 1592 'the Cossack'
cel Frumos 1 1462-1475 'the handsome'
cel orb 1 1504-1517 'the blind'
cercel 1 1583-1585 'earring'
Ciobanul 1 1545-1559 'the shepherd'
Cornea 1 1540-1541
Craiovescu 1 c.1500 'from Craiova'
de la Afumati 1 1522-1524 'from Afumati'
de la Arges 1 1534-1545 'from Arges'
de la Slatina 1 1532-1535 'from Slatina'
Dracul 1 1436-1442 'the dragon' [1]
Eraclid 1 1561-1563 This is a Byzantine byname, Heraclid
Haidaul 1 1552-1553 'the cowherd'
Ilie 1 1552-1553 Probably a patronymic from Ilias
Inecatul 1 1530-1532 'the drowned man'
Joldea 1 1552
Lacusta 1 1538-1540 Possibly from modern lâcustâ, "locust."
Lapusneanu 1 1552-1568 'from Lapusna'
Ologul 1 1399-1400 'the lame man'
Paisie 1 1534-1545
Patrascu 1 1599-1600
Potcoava 1 1577 'the horseshoe'
Prasnaglava 1 1420-1422
Razvan 1 1595
Sasul 1 1578-1582 'the [Transylvanian] Saxon'
Schiopul 1 1574-1579 'the lame man'
Surdul 1 1591-1592 'the deaf man'
Tepes 1 1456-1462 'the impaler'; this byname was unique to Vlad Tepes, aka Dracula
Tomsa 1 1563-1564 Possibly a patronymic from a form of Thomas.
Turcitul 1 1577-1591 'the Turkified'
Vintila 1 1532-1535

Sources & Notes:

http://www.dictionare.com/english/dictionary.htm

http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/istorie/hi93.html

http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/istorie/hi92.html

[1] The byname <Dracul> derives from the membership of Vlad Dracul in the Hungarian Order of the Dragon [Boulton, D'Arcy J. D., The Knights of the Crown (New York: St. Martin's Press. 1987, ISBN 0-312-45842-8)].