His Romanian surname "Draculea" means "Son of Dracul" and is derived from his father's title, Vlad the Dragon; the latter was a member of the Order of the Dragon created by Emperor Sigismund.

The word "Dracul" means "the Devil" in modern Romanian but in Vlad's day also meant "Dragon" and derives from the Latin word "Draco", also meaning "Dragon".

The suffix "-ulea" can be translated as "Son of".

The old Romanian word for Serpent is nowadays the most common and casual reference to the devil—the people of Wallachia gave Vlad II the surname "Dracul" ("Dracul" being the more grammatically correct form).

His son Vlad III would later use in several documents the surname "Draculea". Through various translations ("Draculea", "Drakulya") Vlad III eventually came to be known as "Dracula" (note that this ultimate version is a neologism).

His post-mortem moniker of "Ţepeş" ("Impaler") originated in his preferred method for executing his opponents, impalement—as popularized by medieval Transylvanian pamphlets.

In Turkish, he was known as "Kazıklı Voyvoda" which means "Impaler Prince".

Vlad was referred to as "Dracula" in a number of documents of his times, mainly the Transylvanian Saxon pamphlets and "The Annals of Jan Dlugosz".

Read more here - Vlad III the Impaler

Posted: 10:49:18 AM  
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