# Dracula--Name Game (not a game) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303 "2003-05-24T22:52:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/1 "2003-05-24T22:52:29Z")
What is the _exact_ meaning of the word “Dracula”? What is the _feminine_ form of the word? If there **is no** feminine form, what is closest? I think it’s Romanian. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/2 "2003-05-24T23:05:18Z")
It comes from Vlad Dracul, the man also known as Vlad the Impaler. From [this site](http://www.dreamsmith-graphics.com/wizglass/vlad.html): > [@](#): > > The name Dracula was applied to Vlad during his lifetime. It was derived from drac, a Romanian word that can be interpreted variously as “devil” or “dragon.” Vlad’s father had joined the Order of the Dragon, a Christian brotherhood dedicated to fighting the Turks, in 1431, shortly after Vlad’s birth. The oath of the order require, among other things, wearing the order’s insignia at all times. The name Dracula means son of Dracul or son of the dragon or devil. Since the word means “son of” perhaps a Romanian speaker can tell you what ending means “daughter of” for the feminine. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/3 "2003-05-24T23:05:20Z")
look [here](http://members.aol.com/johnfranc/drac05.htm)and [here](http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/count.htm) [sub]_fixed link - **DrMatrix** _[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/4 "2003-05-24T23:06:31Z")
Oops, well the first link’s good anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/5 "2003-05-25T00:41:01Z")
Feminine form? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/6 "2003-05-25T01:13:58Z")
We appreciate your thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/7 "2003-05-25T01:19:38Z")
You have them **Exapno Mapcase** , albeit unspoken. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/8 "2003-05-25T02:17:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > **It comes from Vlad Dracul, the man also known as Vlad the Impaler.** Just a nitpick. Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Tepes) is Vlad Dracula, AKA Vlad II. Vlad Dracul is Vlad I, his father. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/9 "2003-05-25T02:50:44Z")
Your nitpick is correct. I dropped the a. Now to nitpick you. 🙂 Vlad II is usually referred to as Vlad Tepes or Vlad Tsepech, meaning Vlad the Impaler. Because of the connection with his father, he picked up the name Dracula. So his proper nomenclature is Vlad Tepes Dracula, though he is often called Vlad Dracula. The more I type Dracula, the more incorrect it looks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/10 "2003-05-25T03:18:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > \*\*The more I type Dracula, the more incorrect it looks. 🙂 \*\* Perhaps that is because it is, in fact, incorrect. The correct Romanian spelling is “Draculea.” Hah! I pick a nit, as well! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/11 "2003-05-25T03:20:07Z")
Touche Exapno. Between the two of us, we’ll get all the details out there. ^\_\_~ ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/12 "2003-05-25T11:28:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terrifel \* > \*\*Perhaps that is because it is, in fact, incorrect. The correct Romanian spelling is “Draculea.” > > Hah! I pick a nit, as well! \*\* **Terrifel** --do _you_ know the correct feminine ending for the name? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/13 "2003-05-25T13:19:55Z")
**Bosda** , I spoke with my husband (who is Romanian) and he looked at me like I was nuts. He said the name “Dracula” was an American invention, and his “real” name was Vlad de Tepesh. He said there is no feminine form of the name. I thought maybe they did that same as the Russians and added an “a” to the end of the name to denote a female, but alas, no they do not. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/14 "2003-05-25T16:07:07Z")
AFAIK, _Dracul_ and _Dracula_ are legit but _Nosferatu_ is an invention. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/15 "2003-05-25T16:15:22Z")
**Cuckoorex** , I think Dracul is legit (it means “Dragon”) but not any of the others you mentioned. My husband isn’t here right now to ask him, but I can check if you’d like? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/16 "2003-05-25T16:45:13Z")
If the “a” or “ea” ending means “son of”, then it is hard to imagine that the son of Vlad Dracul, definitely a real figure, would _not_ be known as Vlad Dracula. Dracula as a vampire is a different thing altogether, to be sure, but it’s not American. Bram Stoker was British. Irish, really. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/17 "2003-05-26T00:16:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\ ***Terrifel** --do _you_ know the correct feminine ending for the name? 🙂 \*\* I do not, and suspect that there may not be one. The name “Draculea” is, I believe, the genitive for “Dracul,” and as such probably wouldn’t differ from male to female. If Vlad Jr. had been a girl, they may have called him the exact same thing; I think you might be asking for something similar to “the feminine form of O’Malley,” if you see what I mean. However, I do not speak Romanian and thus am perfectly willing to be corrected on this matter. ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/18 "2003-06-06T04:32:44Z")
According to Treplow’s _Vlad III Dracula_, Vlad Dracula _did_ indeed sign his name as Dracula. Treplow says on page 8: “Vlad was called Dracula and signed his name as such in documents issued from his chancellory because he inherited the name from his father, who had been made a member of the Order of the Dragon by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg, a crusading order founded to halt the Turkish onslaught in Europe.” In McNally and Florescu’s book _In Search of Dracula_ there’s a picture of the Ochsenbach painting of Vlad that dates from the early 17th century. On the portrait his name is clearly rendered as VLADISLAVS DRACVLA. .:Nichol:. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dracula-name-game-not-a-game/177303/19 "2003-06-06T12:38:45Z")
Thank you. **Nichol** , **Mapcase** , _et al_.