# Hitler's family **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 11, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607 "2005-02-11T17:09:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doctorduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Doctorduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctorduck)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/1 "2005-02-11T17:09:49Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050211.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050211.html) What Cecil doesn’t mention is whether the Hitler family kept the name. It must have been pretty hard living in Long Island with that name. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/2 "2005-02-11T17:15:14Z")
The surname was changed to Stewart-Houston, according to a letter on [this site.](http://www.fpp.co.uk/Hitler/family/Bastin.html) ---
**Author:** ![Doctorduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Doctorduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctorduck)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/3 "2005-02-11T19:15:28Z")
sort of an odd choice ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/4 "2005-02-11T20:16:42Z")
Not exactly an _odd_ choice, but a curious one for someone trying to avoid the Hitler connection, since it is obvious allusion to Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855 - 1927) the racist British writer who provided Hitler with most of his theoretical underpinnings. The website being cited here, it should be noted, is operated by Holocaust-denier David Irving. _Caveat lector._ ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/5 "2005-02-11T20:47:10Z")
Yes, I wondered whether to enter a caveat myself but the letter writer does seem to have researched this. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Patrick_Hitler) , for what it’s worth, points in the same direction. “However, despite his disavowal of his uncle’s ideology, there are some puzzles in what is known of Hitler’s life. According to a BBC documentary, not only did William Patrick give his eldest son the middle name of Adolf, the last name William Patrick adopted is reported by Gardiner to be a “double barrelled” name based on that of a famous British anti-Semitic ideologue, perhaps Houston Stewart Chamberlain.” ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/6 "2005-02-11T21:15:34Z")
Stalin’s daughter was alive and living somewhere in Wisconsin. > **[Svetlana Alliluyeva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svetlana_Alliluyeva)** > > Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva\[a\] (28 February 1926 – 22 November 2011), later known as Lana Peters, was the youngest child and only daughter of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his second wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva. In 1967, she caused an international furor when she defected to the United States and, in 1978, became a naturalized citizen. From 1984 to 1986, she briefly returned to the Soviet Union and had her Soviet citizenship reinstated. She was Stalin's last surviving child. > Svetlana Alliluy... or London [http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/a/alliluye.asp](http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/a/alliluye.asp) Brian ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/7 "2005-02-11T21:20:34Z")
Or Switzerland: [http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=54925](http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=54925) Brian ---
**Author:** ![beirne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@beirne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beirne)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/8 "2005-02-11T21:59:05Z")
There used to be a Hitler in Akron who was unrelated to Adolf. In his obituary it said that he was pressured to change his name to make it up the ladder at the tire company where he worked. He said that all the Hitlers he knew were honest, hardworking people and that he wasn’t going to let one jerk ruin the name. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/9 "2005-02-11T22:15:09Z")
According to [this news story](http://news.myway.com/odd/article/id/391737%7Coddlyenough%7C05-24-2004::09:52%7Creuters.html), a third party suggested to Hitler that he _could_ likely sue Austria for royalties and win, but that this realtive isn’t ithe least bit nterested. That’s almost a 180 degree difference from what the SD article suggests. (I’d suggest it’d be better for a relative who isn’t a Nazi sympathizer to get the cash and perhaps do something constructive with it [diversity education foundation?] than for publishers to cash on selling it for pure profit to people who may be Nazi sympathizers.) As far as use of the Hitler name: I recall reading a News of the Weird story about 2 years ago in which an older bus driver living in Austria was pretty much the last guy using it, and that he didn’t catch much heat for it, people understanding that he wasn’t responsible for what a distant relative did decades ago. Unfortunately NotW no longer has a search function on the site as best as I can determine and I haven’t been able to track down a cite in a reasonable amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/10 "2005-02-11T22:20:06Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > a third party suggested to Hitler that he _could_ likely sue Austria for royalties and win, :smack: That should read “… to a Hitler relative that…” ---
**Author:** ![steve7193](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@steve7193](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steve7193)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/11 "2005-02-11T23:43:01Z")
Wasn’t Hitler an assumed name? I have read (I don’t remember where) that his birth name was Schicklgruber. (I may have the spelling of the name wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/12 "2005-02-12T00:06:21Z")
> [@steve7193](#): > > Wasn’t Hitler an assumed name? I have read (I don’t remember where) that his birth name was Schicklgruber. (I may have the spelling of the name wrong.) His father assumed the name, a few years before Adolf was born. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/13 "2005-02-12T00:18:19Z")
> [@steve7193](#): > > Wasn’t Hitler an assumed name? I have read (I don’t remember where) that his birth name was Schicklgruber. (I may have the spelling of the name wrong.) Urban myth. Hitler’s _father_ originally used his mother’s name, “Schicklgruber”, because he was illegitimate, but he had changed to his stepfather’s name, “Hitler”, long before Adolf was born. The dictator was known as “Hitler” all his life. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/14 "2005-02-12T06:23:16Z")
I only came to remark that **Slug Signorino** did draw some really cute ‘Hitlets’ there! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/15 "2005-02-13T14:19:38Z")
> [@John W. Kennedy](#): > > Hitler’s _father_ originally used his mother’s name, “Schicklgruber”, because he was illegitimate, but he had changed to his stepfather’s name, “Hitler”, long before Adolf was born. The name “Hitler” itself, being a German variant of the Bohemian name Heidler. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/16 "2005-02-13T15:14:04Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > The name “Hitler” itself, being a German variant of the Bohemian name Heidler. That’s “Hiedler”. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/17 "2005-02-13T16:57:14Z")
The tone of Cecil’s article seemed pretty “anti-Hitler Family”. Almost reveling in their demise. Why so much vitriole for family members that had the misfortune of simply sharing his name? Is Cecil jewish? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/18 "2005-02-13T16:59:41Z")
But what about Adolph _Elizabeth_ Hitler? ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/19 "2005-02-13T19:56:39Z")
I heard that Hitlers great nephews are alive and living in New York, and they’ve vowed never to have children in order to ensure the Hitler name doesn’t get passed on. ---
**Author:** ![Scouse\_exile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Scouse\_exile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scouse_exile)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607/20 "2005-02-14T11:34:32Z")
The British novelist Beryl Bainbridge ([http://www.answers.com/topic/beryl-bainbridge](http://www.answers.com/topic/beryl-bainbridge)) based a 1978 comic novel on the conceit that Adolf Hitler visited Liverpool in 1912, staying with his brother Alois (you can find a brief synopsis at [http://alisaandmike.com/bYoungAdolf.html](http://alisaandmike.com/bYoungAdolf.html)). I found it hilarious but I’m Liverpool born, so it has strong resonances for me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hitlers-family/289607.md?page=2)