# The Surname "Hitler".
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-surname-hitler/502058
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 6, 2009, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-surname-hitler/502058 "2009-07-06T10:26:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-surname-hitler/502058/21 "2009-07-07T10:48:25Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#):
>
> Descendants of his half-brother, and yes, they live on Long Island and their father (AH’s nephew) changed his name when he came to the US. He also has another great-nephew named Peter Raubal, who’s a retired engineer in Austria.
And Geli Raubal was his half niece with whom he may/ may not have been having an affair before she was murdered. In his apartment.
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### Author:  [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-surname-hitler/502058/22 "2009-07-07T11:14:26Z")
My mother worked with an African-American guy named Adolph (not Hitler) about ten years ago. He was about 40 at the time… we always thought it was weird.
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### Author:  [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2009, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-surname-hitler/502058/23 "2009-07-07T11:23:02Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#):
>
> Part of the reason the name is so rare (besides the obvious reason) is that it is itself an alternate spelling. The usual spelling of the name is Heidler, and it’s a fairly common Austrian and Czech surname. There’s a Fox News correspondent named Scott Heidler, an American historian named David Heidler, one of the track and field people on the 2008 German Olympic team was Betty Heidler, and so on.
I worked with a german civilian whose last name Hietler. First initial M.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-surname-hitler/502058/24 "2009-07-07T12:50:16Z")
> [@Cicero](#):
>
> And Geli Raubal was his half niece with whom he may/ may not have been having an affair before she was murdered. In his apartment.
She probably committed suicide, but yes, she was found dead in their apartment. She would have been Peter Raubal’s aunt.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-surname-hitler/502058/25 "2009-07-07T14:31:13Z")
Why shouldn’t people (non-Hitlers, obviously) name their kid Adolph? Does the name have magical powers? There is no tease-proof name, but I’d imagine that children’s knowledge of WWII villains is pretty slim. I can’t think of a good reason to avoid it that doesn’t boil down to superstition. Hitler wasn’t the original or only Adolf, and frankly I don’t think he deserves to have the power of taboo avoidance.
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