Are You Wondering If Your Ancestors Were Royalty? Believe it or not, you can discover for yourself and I will show you how. In this post.
People often wonder if they descend from someone renowned in their family tree; more frequently, people wonder whether that person was royalty.
Even though I find all ancestors fascinating, even those not known during their lives, royal and other notable ancestors can be especially intriguing to research. Learning more about them makes for fascinating history lessons!
If you know who your parents and grandparents are, as well as being willing to learn how to conduct family tree research, you could discover whether you have royal ancestors – with no guarantee that this could place you in line of succession for some throne somewhere – by researching them further. I think you will enjoy learning about them!
How Can You Determine If Your Ancestors Were Royalty
Most people can easily discover whether their ancestors had royal or noble connections, with these tips providing guidance as to where you might begin searching for royal ancestors.
Check if the country of your ancestry had a royal family
While most people think of British royal families when thinking of royalty, there are actually royal families across the globe – almost every nation on Earth boasts at least one historical royal or ruling family, even if their members no longer wield any political or social power today.
Denmark, Japan, Norway, Jordan, the Netherlands, Cambodia and Spain all boast royal families today – perhaps some even descended from which you yourself may also come! These royal houses may even have direct ancestry that might share bloodlines with yours!
There are an increasing number of countries which no longer formally acknowledge their royal families, though in some instances those royal houses still maintain their positions, even unofficially.
Italy abolished its monarchy as permanent punishment for cooperating with Mussolini in 1946, yet the House of Savoy lives on and has given birth to numerous descendants, one of whom currently resides in France – she would someday become Queen of Italy should that still exist!
Royal families attract public interest, which leads to genealogical research about them. If your ancestors hail from countries with royal families, looking at their family trees will reveal names of past ancestors going back several generations may yield answers about your lineage.
Discover whether Your Family Has Royal Ties
Believe it or not, certain surnames have more of a chance at having royal connections than others. When building your family tree, keep an eye out for names which could indicate a link with royalty such as these below.
If any of the names below appear in your family tree, make sure that you explore further back before drawing conclusions about any connection between it and royalty. There could be many reasons for why someone was given their surnames; having any one with one of these surnames does not automatically imply they descend from royalty.
Common Surnames in the British Royal Family
This list, though by no means comprehensive, might include names associated with branches of the British royal family. Some could date back hundreds of years while others may have more recent links.
Research your tree carefully when uncovering surnames that could match those found among noble or royal families, like mine – I descend from John Howard who was born in Devonshire England in 1716.
However, I have yet to uncover evidence linking my Howard family with Catherine Howard of Henry VIII fame. Since my Howard line only dates back to 1716 reliably, more research may need to be conducted over 200-300 years in order to confirm any potential connection.
As Catherine Howard never bore children and as she is female, any offspring she might have would likely not carry the surname down through generations.
Research can often surprise us in surprising ways; that makes it all the more enjoyable! For instance, while I have not discovered any blood ties to Catherine Howard or Henry VIII directly, evidence points toward Thomas Cromwell being my 15th great-uncle (he was executed on the day Catherine Howard married Henry VIII! ).
So connected but… not connected.
Understand the Difference Between Nobility and Royalty
While researching your family tree, you may come across an ancestor with titles like Lord or Baron who was part of nobility. These ancestors could have belonged to this class of society.
Sometimes there exists a genealogical connection between royal and noble families; more frequently however, the noble family was granted this status based on political or economic connections made with either King or Queen.
No matter why an ancestor may have been known as a Lord or Lady in history – be they distant cousins to the current monarch, or just outright family – learning about them can still be fascinating and you might also discover other intriguing “common” ancestors along the way!
Are We All Related to Royal Families? You might be amazed to discover that almost everyone may be related, albeit distantly, to royal families – whether directly or through distant ancestry. Did you know that nearly everyone whose ancestor lived in Europe in the 9th Century likely descends from Charlemagne?
As is evident by their European roots, nearly everyone with any European ancestry is likely related to the British Royal Family via Charlemagne.
So it is with any ancient royal rule across the globe; we all have unique family histories that make for exciting exploration.
Conclusion
With this post, I hope that it has provided you with all the knowledge necessary to identify whether or not you are descended from royalty, what royal bloodlines there could contain our ancestors, and whether all royal families share any common bloodline(s).
If you have any inquiries about anything mentioned in this post or would like to share any royal finds from your own family tree, or simply would like to join in the dialogue below, I invite you to participate! I look forward to the conversation and hope that we can learn a great deal together!
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