Where Did Dracula Come From?

He came from a book by the same name called "Dracula" by Bram Stoker.  Stoker was an Irish writer, living in London and this would become his most famous novel.

This is where the majority of the myth is built. (Please see comments a few back the exact question is "where did Dracula come from then?" The blog post is a few back look under the tag of Dracula)

Otherwise there is no Dracula per say, other then the Vlad Dracul, which is from my study: the clan Dracul, and his father was also a Dracul.

The Name of this person is : Vlad Tepes.

He was born in Transylvania and was a Prince of Wallachia... returning after uprisings.

Comments

Unknown said…
I find it funny that many people think that Stoker's Dracula is an accurate description of the real-life Vlad Tepes. Both are characters with a bloody past, but Tepes was definitely not a vampire.

Am I correct in thinking that the name Dracul stems from the Latin word "draco", meaning dragon? I wonder how the family acquired the name if so, since in medieval times, dragons were commonly equated with the Christian devil.
Yes you are correct. The shield of the Tepes family was in fact a dragon.

I haven't found how the name came about, but probably something somewhere will tell me.
as said…
Some brief Internet searches (not necessarily the most reliable sources) - "dragon" seems to be indeed a basis for the Romanian word "drac", and origin for the surname of Vlad Ţepeş (Drăculea), see:

1.- DER - a Romanian Etymological Dictionary

2.- RomanianWikipedia - see 2nd section, "Originea supranumelui 'Drăculea' şi a poreclei 'Ţepeş'"

3.- Wikipedia - see 1st section, "Names".
Thanks once again, there is useful information out there.
If any of you get the chance see teh last two commentaro's blogs, they are great.
Unknown said…
That's interesting about their coat of arms having the dragon on it.

The following comes from Wikipedia (I couldn't resist):

"His Romanian surname "Drăculea" means "Son of the dragon" and is derived from his father's title, Vlad the Devil (see Vlad II Dracul); 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 "-lea" can be translated as "son of"."
Anonymous said…
"Dragon" also indeed is the same word as "devil" in colloquial Romanian. One of the worst curses in Romanian is "la dracu!" This is short for "(Go) to the devil!" and is roughly as serious as "f*** you" is in English. You wouldn't say it to your mother, even in an angry mood!

Just a fun fact!

John