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
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.
I haven't found how the name came about, but probably something somewhere will tell me.
1.- DER - a Romanian Etymological Dictionary
2.- RomanianWikipedia - see 2nd section, "Originea supranumelui 'Drăculea' şi a poreclei 'Ţepeş'"
3.- Wikipedia - see 1st section, "Names".
If any of you get the chance see teh last two commentaro's blogs, they are great.
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"."
Just a fun fact!
John