Von

Von (generally in small case only as '''von''') is a German Preposition which approximately means ''of'' or ''from''.

When it is used as a part of a German Family Name , it can indicate a member of the Nobility , like the French ''"de"''. At certain times and places, it was illegal for anyone who was not a member of the nobility to use ''von'' before their Family Name . However, in the middle ages the "von" particle was still a common part of names and was widely used also by commoners, e.g. "Hans von Duisburg" meant Hans from (the city of) Duisburg .

The abolition of the Monarchies in Germany and Austria in 1919 meant that neither state had a privileged nobilty, and both had exclusively Republic an governments. In Germany, this meant that in principle ''von'' simply became an ordinary part of the names of the people who used it. There were no longer any legal privileges or constraints associated with this naming convention, although in practice, many people with ''von'' in their names are still listed in Telephone Book s and other files under the rest of their name. (e.g. Ludwig Von Mises would be under ''M'' in the phone book rather than ''V''). In Austria, in contrast, not only were the privileges of the nobility abolished, their Title s and Preposition s were abolished as well. Thus, for example, ''Friedrich von Hayek'' became Friedrich Hayek in 1919 when Austria abolished all indicators of nobility in family names. On this issue, also see Austrian Nobility .

In the Nordic Countries , ''von'' is common but not universal in the names of noble families of German origin and has occasionally been used as a part of names of ennobled families of native or foreign, but non-German, extraction, as with the family of the philosopher Georg Henrik Von Wright , which is of Scottish Origin .

Not all members of families whose names begin with "von" are holders of a title of some kind, regardless of whether their parents are living or dead—while it can be said that almost all German nobles use ''von'' not all users of ''von'' are noble. (Some very old noble families, usually members of the '' Uradel ,'' do not use ''von'' but are nevertheless still noble.) Also, a very few German families were elevated to the nobility without the use of the preposition ''von.'' Ancient families distinguish themselves from newly ennobled ones by abbreviating ''von'' to ''v.'' This is also the traditional practice of nobles in North Germany.

Some people confuse "von" of German origin with " Van " of Dutch origin.

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Von