Do you think your family originated from the top 1 percent?
According to a new study of unique last names from around the world, moving in or out of the upper class doesn’t take just a few generations — it takes centuries.
Measuring not just income and wealth but also occupation, education, and longevity, researchers found that upper-class families took 300 to 450 years before their scions fell back into the middle class. Throughout society, poor families, taken as a whole, took an equal amount of time — 10 to 15 generations — to work their way up into the middle class.
Using Surnames to Follow the Wealthy
The researchers based their study on families with unique last names. Those unique last names made it possible to trace the families through genealogical and other public records. In England, those aristocratic names included Atthill, Bunduck, Balfour, Bramston, Cheslyn, and Conyngham.
They found that social mobility in late medieval England wasn’t any worse than in modern England. Illiterate village artisans in 1300 took seven generations to incorporate fully into the educated elite of 1500. Conversely, if you died between 1999 and 2012 and had one of the 181 rare surnames of wealthy families in the mid-19th century, you were more than three times as wealthy as the average person.
Researchers aren’t sure why social mobility appears to move so slowly, despite outside political and social forces, and suspect genetics may play a role.
Rich Americans
The United States isn’t even old enough yet to test the researchers’ theory. But that hasn’t stopped many observers from identifying certain surnames that connote wealth in the United States.
For example, about 100 Mellons are alive today sharing $12 billion, the fruit of a bank their forefather Andrew W. Mellon founded in the mid-1800s. The several hundred living members of the Rockefellers share $10 billion in wealth that started when John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in 1870.
With just $1 billion, the Kennedy family’s wealth is eclipsed by the assets of less romantic family dynasties (the wealthiest family in the world, the Waltons, trace their riches to the founding of Wal-Mart in 1962), but the 30 Kennedy heirs live with a name associated with America’s Camelot.
Time will tell how long it takes those heirs to end up driving a cab. In the meantime, if you have a unique surname, or even if your last name is Smith, Ancestry can help you find out where your ancestors worked, how well they were educated, and how long they lived — all signs, according to researchers, of their place in the social hierarchy.
— Sandie Angulo Chenhttps://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/do-you-come-from-royal-blood-your-last-name-may-tell-you/
As I have stated before, the last King in our family tree was Edward III of England, who died 21 Jun 1377. All others were from earlier medieval times. Queens would be almost the same number of course, but for a couple of possible concubines.
Kings of Wales- ( Gwynedd, of the Britons, North Wales, South Wales, Deheubarth) - 53
Kings of Europe- (France, Franks, Austrasia, Neustria, Burgundy, Germany)- 28
Kings of England- (Anglo-Saxons, Normans, English,)- 23
Kings of Scotland- (the Scots, the Picts, Galloway, Alba,)- 26
Kings of Scandinavia- (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Gotland, Zealand, Vingulmark) - 28 (most are legendary kings from early medieval times - are a mix of the countries)(In January 2018, I found about 20 more Swedish kings from early times who are all legendary since Vikings had no written records, all legends are based on famous poems written later)
Kings of Ireland-(Dublin, Leinster)- 4
(as of September 2014, I found a new branch of Irish Kings)(as of August 2017, I found a new branch of Irish Kings) which brings the number to 53 (including Dublin, Leinster, Ulster, Munster, Ailech, Osraige or Ossory, Mide or Meath, Déisi Muman or Dessi,)
As of June 2015, I have found 21 more Irish Kings,
As of August 2017, I found 13 new Irish Kings of Osraige or Ossory.
(a note on Ireland-it is known as the Land of Kings- a good Tourist slogan- one source states that at one time during the medieval period there were a 150 kings ruling about 500,000 people in Ireland.)
As of September 2016, I have found Russian and Byzantine Royalty.
Byzantine Emperor-6
Russian Princes of Kiev-5
Kings of Spain- (Navarre, Toledo, Leon, Castille, Barcelona, Pamploma,)-,20
As of November 2017, I've found 3 German Kings not included in the above
Here are some of the most well known historically kings and queens :
The oldest that I did find on my tree though very problematic:
Constantine the Great (27 Feb 271-22 May 337)Roman emperor-on lists of he Most Influential Persons in History ( according to Michael H. Hart in 1975) and ranked very high.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great
Probably on every European ancestors' family tree.
Charlemagne, Charles the Great, (2 Apr 742 – 28 Jan 814)- Emperor, King, called the "Father of Europe". I found him on at least fifty branches of our family tree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne
William I (1028 – 9 Sep 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard,was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 found him on over fifty branches of mine also.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror
Eleanor of Aquitaine, (Apr 1122-31 Mar 1204) Queen of England, Queen of France, Duchess of Aquitiane, married to Henry II, and Louis VII of France. She was one of the most powerful and wealthiest women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
I have discovered another infamous common ancestor/cousin. John Brown (abolitionist), (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was an American abolitionist who believed in and advocated armed insurrection as the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States. In 1859, Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (still Virginia at the time) to start a liberation movement among the slaves there. He seized the armory, but seven people were killed and ten or more were injured. He intended to arm slaves with weapons from the arsenal, but the attack failed. Within 36 hours, Brown's men had fled or been killed or captured by local farmers, militiamen, and US Marines led by Robert E. Lee. He was tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, the murder of five men, and inciting a slave insurrection, was found guilty on all counts, and was hanged
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror
Eleanor of Aquitaine, (Apr 1122-31 Mar 1204) Queen of England, Queen of France, Duchess of Aquitiane, married to Henry II, and Louis VII of France. She was one of the most powerful and wealthiest women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine
I have discovered another infamous common ancestor/cousin. John Brown (abolitionist), (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859) was an American abolitionist who believed in and advocated armed insurrection as the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States. In 1859, Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (still Virginia at the time) to start a liberation movement among the slaves there. He seized the armory, but seven people were killed and ten or more were injured. He intended to arm slaves with weapons from the arsenal, but the attack failed. Within 36 hours, Brown's men had fled or been killed or captured by local farmers, militiamen, and US Marines led by Robert E. Lee. He was tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, the murder of five men, and inciting a slave insurrection, was found guilty on all counts, and was hanged
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist)
Our common ancestor was Sir Thomas Browne (1402 – 29 July 1460) (my 16th GGF) who was a Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was beheaded for treason on 20 July 1460.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Browne_(died_1460)
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