Could a name on your driver’s license be hiding a royal secret? For many Americans, the answer might be yes and not just in the “my grandma said we’re related to a duke” way. A recent genealogy deep-dive revealed dozens of surnames with direct ties to British and European monarchies, some of which are surprisingly common in the U.S.
The fascination extends beyond dinner party bragging rights. These surnames bring centuries of drama wars, marriages, scandals, and migrations that influenced not only royal courts, but nations. And sharing a last name does not necessarily mean there’s a crown in your family, but it’s a thrilling place to begin looking for a link to kings, queens, and nobles.
Here’s a closer examination of the most intriguing clues, from household-name stars with royal relatives to the dynasties that founded the surnames you may already be familiar with.
1. Common U.S. Surnames With Royal Ties
A few royal-associated names are so ingrained in American existence that their heritage is simple to forget. Based on the most current U.S. Census figures, there are more than 324,000 Stewarts and more than 264,000 Howards in the United States. Russell, Spencer, and Bruce also qualify, with tens of thousands of carriers in each case. These names go back to noble groups such as the Scottish Stewarts, England’s influential Howard dukes, and the Percy earls of Northumberland.
The surprise? Some of these names arrived in the U.S. on waves of migration, long after their bearers had abandoned the castles. But their nobility beginnings are still recorded in genealogical documents, putting them at the top of the list for deeper ancestry investigations.
2. Celebrity Connections That Prove It Happens
The notion of a Hollywood celebrity being the relative of a king isn’t entirely tabloid fantasy. Actor Bob Odenkirk just found out on PBS’s “Finding Your Roots” that he’s the 11th cousin of King Charles. Madonna and Queen Camilla have a 10th-cousin connection through a 17th-century French carpenter. Benedict Cumberbatch is a second cousin, 16 removes, of Richard III whom he once played on screen.
Other celebrity names with reported royal connections are Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Hugh Grant, and Hilary Duff. As family history expert Simon Harper explained to ancestry.co.uk, “The fact that Camilla and Madonna are related, however remotely, shows the very unpredictable and fun nature of researching family history.”
3. The Dynasties Behind the Names
Most surnames on the list of royal connections trace back to ruling dynasties that have influenced European history. England was ruled by the Plantagenets for more than 200 years, and the Tudors ah, yes, Henry VIII combined belligerent groups through matrimony. The Stuarts united Scotland and England beneath a single crown, and the House of Windsor, renamed from its German appellation at the onset of World War I, is today’s royal house.
Certain names, such as Bourbon, Habsburg, and Romanov, refer to continental dynasties whose power stretched far beyond their native lands. Others, such as Howard or Seymour, are surnames of English nobles whose families married royalty and guided politics for centuries.
4. Uncommon Surnames With Profound Royal Significance
Although many royal-associated names are popular, some remain jewels that are scarce in the U.S. Cavendish, Astley, and Romanov show up fewer than 500 times in the census. Still, these names have history: the Cavendishes occupied the dukedom of Devonshire since the 17th century, and the Romanovs sat on the Russian throne until 1917.
Discovering one of these less common names in your family history might be a good lead particularly if combined with other indicators such as ancestral manors, title styles, or historical accounts of service to royalty.
5. How to Begin Tracing a Potential Royal Connection
A shared surname is just the first breadcrumb. Genealogists recommend starting with yourself and working backward, documenting each generation with birth, marriage, and death records. By the 10th generation, you’ll have over 1,000 direct ancestors; by the 20th, more than a million.
Sites such as MyHeritage, Findmypast, and Ancestry have digitized records, including census returns, wills, and even Royal Household personnel lists from 1526–1924. These can uncover ancestors who served in palaces, fought in royal regiments, or married into aristocratic families.
6. Gateway Ancestors: The Key to Unlocking Royal Pedigrees
In genealogy, a “gateway ancestor” is an individual who links your family with nobility. Once discovered, such a connection can provide access to richly documented pedigrees going back centuries. Some such ancestors will be found in records such as Burke’s Peerage or the Heralds’ Visitations, although professionals warn that these publications are not error-free.
As historian Turi King explained to the BBC, millions alive now are likely to be related to medieval kings such as Edward I or Richard III. The problem lies in establishing the connection using credible documentation.
7. The Allure of the Story
Aside from the facts and genealogies, the attraction of a royal connection is frequently about story. It’s the prospect of a common life today being connected, if only remotely, to the arc of history wars fought, thrones seized, pacts made. Even if the connection is through an illegitimate branch or a distant cousinhood, it gives depth to personal background.
And as dozens of celebrity finds reveal, royal connections can pop up in the most unassuming places. At times, the process of verifying or ruling them out is as satisfying as the discovery itself.
No matter if your surname is Stewart, Howard, or something much less common, the potential for royal heritage is an invitation to investigate. With today’s genealogy resources and centuries’ worth of documents that have been saved, mapping those lines has never been easier or more intriguing. After all, any family tree has its secrets; some just come with crowns.
