Habsburg naming and title conventions

Draft document done, attached to the project. You can access it here: http://www.geni.com/documents/view/project-873?doc_id=6000000016646...

I tried to keep it short but include sufficient facts to open the discussion.
Let's gather feedback in this thread?
Thanks!

Very nice, George. I like almost all of it but I'm skeptical about using the von Habsburg name as a surname for all generations of the family. Although many genealogists work that way, it's a falsification of their actual names. On Geni we have the luxury of putting them in a Habsburg project, so we don't need to pretend Habsburg was their name.

By an old convention, European royal families don't have surnames, but they do have dynastic names. Among the old nobility (the uradel), all children inherited the title equally. So, in the early generations we have Rudolf, Graf von Habsburg, the head of the family - as well as his brothers and sisters who were also counts and countesses of Habsburg.

Ater the family acquired Austria, their names were no longer von Habsburg, but instead von Österreich. So we have many generations where their names were Friedrich, Archduke of Austria, and his brothers Archduke Otto, Archduke Rudolf, etc.

When we say their names were "really" von Habsburg in spite of what they called themselves, we are thinking in our modern middle class terms, with paternal surnames. When we work in history, we should be using the names they used for themselves.

Rudolf I, King of the Germans, Count of Habsburg
First Name: Rudolf
Middle: ⊗
Last Name: von Habsburg
Suffix: römisch-deutscher König
Display Name: Rudolf I von Habsburg, Roman-German King
Birth Surname: von Habsburg
Also Known As: also known as Rudolph of Habsburg
----------
Your proposal:
First Name: ⊗
Middle: ⊗
Last Name: von Habsburg
Display Name: Rudolf I, Herzog von Österreich, Römisch-deutscher König
Suffix: Graf von Habsburg
Birth Surname: von Habsburg
------
My proposal:
First Name: Rudolf I
Middle: ⊗
Last Name: von Habsburg
Suffix: König
Birth Surname: ⊗
Display Name: Rudolf I von Habsburg, römisch-deutscher König
Also Known As: (see Wikipedia.de)
• Herzog von Österreich und der Steiermark;
• Rudolf IV. Graf von Habsburg + Kyburg und Löwenstein sowie Landgraf im Thurgau;
• Herzog von Kärnten und Krain;
• Herzog von Österreich und der Steiermark

"Herzog von Österreich und der Steiermark"
duplicated, sorry

Mihály, I like your system but I also see some problems. For his first name, he wasn't born Rudolf I. He survived infancy and became Rudolf IV, Graf von Habsburg. And, that's assuming he used a number. Perhaps one of his early seals survives and shows IV, but I think he was probably just Rodolfus Comes de Habsbourg, or something like that. Generally, the numbers are an invention of later historians.

Also, we generally only need to use someone's highest title. We don't need a mini-biography ;) So, I like yout idea of eliminating Herzog von Österreich from his display name. Your suggestion (Rudolf I von Habsburg, römisch-deutscher König) is good, but I would also put römisch-deutscher König in the suffix. This would disambiguate him from his many uncles and cousins also named Rudolf.

@ stella nina mccartney willis

Does Stella Nina McCartney is a descendant of Rabsburg? I think she looks like one of the two empresses of Russia Autria and oura, Sissi and the other is one of Catherine the Great Hungarian descent and another of German descent>
Could you do me a report with details on the Habsburg family, is that we could exchange ideas on this subject by email?

Does Stella Nina McCartney is a descendant of Rabsburg? I think she looks like a two empresses of Austria and Russia outrara, Sissi and the other is one of Catherine the Great Hungarian descent and another of German descent
Could you do me a report with details on the Habsburg family, is that we could exchange ideas on this subject by email?

Does Stella Nina McCartney is a descendant of Rabsburg? I think she looks like a two empresses of Austria and Russia outrara, Sissi and the other is one of Catherine the Great Hungarian descent and another of German descent
Could you do me a report with details on the Habsburg family, is that we could exchange ideas on this subject by email?

Joana D'arc da Silveira

[[6000Does Stella Nina McCartney is a descendant of Rabsburg? I think she looks like a two empresses of Austria and Russia outrara, Sissi and the other is one of Catherine the Great Hungarian descent and another of German descent
Could you do me a report with details on the Habsburg family, is that we could exchange ideas on this subject by email?

Joana D'arc da Silveira

Does Stella Nina McCartney is a descendant of Rabsburg? I think she looks like a two empresses of Austria and one from Russia, Sissi and the other is one of Catherine the Great Hungarian descent and another of German descent
Could you do me a report with details on the Habsburg family, is that we could exchange ideas on this subject by email?
What is this number that appeared when I put the name is Stella McCartney Ninna research these numbers were

Joana D'arc da Silveira

Very useful, George J. Homs - thank you.
Maybe also an idea to add it as link with an appropriate heading under the Period Specific Rules on the Naming Convention Project Page?http://www.geni.com/projects/Coalition-for-the-Standardization-of-G...

Thanks, Sharon! It's currently only up for discussion, of course. I wanted to let it rest for a week or two, just to see if there are more thoughts about this :-)