Did You Know? Count Dracula’s Real Identity—Count Dracula, Count Dracula!

Sat, 02 May 2026 23:06:12 +0000

Did You Know? Count Dracula’s Real Identity — Behind the Legend and the Legendary Name When most people think of Dracula, the image of a pale, bloodthirsty Count from Transylvania springs to mind—classic vampire stature, eternal night, and owned by centuries of Gothic mythology. But how much of the Dracula we know today is rooted in historical fact, and how did the name Count Dracula actually come to define one of literature’s most iconic villains? The Historical Roots: Vlad III – The Real Count Dracula Contrary to the fictional lore surrounding that sinister vampire, the real Count Dracula was a 15th-century nobleman—Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Dracul (his ancestral title). Born around 1431 near Brasov, in what is now Romania, he belonged to the House of Drăculești, a dynastic branch named after their patron saint, Saint Dragon (or Dracul in Romanian). The sobriquet “Dracula” literally means “Son of Dracul,” meaning “Son of the Dragon,” symbolizing his lineage’s noble bloodline tied to this revered figure.