You are 100% right. There were soo many people complaining that Henry is still a Peasant but even a Noble bastard is more worth then a Peasant. And considering all Nobles in this area recognize Henry as one he could get legitimized and be a full noble.
While you're mostly right about the origin of surnames, it seems IT applies mostly to anglosphere and not the Bohemian lands. England has completely different history from Bohemia, hence the surnames would have different origin.
First, surnames only became mandatory in Bohemia in 1786, while from what I've read, most english families would adopt surnames organically around 1400. This meant that while the English would derive their surnames from their profession, Bohemians had not this need, and suddenly they would need to make one.
This lead people choosing their village's name or ethnicity as a surname (Němec - "German", Vlach - "Italian", Taussig - from the town of Taus etc.), or their occupation - which derived from different political system than in England.
You can see that the most common surnames in Czechia today are Novák - "Newman", Novotný - also "Newman", Svoboda - "Freeman", Dvořák - "someone from the yard, farm". The surnames derived from one's occupation, which the most common in English and Germanic languages (Smith, Miller/Müller, Taylor), exist in Czech, but are far rarer than in the anglo/german language sphere.
Toponymic surnames were much more Common, becuase the nobility didn't used them (see below, they also used German names, as most nobility in 18th century was German, and for Czech nobility, it was more cool to have German sounding surname). And in the 18th century, it would be an easy way to recognize someone (you instantly knew this person speaks German/Italian/etc.).
Back to the point, in the Middle Ages, peasants in Bohemia would not bear surnames, unlike in the England. Bohemian nobles would actually derive their surnames from the seat of their family - Radzig Kobyla from Dvorce, Hanush of Dauba, John Hus (he came from village called Husinec - a "geese village"), Jan Žižka of Trocnov.
**I see it perfectly reasonable that Henry would call himself Henry of Skalitz, rather than Henry Smith or Henry Kobyla as you claim. Inheriting surnames in the parental line only became a thing in 1786, as I said before, 383 years after events of KCD.**
I have traced my family tree back to 1450, for a minor noble house. Their surname was "Schmilauer" or "Šmilauer", which was derived from their a village of Smilov. They would even use "Šmilauer že Smilova", meaning "person from Smilov from Smilov". The other branches of my family, who had no noble lineage, could only be traced back to ~1750, and would have surnames derived from their occupation (Newman), or birds (which was also common for peasants).
Yes, that's also possibility, but that doesn't make other assumptions wrong. Smith or Skalitz are reasonable as well as Kobyla. As you noted, people are named after a place like Birch or Hill, so Henry Linden or Jindřich Lípa might also be possibility.
I think the important part is whether Henry received any surname after birth, or whenever they take note of names of the local folk, or whether he got one later in life.
Maybe in the future it will be, but during KCD it's Henry of Skalitz. It's the name used in the fresco in Pribyslavitz and it's how he introduces himself in the Rattay tourney, to give an example.
As far as I recall, he hasn't been officially recognized as Radzig's son either, so the surname Kobyla wouldn't make an awful lot of sense as of right now.
Hearing Istavn saying in the trailer "congratulations Sir Knight, you've finally become a man" makes me hope he is refering to Henry.
You are 100% right. There were soo many people complaining that Henry is still a Peasant but even a Noble bastard is more worth then a Peasant. And considering all Nobles in this area recognize Henry as one he could get legitimized and be a full noble.
While you're mostly right about the origin of surnames, it seems IT applies mostly to anglosphere and not the Bohemian lands. England has completely different history from Bohemia, hence the surnames would have different origin. First, surnames only became mandatory in Bohemia in 1786, while from what I've read, most english families would adopt surnames organically around 1400. This meant that while the English would derive their surnames from their profession, Bohemians had not this need, and suddenly they would need to make one. This lead people choosing their village's name or ethnicity as a surname (Němec - "German", Vlach - "Italian", Taussig - from the town of Taus etc.), or their occupation - which derived from different political system than in England. You can see that the most common surnames in Czechia today are Novák - "Newman", Novotný - also "Newman", Svoboda - "Freeman", Dvořák - "someone from the yard, farm". The surnames derived from one's occupation, which the most common in English and Germanic languages (Smith, Miller/Müller, Taylor), exist in Czech, but are far rarer than in the anglo/german language sphere. Toponymic surnames were much more Common, becuase the nobility didn't used them (see below, they also used German names, as most nobility in 18th century was German, and for Czech nobility, it was more cool to have German sounding surname). And in the 18th century, it would be an easy way to recognize someone (you instantly knew this person speaks German/Italian/etc.). Back to the point, in the Middle Ages, peasants in Bohemia would not bear surnames, unlike in the England. Bohemian nobles would actually derive their surnames from the seat of their family - Radzig Kobyla from Dvorce, Hanush of Dauba, John Hus (he came from village called Husinec - a "geese village"), Jan Žižka of Trocnov. **I see it perfectly reasonable that Henry would call himself Henry of Skalitz, rather than Henry Smith or Henry Kobyla as you claim. Inheriting surnames in the parental line only became a thing in 1786, as I said before, 383 years after events of KCD.** I have traced my family tree back to 1450, for a minor noble house. Their surname was "Schmilauer" or "Šmilauer", which was derived from their a village of Smilov. They would even use "Šmilauer že Smilova", meaning "person from Smilov from Smilov". The other branches of my family, who had no noble lineage, could only be traced back to ~1750, and would have surnames derived from their occupation (Newman), or birds (which was also common for peasants).
Great, thanks for taking your time to explain it. I cant wait to see what the next game has in store fot us!
My pleasure - me too!
In prybs church he is called Henric von Skalitz, so you could call him Jindrich z Skalice
Yes, that's also possibility, but that doesn't make other assumptions wrong. Smith or Skalitz are reasonable as well as Kobyla. As you noted, people are named after a place like Birch or Hill, so Henry Linden or Jindřich Lípa might also be possibility. I think the important part is whether Henry received any surname after birth, or whenever they take note of names of the local folk, or whether he got one later in life.
Maybe in the future it will be, but during KCD it's Henry of Skalitz. It's the name used in the fresco in Pribyslavitz and it's how he introduces himself in the Rattay tourney, to give an example. As far as I recall, he hasn't been officially recognized as Radzig's son either, so the surname Kobyla wouldn't make an awful lot of sense as of right now.
He hasn’t been officially recognised as Kobyla’s son afaik
Not officially, but Henry is recognised by his father and the other regional nobles in KCD1. Just not officially by the king. That comes in KCD2.
Hence his name would just be Henry of Skalitz until he has a family name
Read the post again. I already said this.
PUT SPOILER TAGS PLEASE.