The surname Blinstrubs de Towtwil is a double (compound) personal name that originated in Žemaitija (Samogitia) in the second half of the 16th century, when the Danish-origin Blinstrub family merged with the descendants of Duke Tautvilas (Conrad Towtwil), son of Grand Duke Kęstutis and brother of Vytautas. In this surname, the personal name Blinstrub reflects the maternal line, while “de Towtwil” or “Towtwilowicz” serves as a lineage byname (Polish: przydomek), indicating a connection to another, older noble family from which the noble lineage descends. In our case, this is the paternal, male-line progenitor family.
In this section, we researching the etymology of both surnames.
Blinstrub
The surname Blinstrub is undoubtedly a non-Lithuanian foreign-origin personal name, which, by all indications, arrived from Denmark, where it originated as an appellative two-stem personal name.
The second stem of the surname, -trup, is an Old Norse noun “Thorp”. In Viking runes, it was written with a B – ᚦᚢᚱᛒ – and in Denmark evolved into “Trup”, where it became a common component of many two-stem place names. This is very straightforwardly confirmed by the Linguistics Department of the University of Copenhagen.
“Among Danish place names, the so-called ‘torp’ names are the most numerous. Today, most ‘torp’ names end in the suffixes -drup, -rup, and -trup, for example, Pandrup, Hunderup, and Stenstrup. The word ‘torp’ means ‘remote settlement’, therefore ‘torp’ names denote settlements, individual farms, and villages that separated from the main settlement. The majority of ‘torp’ names date from the Viking Age, and indeed there are many place names of this type in the Danelaw (eastern England) and Normandy. Many ‘torp’ names are formed from personal names, and from runic inscriptions we know that many of these personal names date from the Viking period, for example, the male name Svend – Svendstrup.”
One of the oldest Old Norse dictionaries, Lexicon Islandicum Sive Gothicæ Runæ vel Lingvæ Septentrionalis Dictionarium published in 1683, defines the word “Thorp” as follows:
“A town, village, that is, a group of houses (Oppidum, pagus, utpote dommorum collectio), while ‘Thorpa’ and ‘Thorping’ mean a group of people, a gathering (Caetus, caterva).”
Thorp definition in Lexicon Islandicum Sive Gothicæ Runæ vel Lingvæ Septentrionalis Dictionarium, published in 1683
Another old and widely recognized Old Norse dictionary, the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse Dictionary published in 1874, defines the word “Thorp” in a very similar way:
Thorp definition in Old Norse dictionary, the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse Dictionary published in 1874.
“A small village or homestead. We believe that this word was originally used to describe the poorer peasants’ cottages crowded together in a village, rather than separate houses standing on their own plots.” Etymologically, it also means a crowd or assembly. It very frequently appears as the second component of Danish place names, for example, -trup or -rup (with the t dropped): Hos-trup, Kra-rup, Kolde-rup, Vins-trup, Sverd-rup; however, in Old Danish – -torp or -thorp, for example, Bukke-thorp, Thume-thorp. Ny-thorp = modern Danish Nyrup.”
While the second stem of the surname “-trup” is could be explained quite easily, the first stem “Blin” and its variations “Blen”, “Blyn”, or “Blend” are not so simple to explain. In order to rule out or confirm its common-noun origin, it was necessary to consult the aforementioned dictionaries, as well as other Scandinavian language dictionaries. As it turned out, similarly spelled words do not correspond in any way to the ones mentioned. The closest words — “Blindur” (blind, unclear), “Blinda” (blindness), and “Blina” (fistula, blister) — are too distant from the first stem of the Blinstrub surname.
Words with beginning Blin in Lexicon Islandicum Sive Gothicæ Runæ vel Lingvæ Septentrionalis Dictionarium, published in 1683
Thus, having ruled out a common-noun origin, the version mentioned in the description by the Linguistics Department of the University of Copenhagen is confirmed: a place name derived from a Viking personal name.
In other words, Blinstrup or Blenstrup is the name of a homestead, manor, or small village named after a Viking named Blen or Blin. Over time, this place name became the surname of a person whose descendant’s daughters arrived in Žemaitija in the 16th century. It is also important to note that both the word “Thorp” and its later form “Trup”, although written with the letter P, are pronounced with a B sound — [ˈtɒːb] and [tr̥ʊb] — which etymologically brings it even closer to the current form of our family name Blinstrub.
More about the Blenstrup villages in the Kingdom of Denmark, from where our maternal lineage most likely originated, can be found in the section “Blenstrup Villages”.
Tautvilas (Towtwil)
Information about Duke Tautvilas and his descendants, the Towtwilowicz family, can be found in a separate section. Here we attempt to research and clarify the origin of the personal name Tautvilas through the rather limited science of Lithuanian anthroponymy.
Tautvilas is an ancient Lithuanian two-stem personal name. It originated as the name of a duke’s son, later became the surname of his descendants (Towtwil or Towtwilowicz), and in the modern world has once again become a given Lithuanian name. Its etymology is quite simple and easy to explain. The first stem Taut- means “nation” or “people”, while the second stem -vil means “hope”. This is explained by both the linguist Kazimieras Būga (1879–1924) and one of the first Lithuanian specialists in anthroponymy, professor Antanas Salys (1902–1972).
Apie lietuvių asmens vardus / Kazimieras Būga 1911 (About Lithuanian Personal Names / Kazimieras Būga 1911)
Kazimieras Būga: “Dr. Jonas Spūdulis, already in 1883–84, observed that such surnames as, for example: Butrym, Kontrym, Montrym, Narbut, Nargiełło, Butowt, Kontowt, Surmont, Dyrmont, Montwił, Montowt and so on, are compound, in other words — two-stem.”
Kazimieras Būga: “Our Lithuanian surnames (not nicknames!) are of two types: one-stem, non-compound, and two-stem, compound.
Just as one-stem surnames, so too two-stem surnames — some of them have a clear origin (etymology) that is immediately understandable to every Lithuanian, while others are unclear.”
Antanas Salys, Raštai, t.2, 1983 Tikriniai vardai
“Taut- : tautà ; – ‘country, land’.
I. Lith. : Tautgáila, Tautgínas, Tautgirdas, Tautkantas, Tautmìnas, Tautrìmas, Tautvaĩšas.
Pr. : Tautmìlas, Tautnarvas.
II. Lith. : Bártautas, Bùtautas, Eĩtautas, Gaũtautas, Gátautas, Gėtautas, Geĩstautas, Geĩtautas, Gė̃stautas, Gìrstautas, Gìrtautas, Gýtautas, Gótautas, Góstautas, Grìntautas, Gùstautas, Gùtautas, Jótautas, Jùntautas, Kástautas, Kìntautas, Kìrstautas, Kýtautas, Maĩtautas, Mañtautas, Mą̃stautas, Mą̃tautas, Mìntautas, Mìntautas, Nó rtautas, Nùtautas, Prìetautas, Rìmtautas, Rátautas, Sáñtautas, Saũtautas, Sìntautas, Sìrtautas, Vaĩštautas, Viẽštautas, Vìltautas, Vóstautas, Žìntautas, Žóstautas, Žùtautas.
Pr. : Jóstautas, Vaĩštautas.”
Explanation of abbreviations:
Taut- — the first stem, derived from tauta (“nation”, “people”, “country”).
Lith. = Lithuanian (Lietuvių)
Pr. = Prussian (Prūsų)
Antanas Salys, Raštai, t.2, 1983 Tikriniai vardai
“Vil- : viltìs. – ‘hope’.
I. Lith. : Vilbutas, Vilbudas, Vilgáila, Vilgardas, Vilmantas, Viltautas, Viltilas.
II. Lith. : Aršvilas, Bývilas, Bùdvilas, Bùrvilas, Dárgvilas, Daũgvilas, Dóvilas, Draũdvilas, Ei(t)vilas, Eŕdvilas, Gaũvilas, Galvilas, Gė́dvilas, Geĩdvilas, Gìlvilas, Gìndvilas, Gùdvilas, Jógvilas, Jótvilas, Kaũtvilas, Kiãtvilas, Kývilas, Mañvilas, Mą̃(t)vilas, Skaũdvilas, Steĩgvilas, Šìrvilas, Taũvilas, Tařvilas, Tautvilas, Viẽšvilas, Višvilas, Visvilas.
Pr. : Árvilas, Gaũdvilas, Jóvilas, Kaũtvilas, Nérvilas, Prévilas, Raĩtvilas.”
Notes:
Vil- comes from the Lithuanian word viltìs (“hope”).
This section lists ancient Baltic two-stem personal names containing the element -vilas (or its variants).
Antanas Salys, Raštai, t.2, 1983 Tikriniai vardai
“Most of the surnames derived from ancient two-stem personal names that survive today are found in Žemaitija (Samogitia):
Alminas, Butrimas, Gedminas, Gedrimas, Mantvydas, Milkantas, Kantautas, Ringaila, Sobutas, Sudmantas, Tautvydas, Tautvilas, Vaištaras, Vosbutas, Žadvydas, Žutautas, …”
Note:
The name Tautvilas is highlighted in yellow in the image.
This passage confirms that the surname Tautvilas belongs to the group of ancient Lithuanian two-stem names that have been preserved particularly well in the Žemaitija region — exactly as mentioned in your family history text about the Blinstrubs de Towtwil lineage.
Professor Zigmas Zinkevičius explains the personal name Tautvilas in exactly the same way (Zigmas Zinkevičius – Lithuanians: Past Greatness and Decline, 2013).
Zigmas Zinkevicius – Lietuviai – praeities didybė ir sunykimas (Zigmas Zinkevičius – Lithuanians: Past Greatness and Decline, 2013)
“Tautvilas. Mindaugas’s brother. A son of Kęstutis, the duke of Naugardukas Tautvilas also got this name; who later upon baptism received the name Konradas (Konrad).
This is an ancient Lithuanian two-stem personal name, compound, formed from the stems Taut- (cf. next to Vytautas) and -vilas (related to viltis – hope).”
Antanas Salys also explains how important the parents’ choice was when selecting a name for their child.
Antanas Salys, Raštai, t.2, 1983 Tikriniai vardai
“In ancient times, a personal name was not merely an empty label. It was believed that the name given to a child could influence his fate. For this reason, names were chosen very carefully or newly created with great deliberation. In a name, people wanted to express the characteristic features of the newborn’s future character and the qualities valued by the entire tribe. By giving a name to a child, the parents expressed their own hopes and wishes. A name was equal to a person’s dignity; it embodied the very essence of the person. The nation clearly preserved this ancient magical meaning of the name and passed it down through generations. In old times, the formula “Fulfill my wish, as your true name declares” was very common. Cf. our old term varduoti = to name, to call by name.”
After analyzing all of these sources, we can have no doubt that Grand Duke Kęstutis, when choosing the name Tautvilas for one of his last children, saw in him a great leader of Lithuania Kingdom. And although fortune smiled more upon Tautvilas’s older brother Vytautas, and fate decreed an early death and undeserved undervaluation in Lithuanian history, Tautvilas, as a personality, deserves proper remembrance. Had his death not come so early, there is no doubt that after Vytautas’s death, the helm of the Lithuanian Kingdom would have been taken over by his brother Tautvilas, who had learned from him much and greatly respected him. And Lithuania would most likely have re-established itself once again as a fully independent kingdom.
Blintrubs de Towtwil
After deep research of Danish and Lithuanian anthroponyms, we conclude that full surname Blinstrub de Towtwil should be classified as a double two-stem personal name (in other words, a surname with a linear byname). Unfortunately, neither Professor Antanas Salys, nor Professor Zigmas Zinkevičius, nor Vitalija Maciejauskienė examined this type of double surname — which belonged exclusively to the nobility. In their scholarly works, they classified such surnames as unclear. However, when all the elements are combined, we arrive precisely at the definition mentioned above.