The name Dracula

[Shish-kabob-Forrest]

There is no true Latin word for Dragon. The closest thing is Latin slang (not in the dictionary): Draco. Since the Webmaster's native language is Romanian, he can probably be better help here, but my understanding is that all the Romanian, Saxon and Hungarian words based on it differ by the nature of their use. For an English example, the word: Mason. Then you have Masons, masonry, co-mason etc.
I heard somewhere (which means I don't know if it's true) that the change from Draco to Dracul, in modern words, transforms the nature from reference to a single, literal dragon to a somewhat symbolical or title meaning (like Locust to Locustville for instance.
What I DO know is that putting an "a" or "ya" at the end of someone's name in some east European languages is the same thing as putting: "Jr" at the end of someone's name in English.

In any case, the name: "Dracula" clearly refers to both his father and the order.
This all might explain the different spellings referring to Vladislav that appear to have "Draco" as their root, which may have simply been "Draco" with different endings according to the different ways in which it was being used.

Note all the different ways I end the word: Florida:

"Hay Jimmy, I was thinking about visiting FLORIDA, and I heard that you are a FLORIDIAN. I would like to know what FLORIDA'S weather is like. I heard it's quite humid. By the way, do you know if their are any other FLORIDAS, like a city or town somewhere? I had a dream once that I visited a city called: FLORIDASBURG, or was it FLORIDAVILLE?

[michaelmast]

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (c. 1431 – December 1476), more commonly known as the Impaler (Romanian: Vlad Ţepeş pronounced [ˈvlad ˈt͡sepeʃ]) or Draculea, was a three-time voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462.

Historically, Vlad is best known for his resistance against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion and for the cruel punishments he imposed on his enemies.

In the English-speaking world, Vlad III is perhaps most commonly known for inspiring the name of the vampire in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.

His Romanian surname Dracula (also spelled "Draculea", "Drakulya,"drackuliea"), which Vlad was referred to in several documents, means "Son of the dragon" and points to his father, Vlad Dracul, who received that moniker from his subjects because he had joined the Order of the Dragon. Dracul, derived from the Latin word Draco meant "dragon", though in modern Romanian it means "devil".

His post-mortem moniker of "Ţepeş" ("Impaler") originated in his killing opponents by impalement, a practice popularized by medieval Transylvanian pamphlets. In Turkish, he was known as "Kazıklı Voyvoda" (pronounced [kɑzɯkˈɫɯ]) which means "Impaler Prince".

[benjkelly]

I really am interested with VLad