What's in a Name?

Today we speak and write of the Plantagenet dynasty as though that was their last name.  In fact, most members of the Plantagenet family wouldn't have turned their head at the name, which originated as a nom de guerre or sobriquet of a distant ancestor. 

Last names are so common today that we forget how recent an invention they are.  Last names began as nicknames or designations, to tell which Tom, Dick or Harry people were talking to or about.  They didn't become common as names past down in a family from a common ancestor until the 14th century.  Royalty never used last names of any kind.  Their designation was their country, an estate (Gaunt, Lancaster, York), or a common ancestor, Fitzhenry, Stewart).  Nobles followed suit. 

The name Plantagenet began, as many last names did, as a nickname or sobriquet for Geoffrey of Anjou (1113-1151), the father of Henry II of England.  Some sources indicate that Geoffrey adopted the common broom plant (planta genistae in Latin) as a heradric badge.  However, heraldry as we know it was in its infancy then, so it's more likely that this was nickname of Geoffrey's that stuck.  Unflattering nicknames were a thing back then.  Henry was called Curtmantle because of his habit of wearing short French cloaks instead of the flowing Anglo-Saxon variety.  As we now know, when heraldry became all important the Plantagenets used the three rampant lions of England, and the fleur-de-lys of France among other symbols.  We'll get to the roses soon enough.

It wasn't until Geoffrey's many-times distant grandson Richard II (1367-1400) that the name Plantagenet gained some currency.  Richard had issues, not the least of which was constant rumors that he was not a true member of the dynasty but a result of his mother's infidelity or witchcraft.  In order to tie himself more firmly to the ruling house of England, he harked back to his ancestor, Geoffrey Plantagenet.  Even then, members of the dynasty wouldn't have used that as a name.  It wasn't until the time of Henry VIII Tudor (1491-1547) that the name Plantagenet for the previous dynasty came into official use.  Henry needed to differentiate his dynasty, the Tudors, from that other dynasty, the Plantagenets, who still had a few heirs walking around (though not for long).  Still, it wouldn't be until the 17th century that the name Plantagenet was routinely used by historians to indicate England's longest-running family drama.