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Records of the Tötösy de Zepetnek Family / A Zepetneki Tötösy család adattára ISSN 1715-152X
©Steven Totosy de Zepetnek <http://www.totosy.com/summary.html>
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Summary: 1. List of Tötösy and the Tötösy de Zepetnek and Its Branch Families, 2. the Etymology of Tötös and Tötösy, and 3. Selected Tötösy de Zepetnek Archival Documents

Records of the Tötösy de Zepetnek Family / A Zepetneki Tötösy család adattára (ISSN 1715-152X) is a compilation of published, archival, and other documentary sources of and material about the Tötösy de Zepetnek family, its genealogies including selected collateral families. Tötösy de Zepetnek is a Latin form of the surname following the history of Hungary where until 1848 the official government language and thus most documentation has been in Latin; its Hungarian form is Zepetneki Tötösy. The name has been spelled in many ways over the centuries as the documents in this work show. Throughout this work the name's simplest form, "Tötösy," is used unless differentiation is necessary to distinguish between specific persons and/or families. The family's origin is probably in the County of Zala, in Western Hungary, where these families settled at the time of the conquest of the Danube Basin by the Hungarians (Magyars) in the ninth century. From the thirteenth century up to the grant of a Patent of Nobility and coat-of-arms to the family in 1587, a number of Tötösy families are recorded as landowners in and around the adjacent villages of Baktüttös (de Thutus in 1358, Thuthusy in 1382), Kerecsény (de Teuteus in 1372, Thythewsy in 1513 and 1562), Pacsatüttös (Thythesy in 1428, 1479, 1492, and 1513), Hazugd (Thythesy in 1513), Zalavár (1543-1569), and Zepethk (1549) (see <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>). These families were small landholders, with the occasional member active in the county bureaucracy (which, until 1848 has been the privilege of the nobility). For example, a Paulus Tötösy was iudex nobilium (judge) of the County of Zala in 1415 (see ZT4 <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>). According to József Holub and Dezsö Csánki, these Tötösy families arrived in the Danube Basin with the Magyar conquest and settled in the area of Zala County in the ninth century (see <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>). However, there existed, from earliest times, many other Tötösy families in Western and South-Western Hungary. The rarity of the Tötösy surname has led many family members as well as others to believe that all Tötösy families -- regardless of the time of first documented occurrence and/or location of origin -- have descended from one clan or family. Contrary to this legend, previously published historical as well as more recently researched archival sources demonstrate the existence of a number of unrelated Tötösy families in several counties across Western and South-Western Hungary from the time of the earliest archival records in the thirteenth century (see <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>). As most of these Tötösy families obtained their surname from a geographical location called Tötös and as these places were numerous across the counties of Baranya, Somogy, Vas, Veszprém, Tolna, and Zala, and other counties in the Western and South-Western parts of the country, the common clan descent can only be a tenuous hypothesis. Most of the Tötösy families in these counties had public noble status (i.e., nobles whose status was recognized throughout the kingdom of Hungary), but in several instances they had local status of nobility or noble status recognized by propertied church authorities only. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 -- a period in Hungarian history when the physical, material, and cultural devastation of the country and the consequent social upheaval caused by the Ottoman and Habsburg invasions resulted in the reformation of the nobility along with the ennoblement or the reennoblement of large numbers of previously already noble families -- again numerous Tötösy families were recorded in various registers of nobility. Most of these families had a Patent of Nobility (which afforded taxfree status along with other privileges of the nobility while with obligatory military service), however not all of them owned land at the various times of the registries' recording. It is during this period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century that the legal, economic, social, cultural, and documentary consolidation of the large Hungarian middle nobility occurred and from which almost all Tötösy families can document their origin. It should be noted that, despite the sometimes lively legends circulating in Tötösy families, there is no documentary or even conjectural evidence that any of the Tötösy families would have descended from the renown and vastly wealthy Töttös de Báthmonostor family of the Becse-Gergely clan: this family's last male descendant deceased in 1468 and all of its properties passed on by royal decree to collateral families (see Nagy Iván XI. 211; Karácsonyi I. 214-26; Wertner I. 80-98; Turul 20 [1902]: 7-42; several introductions of the Zichy okmánytár's volumes, in particular volume X., contain detailed accounts about the Töttös de Báthmonostor) (see BT1 <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>). From the sixteenth century onward, the following Tötösy families can be listed, see below. This list is based on Hungarian genealogical sources, lists of nobility, and more recent archival research. The list is not complete; rather, it reflects the present status of research.

Sources: Balogh 1894. 152, 260, 296, 1885 28-31; Lendvai III.; Horváth Sándor 53; Horváth Ferenc 267; Kempelen X . 419-20, 435; Nagy Iván XI. 324; Borovszky Vas 576, Torontál 528-32; Illésy 128; Kiss 1911 II. 295, 301; Kazáry 37-46, 124-36, 129; Gerö 377; Barcsay 140; Segner 254; Szombathy 47; Pesthy 40-42; Benczéné Nagy 73; Sebök 25, 30, 36, 83-84; Schneider 1939 28, 1941 84; Géfin I 48-82; Színyei T. 517; Pallas XVI. 350; Révai XVIII. 441-42; Szénássy 367; Periodica Polytechnica 70, 72; Egyetemi Lapok 1904.1 7; Krücken II. 655-56; Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon II. 910; Szily 97-99; Harsányi I. 82-83; Budapest történetének bibliográfiája V. 2953, VI. 206-81, 207-11; Láng 2. 276-319, 290; Mérö 137-38; Who' Who in the World 1982/83; Qui est qui en Belgique francophone 1981/85; A Magyar Máltai Lovagok Szövetségének Emlékkönyve 73; Men of Achievement 1986. 671; The International Who's Who of Contemporary Achievement 1984/85. 790; A M.Kir. Honvédség és Csendörség tisztjeinek és hasonlóállásuaknak 1944. évi rangsorolása 300; Fehérváry 41; Genealogisches Jahrbuch. Sonderdruck 1981. 263; Birk 192, IV. Archives: Pest Megyei Levéltár, Vas Megyei Levéltár, Zala Megyei Levéltár, Magyar Országos Levéltár, Hadtörténelmi Levéltár, Österreichisches Staatsarchiv-Kriegsarchiv (for complete bibliographical sources see the Works Cited at <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>).

1. Various Töt(t)ös(s)y and the Töt(t)ös(s)y de Zepetnek and Its Branch Families

    I. The Töttössy de Töttös family in the county of Vas, documented as landowners in Töttös (today Gutatöttös) in the fifteenth century, where they lived perhaps as late as the mid-sixteenth century (see Vas <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>; see also 1 <http://www.totosy.com/partfive.html>). Nota Bene: the Tötösy de Zepetnek family (see III. below) also owned property in this Töttös (Vas County) and the Töttössy de Egyházasfalva et Bástifalu (see the family's genealogy in the <http://www.totosy.com/appendix.html>) family also owned property and was listed as nobles in this same Töttös while the latter's origin is documented as Parnas de Töttös until 1580 in the Zala County Pacsatöttös, the same where the Tötösy de Zepetneks originate from: there is no common ancestry between these three families of the same surname. It is not known whether the Töttössy de Töttös family still exists or not (most probably they are extinct) (see VT1 <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>; 1 <http://www.totosy.com/partfive.html>). Sources: Baán 167; Anjoukori okmánytár IV 25860; Csánki II 805, 854. <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>.
   
   II. The Töttössy de Egyházasfalva et Bástifalu family -- prior to 1580 the Parnas [Párnás?] de Töttös family in the Zala County Pacsatöttös and in the Vas County Töttös (see the family's genealogy in <http://www.totosy.com/appendix.html>). In the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries they owned landed properties mainly in the County of Sopron but also in the counties of Zala, Fejér, Somogy, Vas, and Veszprém. This family is extinct (see VT3 <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>; <http://www.totosy.com/appendix.html>). Sources: Nagy Iván XI 324; Kempelen X 419-20; Csánki II 854, 856; Köszeghi 406; Illésy 93; Balogh 1894 138, 285; Borovszky Vas 204; Soproni Szemle (1937): 268, (1943): 28; Fényes I 148; Borovszky Somogy 604; Barcsay (1972/75): 381, (1925/26): 29-30; Segner 254; Fejér megyei történeti évkönyv (1971): 169; Jenei 5; Baross 817; Rédei-Elek 347. Archives: Magyar Országos Levéltár (Töttössy család P 688: 1563-1863, 1311 documents); Zala Megyei Levéltár; Sopron Megyei Levéltár (Acta Familiae Töttösy 1600-1794, 77 documents); Vas Megyei Levéltár (Töttössy 1625-1719, 5 documents); Fejér Megyei Levéltár (Tötösy 1688-1726, 17 documents); Fügedi (Dominium Basztifalu-Töttössy család 1623-1682, 9 documents); Österreichisches Staatsarchiv-Kriegsarchiv. <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>.

tottossy
Coat-of-arms of the Töttössy de Egyházasfalva et Bástifalu family (1683)

   III. The Tötösy de Zepetnek [Tivtoßÿ de Zepethnek] family of the counties of Zala and Vas (genealogy <http://www.totosy.com/partsix.html>). The family originates from the County of Zala Tötösy families who settled there in the ninth century at the time of the Magyar conquest of the Danube Basin (see, for example, the Tötösy de Zepethk family in 1549 [see Zala <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>]). At present residing in Belgium, Canada, Hungary, the USA, and Italy (see VI). The Tötösy de Zepetnek family was granted a Patent of Nobility and coat-of-arms by Rudolph II King of Hungary, etc. and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on 22 February 1587, in the persons of agilis and literatus Georgius Tivtoßÿ de Zepethnek, his spouse domina Catharina, his sons Petrus and Jacobus, and his daughters Ursula and Catharina (see IV.1 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>). The Patent was proclaimed on 29 May 1587 in Szombathely, capital city of the County of Vas (the original of this Patent of Nobility is with Magdolna Andorfel, spouse of István Töttössy [1920-2000] in Budapest; transcripts, microfiche, and photographs of the Patent are deposited in the Hungarian State Archives / Magyar Országos Levéltár, Budapest, No. 1101/1969, 9x12 cm Síkfilmek I/38 and in the Vas County Archives / Vas Megyei Levéltár, Szombathely, Vegyes Nemesi Iratok, T-Zs, No. 32, photographic reproduction of the Patent of Nobility is in Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek, A Zepetneki Tötösy Család adattára / Records of the Tötösy de Zepetnek Family. Szeged: József Attila Tudományegyetem / Attila József University, 1993. ISBN 963-481-914-1 [Szeged] and ISBN 0-920-980-554 [Edmonton], pp. 16-18; see also online Tötösy de Zepetnek Patent of Nobility <http://www.totosy.com/totosydocumentation(patent1587).html>. Subsequent to the issuing of the Patent of Nobility and coat-of-arms, Georgius and his family were inducted in 1590 as owners of a curia nobilitaris (manor house) and possessio (landed property) in and in the vicinity of the villages of Ják and Sorkikisfalud in the County of Vas after a document of royal donation was issued by Rudolph II. 22 July 1589 (see IV.2,3 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>). After the grant of the Patent of Nobility in 1587 and before 1589, Georgius and domina Catharina had another daughter, Margarita and before 1597 another son, Joannes. Their daughter Ursula deceased between 1589 and 1597. Domina Catharina, widowed before 1597, acquired more land in the village of Ják in 1597 (see IV.2,3,4 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>). The family owned land also in Töttös (today Gutatöttös), Sorkikisfalud, Kajd, Kisunyom, Sárvár, and Buzamajor until the late eighteenth century (see IV.4,5,6 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>). Of interest is that in the Vas County Töttös, three Tötösy families are documented as landowners and nobles between the fourteenth and seventeeth centuries: it is certain that these three families of the same surname have no common ancestry. In the mid-seventeenth century or perhaps earlier, the Tötösy de Zepetnek family divided into several branches and it appears that they did not maintain contact. The reason for this may have been, in addition to the break in communication caused by distances, the varied social and material status different branches acquired. The Tötösy de Zepetnek coat-of-arms, described in the Patent of Nobility of 1587 <http://www.totosy.com/totosydocumentation(patent1587).html>, is an upright military shield, divided horizontally into two halves, the upper field is red, the lower blue. In the lower field a bare arm holding a sheaf of wheat askew emerges from a royal crown. In the upper corners of the shield there is a crescent to the right and a star to the left. Above the shield is a closed military helmet embellished by the same royal crown. From the crown emerges an arm, similar to that in the shield, between two eagle wings. The right wing is coloured gold-black, the left red-white. From the top of the helmet hang decorative bands, in the right coloured gold-black, in the left red-white. The heraldic description of the coat-of-arms is "Arms: Per Fess Gules and Azure, over all out a coronet Or jewelled Gules and Azure a cubit arm Argent holding a garb of wheat in bend sinister between in chief a crescent and a mullet of six points, both Or. Crest: Out of a coronet Or a cubit arm Argent holding a garb or as in the arms, in front of a vol party per fess, the dexter Or and Sable the sinister Gules and Argent" (Royal Heraldry Society of Canada, RHSC Roll of Arms, T, <http://www.heraldry.ca/>). The Szered, Ótura and Budapest branch uses a different coat-of-arms whose origin is unknown. The Zalaapáti branch does not appear to have used a coat-of-arms.

totosy1
Coat-of-arms of the Tötösy de Zepetnek [Tivtoßÿ de Zepethnek] Family (1587) (see, e.g., Lendvai III.; Royal Heraldry Society of Canada, RHSC Roll of Arms, T, <http://www.heraldry.ca/>)

Note: The "de Zepetnek" part of the family name is a "predicate". A predicate usually, although not always, denotes noble status by which the "de" and a place name is reference to the origin and/or the place of landed property of the family. In the case of the Tötösy de Zepetnek family the "de Zepethnek" as it appears in the Patent of Nobility of 1587 it could denote either noble status previously known but not documented and thus the Patent in reality is a reconfirmation of nobility although the reconfirmation is not stated in the Patent or it could be an indication of 1) landed property Georgius owned, 2) his place of birth, or 3) his family's location of origin. Since the "de" particle together with a place name with the main part of the surname usually indicates landed property and thus noble status, and as Georgius is called agilis in the Patent and the designation agilis normally indicates either that the recipient's mother was a noblewoman or that the recipient's noble status was recognized only on the local level until the formal granting of the Patent, it is more likely that the 1587 Patent of Nobility is a confirmation of his status of nobility rather than a first grant. Further, in 1549 a Tötösy family was recorded as landowners of noble status in the village of Zepethk in the County of Zala while the town of Zepethnek was church property and had no residents of noble status, Georgius is more likely a descendant of the Tötösy "de Zepethk" family. That is, the "de Zepethnek" in the Patent of Nobility of 1587 is likely a spelling mistake that occurred in the imperial and royal chancellery in Prague where the court of the Habsburg emperor and king of Hungary was in 1587.

Today, the following branches of the Tötösy de Zepetnek family are documented (see their genealogy at <http://www.totosy.com/partsix.html>):
    III.1 The Sorkikisfalud, County of Vas and later the Southern-Hungarian branch remained until the mid-eighteenth century in the County of Vas and held landed property in the villages of Töttös, Sorkikisfalud, and Kajd. Its members were, in addition to being landed gentry, active as county officials and/or lawyers. After their move to Southern Hungary in the late eighteenth century -- that region was reconnected to the kingdom of Hungary at the end of the eighteenth century as a protectorate of the Habsburg court by a treaty between the Austrian and the Ottoman empires -- they became prominent in Temesvár (today Timisoara, Romania) as lawyers and city fathers. This branch is extinct in the male line. Notable members are Mihály (1754-after 1781) assessor tabulae (senior government official) of the County of Vas; Lajos dr. (1822-1883) lawyer in Temesvár; Béla dr. (1854-1923) mathematician, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Gyula (1886-1948) captain, and commander of the Keleti railway station in Budapest; István (1908-1988?) until 1948 owner of two small hotels in Budapest and in Siófok at Lake Balaton (in 1944 Hungarians of Jewish descent found refuge in his Budapest hotel from the Hungarian Arrow Cross and German Nazis) (see <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>).
    III.2 The Zalaegerszeg and Muraköz branch moved from Buzamajor near the city of Sárvár (County of Vas), where they owned property, to the city of Zalaegerszeg (capital city of the County of Zala) at the end of the seventeenth century. There they became political and social figures of Zalaegerszeg's city government for almost two hundred years. A further branch of this family owned landed property in several villages of the Muraköz region (today Slovenia) (see III.17,18 <http://www.totosy.com/partthree.html>; IV.7 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>). The Zalaegerszeg branch is extinct while to date no data are available of the Muraköz branch. Notable members are László (1746-1824) assessor tabulae (senior government official) of the county of Zala; László (1750-1831) mayor of the city of Zalaegerszeg (the city has a street named after him); György, commissioner of the city of Zalaegerszeg in 1848 (see 18 <http://www.totosy.com/partthree.html>).
    III.3 The Püspöki and Budapest branch moved from Sorkikisfalud to Püspöki (both in the County of Vas) in the early eighteenth century, where they remained until the end of the nineteenth century. They lost both their landed property and their free and noble status by the mid-eighteenth century, one generation after the government-required documentation of noble status in 1726. By the time of the existence of official birth and marriage records in the early to mid-1700s, in the Püspöki birth records various members of the family were registered as colonus and inquilinus, later as ignobilis and jobbágy (serf), although birth records also show that they maintained relationship as godparents with the Sorkikisfalud branch, who in turn were consistently matriculated as nobles. After the end of serfdom and the abolition of many of the historical privileges of nobility in 1848, they began to reclaim their previous social and material status. The family later moved to Mezölak (County of Veszprém) and finally to Budapest by the early twentieth century and joined the urbanized and educated strata of society there. Notable members are János (1816-1866) notarius loci (village notary) of and landowner in Püspöki; Ernö dr. (1889-1945) lawyer and ministerial chief councillor of the Royal Hungarian Railways (MÁV); Ernö dr. (1918-) lawyer/journalist and businessman in Bruxelles, author of political, legal, and belletristic works, Knight of Malta; István Ph.D. (Steven Totosy de Zepetnek) (1950-) Curriculum Vitae at <http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweblibrary/totosycv>; Péter (1954-) since 1989 owner of Zepetnek Nyomda (Zepetnek Printing and Publishing) in Balatonvilágos (County of Veszprém); Beatrice dr. (1956-) professor of Hungarian language and literature at the Università degli studi di Firenze, Italy.

    The following branches of the Tötösy de Zepetnek family are based on conjecture and no documentary evidence is available at this time to prove or to disprove the relationship and/or descendence:
    III.4 The Tötösys in Zalaapáti (County of Zala) lost their status of nobility and material wealth by the end of the eighteenth century. Their last member registered as nobilis (noble) deceased 17.10.1774 in Zalaapáti. By the 1840s almost all of their members were registered as jobbágy (indentured serf) in birth, marriage, and death records. Two members of the family emigrated to Canada in 1910, and today there are several large farming families -- their name is spelled Tuttosi in English -- in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, in the regions around Yorkton and Pannichy. This family may also still exist in Hungary (see their genealogy in <http://www.totosy.com/partsix.html>).
    III.5 The Szered, Ótura, and Budapest Tötösys moved from either the Baranya or Zala counties to Pozsony county (today Slovakia) in Upper Hungary sometime in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. This information is provided by family members and there is no supporting documentary evidence and thus their descent from the Tötösy de Zepetnek family is conjectural. In the eighteenth century they acquired landed property in the villages of Alsó and Felsö-Csöpönjáró. In the early nineteenth century they moved to Budapest and have since been active there as professionals (lawyers, physicians), government bureaucrats, and intellectuals. Today, their members live in Hungary (Budapest) and the United States (Virginia Beach). Notable members are Elek dr. (1796-1852) physician, incarcerated at Kufstein after the 1848 Revolution against the Habsburgs; Aladár (1889-1951) colonel of the Royal Hungarian Army, executed in 1951 by the communist government of Hungary; Miklós dr. (1881-1969) monsignore and censor for the Roman Catholic church, author of historical articles; Béla dr. (1922-1991) physician and researcher; Csaba dr. (1931-) professor of Sanskrit and Indo-German linguistics at the Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest (see 5 <http://www.totosy.com/partsix.html>).

IV. Several other Tö(ü)t(t)ös(s)(i)y families are mentioned in various documents in the archives in of the Tolna, Fejér, Nyitra, Trencsén, Vas, Zala, and Györ counties, as well as in Transylvania (Erdély, today Romania) who may or may not be branches of the Tötösy de Zepetnek family or descended from the same clan in the County of Zala the Tötösy de Zepetnek family descended from (see in detail <http://www.totosy.com/partfive.html>); the genealogies and/or current existence of these families remains to be researched and at this point is unknown:
    IV.1 The Györ county Tö(l)tös(i)y (Töttös-Tavay) family of Töltéstava. Sources: Molnár 333-34, No. 6; Kruesz 456, 487, 549; Borovszky Györ 52; Kiss Lajos 656. <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>
    IV.2 The Tötössy (also Theöttösy, Töltésy, alias Kónya) family of the counties of Fejér and Komárom. Sources: Nagy Iván VI. 541, VII. 233, XI. 290; Kempelen X. 301, 409; Schneider 1935. 162; Forgon 320; Alapi 9, 12, 17, 60, 61, 78, 128, 154, 162, 177, 240, 267, 270; Köszeghi 187, 396; Siebmacher Supplement 119 (86); Borovszky Komárom 582; Karácsonyi 1896 III. 256; Segner 254; Baranyay 3-23. Archives: Pest Megyei Levéltár, Vas Megyei Levéltár, Zala Megyei Levéltár, Magyar Országos Levéltár, Hadtörténelmi Levéltár, Österreichisches Staatsarchiv-Kriegsarchiv; Statny Oblastny Archiv v Nitre (Teöteössy alias Kónya 1663-1782); Pest Megyei Levéltár; Gömör-Kishont Megyei Levéltár; Fejér Megyei Levéltár. <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>
    IV.3 The Töttösy (also Tötésy, Tökésy, Töltésy, alias Dóczy) family of Komárom, Vas, and other counties. Sources: Kempelen III. 345, X. 408, 409; Orosz I. 69; Alapi 29, 78, 128, 176; Köszeghi 83, 404; Siebmacher Supplement 119 (86); Schneider 1941. 18. Archives: Statny Oblastny Archiv v Nitre; Pest Megyei Levéltár; Heves Megyei Levéltár; Vas Megyei Levéltár. <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>
    IV.4 The Töltési alias Töttösy family of Énlaka/Bisericani (Székelyudvarhely) in Transylvania (today Romania) (they began to use the surname Töttösy instead of Töltési sometime in the early twentieth century [family correspondence in April 2007). Genealogy: A Mihály Töltési ?-? Tab (Somogy megye) married to Juliánna Pilényi child: A1 István Töltési/Töttösy 1892-1942 Rácalmás (Fehér county) married to Ilona Bíró 1893- Énlaka (Székelyudvarhely county) children: A1a István Töttösy Bisericani/Énlaka, Románia, 1922.2.22.- mason and wood-industry worker married to Katalin ? 1923.12.4.-2002 Sopron children: A1aa Mary Tottosy 1948.5.18 Schömberg, Germany and A1ab Stephan Tottosy Providence, Rhode Island 1952.9.3.- resides in Petaluma, California, computer systems engineer; A1b Magdolna Töttösy Arad, Romania; A1c Ilona Töttösy Arad, Romania; A1d Béla Töttösy Vác (Pest county) 1932.9.2.- resides in Bisericani/Énlaka, Romania. (personal communication 2006)
    IV.5 The Töttösi family in the county of Tolna, in the villages of Medina and Nagydorog (see also 6.5.3 <http://www.totosy.com/partsix.html>).
    IV.6 The Tötösy family in Körmend, County of Vas: on 11 April 1578 Tamás Tötösy (Teötösy) is granted a patent of nobility and coat-of-arms by Rudolf IInd, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Hungary. The recipients of the patent of nobility and coat-of-arms are János Zakál de Körmend, his spouse Anna Sbardelat and their children, and his brothers-in-law János Kermendy, Ferencz Markasiny, Ferencz Makó, István Burján, and Tamás Tötösy (Teötösy). The patent has been presented in the original and consequently authenticated during the 1733 investigation of nobility by Mihály Szakály de Körmend who resides in Kisunyom and István Szakály de Körmend who resides in Felsöpaty (Balogh 1894. 265-66, 257 <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>).



All of the above families have been Roman Catholic and thus their birth, marriage, and death records can be found in church records starting in the early eighteenth century (since the time of official matriculation). Also, the records of the Church of the Latter-day Saints of Jesus Christ contain most church registries. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when documentary proof of noble status was necessary to maintain taxfree status and other privileges historically accorded to the nobility, most counties instituted legal investigations of nobility at intervals of one or two decades. During these investigations and registrations the Sorkikisfalud and Southern Hungarian, the Püspöki and Budapest, and the Zalaegerszeg and Muraköz branches proved with pertinent documentation and with the required witnesses their noble status and their descent from Squire and literatus Georgius Tivtoßÿ de Zepethnek (see <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>; <http://www.totosy.com/partsix.html>).

V. In various archives as well as historical, genealogical, and archival publications there are further Tötösy families documented, such as the Tötösy de Pacsa, Tötösy de Kispaty, Tötösy de Baktöttös, Tötösy de Töttöskál, Tötösy de Kerecsény aliter de Felsökerecsény, etc., see <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>. However, while these families have been documented as nobles between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, there is little documentation found about them in archives since the sixteenth century or in the genealogical literature and encyclopaedias of families of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

2. The Etymology of the Geographical, Personal, and Family Name Tötös and Tötösy

    The etymology of the name Tötös is inconclusive and at best hypothetical. Most etymologists of Hungarian names agree, however, that the name is old-Magyar and/or old-Turkic in origin (e.g.,Pallas II 723 <http://www.totosy.com/workscited>). The first archival evidence of the name Tötös occurs as a reference to a "Tytus (Töttös)," a nobleman who was involved in campaigns against a Russian-Polish invasion of Hungary in the early twelfth century, in ~1132 (Pauler I. 242, 243 <http://www.totosy.com/workscited>). In one of the more recent Hungarian publications of the etymologies of place names it is suggested that the name Tötös ("Tuteus," "Thutos") originates from a personal name, whose bearer named his property after himself and/or whose name was adopted by the settlers of the same location (Lajos Kiss 657-58 <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>). This hypothesis places the origin of the name to the time of the Magyar conquest of the Danube Basin in the ninth century. This is consistent with archival documents available about Tötösy families who settled at the time of the conquest in the County of Zala (see Zala <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>). In later times when families began to use surnames, many families name originated from the place they owned property. Lajos Kiss further suggests that the personal name is a derivative of the old-Magyar etymon tö/tü, with the formative suffix -s, of the original meaning "stem of a plant in the ground". Kiss rejects the previously suggested etymology that the name is a derivative of the old-Turkic tütüs, meaning strife, discord, conflict, or enmity, that is, a characteristic of the individual then applied as a personal name. Ferenc Kállay interprets the name as a form of táltos (tatus, tutus), the name of old-Magyar shamanic priests (Lajos Kiss 47-55, 72 <http://www.totosy.com/workscited>). Further, he tentatively connects the name to the clan Tét or Tétény (Tatun), one of the original clans from the time of the Magyar conquest in the ninth century: this clan was supposed to have had numerous táltos among its members. The latter suggestion is problematic for several reasons. For one, the two widely accepted and authoritative works on the history of the early Magyar clans do not contain any reference that would warrant a connection between the name Tötös and the clan name Tét or Tétény (see Wetner 348-50; Karácsonyi 92-97 <http://www.totosy.com/workscited>). The reason why the suggested clan connection is unlikely is also linguistically explicable. The spelling of the name in medieval documents is consistent with regard to the usage of consonants and vowel clusters. From the first occurrence of the name in the twelfth century, the name consisted of three components. The first component consisted of the consonant t with the vowels a,e,i,o,ö,u,ü which appeared mostly in groups of two. In addition to these vowels, the consonants v,w,h,y appeared. The second component was a repetition of the first cluster, and the third was the suffix s (the y or i appeared later as a postposition indicating that the individual is "from" the location Tötös). The most frequent variations of the name in medieval documents are Tutus, Thythews, Thewtheus, Teuteus, Thuthus, and Theötös (for the large number of variations of spelling see <http://www.totosy.com/partone.html>; <http://www.totosy.com/parttwo.html>). None of these variations show similarities to the variations associated with the clan name Tét/Tétény. Most importantly, the suffix s never appears with the name Tét and Tétény. Kállay's suggestion that the name Tötös is a derivative of the name of old-Magyar shamanic priests, the táltos, was also proposed by the late American-Hungarian Sumerologist and linguist Ida Bobula (Limestone College, USA, 1977 in a letter to the author). Bobula derived Tötös from the Sumerian tu, meaning "confirmation by oath". According to her explanation, the tu then progressed to old-Magyar tö, then tatus, and tét or tétemény, meaning of sorcery and magic. With this interpretation Bobula suggests that a progenitor had either a charismatic personality or that he had a physical or mental abnormality and thus was perceived as someone "touched" by god; in other words, a sorcerer and shaman. This perception of being "touched" by god often resulted in such a person becoming a shaman, that is, priest. (We know this was a pattern in societies with shamanic religion, including many North American indigenous nations.) Bobula's interpretation emulates Kállay's suggestion, although here too the suffix s remains a stumbling block as far as the terms tét and tétemény are concerned. Bobula also suggested an alternative interpretation, namely that the name is a derivative of tü, progressed into Tütüs, meaning "the quarrelsome". This interpretation, relating the name to old-Turkic, is rejected by Kiss. I should like to add here that in my opinion the relation of a Magyar name to the ancient Sumerian language is tenuous. However, this interpretation is included here because there seems to be an overlap between Kállay's nineteenth-century interpretation and thus there is a sort of consistency there. The relation of Hungarian to Sumarian is a notion mainly propagated by Hungarian scholars of the nationalist persuasion and it is not acknowledged by serious scholarship ( although there are some serious works supporting this view: for a bibliography see Endrey 112-13 <http://www.totosy.com/workscited.html>). In my view, none of the above explanations offer a satisfactory etymology. Kiss' suggestion of "stem of a plant in the ground" is unlikely because the transfer of an image configuration like this one into a proper name makes little sense, even if one takes into account the linguistic feature of the Turanian and Turkic languages to express and describe objects in a flowery manner. The explanations proposing that the name derived from the term táltos seems unlikely because the distribution of the geographical name Tötös as well as the family name Tötösy occurred originally only in the Western and South-Western regions of Hungary (see <http://www.totosy.com/partone.html>). and the Hungarian shamans, the táltos, obviously existed at the time of the conquest and until the Christianization of the population between the tenth and eleventh centuries in all regions of Hungary and not only in Western and Southern Hungary.In sum, until further research is able to establish the origin and meaning of the name, it remains at best that it is an ancient Magyar term whose exact meaning is undecided.
3. Selected Tötösy de Zepetnek Archival Documents in Translation
    3.1 Translation of the 1587 Patent of Nobility with Coat-of-Arms issued to agilis and literatus Georgius Tivtoßÿ de Zepethnek, his spouse domina Catharina, their sons Petrus and Jacobus, their daughters Ursula and Catharina, and to all their descendants of both gender (see IV.1 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>): "We, Rudolph the Second, by the grace of God elected Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania and Bulgaria, Grand Duke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Styria, Carinthia, Carnia, Marquis of Moravia, Duke of Luxembourg, Upper and Lower Silesia, Würtemberg and Theka, Prince of Swabia, Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Ferretum, Kyburg and Görz, Knight of Elsaß, Marquis of Burgovia at Anasus and the Upper and Lower Lausitz of the Holy Roman Empire, Master of the County of Slavonia, the Port of Naon and the salt mines, etc. Partly because some of Our supporters addressed a humble petition to Our Majesty and partly because it came to Our attention and We made it a matter of Our consideration, with the contents of these lines We commit to the memory of everyone concerned the fidelity and devoted services of Our Agilis Georgius Tivtoßÿ de Zepethnek. The fidelity and devoted services which he demonstrated above all to the Holy Crown of Hungary and, as they say, also demonstrated to Our Majesty at various times and in places, he intends to assert in the future as well. Therefore, partly because of the foregoing, but also because of Our Royal generosity and grace by which We, in accordance with the custom of Our predecessors, the Holy Kings of Hungary, who used to reward those who acquired merits in their service and the Christian community, We too customarily present them with a token of remembrance and encourage their readiness to achieve even higher merits. Due to Our exceptional benevolence and Royal authority, We find the aforementioned Georgius Tivtoßÿ de Zepethnek, his sons Petrus and Jacobus, and his daughters Ursula and Catharina worthy to elevate from the ignoble fate and status in which they lived until now, as they profess, into the select community and numbers of nobles of Hungary and its subject territories. Based on Our knowledge and independent resolution, We agree and permit that the aforesaid may live, now and in the future, with all the favours, distinctions, authorities, privileges, liberties, rights, prerogatives, and immunities; that they rejoice in all these and that they enjoy these in the same manner as other genuine and indisputable nobles of Hungary and its subject territories, who do so in accordance with its laws and legal customs, and that the aforesaid, as well as their descendants of both gender, enjoy these distinctions. As proof of Our grace and benevolence towards them, We find it proper to symbolize this true and indisputable noble status by granting them this coat-of-arms as a sign of nobility: an upright military shield, divided horizontally into two halves: the upper field is red, the lower blue. In the lower field a bare arm, holding a sheaf of wheat askew, emerges from a royal crown. In the upper corners of the shield, to the right is a crescent, and to the left, a star. Above the shield is a closed military helmet embellished by the same royal crown. From the crown an arm, similar to that in the shield, emerges between two eagle wings. The right wing is gold-black, the left is redwhite. From the top of the helmet hang decorative ornaments; in the right gold-black, in the left red-white. This coat-of-arms can be seen, skillfully painted by the artist, at the commencement of Our document. We grant this coat-of-arms to the said Georgius Tivtoßÿ, to his sons Petrus and Jacobus, and similarly to his daughters Ursula and Catharina, and to the descendants of both gender of all of the above. We determine and acknowledge, in Our sovereign resolution that from now on and in the future and in all future times they are permitted to bear this coat-of-arms as a sign of noble status in the same manner as other nobles of Hungary and its subject territories and that all this is in addition to all those rights, privileges, sanctions, liberties, and immunities by which the nobles of Hungary live and enjoy as a matter of course or on the basis of legal customs. We permit the said persons to use this coat-of-arms in battle, in jousting, in tournaments, in duels, and in all military or other exercises of the community of nobles. Further, they may use it on their signets, sails, hangings, curtains, rings, flags, shields, tents and houses, in general on all occasions of their activities and ventures by rights of a true and genuine noble status. We order that they and all their descendants of both genders be recognized as nobles by everyone, no matter in what position, rank, state, and privileged status they may be. These shall acknowledge the said noble status, shall call them as nobles, and shall look upon them as such. They in turn shall be free to bear, to carry, to use, and to enjoy the above coat-of-arms and so shall their descendants and inheritors of both gender. Further, We present and grant as a token of our recognizance by the powers of these lines the following: as a perpetual confirmation We graciously confer and imprint this document with Our Privy Pendant Seal that represents Us as King of Hungary and thus confirms the state of nobility of the said Georgius Tivtoßÿ, of his sons Petrus and Jacobus, and of his daughters Ursula and Catharina, as well as all their descendants of both gender. This document was conferred by our esteemed supporter the Reverend Petrus Heressinczy, Bishop Elect of Zagreb, Our Councillor and Our Chief Court Chancellor of the Royal Palace in Prague on the 22nd Day of February in the 1587th year of our Lord, in the 12th year of Our rule as Holy Roman Emperor, in the 15th year of Our rule over other dominions, in the 12th year of our rule over Bohemia, when the following dignitaries headed the Holy Church: Peter Heressinczy, Reverend in Christ and elected Bishop of Zagreb; Stephanus Feyerkeövy, Bishop of Veszprém; Martinus Pethe de Hethes, Bishop of Vác; Stephanus Mat hissy, Bishop of Csanád; Zacharia Mossóczy, Bishop of Nyitra; Brother Stephanus Tarnovio, Bishop of Szerém; and Brother Bonaventura of Aquila, Bishop of Segnia; all of them governing the Church of God in good faith. The Archbishoprics of Esztergom, Kalocsa, Bács, and further the seats of the cathedrals of Eger, Erdély, Várad, Pécs, Györ, Tinin, Bosnia, and Modrus presently being vacant. Governors of Our state are the Honourable Count Stephanus de Báth or Judex Curiae; Comes Perpetuus of Mons Claudius and Banus of Slavonia, Croatia, and Dalmatia Count Thomas Erdeödy de Monyorókerék; Count Georgius Zrínyi Magister Tavernicorum; Count Balthasarius de Batthi an Magister Dapiferorum; Nicolaus Pálffy de Erdeöd Magister Cubiculariorum; and Michael de Rena Magister Janitorum. Vacant are the positions of Magister Regalium, Agazonum, and Pincernarum. The same Nicholaus Pálffy executes the duties of the Comes Posoniensis and many others carry the the governorship of the counties. Rudolph manu propria; Peter, Bishop of Zagreb manu propria; Tiburtius Himmelreich manu propria; 1587. This Patent of Nobility was publicly announced in the Court of Justice of Vas County in Szombathely, 29 May 1587. Notary of the Court of Justice, Nicholas Beytzy manu propria".
    [The original of this Patent is in the possession of Dr. Mária Magdolna Töttössy née Andorfel (born 1943) in Budapest; according to verbal information about the will and testament of István Töttössy (Szombathely 1920 - Budapest 2000), the previous owner of the document, this original Patent of Nobility is to be deposited in the Hungarian National Archives upon the death of said Dr. Mária Magdolna Töttössy née Andorfel. Transcripts (original, microfiche, and photographs) are in the Hungarian Széchenyi Archives (No. 1101/1969, 9x12 cm. Síkfilmek I/38), in the Archives of the County of Vas County (Vas Megyei Levéltár, Szombathely, Vegyes Nemesi Iratok, T-Zs, No. 32), and in the possession of the author. Signet rings with the Tötösy de Zepetnek coat-of-arms made in the late eighteenth century are in the possession of Dr. Mária Magdolna Töttössy née Andorfel (Budapest; according to verbal information about the will and testament of István Töttössy [Szombathely 1920 - Budapest 2000]) the signet ring is to be released to Péter Töttössy (Balatonvilágos, County of Veszprém) by said Dr. Mária Magdolna Töttössy née Andorfel (Budapest) in 2004; Helmut Heinrich (Passau), Christopher Komondy (USA), and István Tötössy (Montréal, deceased; the whereabout of the signet ring is unknown). A brass signet and painted coat-of-arms on papyrus made in the late eighteenth century are in the possession of the author.]

    3.2 Summary of Document of Donation of Landed Property (1589) (see IV.2 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>): King Rudolph II's letter of donation of landed property, issued on July 22nd 1589 at Prague, describes the property, its history, and specifies the procedures of the donation for Squire (agilis et litteratus) Georgius Tewteößÿ de Zepetnek, his spouse domina Catharina, his sons Petrus and Jacobus, and his daughters Ursula, Catharina, and Margarita. The document specifies that the above shall be inducted by the Chapter of Vasvár and the appointed homines regius (royal officials), as owners of a curia nobilitaris [noble manor house] and landed property consisting of 2.5 holds [one hold is equivalent to 0.57 hectares or 1.42 English acres] arable land and eight holds forest. The property is located in the village of Ják (Gyak) in the County of Vas, near the river Sorok at the village of Sorkikisfalud. The said property was sold to the Tötösys by domina Ilona Tóth, daughter of the late Demetrius Lukách de Gyák and her sons Jacobus and Georgius for 150 Forints and four cubic feet of wheat. The king grants his agreement for the transaction and, consequently, donates the said property to the Tötösy de Zepetnek  family. The homines regius appointed to supervise the induction are Michael Ányos de Baloghfalwa, Balthasarius and Paulus Györffy de Rádócz, Alexandrius Kern, Stephanus Töryek de Zenteörsebet and Paulus Náray de Nára". (Vas Megyei Levéltár, Szombathely, Vegyes Nemesi Iratok, T-Zs)

    3.3 Translation of Mortgage Document (1597) (see IV.4 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>): "We, the Chapter of Vasvár let everyone concerned know that Lady Ilona, daughter of the late Balthasarius Erös de Gyák, Squire, and spouse of Michael Szekér, serf of the late Balthasarius Györffy, Squire, and who resides in Kisunyom in the Honourable County of Vas, presented herself before us in person and accepted the representation of her brothers, Squires Johannes and Stephanus, and accepted the responsibilities of this transaction. After serious consideration, of her own free will, and following her independent decision which she affirmed orally and in this document, she presented her reasons. Namely, that owing to pressing needs she and her brothers are facing, she decided to mortgage their own, one-piece, and undividable landed property of two holds of arable land [one hold is equivalent to 0.57 hectares or 1.42 English acres]. This property is located in the village of Ják (Gyak) in the County of Vas in the part commonly known as the valley of Paulus Gyák. She mortgages, therefore, this property to Lady Catharina, widow of the late Georgius Theötheössy de Szepetnek, Squire, and their sons Peter, Jacobus, and Joannes, their daughters Catharina and Margarita, and to their descendants of both gender. The financial transaction of the mortgage of this property occurred at various places in part and in whole for the amount of eight Forints, which the previous proprietor received from the buyer. The property will be returned to the rightful owners at any time whenever they are able to repay the said eight Forints. At such time the then owners are required to accept these funds without any argument and hesitation and they are required to return the property peacefully to the rightful owners. The mortgaging party assures in her and in her siblings' name that they will not hinder in any way the new owner in the possession of this landed property and commit themselves to protecting the new owners against any legal contest at their own expense, as witnessed by us. Dated on the day of our glorious Lord's resurrection, Saturday, in the year of 1597". (Vas Megyei Levéltár, Szombathely, Vegyes Nemesi Iratok, T-Zs)
   
    3.4 Investigation of Nobility (1726) (see IV.7 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>): "Regestra Nobilitatis Comitatus Castriferrei. In processu Domini Joannis Zobotin ad investigationum non dum compararunt, pertim autim respirium petierunt partim denique non adequate probarunt sequentes. 1726. január 7-18, január 17-február 20, augusztus. ... Kissfalud Steph. Töltösy. Joannes et Franc. Töltösy". (Acta Nobilium Comitatum. Vas. Saec. XVI-XIX. Regestra Nobilitatis 1696-1785. Church of Latter-day Saints of Jesus Christ, Salt Lake City, Microfilm No. 0600841.) This above document is an entry in the County of Vas archival records noting that three Tötösy de Zepetnek heads of family -- Stephanus, Joannes, and Franciscus -- have not responded to the requirement to appear in person in front of authorities investigating the county's nobility (i.e., the nobles were required to document their noble status claimed).
   
   3.5 Translation of the Certificate of Nobility Issued to Johannes Tötösy de Zepetnek (1733), following the Inquisitio Nobilium in the County of Vas in 1733 (see IV.8 <http://www.totosy.com/partfour.html>): "We, signed chief magistrate and judge of the honourable county of Vas acknowledge that by commission of the honourable deputies and at the request of Joannes Teötösÿ, Squire, the following witnesses testified upon oath, after we una fidelia established their authenticity by order of the above honourable deputies, as follows. The question is, did the witness know the late Georgius Teötössÿ who was the father of the applicant Joannes Tötösÿ presently residing in Sorki-Kisfalud in the honourable county of Vas and did he know the late Joannes Teötössÿ who was the father of Georgius Teötössÿ, and this late Joannes Tötösÿ who was the grandfather of the applicant? Further, if the witness knew these persons, was he aware that all the above mentioned persons were genuine and indisputable noblemen who resided on their own landed property donated to their noble ancestor and that they were the true descendants of the Georgius Töltösÿ who is inscribed in this present Patent of Nobility? The first witness is Stephanus Subics, Squire and landowner in Kiskolta in the County of Vas, about 60 years of age. The oath was taken. This witness knew very well the applicant Joannes Töltösi's father, the late Georgius Tötösÿ but he did not know the father of Georgius Tötösÿ the late Joannes Tötössÿ. He knows with certainty that the late Georgius Tötössÿ was a genuine nobleman and that he, according to his noble status and ascertained by the here present Patent of Nobility, now the property of the applicant, Joannes Tötösÿ, lived as a true nobleman availing himself of privileges like other noblemen. When he moved from Töltös to Püspöki, located in the honourable County of Vas, the witness himself heard domina Susanna Babos, daughter-in-law of Georgius Töltösÿ, say that they ought to live on their own patrimony in Töltös and that they ought to do so because their children may regret the change of residence one day. The second witness is Ladislaus Verebély, Squire and landowner in Szent Márton in the County of Vas, about 65 years of age. The oath was taken. This witness knows, as he was acquainted with the applicant's father, that the late Georgius Töltösÿ always lived as a true nobleman and enjoyed his privileges of nobility similar to other persons of noble status. He knows that the applicant's father did so on grounds of this Patent of Nobility, now the property of Joannes Tötösÿ. The Patent of Nobility previously examined, the above testimonies authenticated, we execute now this collateral with our signature and signet. Szombathely, 22 January 1733. Signed Georgius Rosta, judge in the honourable County of Vas manu propria". (Vas Megyei Levéltár, Szombathely, Inquisitio Nobilium 1733 No.31 Fasc.4 No.36)

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