What’s in a Name? Strahd.

Okay. I'm pretty certain (I could be wrong) that Tracy and Laura Hickman just based Strahd Von Zarovich's name on a combination of Germanic and Slavic sounds to go for a classic gothic villain name. And man does it work. But all those name elements could mean something too. Let's dig into it.

Let's start with his first name. Strahd. It doesn't seem like a known Slavic name at first...but that's just the spelling. It could easily be derived from the East Slavic and Russian word 'stradat', with the ending t nearly silent, which means 'to suffer'. So as a name, Strahd might mean 'sufferer, one who suffers.'

Next we have Von. Pretty straightforward, it's a prefix meaning 'from' or 'of', used to indicate where a person is from or where they rule, usually used by nobles in German speaking countries. It seems, at first to be odd to pair it then, with a very Slavic last name like Zarovich, which looks like a simple patronymic 'child or descendant of Zarov'.

But. . . take a look at the most likely inspirations for the location of Barovia, which would be, of course, Romania, Transylvania, Wallachia... Romania and Transylvania in modern day are unified, after becoming independent from the Ottoman Turks, but for a long while they were part of the broader Hapsburg empire...the Hapsburgs starting in Swabia in Germany. So one might legitimately find that combination, if the kingdom Strahd's family came from was similar to the Austrian Empire.

That established, what does Zarovich mean? Obviously, 'descendant of Zarov', right? Well, maybe not, but we'll get to that. Taken directly, we can translate Zarov possibly as 'warrior' in Russian, but it's not generally known. However...Zarov itself can be a patronymic. Like Romanov, which means 'descendant of Romans'. So it could mean 'descendant of Zar'. Zar, in Slavic tongues, can mean 'passionate' . . . but it also could be a variant spelling of Tsar, implying the line comes from the Emperors of Russia. The original line, Zarov or Tsarov, might have been named so as a cadet or bastard branch of the imperial house. The Vich suffix gets added to the line later, as the exiled nobles move south perhaps, or as a cadet house of the original cadet house is formed. Maybe they just name their new territory in the Austrian Empire (or equivalent) Zarovich to indicate they saw that territory as their child, their future. It's also possible that the Zarovich name comes from being a son of the territory of Zarov...ov and ova can be placename suffixes very often. Either way, it paints an interesting picture.

It might not be our world, but this shows us a cool possible route for Strahd and his family. Descended from a bastard son of the Russian Tsar or Emperor, they are still a mighty noble house. After the fall of Ivan the Terrible, the Romanov Dynasty takes over. The Zarov (Tsarov) line flees Russia or its equivalent, being granted lands in the Austrian Empire. They name their new territory Zarovia and their line Zarovich, descendants of the son of the tsar, basically. Over perhaps a very short period of time, they fall from favor and lose their throne there. It is of note that Barov, Strahd's father, was probably never actually a King, but at most a Duke. With the Duchy of Zarovia lost, they still have perhaps a court title of Count. This is passed down to Strahd when his father and mother retire from political life. He gains new lands to the east, on the borders of Wallachia and Transylvania (again, or equivalent) taking the region from the Turks in what could easily be described as a crusade.

“I was the Warrior, good and just, and I thundered across the land like the wrath of a just god...”

Things play out just like the module says, and his new land of Barovia, named after his father, is removed from our world (or one enough like it to have similar politics, but I like the idea of him being from Earth.) and drawn into the Domain of Dread. But what are the Dark Powers? Well, I leave that to the reader, but consider this: the powers of the Carpathian Mountains include the line of Drakulya, and before him , whatever Devil actually held the Scholomance he was supposedly a student at.

Strahd Von Zarovich:

“Suffering One, son of the line of the passionate one who was an emperor.”