Daily Ancestorgenerosus
Generosus is Latin for well-born or noble; in registers it marks a person of good family, not a generous one.
Generosus comes from genus, birth or family. Dictionaries give well-born, well-bred and noble, and only figuratively generous.
Before a name it works as a mark of rank. Generosa is the feminine form. When you see it, look for the family in records of the gentry or nobility as well as in the parish books.
As seen in a recordLatin baptism register, Hungary, 1780s
Matrina: Generosa Domina Theresia de Halaszi
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "generosus." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/generosus. Last checked 2026-10-12.