Daily Ancestornobilis
Nobilis is Latin for noble or high-born; before a name it marks a member of the nobility.
Nobilis means noble or high-born. Its older sense is known or famous, from the same root as nosco, to know.
In a register it often stands just before a name as a mark of rank, and nobiles is the plural. A noble family may also appear in land and court records, which can add generations that the parish book does not.
As seen in a recordLatin baptism register, Hungary, 1790s
Nobilis Stephanus Ferkovics de eadem, possessor
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "nobilis." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/nobilis. Last checked 2026-10-12.