Vanderbilt Surname Meaning, History & Origin

Vanderbilt Surname Meaning

The German and Dutch word bulte meaning “mound” and describing someone who lived by a low hill was the basis of the place-name of De Bilt that lay just northeast of Utrecht in Holland.

Vanderbilt Surname Resources on The Internet

Cornelius Vanderbilt. The story of Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt Family Genealogy. Vanderbilt genealogy miscellania.
Vanderbilt Sketches. Vanderbilt stories.

Vanderbilt Surname Ancestry

from Holland
to America (New York)

Jan Aertszoon or Aertson was a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt near Utrecht who emigrated to the Dutch colony of New Netherland as an indentured servant in 1650. Jan’s village name was later added to the Dutch “Van der” (from the) to create “Van der Bilt.”

America. The prominence of the Vanderbilt family in America began with Cornelius Vanderbilt, the fourth of nine children born in 1794 to a Staten Island family of modest means which ran a ferry service to Manhattan. His father, the first to spell his name as van Derbilt, was born in 1764 and was reared in the home of an uncle where he worked for his room and board.

Cornelius left school at eleven and started his business career with a steamboat, the Bellona, which operated in a ferry service between New Brunswick in Canada and New York. He went on to build a shipping and railroad empire that, during the 19th century, made him one of the wealthiest men in the world.

Although the Commodore himself always occupied a modest home, members of his family would use their wealth to build a resplendent family tomb at the Moravian cemetery on Staten Island and a number of magnificent mansions – on Fifth Avenue in New York, in Newport, and along the Hudson. The family had grown immeasurably richer by the time of the death of Cornelius’s son William.

“William H. Vanderbilt died suddenly in December 1885, only eight years after his father. The world was astounded to learn that he had more than doubled the family fortune in that short time, leaving him the richest man in the world.”

Their descendants were to dominate what came to be known as the Gilded Age, a period when Vanderbilt men were the merchant princes of American life through their prominence in the business world, in New York society, and as patrons of the arts throughout the world.

Later Vanderbilts showed less interest in business and more in yachting, horse racing, and fast cars. Much of the Vanderbilt wealth ended up being dissipated over the 20th century. A distant cousin Arthur T. Vanderbilt published Fortune’s Children: The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt in 1989. Only Gloria Vanderbilt and her son Anderson Cooper have made names for themselves in the modern world.

Anderson Cooper and Vanderbilt Family Ancestry

The newscaster Anderson Cooper is the son of Gloria Vanderbilt and her fourth husband Wyatt Cooper. On the one side is the Vanderbilt fame and fortune, on the other the more humble family history of a man from the Deep South. Just click below if you wish to know more about these stories:

Anderson Cooper’s Family History

Vanderbilt Surname Miscellany

The First Vanderbilts in New York. In the first directory of the city of New York, the only Vanderbilts whose names appeared were not the Vanderbilts. They were Dutch to be sure and spelt their name “Van der Bilt.” The most prominent among them was a truckman.

At that time in the early 1800’s the Vanderbilts were farmers on Staten Island and not listed in New York.

The Commodore and the Bellona. In 1817 at the age of 23 Cornelius Vanderbilt recognized the future, sold his sailboats and went to work for Thomas Gibbons who owned a steamboat. Once he learned how to operate the steamboat, he persuaded Gibbons to build a steamboat that he himself had designed – the Bellona. This vessel was to operate in a ferry service between New Brunswick in Canada, New York and New Jersey.

The ferryboat business was tough; but Cornelius learnt how to survive. At one point he charged passengers on the New Jersey to Manhattan run just a dollar, below cost, rather than the going monopoly rate of four dollars. He made up his losses by raising the price of food and drink in the steamboat’s bar. He went 60 straight days evading the New York City police who were trying to arrest him for violating the monopoly laws.

While the Commodore ran the boat, his wife was up to business ventures of her own. The couple had purchased a New Brunswick hotel that was in ill repair and renovated it. Sophia named it Bellona Hall after her husband’s steamboat. She apparently did a great job running the hotel for the twelve years it was under her command. The hotel attracted so much business for the line that it significantly boosted the Commodore’s income.

The Commodore and His Descendants

Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), the Commodore

William Henry Vanderbilt (1821-1885), he died the richest man in the world
Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899), the eldest son who assumed the family leadership

Cornelius (Neily) Vanderbilt III (1873-1942), the eldest son who inherited little
Cornelius Vanderbilt IV (1898-1974), a newspaper publisher who married seven times

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942), founder of the Whitney Museum in New York

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt (1875-1915), he died in the Lusitania sinking
William Henry Vanderbilt II (1901-1981), briefly Governor of Rhode Island
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. (1912-1999), equestrian enthusiast
George Washington Vanderbilt III (1914-1961), yachtsman and explorer

Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt (1880-1925), equestrian enthusiast
Gloria Vanderbilt (born 1924), the celebrity who launched designer jeans
Anderson Cooper (born 1967), the distinguished CNN reporter

William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849-1920), the man who succeeded his brother Cornelius as family head
Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877-1964), she married the Duke of Marlborough
William Kissam Vanderbilt II (1878-1944), keen sailor and lover of fast cars
Harold Stirling Vanderbilt (1884-1970), yachtsman and bridge player

Florence Vanderbilt Twombly (1854-1952), the Commodore’s favorite and his last surviving grandchild

George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914), country gentleman at his North Carolina Biltmore estate.

Vanderbilts at the Moravian Cemetery on Staten Island. The Moravian Cemetery, opened in 1740 in what was then a farming community, was originally made available as a free cemetery in order to discourage families from using farm burial plots.

The Vanderbilt mausoleum, designed by Richard Morris Hunt and constructed in 1886, is part of the family’s private section within the cemetery. Both the Commodore and his son had donated land to the church. Their mausoleum is a replica of a Romanesque church in Arles in France. The landscaped grounds around the Vanderbilt mausoleum were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect of Central Park in New York. It is the largest private tomb in America. In the tomb lie Cornelius and seven other family members.

The tomb is said to be haunted. A woman was once killed when trying to open the iron gate of the tomb. It fell on her. It has been said that if you bring flowers to the tomb you will be chased by a ghost in a gray suit. Legend has it that if you take a picture there, either the person in the picture will not be in it when you develop it or there will be another person in the picture who was not there originally.

The Two Mrs. Vanderbilts in New York Society. William Kissam Vanderbilt married twice. Both of his wives were to make their mark in New York society.

At one time the Vanderbilts had not been socially acceptable. While they may have been the wealthiest family in the nation, they had not been recognized by Mrs. Astor. It was Mrs. Astor’s contention that one’s fortune had to be at least two generations old and that one had to be unencumbered by work in trade. Therefore the Vanderbilts were scorned as nouveau riche and unacceptable for admission into New York’s elite “400.”

Determined to bring the Vanderbilt family the social status that she felt they deserved, Alva Vanderbilt – the first Mrs. Vanderbilt – christened their Fifth Avenue chateau in March 1883 with a masquerade ball for 1,000 guests, costing a reported $3 million. An oft-repeated story, probably apocryphal, relates that Mrs. Vanderbilt purposely neglected to send an invitation to Mrs. Astor’s daughter Carrie. Supposedly this forced Mrs. Astor to come calling in order to secure an invitation for her daughter.

But the Vanderbilt marriage was not to last long. Alva was strong-willed, arrogant, and opinionated, traits that were to intensify rather than to moderate over her life. She and William divorced. They both subsequently remarried, she to become Mrs. Belmont and he to wed Anne Harriman, the daughter of the banker Oliver Harriman.

Soon Mrs. Belmont and the second Mrs. Vanderbilt became cut-throat rivals. Mrs. Belmont opened the feud by refusing to welcome at her Newport home anyone who had entertained Mrs. Anne Vanderbilt. The ladies would joust for prominence in their own circles and for attention in the society pages of the New York press. Mrs. Belmont gained an initial advantage by espousing the cause of the suffragettes, thereby putting her name on the front page news as well. The second Mrs. Vanderbilt made her name with her work with the Red Cross in France during the First World War.

After the war Mrs. Belmont retreated to France and the second Mrs. Vanderbilt, who divided her time between New York and Paris, assumed the leadership of the so called “400.” As late as 1935, Mrs. Vanderbilt was listed by Paris dressmakers as one of the 20 best dressed women in the world. She died in 1940.

Twelve years later, Mrs. Twombly, the last surviving granddaughter of the Commodore, died. Her death at the age of 98 was said to have marked the final curtain for “real society” in New York.

Death on the Lusitania. In 1912 Alfred Vanderbilt had made a last minute decision not to return to America on the Titanic when it made its tragic voyage.

Ironically three years later he boarded the Lusitania in New York bound for Liverpool. On May 7, off the coast of Ireland, a German U-boat torpedoed the ship and the giant ocean liner sank within 18 minutes.

Vanderbilt and his valet helped others into lifeboats and then Vanderbilt gave his lifejacket to save a female passenger. He had promised the young mother of a small baby that he would locate an extra life-vest for her. Failing to do so, he offered her his own life-vest, which he then proceeded to tie on to her since she was holding her infant child in her arms at the time. Many considered his actions to be very brave as he could not swim, knew that there were no other life-vests or lifeboats available, and yet he still gave away his only chance of surviving to the young mother and child.

He and his valet were among the 1,198 passengers who did not survive the sinking. His body was never recovered.

Little Gloria – Happy at Last. Not even Hollywood in its heyday could have dreamed up a melodrama so electrifying as the one that swirled around 10-year-old “Little Gloria” Vanderbilt.

In 1934 she became the object of a scandalous custody battle between her beautiful but none too bright mother, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt, and her rich powerful aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (whose private life included several lovers and a pseudonymous novel about lesbianism).

Little Gloria did survive. She married four times, to the agent Pat DiCicco, the conductor Leopold Stokowski, the movie director Sidney Lumet, and the writer Wyatt Emery Cooper.

In her fifties she ventured into the fashion business. In 1976 the Indian designer Mohan Murjani proposed launching a line of designer jeans carrying Vanderbilt’s name embossed on the back pocket. And Gloria Vanderbilt jeans were launched. Gloria remained active until her death in 2019 at the grand age of ninety-five.

Vanderbilt Names

Cornelius Vanderbilt, known as the Commodore, build a shipping and railroad empire that, during the 19th century, made him one of the wealthiest men in the world.
Harold Vanderbilt was a successful sportsman, winning yachting America’s Cup on no fewer than three occasions.
Amy Vanderbilt, indirectly related to the main Vanderbilt family, was an American authority on etiquette. In 1952 she published her best-selling book Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette.
Gloria Vanderbilt, the subject of a custody battle in the 1930’s, survived to launch Gloria Vanderbilt jeans in the 1970’s.

Vanderbilt Numbers Today

600 in America (most numerous in New York)

Vanderbilt and Like Surnames

These are Dutch-originated names, Dutch surnames that found their way in the 17th century to New York and to South Africa. Here are some of the Dutch surnames that you can check out.