Initially, von simply referred to the place that a person was from, so Hans von München would simply be Hans from Münich. However, over time and as surnames became more common, it came to indicate a noble title. The first recorded instance of this is in 1638, and it became fixed in law in 1803. This means that there are a number of names, especially in Frisia, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein and Switzerland, which contain von but never had any aristocratic meaning. This is the same for names containing participles such as von der or von dem.

In aristocratic terms, von is simply the place where the noble family originated, so the von Stauffenbergs were from Stauffenberg, the von Gersdorffs from Gersdorf and so forth. Zu means that the family was still in possession of the estate for which they were named. This is where names with von and zu come from. However, if a family has split or moved, then a different place name can be used to differentiate. For example, the family of Adam von Trott zu Solz at some point moved from Trott to Solz but it was necessary to distinguish between them and the family members who did not.

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