>>24543983>which two very specific countriesEuropean countries change borders and I have studied enough about the nobility of Europe to know that they name change for different reason. The most common reason was to LARP as a more distant ancestor or to claim a closer bond to your peasants if you were descended from a conqueror and not from anyone local.
Even the Queen did this to hide that she was German due to WWI and WWII.
If you can name a particular noble that you believe changed their name because they married a Jew due to lack of money you can name such a person yourself, and I can look them up in historical archives. But somehow I am not convinced. My ancestors were nobility, but I have no title because it was on my mother's side. It is the woman who changes names and if a woman married an outsider she would face terrible consequences. An aunt of mine who still has a title had a daughter marry a Roma dude. She was persona non-grata for good and her kid has no title or claim to the estate.
>>24544000Partially true, but people were always aware of race as well. There was a belief that culture was influenced by blood and that a person whose ancestors were of a certain faith might be drawn to their rituals even if raised by people of a completely different culture and isolated from their origins. We can discuss how much of the modern idea of race comes from this but they certainly had the germ of the concept.