What name did Bram Stoker originally give Count Dracula in his notes?

Bram Stoker originally called his vampire Count Wampyr in his working notes. He later replaced that provisional name with Count Dracula, the name that became one of fiction’s most famous.

Stoker’s surviving notes document the evolution of the novel before its publication in 1897. “Wampyr” is a direct, descriptive label for a vampire, whereas “Dracula” gave the character a more distinctive historical and regional identity. The notes show that Stoker crossed out the earlier name after finding “Dracula” during research into Romanian history.

The name came from William Wilkinson’s book An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia. Stoker copied information about “Dracula” into his notes, including a misleading explanation connecting the name with “devil.” His use of the name did not mean that the fictional Count was a detailed portrait of Vlad the Impaler.

Count Wampyr never appeared in the published novel, so it is easy for readers to miss. It belongs to the book’s planning stage, alongside other discarded ideas such as an earlier Styria setting and plot material later connected with “Dracula’s Guest.”