Origin of the nemescsói Török Family
The family descended from Mihály (Michael) Török. He was a landholder in the village of Nemescsó and whose nobility was, with several other noble families, confirmed by the king of Hungary Károly VI (Charles) on 14th August 1720 in a Nova donation. It is also possible that the crest, that our branch of the family used, was the original family crest and was even used before 1720.
The Coat of Arms in its simplicity suggests that it originated a few hundreds of years ahead of this Nova donation. Missing from the original coat of arms is the baroque ornament which would put the crest’s origin to the XV – XVI Century.
The meaning of the name ‘Török’ translated to English means ‘Turkish’. The meaning of the Török family name could suggest that possibly a Turkish soldier, who stayed in the Hungarian homeland after the withdrawal of the Ottoman Turks, thus acquired a new Hungarian name and family. This explanation, however, is inconsistent with the Coat of Arms as we have discussed and it is also unlikely that a remaining hypothetical soldier would have so quickly gained nobility in Transdanubia. The Török family name is widely recognized and it is a fact that the Török family name was known prior to the Turkish occupation. A Enyingi Bálint (Valentine) Török (1502-1550), following the Battle of Mohacs, was one of the most influential and richest noblemen of the country. The Török family name is more a reflection of the historical fact that the emerging Hungarian nation included Turkish tribes and the general perception among historians was that the militant sections were of these Turkish elements.
