Dutch name 5705358 226183842 2008-07-17T05:46:47Z 121.88.117.7 /* History of Dutch surnames */ [[Dutch language|Dutch]] names consist of one or several [[given name]]s and a [[surname]]. The given name, as (usually) in [[English language|English]], is gender-specific. ==Dutch given names== The [[given name]] is given to a child by the parents shortly after, or before, birth. It is common to give a child several given names, particularly among [[Catholic]]s. Usually, one of them is meant to be for daily use. This is often underlined on official documents, as it is often the second or third [[christian]] or a totally different name not even related to the christian [[name]]s. ===Dutch naming law=== The [[Dutch people|Dutch]] naming legislation practically allows all given names unless they are too similar to an existing surname, or if the name is inappropriate. A limit of given names is unknown to the Dutch [[law]], so in theory one could give a child an endless series of names. In [[the Netherlands]] however, five is usually the limit. Also in Dutch tradition, marriage requires the female to drop her maiden name and take on the husband's name. The current Dutch law gives people more freedom: upon marriage, both partners keep their own surname, but are given the choice to use their partner's surname, or a combination of both. So if a person called Jansen marries someone called Smit, each partner has the choice to call himself or herself Jansen, Smit, Jansen-Smit or Smit-Jansen. The preferred option will be registered with the municipal registration, without giving up the right to use one's original name. Parents can choose to give their children their father's name or their mother's, as long as the parents are married or are living together and the father has acknowledged the child. The surname of younger siblings has to be the same as the surname of the oldest child. ===History of Dutch given names=== The history of Dutch given names can roughly be divided in four main periods: # The domination of Germanic names. ([[Migration Period]] and before until the [[high middle ages]]) # The [[High middle ages]], when Germanic-based personal names were losing ground to non-native [[saints|holy names]]. ([[High middle ages]] until the [[Early Modern|Early Modern era]]) # A period of stability, when a very strong naming habit emerged. ([[Early Modern|Early Modern era]]–[[1945]]) # The post-[[World War II]] period, characterised by previously unknown personal names. ([[1945]]–Present) ====Germanic period==== The Germanic names are the names with the longest [[history]] in the Dutch speaking area; they form the oldest layer of the given names known in Dutch. The Germanic names were characterised by a rich diversity, as there were many possible combinations. A [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] name is composed of two parts. One part indicates the gender of the name, the other a characteristic of the person. This way names like Adelbert or Albert are born, composed of ''"adel"'' (meaning ''"noble"'') and ''"bert"'' which is derived from ''"beracht"'' (meaning ''"bright"'' or ''"shining"'') hence the name means something in the order of ''"Bright/Shining through noble behaviour";'' the [[English language|English]] name ''"Albright"'', now only seen as a surname, is a cognate with the same origin). Combining these ''"parts"'' was used when the child was named after family or other relatives. For example the child would receive two parts from different family members, in this way a father named ''"Hildebrant"'' and a mother called ''"Gertrud"'' would call their son ''"Gerbrant"'' and their daughter ''"Hiltrud".'' ====Mediæval names==== In the course of the [[Middle Ages]] names derived from [[Saints]] are getting more common than their Germanic counterparts. From the 12th century onwards it became a custom that the child received a Christian name, even though some Christian names like ''"[[Gertrude of Nivelles|Gertrude]]"'' and ''"[[Hubertus]]"'' were in fact of Germanic origin. The direct influence of the church on the transition from Germanic to Christian names must not be overestimated. Before the [[council of Trent]] ([[1545]]–[[1563]]), the [[Roman Catholic church]] did not have any regulation of the practice of naming [[child]]ren. There are thought to have been a number of reasons why the Christian names gained the upper hand, such as the [[crusades]], the larger [[Roman Catholic church|ecclesiastical]] influence and the appearance of [[Mendicant Orders|mendicant orders]] (such as the [[Franciscans]] and [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]]) and most importantly, the [[veneration]] of saints and the appearance of [[patron saint]]s. But apart from the religious influence it is believed that [[fashion]] was the main reason to give one's child a Christian name. With the emergence of flourishing cities all over the Low Countries, the citizens, especially the wealthy ones, were what we would call ''trend-setters'' in contemporary times. In these times some ''"typically"'' Dutch names like ''"Kees"'' ''([[Cornelius]]),'' ''"Jan"'' ''([[Johannes]])'' and ''"Piet"'' ''([[Saint Peter|Petrus]])'' emerge. ====Stability==== When the conversion was made from Germanic to Christian names, most parents just picked a name they liked best or would be most helpful in the [[child]]'s later life, for example if the child would come from a butcher's family and he himself would one day become a [[butcher]], the child would probably be called after ''"Sint Joris"'' (the Dutch name for "[[Saint George]]"), the [[patron saint]] of the butchers. The Dutch habit of naming newborns after another family member originates with an, at that time, widespread [[superstition]] that the name in some way contributed to some form of [[reincarnation]] of the person the child was named after, who was usually much older. This superstition disappears after some time, even though a certain Le Francq van Berkeij writes the following in [[1776]]: ''"bij veelen, een oud, overgeloovig denkbeeld, dat iemand weldra sterft, wanneer hij, gelijk men zegt, vernoemd is."'' ''(many have a superstitious belief that a person will soon die when someone, as they say, has been named after him.)'' As the centuries passed, this practice became so standard that the names of the children were practically known at the marriage of the future parents. The rules for naming were the following: # The first son was named after the father's father (the child's paternal grandfather) / The first daughter was named after the mother's mother (the child's maternal grandmother). # The second child's name depended on the fact whether the first-born child was a boy or a girl. If the first-born child had been a boy, the second child would be named after its mother's family, and after its father's family if the first born had been a girl. # The third and fourth-born children would usually be named after the grandparents who did not yet have a grandchild named after them. # If the grandparents already had grandchildren named after them, the children would be named after their uncles and aunts, starting at the fathers family. # If a child would die, the next-born child would receive its name. ====Post-War period (1945+)==== Traditionally there was little difference between the [[Christian name]] ''(doopnaam)'' and the name used in domestic spheres ''(roepnaam).'' If someone's Christian name was ''[[Johannes]]'', domestically he was called ''Johan'', ''Jan'' or ''Han''. After the war, the Dutch people became less religious; today the [[majority]] of the Dutch are non-practising Christians or [[atheist]]s. Thus the Christian name and given name started to diverge, as personal names of [[foreign]] origin were adopted. In some cases these names are written more or less [[phonetic]]ally, for example ''Sjon'' ([[English language|English]] ''John''), ''Maikol'' or ''Maikel'' (English ''Michael''), ''Sjaak'' ([[French language|French]] ''Jacques'') and ''Petrik'' (English ''Patrick''). Nearly half of Dutch children today receive one name, over 30% is given two names, 17% have three names, 2.5% get four names and only very few children have five or more given names. Today traditional official names are found, but often only as an addition to the modern name. ==Surnames== There are a great variety of Dutch surnames (over 68,000), due to their recent introduction in 1811,<ref name="Schulze2008"/> hence there have been few generations in which names could become extinct.<ref>For the underlying mathematics, see [[Galton-Watson process]].</ref> Many [[Netherlands|Dutch]] names start with a prefix like ''van'' ("of/from"), ''de''/''het''/''<nowiki>'</nowiki>t'' ("the"), ''der'' ("of the"), ''van de'' ("of the/from the"), and ''in het'' ("in the"). Examples are ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>t Hooft'' ("the head"), ''de Groot'' ("the large") , ''van Rijn'' ("from Rhine"); but be careful of such verb-derived names that end in ''-en'' that are often occupations, like ''van Bruggen'' ("bridge builder"). These prefixes are not spelled with a capital when used in combination with the first name, for example ''Piet de Groot.'' When written without first name, a capital is used, for example, ''Van Rijn'', but again with a lowercase prefix after honorifics: ''Dr. van Kampen'' or ''de heer (Mr) van Wijk''. This capitalization practice is not uniformly followed outside the Netherlands; prefixes in most common [[Dutch language|Dutch]] names in Belgium are always capitalized, though occasionally 'Van de' occurs whereas another family may have the otherwise identical name spelled as 'Van De'. When ''van'' is followed by the name of a place or area, this ''may'' (but does not always) indicate that a person belongs to the [[nobility]] (which does not have any special rights anymore today), such as ''van [[Tuyll]] van Serooskerken.'' This usage exists also in Flemish names, though its nobility usually obtained the [[French language|French]] prefix 'de'. In Dutch aristocratic names, the prefix is never capitalized. This results in people being very strict about whether the prefix in someone's name should be capitalized or not, and in immigrants from the Netherlands always having an uncapitalized prefix. In Dutch name directories, the prefixes are always ignored for sorting (e.g. Van Rijn is ordered under 'R'). A Dutch surname may often contain an article and/or a preposition, preceding the noun. Sometimes these have been merged with the name. Many Dutch surnames originated from different personal qualities, geographical locations, and occupations. However, Dutch names in English directories (e.g. reference lists of scientific papers) may be ordered on the full name including all prefixes (Van Rijn would be ordered under 'V'), partly because many Dutch emigrant families to English-speaking countries have had their prefixes capitalized for them, whether they like it or not, like [[Martin Van Buren]] or [[Steve Van Dyck]], and normal practise in English is to order on the first capitalized element.<ref>See, for example, the ''Getty Union List of Artist's Names [http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/vocabularies/ulan/]</ref> In Belgium, prepositions can be merged with the surname (such as ''Vandecasteele''), or can be separate (''Van De Casteele''), and a few combinations occur (''Vande Casteele''), and all prefixes are always included for sorting. These variations indicate different families and not all names exist with several spellings. (More on this under [[#Tussenvoegsels|Tussenvoegsels]].) ===History of Dutch surnames=== Surnames were not required until [[1811]] when [[emperor]] [[Napoleon]] had annexed the Netherlands.<ref name="Schulze2008">{{cite web |url= http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/pat.shtml |title= Dutch Patronymics of the 1600s |accessdate= 2008-03-05 |first= Lorine McGinnis |last= Schulze |date= 2008-03-04 |work= New Netherland, New York Genealogy |publisher= Olive Tree Genealogy }}</ref> Since many Dutch people thought this convention would only be temporary, many deliberately chose confusing or comical names. For example: {| class="wikitable" ! [[Dutch language|Dutch surname]] ! Explanation ! [[English language|English]] |- | De Keizer | probably a wordplay on Napoleon when people came to register their name; ''Who are you? I'm the emperor.'' | Lit. "emperor". |- | Rotmensen | ''rot'' [[Adjective]] meaning "rotten" + ''mensen'' "people" | Lit. "rotten people". |- | Poepjes | ''poep'' [[noun]] meaning "shit/feces" + ''jes'' plural diminutive | Lit. "droppings; poopies". |- | Piest | ''piest'' third-person singular form of the [[verb]] ''piesen'' meaning "to urinate/to piss" | ''(He/She/It)'' "pisses/urinates" |- | Naaktgeboren | ''naakt'' [[adjective]] meaning "naked" + ''geboren'' meaning "born" | Lit. "born naked" |- | Zeldenthuis | ''zelden'' [[adverb]] meaning "seldom" and ''thuis'' meaning "at home" | Lit. "seldom at home" |} Before 1811, those Dutch people who did have surnames often used their first name plus their profession, living area, or personal appearance. For example: * ''Molenaar'' (meaning: ''"[[Miller]]"'') * ''Timmerman'' (meaning: ''"[[Carpenter]]"'') * ''De Groot'' (meaning: ''"The large one"'') * ''De Lange'' (meaning: ''"The tall one"'') * ''Korteweg'' (meaning: ''"living along the short road"'') * ''Van Rijn'' (meaning: ''"living along the [[Rhine]]"'') * ''De Vries'' (meaning: ''"a person from [[Friesland]]"'') Names ending in the letter 'a', especially in suffixes like ''-ma,'' ''-stra'' or ''-inga,'' are usually of [[West Frisian language]] origin. Currently example [[Guus Hiddink]]. ===Patronymics=== More common than surnames before 1811 was the use of [[patronymic]]s. Children even with established last names would also use a patronymic and often therefore received no middle names. The patronymic was based on one's father's name. The oldest form used the possessive of the father's name along with the word for son or daughter. Examples would be a boy born to Jan being named Pieter Jan's zoon while his daughter might be named Geertje Jan's dochter. These forms were also commonly shortened, to Janszn. and Jansdr., or to Jansse, and finally to Jans which could be used for both male or female children. These patronymic names were official and even used on legal documents where inheritances can be seen to pass from father to son with different "last names". After 1811, many patronymics became permanent surnames such that Peeters, Jansen, Willems are common surnames today. <div style="float: right"> {| class="wikitable" ! The Netherlands !! Belgium |- | 1. [[De Jong]] || 1. [[Peeters]] |- | 2. [[De Vries]] || 2. [[Janssens]] |- | 3. [[Jansen (surname)|Jansen]] || 3. [[Maes (surname)|Maes]] |- | 4. [[Van den Berg|Van de/den/der Berg]] || 4. [[Jacobs]] |- | 5. [[Bakker]] || 5. [[Mertens]] |- | 6. [[Van Dijk]] || 6. [[Willems]] |- | 7. [[Visser]] || 7. [[Claes]] |- | 8. [[Janssen (surname)|Janssen]] || 8. [[Goossens]] |- | 9. [[Smit]] || 9. [[Wouters]] |- | 10. [[Meijer (disambiguation)|Meijer/Meyer]] || 10. [[De Smet]] |} </div> ===Most common Dutch surnames=== To the right the [[List of most common surnames|most common Dutch surnames]] in [[the Netherlands]] (as of 1947) and [[Flanders]] in [[Belgium]] are listed. [http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nfd/nrf.php Meertens' Dutch surname database] lists 68667 different family names, the total [[Dutch people|Dutch speaking population]] in Europe is estimated to be about 23 million people. The most common Dutch names in Belgium are nearly all ''"father-based"'' names in which they are composed with the following formula ''name of father + "-son",'' the only exceptions being ''"Maes"'' ([[Meuse]]) and ''"De Smet"'' (the [[Smith (metalwork)|Smith]]). The most common Dutch names in the Netherlands are more diverse, with names ranging from ''"Visser"'' ([[Fisherman]]) to ''"Van Dijke"'' (living along the [[Dike (construction)|Dyke]]) and ''"De Jong"'' (the young one). It should be remembered however that these figures are based on the data of an entire country, and on a smaller scale other names tend to dominate certain [[region]]s. ===Tussenvoegsels=== A [[tussenvoegsel]], in [[Dutch language|Dutch linguistics]], is a word that is positioned between someone's [[given name]] and [[surname]], but is still a part of someone's last name. In the Netherlands, the ''tussenvoegsels'' strictly speaking are not a part of someone's last name. For example, someone whose family name is "De Vries" isn't found at the letter "D" in the [[telephone directory]] but at "V". ''Tussenvoegsels'' are therefore also required to be listed separately in [[database]]s; another reason for this is that it makes finding someone's name relatively easy, as most Dutch prepositions start with the same [[letter]]. In the Netherlands, the ''tussenvoegsel'' is written with a capital letter if no name precedes it. So ''Jan de '''V'''ries'' (''Jan'' being a given name), but: ''de heer '''D'''e '''V'''ries'' (meaning ''Mr De Vries'') and ''de heer en mevrouw Jansen-De Vries,'' ''(Mr and Mrs Jansen-De Vries).'' In [[Flanders]] ''tussenvoegsels'' of personal names always keep their original [[orthography]]: ''mevrouw van der Velde'', ''mevrouw J. van der Velde'', and ''Jan Vanden Broucke.'' Some Dutch [[tussenvoegsel]]s (many of these words are inflected, and therefore often are not totally accurate) include: * aan (on) * bij (at) * de, den, der, d' (the) * het, 't (the) * in (in) * onder (below) * op (on) * over (over) * 's (of the) * 't (the) * te, ten, ter (at) * tot (til, at) * uit, uijt (from) * van, vanden (of, of the) * ver (far) * voor (for) '''And combinations:''' * aan de, aan den, aan der, aan het, aan 't * bij de, bij den, bij het, bij 't * boven d' * de die, de die le, de l', de la, de las, de le, de van der, * in de, in den, in der, in het, in 't * onder de, onder den, onder het, onder 't * over de, over den, over het, over 't * op de, op den, op der, op gen, op het, op 't, op ten * van de, van de l', van den, van der, vander, van gen, van het, van la, van 't, van ter, van van de * uit de, uit den, uit het, uit 't, uit te de , uit ten * uijt de, uijt den, uijt het, uijt 't, uijt te de , uijt ten * voor de, voor den, voor in 't ==See also== * [[Dutch language]] * [[Dutch people]] ==References== ''see also Notes section'' * {{cite web |url= http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nfd/nrf.php |title= ''Nederlands Repertorium van Familienamen'' (Dutch repertory of family names) |language= Dutch |accessdate= 2008-03-05 |work= Nederlandse Familienamen Databank |publisher= [[Meertens Instituut]]}} Data based on the frequently updated [[census]] of 1947. * {{cite web |url= http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/voornamen/VNB/ |title= ''Nederlandse Voornamen Databank'' (Dutch first names database) |accessdate=2008-03-05 |publisher= [[Meertens Instituut]]}} * [http://www.onzetaal.nl/kalender/records/r2211.php Most frequent Dutch surnames] from linguistic magazine [[Onze Taal]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} {{Names in world cultures}} [[Category:Names by culture]] [[Category:Dutch names|*]] [[Category:Dutch language|Name]] [[Category:Dutch culture|Name]]