do you have Dutch surnames in your family tree or is your own surname of Dutch origin join me
today on the ancestral findings podcast and I'll show you that knowing the meaning and
origin of Dutch surnames can tell you more about your ancestors than you may imagine
do you have a Dutch surname or have an ancestor who had one then you will want to know the origin
and meaning of Dutch surnames they can tell us much about our Dutch ancestors their lives their
families and even their personalities in fact some Dutch surnames show ancestors who had finely tuned
senses of humor if you are researching your Dutch ancestors or your own Dutch surname here's what
you need to know about the origin and meaning of those interesting names first of all you need
to understand Dutch surname prefixes because many not all but many Dutch surnames have them
prefixes like van tare and van der are common and mean respectively of at V and of the when
Dutch surnames are transcribed to English these prefixes are usually attached to them without a
space so a name like de Groote becomes de Groote and Van der Bilt becomes van der Bilt in Dutch
genealogical databases and official records these prefixes are ignored as they are not considered a
true part of the surname just incidental to it this means that if you want to find your Dutch
surname in a Dutch database or official record you need to type it without the prefix another
important thing to know about Dutch surnames is that the people in the Netherlands did not
start using them until the beginning of the 1800s this was far later than the early Middle Ages when
most other countries in Europe started adopting surnames of course some people in the Netherlands
had family names before this usually based on the village from which their family hailed or on
the profession the male heads of the family had followed for generations this was the exception
rather than the rule before surnames became official in the Netherlands people used patronymic
naming son of and daughter of that changed with each generation which was the most common way of
identifying people in any European nation before official surnames were adopted surnames became
mandatory in the Netherlands in 1811 when Napoleon Bonaparte required them that meant everyone in the
country had to choose a permanent surname for their family it could be anything they desired
and quite a large number of families chose the patronymic surname their male head of household
was already using others chose surnames based on their occupation place of origin or a description
of prominent geographical features in their place of origin this new requirement to have
surnames also gave the Dutch people a chance to show their sense of humor and a lot of them did
so by choosing surnames that were deliberately meant to be funny or ridiculous because surnames
were a new thing to the Dutch people they expected the requirement to have them to be temporary and
the law to be lifted soon so they didn't take the choosing of a surname to seriously also the
original use of official surnames was merely administrative with the surname only being
recorded in contacts individual people had with the government because of the belief that the
surname requirement wouldn't last and because of its initial use as a purely administrative thing
to identify individual people to the government some people chose silly surnames for themselves
much like people who write in Mickey Mouse on presidential ballots when they go to vote this
is how Dutch surnames like de Kaiser meaning the Emperor got started people were being silly when
they chose these names and did not expect to have to use them forever much less have them
passed down through every subsequent generation of their family for centuries to come there are
also incidences of Dutch surnames like nak tiga Boren and Xander Nam which means born naked and
without a name respectively clearly the Dutch had good senses of humor orphans who were found
in the streets or on the steps of churches or a straighted buildings were given the surname in
veld meaning literally in the field to indicate where they were found when those children had
to be officially registered with the government others chose surnames based on physical traits
that had probably once been used as nicknames for them to distinguish them from other people
of the same first name in their community surnames like votes meaning Fox and pard meaning horse are
examples of this as Fox describe someone's bright red hair or wily wit while horse meant someone who
was strong or had bad shaped teeth even with the terrific sense of humor that was used in
creating some Dutch surnames most people still chose a patronymic one when surnames began to be
required at the time of surname creation someone using a patronymic of pho Xun meaning Peters son
would often just keep that surname and make it the official one for the family to be unchanged
in the following generations regardless of what someone's father's name was others chose surnames
based on their place of origin or a landmark at their place of origin names like Terpstra and
vel dink meaning from the field and from the hill respectively are examples of this type of naming
with geographical names they often have endings that indicate the area of the Netherlands where
a person lived if a name ends in Inga ma or straw it probably originated in Friesland if it ended in
ink or ink it originated in overage cell Drent and Gelderland respectively if the rest of the surname
means something to do with a house farm or street you may even be able to find it on a map and
discover where your first Dutch ancestor to adopt an official surname lived with some precision
occupational surnames were the next most common type adopted when they became a government edict
while names meaning Smith or Baker will be obvious some are less clear surnames like Coke meaning
cookie usually meant someone was a baker and bulk meaning bean meant someone was a carpenter
she is well-known as a conductor on the Underground Railroad but not as well known for
her exemplary Civil War service as a nurse scout and spy for the Union check out the next episode
for her remarkable and amazing story thanks for joining me today I'll see you next time
on the ancestral findings podcast and for further info you can visit us at ancestral findings com