Most Dutch people have the name "van" or "van der" or "van den" or "von" in their names.What's the meaning of all these names? Do these names have history or something?|||On 18 August 1811 when Napoleon Boneparte - whose French army were occupying the Netherlands - signed a decree establishing a registry of births, deaths and marriages. Families, who until that time had got on just fine without a surname, were suddenly obliged to pick a surname.
Genealogist Rick van der Wielen says that traditionally the Dutch used a patronymic system in which the father's first name became the first son's last name, and the other kids got the left over names from the grandfather, great grandfather and so on. Gradually in the 1600, people began to turn the patronymic name into modern surnames - Jan Hendricksen (Jan the son of Hendrick) gave his son the surname Hendricksen instead of Jansen. A suffix was often added to indicate "son of" or "daughter of". (Ex. Jan, son of Hendrick would be written Jan Hendricks, Jan Hendrickse or Jan Hendricksen.).
Women took a feminine form such as "s", "se", "sd", "sdr", and even "sen" which implied the full suffix of "sdochter", meaning "daughter of". (Ex. Jannetje Dirksdr would be Jane, daughter of Dirk.
'But the Dutch, being independently minded, couldn't agree on a single system. For instance one of the sons might use the name Hendricksen, while another might call himself Jansen, with another sibling basing his name on his town of origin and another on his occupation, Brouwer (Brewer),' says van der Wielen.
Incidentally Van der Wielen's own name refers to a pool of water along the coast that remains after the tide goes out and not the Dutch word for wheel.
The Dutch Top Ten
Genealogist Miriam Klaassen says that a combination of unflattering nicknames, patronymic-based names, association with place of origin and references to occupation have become the most popular surnames.
The top 10 surnames include: De Jong (the young), Jansen or Janssen (son of Jan), Bakker (baker), Visser (fisher), Smit (smith) and Meijer/Meyer (land agent).
Van Dijk is another all time favourite but boringly enough it refers to the Dutch preoccupation with keeping sea water out of their clogs rather than a reference to the mother's sexual preference.
My personal favourite is Van den/der Berg (from/of the mountain). Now that has got to be a joke.
We can have a giggle about the Dutch first name Pik which seems to relate to the Dutch word for the male organ but we should not lose the run of ourselves. Kok for instance means cook.
In the movie 'meet the parents', Ben Stiller plays a character named Gay Fokker and we are all supposed to laugh. But Fokker (breeder) is a perfectly legitimate surname in the Netherlands. And while we are on the subject, my heart goes out to the Dutch man who proudly announced 'I fok horses' when asked about his occupation during an interview on British television some years back.|||Van=from ...location of where the family originated|||That would drive me nuts! I don't even like reading that word that many times.|||Van = From
von= from in German
It can be from the area where the family originated, but it can also be from what family they belong to. The German composer Ludwig von Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, and his father was named Johann Beethoven, so Ludwig von Beethoven's name means that he came from his father.|||"Van" = from; "van der" and "van den" = from the.
For example, the name "Van den Hoogte" means "from the high places/from the hills" (hoogte = high place).
"Von" is German, also means "from". "Vonder" or "Von der" would also mean "from the". (I think. I only speak Dutch, so I'm assuming that one.)|||In Dutch van stands for From, just like in German von stands for From too.|||van=from
vander = from the
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