My name is "Klaas de Vries", question about the insertion?

[Klaas]

Hi all,

I am dutch.
My name is "Klaas de Vries". My friend's name is "Jack van der Molen".

Ofcourse, my firstname is "Klaas" and my lastname is "de Vries".

How do you call the little insertion 'de' in my name?
Or 'van der' in my friends name?

Is insertion the correct word?

Sorry, still learning...

Klaas

[John of Aix]

Klaas a écrit dans le message ...

>Hi all,
>
>I am dutch.
>My name is "Klaas de Vries". My friend's name is "Jack van der Molen".
>
>Ofcourse, my firstname is "Klaas" and my lastname is "de Vries".
>
>How do you call the little insertion 'de' in my name?
>Or 'van der' in my friends name?
>
>Is insertion the correct word?

Well nobody ever makes reference to this but if they did it would be
'particle' or more particularly 'nobiliary particle'.

[Klaas]

"John of Aix" <j.mu...@libertysurf.fr> wrote in news:c21p00$jkk$1@news-
reader5.wanadoo.fr:

Thanks! I looked it up in my Oxford English Reference and could not find
this, though. Strange that nobody makes reference to this. In the
Netherlands it is a common thing on all kinds of official forms to fill in:

Voornaam: (First name) Klaas
Tussenvoegsel: (Particle) (?) de
Achternaam: (Last name) Vries

Anyway, I trust this is right.
Thanks for your help.

Klaas

[John of Aix]

Klaas a écrit dans le message ...
>"John of Aix" <j.mu...@libertysurf.fr> wrote in news:c21p00$jkk$1@news-
>reader5.wanadoo.fr:
>
>>
>> Klaas a écrit dans le message ...
>>>Hi all,
>>>
>>>I am dutch.
>>>My name is "Klaas de Vries". My friend's name is "Jack van der Molen".
>>>
>>>Ofcourse, my firstname is "Klaas" and my lastname is "de Vries".
>>>
>>>How do you call the little insertion 'de' in my name?
>>>Or 'van der' in my friends name?
>>>
>>>Is insertion the correct word?
>>
>> Well nobody ever makes reference to this but if they did it would be
>> 'particle' or more particularly 'nobiliary particle'.
>>
>>
>
>Thanks! I looked it up in my Oxford English Reference and could not find
>this, though. Strange that nobody makes reference to this. In the
>Netherlands it is a common thing on all kinds of official forms to fill in:
>
>Voornaam: (First name) Klaas
>Tussenvoegsel: (Particle) (?) de
>Achternaam: (Last name) Vries

Well obviously in England such particles barely exist, they are much more
common in Dutch and German and even, occasionally in French. As far as the
English are concerned the particle is part of the surname so your surname
would be De Vries (a name that exists in England by the way).