English Translations of Dutch Surnames
ApliKaye
reading that when Napoleon ordered people to choose surnames some people chose
"funny" ones, something like Cheese Head or Big Nose, because they thought
surnames were silly or because they resented the French order. I wondered if
you could tell me what some of those names really were in both Dutch and
English. Also, do all Dutch surnames have a translation? I know Slager
(butcher) and Medendorp (village of Meeden) but are there translations for
Bouwkamp or Woltha? I want my American family to be excited about their Dutch
heritage and they seem interested in the meanings of their names.
S.Bonsma
these surnames might be strange to you, most of them are very familiar
to Dutch people. One of our ministers is called Borst so many people
here have heaard that surname.
Here are some of the surnames:
Dutch English
Borst Breast
Poepjes Little piece of shit
Hetebrij Hot porridge
Naaktgeboren Born nude
Not all Dutch surnames can be directly translated to English. In the
northern part of the Netherlands many people added -ma, -stra or
something like that to their last name to show that this was their
surname. Also my surname is made in this way:
Bonsma ---> Bons-ma. Bons refers to a very small village near Sneek,
where my ancestor was living around 1811.
In other parts of the netherlands it was more common to add -ing or -ink
to their last name. This is how Meyerink was created. Meyer-ink. A meyer
was sort of a chief of police, and had a high reputation.
Other surnames comes from the father names. For example, if a man named
Jan had a son named Pieter, then the son would be called (before 1811)
Pieter Jans (Pieter Jan his son). If this man had a son named Jan again,
the sons complete name would be Jan Pieters. If it was 1811 by that time
he might have taken Pieters as surname.
I don't know exactly where the names Bouwkamp and Woltha originate from.
Bouwkamp does mean something as ' a place to build', maybe this man was
a construction worker, helping to build a new place. I think Woltha is a
northern surname, so you should leave the last part away to explain the
name. Wol is translated to wool, so he might be a sheep farmer. Wolth
could be a place or the name of his father.
Although these are some explanations of both surnames, it is only a
guess by me, maybe someone else knows more about it.
Greetings,
Sybrand Bonsma
Herma Gumpert
>
> I am telling my family about how the Dutch chose surnames in 1811. I remember
> reading that when Napoleon ordered people to choose surnames some people chose
> "funny" ones, something like Cheese Head or Big Nose, because they thought
> surnames were silly or because they resented the French order. I wondered if
> you could tell me what some of those names really were in both Dutch and
> English. Also, do all Dutch surnames have a translation? I know Slager
> Bouwkamp or Woltha? I want my American family to be excited about their Dutch
> heritage and they seem interested in the meanings of their names.
One more 'funny' name, that you can still find in Dutch:
Suikerbuik = Sugarbelly
Jan Wissink
>
> I know Slager
> (butcher) and Medendorp (village of Meeden) but are there translations for
> Bouwkamp or Woltha?
I can give you the explanation for the name Bouwkamp. Kamp is the word
for a piece of land which is surrounded by a fence or a hedge. Bouw
means building, but in former times it also meant cultivation.
Therefore, Bouwkamp was a piece of land, fenced in, and used to
cultivate: an enclosed farm-land.
Darren S A George
porridge), Maneschijn (moonshine- as in light, not liquor), and van
Spijker (from nail).
--
The Mad Alchemist
http://members.xoom.com/madalch
Gravity does not know my name.
Jan M. Keus
>ApliKaye wrote:
>>
>> I am telling my family about how the Dutch chose surnames in 1811. I remember
>> reading that when Napoleon ordered people to choose surnames some people chose
>> "funny" ones, something like Cheese Head or Big Nose, because they thought
>> surnames were silly or because they resented the French order. I wondered if
>> you could tell me what some of those names really were in both Dutch and
>> English. Also, do all Dutch surnames have a translation? I know Slager
>> (butcher) and Medendorp (village of Meeden) but are there translations for
>> Bouwkamp or Woltha? I want my American family to be excited about their Dutch
>> heritage and they seem interested in the meanings of their names.
>One more 'funny' name, that you can still find in Dutch:
>Suikerbuik = Sugarbelly
And what about Naaktgeboren=born nude?
JanM
bert van viegen
De Vries The Frisian ( a person from Friesland, a dutch province)
(De)Visser Fisher
Van de(n) Berg From the Mountain
Van den Heuvel From the Hill
Roosevelt Rosefield
Jans(s)en Johnsson
Smi(d)t Smith
Bakker Baker
Honing Honey
Pielkenrood Small Penis red
Roodbeen Redleg
Sukkel Dumb person
Koetje Small Cow
Konijn Rabbit
De Boer The Farmer
Bloothoofd Barehead
Eenhoorn Unicorn
De Haan The Cock
De Graaf The Count
Long before Napoleon was born dutch families already had familynames.
In 1677 for instance my family was already known as Viege.
If you want to know the meaning of a specific name I advise you to mail me.
Bert van Viegen
The Netherlands
ApliKaye <apli...@aol.com> wrote in article
<199809090731...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
Wim van Stek
S > I've listed some 'funny' surnames which I know down below.
S > Dutch English
S > Poepjes Little piece of shit
To all readers:
Poepjes may look like a 'funny' name, but it is not. The name was
certainly not started in 1811 when Napoleon decreed that everybody
not yet having a 'fixed' surname had to take one.
The name Poepjes is already in Dutch records in 1740.
The name 'Poepjes' is much older, and is derived from the german word
'Bube' = boy. So Poepjes resembles a patronym. In this case however,
it is not after the name of the father, or the occupation of the
father,
but after a 'property' or nickname of the father.
For example: Janssen / Jansen = son of Jan ( normal patronym )
Janssens = son of a son of Jan ( double patronym )
Smits = son of a smid ( smid=blacksmith )
In the case of Poep(j)es the father was a 'Bube' , a young man
presumably from the Westphalen area in Germany, coming as a season
worker to the northern part of the Netherlands.
Wim.
Sean Vanderfluit
I met a fellow this summer named "Buitenhuis". Does the literal
translation mean what I think it means?
--
Sean
**********************************************
Consciousness: That Annoying Time Between Naps
**********************************************
Sytze Stel
'Poep' is a Frisian invective for a German, much used in WWII,
pronounced as the English word 'poop'.
Sytze
--
Sytze Stel # Ganzetrek 2, 3766 XE Soest, NL # ss...@xs4all.nl
Sytze Stel
> >> reading that when Napoleon ordered people to choose surnames some people chose
> >> "funny" ones, something like Cheese Head or Big Nose, because they thought
> >> surnames were silly or because they resented the French order. I wondered if
> >> you could tell me what some of those names really were in both Dutch and
> >> English. Also, do all Dutch surnames have a translation? I know Slager
> >> (butcher) and Medendorp (village of Meeden) but are there translations for
> >> Bouwkamp or Woltha? I want my American family to be excited about their Dutch
> >> heritage and they seem interested in the meanings of their names.
>
> >Suikerbuik = Sugarbelly
>
> And what about Naaktgeboren=born nude?
>
> JanM
>
>
and Kijk in de Vegte = look in the (river) Vecht
and Nooitgedacht = never thought
and there probably are dozens more
Esther Perry
>
> When I was in university I knew a girl by the name of van der Spek.
>
"Spek" in this case refers to mud, you know, the sticky stuff - if
you get your boots stuck in it, you can barely pull them out.
If you walk into Mom's kitchen with those same boots afterwards,
you're really in for it!
Greetings from Beautiful British Columbia
Esther Perry
Esther...@bc.sympatico.ca
bert van viegen
when one is joking one can call ones penis, "fluit".
Van der Spek means "from the Bacon"
Buitenhuis might mean "outside of the house" or "mansion".
Greetings
Bert van Viegen
Sean Vanderfluit <flu...@vcn.bc.ca> wrote in article
<6taiq3$mgt$1...@garfield.vcn.bc.ca>...
> When I was in university I knew a girl by the name of van der Spek.
>
Willem-jan Van De Laar
<apli...@aol.com> wrote:
> Also, do all Dutch surnames have a translation? I
> know Slager
> (butcher) and Medendorp (village of Meeden) but are there
> translations for
> Bouwkamp or Woltha?
> I want my American family to be excited about their Dutch
> heritage and they seem interested in the meanings of their
> names.
Ofcourse it is nice if your family will be interested in their names. But it is
without genealogycal investigation difficult to give the exact
origion/translation of the surname. Some are offcourse evident;
Ned Eng
Bakker Baker
Slager Butcher
Smit Smith
but it does not say of the persons are baker or butcher. The most surnames
don't come out the time of Napoleon but exist before that time.
In the time that established surnames were an exception most people had besides
ther christian name also a patroniem (patronymicum) or a nickname.
A patroniem is the second conjugate (?) of the christian name of the father;
Jan Willems or
Peter Gerrits(en) (= Peter son of father Gerrit)
A nickname is an nearer indication from the person of his christian name or
patroniem. This nickname can indicate
- the occupation of the person (Bakker/Baker, Slager/Butcher)
- a personal quality (de Goede/the good one, de Wilde/the wild)
- a distinguishing mark (Eenoog/one eye, de Rode/e.g. person with red hair)
- the diference between persons with the same name (de Jonge/the young one)
- the place or region,area of origion (van Breda, Stolwijker/from Stolwijk)
- the name of farm or estate/property ( van Broekhuizen, Havekotte)
- the name of a house or tavern (Gouweleeuw/Golden Lion, van der Molen/from the
Mill)
- a fieldname (van der Kamp, van den Berg/from the mountan)
The time wherein a surname is arise (?) is very different. In some family's is
the surname hundert's of years old. In other familiy's it is from the last
century.
SOme surnametype's or from given regions of the country. E.g. in Friesland or
Groningen often the names ended on -a, -ma, -sma, -inga (Paulusma, Terpstra).
There is lot to say about surnames, but is difficult for me to translate that
all in English.
I can give you some titles of Dutch books about surnames. I hope you see that
it is theme that needs genealogical investigation. It is 'dangerous' to say
where the surname come from without knowing some backgrounds.
Grtnx,
wj.van...@dosgg.nl (Willem-Jan)
--
|Fidonet: Willem-jan Van De Laar 2:500/155.5157
|Internet: wj.van...@dosgg.nl
|
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly her/his own.
GSCARBOROUGH
a request for help on the ships list, and found out the passenger lists for
arrivals into Canada are not indexed. This would mean viewing the passenger
lists of up to 450 ships to find my ancestors. There must be an easier way!
Below is my original post to the ships list:
To all you knowledgeable and helpful listers,
I am having trouble narrowing down a timeframe for my ancestors voyage to
Canada and finding their ship/passenger list. Maybe someone has some ideas.
Jan ter Wijn (could be listed as John Terwin) went from Amsterdam to
Liverpool where he boarded a ship to Halifax. As near as I can place it,
this was in late 1906 or early 1907.
Sometime in 1910, his father Pieter ter Wijn with wife Jantje, and three
children, Koortje, Derikje, and Johannes took the same route.
My other line, Jan Rompelman (also known as J.J. Rompelman) , his wife
Elisabeth, and seven children followed the same route in 1904 - 1906. Two
sons, Gysbertus (Burt) and Jozef (Joe) had arrived a year or two earlier via
the same route, 1902-1904.
I have not been able to find any index of passengers for these ports and
timeframes. Is there such an index? I have "spot checked" many passenger
lists as they were available to me, but to no avail.
If anyone has lists for these timeframe and these ports, could you see if
these folks are listed? Does anyone have any ideas about how to find these
family members without looking at every passenger list from 1902-1910? Any
of your suggestions would be welcome...I'm stuck!
Gene
Lvaneperen
Dear Bert
My family also had a surname back in early 1600. They came from Flanders and
took the name of their home town Ypers, and we now have van Iperen and other
variations.
I would be very interested in many surname translations as I am doing several
family genealogies. Do you know if there is a book anywhere that lists
translations and if not maybe I or we could start assembling one
Lou Van Eperen
Wisconsin
Peter W. Griffioen
something similar as Belgium and Holland were part of the France. In
Australia it is known as Ypres as in WW I, Australian soldiers fought in
the Flanders fields and now known for it's sea of red flowers every
year.
--
Regards,
Peter and Marcia. cs...@ozemail.com.au cs...@netscape.net
Ralf
<cs...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>Lou and Bert, I think you will find the original spelling was Ijpres or
>something similar as Belgium and Holland were part of the France.
????
Holland and Belgium have only been part of France during the
occupation by Napoleon (approx 1803-1812).
In 1600 the North (now the Netherlands) was struggling for
independence from Spain. The south (now Belgium) was still occupied by
Spanish forces. The area belonged to the Holy German Empire and due to
succession became part of the empire of the Spanish kings.
The Netherlands have been an independent Republic and Kingdom since
1648. Belgium was Spanish, later Austrian (again due to succession),
and after 1812 united with the Netherlands. Since 1830 it is an
independent Kingdom.
About 60% of the population in Belgium speaks Dutch dialects, which
are known as Flemish (the official language is Dutch), 35% speaks
French dialects (Walloon) and the rest speaks German.
The town's name is not Ypres, as this is the French version (just as
Anvers, Bruges etc), but the official names are Dutch (Flemish) :
Ieper, Antwerpen and Brugge.
So Van Ieper(en) is a very logical name.
Ralf
Ralf
Luc Matthijs
You can find in "Verklarend woordenboek van de familienamen in Belgiė en
Noord-Frankrijk" (Fr. De Brabandere, Kortrijk, 1993, ISBN 90-5066-124-6,
1600 p.), an etymological dictionary of the surnames in Belgium and North
France, the following items concerning IEPER (text but no names
translated):
(Van) iper; Van Yper(en), Ipers: placename Ieper (West-Vlaanderen), town
that normaly must be spelled IJPER. 1326 Jan van Ypre; 1383 Jan van Yppere,
Ieper (BEELKE 251).
Ipermens, Yperman: derivate of 'Van Iper'. Name of a habitant of Ieper, de
"Ieperling". Vgl. 1360 Kateline Yperlincs = 1374 Kateline Dypre, Kortrijk
(DEBR. 1970, 204).
The region of Ieper was at some time between 800 and now "occupied" by
France, Spain, Netherlands, England, Austria, Germany, ... and was allways a
battlefield. Many archives were lost. The local language was allways Dutch
(or the variant of that time), but the influence of French was allways
present. As was =and is= the influence of Dutch in the North of France.
But remember that before 1795 =all= persons, who where not native from the
town, where considered as strangers, with exception of the nobelty. The name
VAN IPEREN would in that context point to a person who has migrated from
Ieper to an other town in the Flanders. This migration happend =probably= in
the XI/XIIth century, because the family names where given in the Flanders
in the XIIth century.
Groetjes,
Ralf wrote in message <360baa95...@news.wau.nl>...
>On Fri, 25 Sep 1998 17:52:05 +1000, "Peter W. Griffioen"
><cs...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>
>>Lou and Bert, I think you will find the original spelling was Ijpres or
>>something similar as Belgium and Holland were part of the France.
>
>????
>Holland and Belgium have only been part of France during the
>occupation by Napoleon (approx 1803-1812).
> ...
>Ralf