If you can’t find the name you’re looking for, try a spelling variation. Most Dutch search engines only find exact matches, so playing around with variations and wildcards may be necessary to find the person you’re looking for. Knowing the different spellings of certain sounds in words can help.
Examples of spelling variations
| Element | Example |
|---|---|
| k, kk, or ck | Hoitink, Hoitinck Bakker, Backer Van Dijk, van Dijck Dirk, Dirck |
| o, oo | Gosens, Goosens Noteboom, Nooteboom |
| e, ee | Velen, Veelen Neven, Neeven |
| a, aa, ae | Lamers, Laamers, Laemers |
| u, uu | Van Buren, Van Buuren |
| ij, y, ie | Nijkerk, Niekerk, Nykerk Meijer, Meyer Wiebe, Wybe, Wijbe |
| s, sch, ss | Visser, Visscher Marsman, Marschman |
| s, z | Rosen, Rozen |
| s, ss | Jansen, Janssen |
| f, v | De Vries, De Fries |
| g, gh, ch | Van den Berg, Van den Bergh, Van den Berch |
| t, d | Smit, Smid |
Two boys in the Moluccas show their Christian names. Credits: Tropenmuseum via Open Cultuurdata (CC-BY-SA)
About Yvette Hoitink
Thank you from Fonkert (Fonckert), whose 9th great-grandfather was Dirk (Dirck).
Your welcome, Jay (Jaij?)
I agree. My mother-in-law’s maiden name has gone through many variations over the years, some in the Netherlands and some in the US. I will use the name that she was born with “Veneklase”. The name has been spelled with nn, aa, ss and of course Veneklasen before her father dropped the “n”
I am helping someone with their tree and have started coming across Dutch names like this:
Jacobsz. (ending with a period), Is this an abbreviation for “son of Jacob”?
Sijmonsdr. (ending with a period). Is this an abbreviation for “daughter of Sijmon”?
Thank you kindly.
Marie
Yes, that’s it. Those types of names are called patronymics.