Dutch Names is a new series of videos on Dutch Genealogy, where you can learn how to pronounce a Dutch name and learn about the origins of that name. The first episode features the name Ten Hoeve. Do you want me to feature your Dutch name in a future episode? Please leave a comment.
About Yvette HoitinkYvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.
Great idea! I wouldn’t mind related ones on how to pronounce professions or genealogical terminology.
Today the Denaway family FINALLY learned our Dutch name is Dunweg. This has been a mystery for many years! Could you please enlighten us about the name?
I would like to know about the name van den Boom. Thank you.
Hi Yvette,
Great idea. There are so many names I can’t pronounce. As you know, there are so many women with Jannetje, Jacomijntje, Pietertje, etc. I would love to know how to pronounce them–to start! Then, the town of Ouddorp & Goedereede on Overflakkee. Thanks so much, Ruth
To Ruth – My grandmother’s family also came from Goedereede and Ouddorp. Her grandparents were Soeteman, van den Houten, Voogd and Broekman. If any of those names are in your “tree” I’d love to hear from you. Someone has posted an extensivIe geneaology of the Broekman family on line and I have been able to find the rest from the Dutch database. My grandparents rarely talked about their past so we knew nothing beyond the grandparent’s names until recently. It has been so fascinating to discover the roots! I have been to the Netherlands but am anxious to go back to walk the places my family lived.
Hi Holly, I have lots of Soeteman (Sweetman), Voogd & Broekman (Brookman) families in my tree, but most are by marriage only. Are you on Ancestry? If so, I’d be willing to let you be a guest on my tree since my tree is private. Give me your email address & you can take a look. Ruth
Ruth, I also have those surnames in my tree! My grandmother was a Lokker. I believe we share some link between each other! I have a public tree on ancestory. We should share!
Amy–are you on Facebook? If so, why don’t you join New Jersey Dutch and Ouddorp History and Genealogy. I’ll message you from that & then I’ll put you on as a guest on my tree. but, if you want to look on Ancestry, it’s Van Handle
Yvette,
I have a couple of names from my wife’s side that would be of interest – DeVries, Pluger, Boonstra for starters. Might also be interesting to include if/how those names changed when folks moved to the US.
Thanks,
Kirk
Kirk, My maiden name is De Vries – which I was always told it was very common and generally meant “the Friese” or, those who lived in Friesland. My research tells me the proper spelling should be with a small case “d” – the surname actually being Vries. In the US, many people have just run the name together Devries but we always kept it two words with two capital letters. Yvette many have more insight. My roots are in the area surrounding Het Bildt, in Friesland and my line settled in northern New Jersey.
In Dutch, prefixes are written with in uppercase when used stand-alone, and lowercase when used in combination with a first name or initial. So the correct spelling would be Klaas de Vries, mevrouw J. de Vries [miss J. de Vries], Dhr. De Vries [Mr. De Vries], de gebroeders De Vries [the De Vries brothers]. The prefix is considered to be a separate part of the name so the De Vries family would be under V in the phone book.
Yvette,
In the U.S. we have very different pronunciations of Schreurs. I would like to know how it is said in Dutch. Also, the origin of the name Freers is mysterious to me. Thanks!
Thank you for doing a series like this. It will be very useful I think. My paternal grandmother was Kathryn VanAuken. Her ancestors date back in the US to the early 1700’s with Marinus VanAkin or Van Aken. who was born in the Netherlands. I am just new at Dutch genealogy and welcome all the advise I can get.
As you can see my last name has undergone quite a change. I would love to know about the surname Luijendijk . Thank you. I think this is a great idea and enjoy watching the video.
Brenda! We may share a link to each other based on our last names. I too have Luijendijk in my family tree. As you can see we now spell it differently. Even a different variation then yours. I would be interested to see your tree to determine if We truly do have a connection. I don’t have a lot of photos or info from my Luyendyk side. Would be great if you could fill in some holes!
I would love to know the origin of the family name Voermans.
This is awesome! I’d be delighted for my surname to be featured in a future episode of your
program. My family surname underwent several changes before the present day spelling was used.
My ancestor, Cornelys van hovgem (as he signed his name) arrived in New York in 1685 with his wife Maria Winterslick and children. His surname is written as Van Haugem and his son Cornelys the younger signed his name as Van Houwegem. The first three generations of the family in New York and New Jersey wrote or their surname was written as Van Hovgem, Van Houwegem, Van Oudegem, and Van Ouwegem. The present spelling was in place by the 1740’s. The family came from Sluis. I have additional information prior to 1685. This is a wonderful opportunity and I hope the Vanover name will be included. The newsletter is fantastic and so informative. WOW!
Greg Vanover
An American of Dutch descent
Hi Greg,
Thank you so much for your enthusiastic reaction. I will add ‘Van Oudegem’ to the list. I’ve been very busy with the transition to becoming a full-time genealogist but hope to record some new ‘Dutch name’ videos in the next few weeks.
This would be wonderful as I am part of Van Hovgem, Van Houwegem, Van Oudegem, and Van Ouwegem. It has been very difficult trying to trace our heritage to our Dutch ancestry. I have tried for many years to find out what the actual correct surname of the first ancestor Cornelys Van Hovgem that came to America but we could never ensure that this was the correct spelling. It would open our history wide open to be able to find out about where they actually lived and how far back it can be traced. I and others would be so appreciative to explore our “Dutch” lineage to know where we came from and what our actual surname is finally.
Hi Victoria,
I have been very busy but I will make sure Van Ouwegem (and variations) is one of the first movies I make when I have time again. BTW, the whole concept op ‘correct spelling’ is a modern one. Our ancestor’s names did not have a correct spelling: their names would have been written in many different ways during their lifetime without one being the ‘correct’ one and the others ‘incorrect.’ That being said, it would definitely have been a -u- (van Hougem) and not a -v-) (van Hovgem). The u and the v were sometimes written the same, but when transcribing the convention is to use the corresponding modern letter. When did Cornelis van Hougem come to America?
He migrated with his wife Maria winterslick by 1684 arriving in (midwout) flatbush, ny From the province of zeeland in the Netherlands. Hope this helps…great info to help me s well thank you. Yes, any info you can find or tell me would..I would be so grateful. All the best!
Thank you Yvette for the correction from Van Hovgem to Van Hougem. So greatly appreciate it!
All the best, Victoria
Looks like we are cousins… As I to share the same greats. My line goes from Cornelious Van Hovgem and Maria Winterslick down to Sam Vanover who married Lucretia Taylor. They are my 5th great grandparent. Their daughter Milly married George W. Ridener. from whom I decend. Milley’s sister Abby Vanover married John Rose which loops back around and merges back in to my Ridener line. lol… Only in Kentucky.
I’m a Vanover too 😊 Rocky’s daughter, Martha Potter (Vanover) daughter
I mean Martha Vanover’s grandaughter
I know that I come into this late, but I’m a Van Over as well! I’ll have to search for the film to see if it was made!
My grandfather came to US and was told to drop the ten in our last name. He didn’t but he kept the right spelling. Ten Hoeve is not correct. Our last name starts with a lower case ten Hoeve.
According to Dutch spelling rules, the capitalized form Ten Hoeve is used when the name is used stand-alone, as in “the Ten Hoeve family” or “Dhr. Ten Hoeve” [Mr. Ten Hoeve]. The lower case form ten Hoeve is correct when used in combination with a first name, e.g. “Ross ten Hoeve.”
What is the difference, if any, between ‘de’ and ‘van’?….I will use capital letters [ probably incorrectly]: .I have an assortment in my trees of 17th Century arrivals in New Netherlands: De Hooges, De Lange, De Grauw; Van Etten, Vandervliet, Van Woert/Wart/Wert…which I’ve interpreted as meaning their places of origin…Tnen there are spelling versions of Crankheyt, Bankert, Kool/Cool, and Hoppe..without a de or van, so would that indicate a surname rather than location? Thanks again…Jerri
Please do a video on my family name! On one side of my family is Ratering (possibly Raterink originally), and on the other side the Brunsell family (which originally was Bruijnzeel and Brunzeel).
What is the proper spelling of this ladies name ?????
Bijlke Mellema Meijer [ Her Death ] 27 november 1840
Named in her children’s birth, Marriage or Death
Byltje Meyers Bielke Meyer Biena Meijer
Bielke Meijer Bienna Meijer Biena Meijer
Byltje Meyers Bylke Meyers Byna Meyer
Bielke Meyer Bielke Meijer Bijna Meijer
Bielke Meyer Bienna Meijer Bilke Meyers
Bienne Meyer Bina Meyer Bilke Meijers
Biele Meyer Biena Meyer Bilke Meijers
Bina Meyer Bina/Bielke Meijer
Fantastic site — gave me the clues needed to pick up 3 + generations not counting this grandma
The ij is a separate letter in the Dutch alphabet. It is sometimes rendered as ij, sometimes as y. And in the 1800s, it is not uncommon for names to have different spellings and variations. The official spelling would be the one in the birth record. But if she was born before the civil registration was introduced, there would not have been an “official” spelling, that is a modern concept.
Thank you for your time.
Fantastic website. I have read several of your articles, fascinating & informative.
1975 I had grandma’s name, picture, birth and death dates.
May 2016 same information plus 1 possible brother. Brick wall.
June 2016 found your website, read several of your articles, got some leads
July 2016 Broke thru the brick wall found a diamond mine ! ! !
I now have finished 7 lines going back to 1719 or before.
Thank you Thank you Thank you
Wow, that is so wonderful to hear. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If they are interesting to other people, I can answer them in a blog post.
Hello Yvette ,
I stumbled upon your page & wanted to share my grandfather’s last name, I know that it means “in the bush”. Henry Matthys VandenBos (Van Den Bos) is my grandfather’s name.
I have been searching since about 1995, I found out that my dad was adopted & I don’t think he knew it.
I have found information here in the USA, but not a complete story line yet, but, I’ll keep looking. I have connected with a cousin : )
“Van den Bos” can mean “from the woods” or “from ‘s-Hertogenbosch.” ‘s-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch, is the capital of the province of Noord-Brabant.