If you’re trying to figure out what the original name of your immigrant ancestor was, don’t just focus on official translations, but also figure out what names may have sounded the same.
For example, a woman named Jessica in Australia may well have been called Tjitske. A man named Dick (short for Richard) in the United States may well have been Dirk (short for Theodorus) in the Netherlands, even though the official translation would have been Theodore. A Dutch woman named Aaltje may have preferred to call herself Ella rather than Adele.
See a list of English versions of Dutch first names for more examples.
Name tag in a window. Credits: Willem van de Poll, collection Nationaal Archief (CC-BY-SA)
About Yvette Hoitink
