A voorkind, literally a before-child, is a child born before the marriage. In the 1900s, this term was commonly used for a child born out of wedlock, before the mother was married. In the 1600s and 1700s, it could be used to describe the children of a previous marriage. For example, in a will, you may find a parent describing what to leave to the voorkinderen (children from a prior marriage) and what to leave to the nakinderen (after-children), of the current marriage. … [Read more...]

The Dutch word tweeling (literally: two-ling) means twins. Similarly, drieling means triplets, vierling means quadruplets, vijfling means quintuplets, and zesling means sextuplets. The word tweeling is used for the set of twins. There is no singular Dutch word for a twin. You can say "ik heb een tweelingbroer" [I have a twin brother], "ik heb een tweelingzus" [I have a twin sister] or a parent can say "ik heb een tweeling" [I have twins]. You can also say "Ik ben één van een tweeling" [I am … [Read more...]

A gezin is a nuclear family, consisting of a couple and their children. Other family members who lived in the same household can be considered part of the gezin too. … [Read more...]

Van halven bedde literally means "from half a bed."  It is a term indicating half-siblings or half-aunts and -uncles. For example, if somebody refers to a woman as her "zuster van halven bedde" [sister from half a bed] this refers to a half-sister and a "oom van halven bedde" [uncle from half a bed] refers to a half-uncle. … [Read more...]

This diagram shows you the Dutch terms for the most common family relationships. In practice, we don't use the more distant relationships than achterneef/achternicht; we just call them "verre neef" or "verre nicht" [distant cousin]. … [Read more...]

An achternicht (literally: behind cousin) is a female relative. The term covers the English terms great-niece, first cousin once removed and second cousin. The male form is achterneef. … [Read more...]

An oudoom is a great-uncle, an oudtante is a great-aunt; siblings of your grandparents. The literal translations are "old uncle" and "old aunt," respectively. … [Read more...]

A schoonmoeder is a mother-in-law. In older documents, the term is also sometimes used for stepmother (another type of mother-by-marriage). … [Read more...]

An achterneef (literally: behind cousin) is a male relative. The term covers the English terms great-nephew, first cousin once removed and second cousin. … [Read more...]