When recording Dutch place names in your genealogy program, use “Netherlands” rather than “Holland” or “NL.”
“Holland” is not the name of the country, but of a former province, now split into North-Holland and South-Holland. Some programs in the past tried to resolve Holland and ended up changing it to “Reusel-De Mierden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands” since there is a street called Holland in that tiny village. It led to millions of corrupt trees.
“NL” is sometimes used as an abbreviation for the Netherlands, but also for Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. Some genealogy programs change “NL” to the Canadian option.
To avoid these problems, use “Netherlands,” so it is clear which country you mean.
About Yvette Hoitink
So is “Netherlands” correct, rather than”The Netherlands”?
That’s like asking whether it should be “United States” or “the United States”.
Thank you Yvette, I found a couple of those Newfoundland and Labrador entries for my family and wondered how they got there!
Right On, Yvette.
A conversation about bingo awhile ago:
Are not from Holland? No. But I thought you were Dutch? Yes, but I am from Overijssel. It and Holland are both located in the Netherlands. Oh. So is that not Denmark?
Very recognizable 🙂 I get at least one request for Danish research projects per month 🙂