Dutch family names were not required until 1811 when emperor Napoleon annexed the Netherlands; prior to 1811, the use of patronymics was much more common.
In Dutch linguistics, many names use certain qualifying words (prepositions) which are positioned between a person's given name and their surname. Although these words, tussenvoegsels, are not strictly essential to state the person's surname, they are nevertheless a part of the surname and are almost always included for clarity. For example, someone whose family name is "De Vries" is not found at the letter "D" in the telephone directory but at "V"; the "de" is a tussenvoegsel and is not a part of the indexing process but rather is more of a stylistic qualifier. Another reason for this methodology is that it makes finding someone's name in a database relatively easy, since most Dutch prepositions start with the same letter (and thus if the prepositions led, there would be constant superfluous data entry to arrive at the desired name). In the Netherlands, the tussenvoegsel is written with a capital letter if no name precedes it. For example: a person with the name "Jan" as a given name and "de Vries" as a surname would be written Jan de Vries or "de heer De Vries", literally, Mr. De Vries. See also the main Dutch surnames section.
List of Dutch surnames This random sampling of Dutch family names is sorted by family name, with the tussenvoegsel following the name after a comma. Meanings are provided where known. See :Category:Dutch-language surnames and :Category:Surnames of Frisian origin for surnames with their own pages.
Baas – The Boss Bakker – Baker Beek, van – From the brook Beekhof – garden brook Beenhouwer – Butcher Berg, van der – From the cliff, mountain Berkenbosch – birch wood, a grove of birch trees Bijl, van der – "from the axe" – i.e. descended from woodcutters (lumberjacks) Boer, de – the Farmer Boogaard – from the orchard, Americanised as Bogart Boogman – Bowman, Archer Boor, van der; de Boor – possibly of the same French root as Boer – farmer or simple person; "boorish" etymonline.com Bos – Forest Boswel – surname originating from Scotland Bouwman – in modern Dutch it means building man (mason or construction worker), but in older Dutch it meant farmer Braam – Blackberry Brouwer – Brewer Bruin, de (Bruijn, de) – brown Buskirk, van – literally "bush church", or "church in the woods" Byl, van der – archaic spelling, Afrikaans, or Americanization of "van der Bijl" Carels - son of Carel Coevorden, van – e.g. George Vancouver#Origins of the family name Citroen – lemon, e.g. André Citroën Cornelissen – son of Cornelius Dekker – from the verb dekken or to cover as in covering roof tops (compare "Thatcher") Dijk, Deijck, van – From the dike Dijkstra – From the road, from West Frisian dyk = (Dutch) weg = road Dijksma – Ano who lives by a road, the road, from West Frisian dyk = (Dutch) weg = road Dijkman, Dijkmans – man from the dike Dijkgraaf – dike grave or dike reeve: the one in charge of maintenance Elzinga Faber – from the Latin word smith Graaf, de – The count/earl Groot, de – The tall/great Groot – Tall (person) Haan, de – Rooster Haas, de – Hare Heide, van der – from the heath Hendriks, Hendriksen, Hendrix – Henry's son Heuvel, van den – From the hill, mound Hoek, van de – (corner, sandbar=cape) from the corner; Hoek van Holland as landscape term Hoff, van het – (servant) from the court Kleij, van der – (Kley, Cleij, Cley) Clay Klein, little, small Kneynsberg – Du: Kneijnsberg; kneijn = konijn: Rabbithill Koopman, Koopmans – Merchant Kuiper, Cuyper, Kuyper, de – the Cooper Lange – Tall (man) Lange, de, DeLange – the Tall (one) Leeuwen, van – From Leeuwen/Leuven; Levi Jaager, de – the Hunter Jansen, Janssen – Jan's son (compare Johnson) Jong, de – the Junior Koning, de(n) – the King Linden, van der – from the Linden (type of tree) Meijer, Meyer – Bailiff or steward Meer, van der – From the lake Mesman, mes – knife (maker), cutler Meulenbelt – artificial mill's hill Molen, van der – from the Mill Muis – Mouse Mulder, Molenaar – Miller Maarschalkerweerd – Keeper of the horses (compare English marshal + amb Peters – Peter's son Prins – Prince Rolloos Ruis, Ruys, Ruisch, Ruysch – the sound of wind or water (surname common with millers). Rijnsburger – inhabitant of Rijnsburg Sittart, van – from Sittard, Anglicised as Vansittart Smit, Smits – Smith Stoepker – Curbstone Spaans – Spanish Teuling – Toll taker Thyssen, Thysen – Du: Thijssen: Son of Thijs Timmerman – Carpenter Tuinstra – From the Garden Verstappen;-The name is a contraction of van der stappen, literally meaning "from/of the steps" Vegte, van der – From the Vechte Vinke – Little Bird Visser – Fisher Vliet, van – From the vliet (type of water) Vries, de Vries – The Frisian Vos – Fox Vroom – piously (borne by a 16th–17th century family of artists) Vuurst, van de(r) – From the Vuursche (Forest area in the middle of the Netherlands) Wees, de – The Orphan Wees, van – (oorsprong of the Orphan Westhuizen, van der – from the houses located in the west Willems, Willemsen – William's son Windt, de – the Wind Wit, de – White (= the blond) Wolfswinkel, van – wolf's store/shop Zijl, van – from the waterway (Middle Dutch) Zutphen, van – (From Zutphen, city in the Netherlands)
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