Dutch names can be very long. Usually the maximum number of names one person has is five, but that can vary by person. It can get really ridiculous; especially the names that belong to the royal family. Take a look at this royal’s name: Willem Alexander Frederik Constantijn Nicolaas Michiel, Prins der Nederlanden, Prins van Oranje-Nassau. In English, this would be: William Alexander Frederick Constantine Nicholas Michael Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau. Yeah, no joke.
If you look closely at the origins of Dutch names, you’ll see that many of them have Germanic origins. This isn’t surprising considering that the Dutch have a long history with Germanic tribes stemming from the pre Mediaeval period.
In terms of last names, the origins of last names can fall into several types of categories. Some last names give clues about an ancestor’s place of geographic location. For example, some Dutch last names contain “van” which can mean “of” or “from.” So a name like Willem van Oranje will be William of Orange in English.
There are also last names that indicate an ancestor’s occupation. A surname of Smit could mean that this person’s family belonged to a family of blacksmiths. This could also stand true for those with last names pertaining to animals. Someone with a last name “Vogels” could have belonged to a family tending to birds. However, surnames with animals could also belong to the category of surnames refering to physical appearnce. Someone with a last name of Vogels could have had a beak-like nose. It makes you wonder, what would a surname like De Groot mean? De Groot means “the big one”. Is that in reference to height, weight? I was going to make a dirty joke here, but never mind.
Some Dutch surnames can sound awfully pretenious. Names like De Koninck (king) attest to this category. Some are very humorous like Naaktgeboren, which literally means “born naked”. This goes back to the time when Napoleon annexed the Netherlands. When the Dutch went to register their names in the national census, they made up riduculous names in protest.
In addition, many Dutch children have both a doopnaam or a Christian name and a roepnaaam or the name that they are called at home. The Christian name would usually be named after saints. After WWII, foreign names like Maikol or Michael were also popular.
I’m gonna end this post by asking the readers of this blog, what is your Dutch name?
If you ask the people in the Netherlands about the origins of Hutspot, people wil tell you that it’s been popular since the Nazi takeover of the Netherlands. During the Nazi occupation, Dutch crops were confiscated. Everything was confiscated, except for the potato. Supposedly, potatoes (aardappel) can be grown underground, hidden from sight; especially from the Nazis. The potato rose to become a symbol of resistence against the Nazis. Soon after the war, Hutspot came to represent the national cuisine of the Netherlands. The carrots In hutspot came to symbolize the Dutch royal family or the House of orange. Since carrots are orange, and the royal family traces their lineage to the House of Orange, the two came to symbolize the pride of the Netherlands. Kind of a neat story if you ask me.
Then there’s stamppot. Stamppot, like hutspot, contains mashed potatoes. Unlike hutspot, stamppot has cabbage (boerenkool) and brussel sprouts (spruitjes). Some people eat it with gravy and get this, with applesauce as well. There’s also the folks who like it with bacon and onions. Stamppot is usually served with some sauerkraut (zuurkool) or sausage (rookworst). Stamppot is great because you can easily get it anywhere for a good low price.
