Belgian names and surnames. Dutch (Dutch and Flemish) names. Julia – Julia
Belgium is one of the “small” Western European countries. It is located at the crossroads Western Europe, “sandwiched” between Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France. The territory of 30.5 thousand km 2 accommodates more than 11.5 million! Human.
Belgians are divided into 2 language groups living separately from each other. In the northern provinces (Flanders) live the Flemings, who speak a Dutch dialect, and in the southern (Wallonia) the Walloons. They speak Walloon and French. Such heterogeneity, which became the cause of the “linguistic confrontation” between North and South, could not but affect the formation of the Belgian nomenclature.
Origin of female Belgian names
The first population to which Belgium owes its name were the Belgians. These warlike tribes, differing quite high level development, appeared on Western European territory approximately 400-300 BC. e. Like other Celtic peoples, they were pagan Druids. Worshiping plants, the Belgae gave their daughters the names of sacred trees, in which, in their opinion, gods, or good and evil spirits, lived. For example, Cyperissa is a “plaintive cypress”, Avalon is an “apple island”, Ingridr is a “meadow” or Enya is a “singing elf.” Therefore, many traditional Belgian female names modern times have Celtic roots.
After the invasion of the legions of Julius Caesar, who named his new province Gallia Belgica, the name book began to be replenished with onyms of Latin origin. For example, such names of Belgian women as Aurora - “dawn”, Viviyana - “living”, Juno - “ life force", Itela - "from Italy".
After the fall of Rome, the warlike Germanic tribes of the Franks came to the Belgian lands. They also made a significant contribution to the formation of the name system. At that time, the most popular were the two-basic Belgian names for girls: Galatea, Theodora, Bernhardina, Gundula, etc.
Before the declaration of Independence (1830), Belgium had various rulers. It was “ruled” by Italians, French, Dutch, Germans, Austrians, Burgundians, etc. Of course, such a variety of ethnic cultures could not but affect the name.
All modern Belgian female names are conventionally divided into groups:
- pointing to characteristic features: Adelheid - “noble appearance”, Griselda - “gray maiden”, Katarina - “pure”;
- having a religious orientation: Kristen – “follower of Christ”, Lisail – “God is my oath”;
- Related professional activity: Heinrike – “home ruler”, Theresia – “reaper”;
- identified with natural phenomena, plants, animals or precious stones: Suze – “lily”, Margaret – “pearl”, Laura – “laurel”, Yvonet – “yew tree”, etc.
Fashion trends
For several years, Emma and Marie have been in the TOP of the most popular female Belgian names. In Flanders, names such as Nora and Eliza are very common, in Wallonia - Lea and Aya. However, fashion is very fleeting, and what little Belgian girls will be called in the near future is still unknown.
select a country and click on it - a page with lists of popular names will openState in Northwestern Europe. Population: 11,242,781 (2015 estimate). The capital is Brussels. It borders the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France. Washed North Sea in North-west.
Belgium is divided into three regions, two of which are divided into provinces: the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region, and the Brussels-Capital District. In parallel, Belgium is divided into three linguistic communities: the Flemish Community (Flemish District and Brussels-Capital District), the French-Speaking Community (Walloon District and Brussels-Capital District), and the German-Speaking Community (part of the province of Liege).
Two main ethnic groups– Flemings (about 60%, speak Dutch and its many dialects) and Walloons (about 40%, speak French, Walloon and some other languages). The predominant religion is Roman Catholic, but there are many Muslims, Anglicans, Protestants, and Jews.
The main source for statistics on names in Belgium is data from Statbel, the website of the Directorate General for Statistics and economic information(abbreviation of the name in Dutch - ADSEI, in French - DGSIE). His website has a section dedicated to first and last names. This information is fully presented in Dutch and French. It is available for downloading to your computer in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format.
The Statbel website provides various statistics on personal names. There are frequency lists of names with a frequency of at least 5 of all residents for 2013 - in the context of Belgium and each of the three districts. This list contains 18,562 male and 22,294 female names. Statistics of names among three age groups are also given: under 18 years old, from 18 to 64 years old and over 65 years old. In the first age group the most common Belgian male name is Thomas in the second group - Marc, in the third - Jean. Among women under 18 years of age in Belgium the most common name – Laura, among Belgian women 18–64 years old – Maria, among women over 65 years old – also Maria.
Another type of name statistics is the names of newborns. Data is available on the Statbel website for years starting from 1995, for names whose frequency is at least 5. These statistics are given by country, three districts, for male and female names.
The given statistics on the most popular names in Belgium clearly reflect the number of Muslims in this country and the high birth rate among them. Muslims now make up a quarter of Brussels' population and make it the most Muslim city in Europe. The majority of Muslims in Belgium come from Morocco (70%) and Turkey (20%).
The high percentage of Muslims in Belgium is also reflected in naming statistics. In the top 20 male names for newborns in the Brussels-Capital Region in 2014 we find names typical for Muslims Mohamed, Ali, Amir, Ibrahim, Imran, Youssef, women's Amina, Assia, Aya, Malak, Maryam, Nour, Salma and others. Top 20 names Sarah And Sara can equally be traditional for both European Belgians and Muslim Belgians.
I will show you the 20 most common names of newborns in 2014 and the 20 most common names of all Belgian citizens.
Place Name Quantity
carriers1 Louis 622 2 Lucas 619 3 Arthur 610 4 Adam 575 5 Noah 562 6 Liam 513 7 Mohamed 468 8 Nathan 455 9 Jules 442 10 Mathis 428 11 Victor 420 12 Gabriel 393 13 Hugo 387 14 Vince 311 15 Finn 305 16 Ethan 301 17 Eden 291 18 Thomas 289 19 Théo 278 20 Matteo 270
Place Name Quantity
carriers1 Emma 653 2 Louise 584 3 Elise 480 4 Olivia 459 5 Lina 383 6 Marie 376 7 Lucie 359 8 Ella 348 9 Alice 347 10 Juliette 347 11 Mila 344 12 Chloe 339 13 Elena 336 14 Anna 333 15 Camille 333 16 Lea 320 17 Nina 320 18 Lena 313 19 Charlotte 306 20 Julie 303
Place Brussels Flanders Wallonia 1 Adam Lucas Hugo 2 Mohamed Liam Louis 3 Rayan Vince Gabriel 4 Gabriel Arthur Arthur 5 David Noah Nathan 6 Imran Finn Théo 7 Amir Mathis Lucas 8 Lucas, Youssef Louis Ethan 9 Yanis Seppe Noah 10 Arthur Jules, Stan Tom 11 Noah, Ibrahim Lars Timeo 12 Imrane Alexander Jules 13 Anas Kobe Eden 14 Victor Leon Sacha 15 Nathan Victor Alexandre 16 Luca, Ali Adam, Wout Victor 17 Mohammed, Nassim Milan Liam 18 Ethan, Ayoub Matteo Raphael 19 Zakaria Vic Maxime 20 Samuel Mats Matheo
Place Brussels Flanders Wallonia 1 Lina Emma Lea 2 Aya Elise Lucie 3 Sarah Louise Chloe 4 Sofia Ella Zoé 5 Nour Marie Emma 6 Yasmine Noor Louise, Alice 7 Malak Lena Camille 8 Emma Julie Olivia 9 Sara Lotte Jade 10 Anna Mila Eva 11 Olivia, Maria Elena Manon 12 Ines Anna Giulia 13 Alice Olivia Juliette 14 Maryam Lore Julia 15 Inès Fien Lola 16 Julia Nina Mia 17 Lea Amélie Victoria 18 Amina, Salma Charlotte, Nora Elsa 19 Louise, Victoria, Asia Juliette Clara 20 Laura Laura, Amber Elise, Sofia
Belgium is a very small but densely populated Western European country with an area of 30.5 thousand square kilometers. It neighbors Germany, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. This tiny state, called the “crossroads of Europe,” received its name in honor of its first inhabitants – the Belgae. Today, 11.5 million people live in Belgium, of which 43% are believers. These are Catholics, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Protestants and Anglicans.
Origin of male Belgian names
The centuries-old history of the Belgian people, who only in early XIX century, for the first time in history, gained independence, is conventionally divided into 3 main periods:
- pre-Roman;
- Roman;
- the era of Frankish rule.
Gallic Belgae, who lived in the territory of modern Belgium in pre-Roman times iron age, are considered to be Hallstatt Celts. This proud one warlike people was distinguished by a high level of original culture. As Druids, they worshiped trees and named their children after the abodes of spirits and deities. And even now you can often find Belgian male names of Celtic origin: Daur - “oak”, Brian - “hill”, Duff - “dark”, Perth - “briar”, Alban - “mountain”.
After the annexation of Belgica to the Holy Roman Empire and the forcible planting Latin language The Belgian name book began to be replenished with borrowed onyms. In most cases, full male names consisted of 3 components: a personal and family name and an individual nickname. During that period, such names as Lucius, Mark, Quintus, Marius became most widespread.
When Rome weakened, the barbarian tribes of the Franks invaded Belgium. With the creation of the Western Roman Empire, the name book of the Belgians was enriched with Germanic anthroponyms. Many Belgian names for boys were associated with military or religious themes: Winzenz - “conqueror”, Günther - “ military army", Hayden - "pagan", Karsten - "follower of Christ."
During the Middle Ages, the small state repeatedly became the subject of political and land auctions. As a result, it was divided into 2 parts. In one, the population spoke Flemish (a Dutch dialect), and in the other, Walloon. As a consequence, traditional Belgian male names are of both Dutch and French origin. For example: Herman – “army man”, Ruben – “contemplator”, Pete – “stone”, Andre – “courageous”, Lucien – “bright”, Auguste – “venerable”.
Belgian naming traditions for men
Modern Belgium, called the heart of Europe, has become the homeland for many alien nationalities. Interaction of various ethnic cultures and civilizations could not but be reflected in its anthroponymic system. Modern Belgian male names have Latin, Germanic, Jewish, English and Muslim roots. All anthroponyms in use can be divided into several groups:
- reflecting appearance features: Alain – “handsome”, Morits – “Moor”;
- associated with profession: Georg - “peasant”, Eldric - “old ruler”, Becker - “baker”;
- taken from sacred history: Anselm - “protector of God”, Denis - “follower of Dionysus”, Elias - “my god Yahweh”;
- dedicated to nature and natural phenomena: Marin - “who came out of the sea”, Rudi - “famous wolf”, Dachs - “badger”, Pyrrhus - “rock”;
- abstract: Charles – “man”, Etienne – crown.
According to statistics, within a few recent years priority is given to such popular male Belgian names as Vincent, Yves, Milan, Ruben and Ulrich. Well, as for two- and multi-component names, they are not in fashion now.
In any group you can meet a person with an unusual, strange or very As a rule, its origin depends on the specific traditions of the country in which its owner was born. For example, Dutch surnames are considered one of the funniest in the world. Find out why in this article.
Last name: from birth and for life
The very word “surname,” so familiar to us today, comes from ancient Roman. This word meant a large and strong family with a man at the head. Then the ancient Romans included in the concept of family, by the way, slaves who served their owners. In Russia, the rules were practically the same: before the abolition of serfdom, peasants bore the same surname as the landowner.
Nowadays, there is nowhere without a surname - it is given to us from birth and most often remains with us for life. Except in special cases, of course.
History of funny Dutch surnames
Dutch surnames are considered the funniest in all of Europe, and there is a completely reasonable historical explanation for this. When the nation was conquered by Napoleon in 1811, he issued a decree that forced everyone in the Netherlands to acquire a French surname.
The Dutch themselves, who had previously only had names, were not going to obey the law. And since they believed that the occupation of the country was only a temporary measure, they decided not to bother themselves or rack their brains by coming up with names. And the freedom-loving people were not at all against mocking the invaders.
This is how absolutely stupid surnames appeared that were simply impossible to pronounce without laughing. For example, Naaktgeboren, which literally means “born naked.” Or Piest (“pissing”). There were also entire family branches under the surname Rotmensen - translated from Dutch, “rotten people.”
A few years later, the war with Napoleon ended, and the inhabitants of the country became independent again. However, contrary to expectations, the law was never repealed. So the heirs of these people have to wear cacophonous surnames to this day. But they are rightfully considered the most original in the world.
What does "van" mean in Dutch surnames?
Recognizability of family names is given by their unique prefixes: “van”, “de”, “van der” and others. This is why Dutch surnames are so widely known abroad. For example, in the USA they are very popular.
Many Americans automatically associate Dutch surnames with prestige and high income. Mainly due to the fact that the rich industrialists came from the Netherlands. Take, for example, But his last name, despite its beautiful sound, is the most ordinary one. There was a town near Utrecht, it was called Bilt. And the surname Van-der-Bilt (Vanderbilt) means a native of this town, that is, one who comes “from Bilt.”
The Germans also have a memorable prefix von, indicating the aristocratic status of the bearer. But the Dutch version of van is much more prosaic, and there is no social status doesn't stand behind him.
The residents of the Netherlands usually write the prefix “van” with a small letter (with the exception of initials or the beginning of a sentence), but abroad it can be found written with a capital letter.
The most popular Dutch names
In general, the Netherlands is a state, although small, but very socially rich. Proximity to Belgium and Germany, rich ethnic and religious composition, several indigenous groups - all this cannot but influence Dutch names and last names.
If you want to know all about names in this country, it's worth visiting your local Bank social insurance. In addition to its main task - insuring the population from all kinds of disasters, this structure also deals with statistics on the names of residents.
Once every three months, bank employees post lists of the most popular names - male and female - on the official website. You can also notice a trend of decreasing or increasing popularity of each name compared to the previous period. For any name you can find complete information, including its origin, etymology, equivalents in other languages and known speakers.
It is curious that you will only find information on names in the Dutch version of the site. Although it itself is available in many languages, including English, German, French and Spanish. However, you need to understand Dutch to know the most popular Dutch first and last names.
Male names, for example, Daan, Sem, Lucas, Milan, Thomas, are found here at almost every step. And if we talk about popular women's ones, then these are Emma, Julia, Sophie, Lotte, Lisa and Anna.
Origin of Dutch surnames
Today, almost any Dutch surname can be classified into one of four categories based on origin: geographical, occupational, descriptive or familial:
- Surnames that are derived from the region in which the bearer lives or his ancestor once lived are widespread. For example, de Vries. Sometimes it’s not even just a region, but a specific estate or place where a person worked - van Aller or van de Vliert (literally “coming from a farm”)
- Another example of a typical surname is by profession. For example, Haak means “peddler”, Kuiper means “cooper”, and with de Klerk everything is clear - the person worked as a clerk.
- The third group of surnames comes from certain physical characteristics of a person or properties of his character. For example, Dik means "fat" and de Groot means "big". Not everyone is lucky with their last name, what can you say.
- The last group of surnames is associated with the origin of its bearer and conveys family ties. Addicks means nothing more than “son of Addick,” and Evers means “son of Ever.” That is, a kind of patronymic is an analogue of what we wear in Russia.
Interesting facts about Dutch surnames
- Dutch male surnames, like ours, are given once and for life. When a girl gets married, she has a choice. She can either keep her last name or combine it with her husband’s last name, turning it into a double one. Many people prefer the first path if the groom’s surname is completely dissonant.
- There are over one hundred thousand original Dutch surnames. And many of them you will not find anywhere else.
- The surname de Jong means "young" and is often given to a younger family member with the same name. While the analogue de Oude “senior” is much less common. This is understandable - it is not customary to call someone who already has a specific surname a new name just because a new member has appeared in the family.
- The most popular Dutch surnames are Vries, Jansen, van de Berg, Bakker, van Dijck and Visser.
1995
In 1995, 811 girls were born in Flanders with the name Laura, which is almost twice as many as the number two name, Julie.
2000
Five years later in Flanders, unexpectedly the most popular name for girls it became Amber. In 1995, this name was in 27th place. Meanwhile, Laura remains a Walloon favorite. Other best-loved Walloon names, such as Océane and Chloé, were never popular among the Flemings. In Brussels, the TOP-3 included such girl names as Rania and Imane.
2005
Emma rose to first place. This name has been in the top five since 2000. But the surge in popularity of the name Luna has almost caught up with her. The four most popular names in Wallonia, missing from the Flemish TOP 25 list: Léa, Lucie, Clara and Manon. Sarah becomes the most popular name in Brussels
2010
The names Emma and Marie are still among the TOP most popular names. At the same time, new favorites appeared on the horizon: Ella, Noor, Elise, Fien and especially Louise. Over the past five years, everyone has become tired of “Moon” and this name has fallen from second to 26th place. In Wallonia, the most popular girls' name is Léa, while Brussels chooses Lina and Aya.
2015
Over the past 12 years, Emma has only been knocked out of the TOP of popular names twice. It was surpassed for the first time by the name Lotte in 2007, and the second time by Marie in 2013.
