Friday, March 1, 2024

2024 #52Ancestors #Week9 - Names Changes

Dutch names on paper look a bit like tongue-twisters, but just a short lesson reveals that the names are really very straight forward. 

In reverse order, my Ten Kley grandparents had 10 living children, all of whom married and contributed to a total of 54 grandchildren.

The youngest, Gerrit, had no useful nickname or Americanization. He was named for his grandfather.

Albarta, first child born in the U.S., became Bertha.

Elsje became simply Elsie, although per her grandson and many newspaper clippings, she was frequently Alice (it seems she used both names throughout her life).

Alart became Albert, and perhaps he assisted in the naming of his younger sister. I believe he may occasionally have been called Al, but does not appear to have entertained "Bert".

Margjen was the fourth daughter, and her name is the same as her mother's.  Both women were Maggie, and my own grandmother Margaret was likely named in honor of both.  The latter never shortened her name in any way.

Derk was the next-eldest and firstborn son, named in honor of his father, and the first in the family to go by the moniker "Dick" although many others would follow.

Gerritdina was the third daughter, and although she did have a niece called Gertie and there is evidence that she used the same nickname, she was most frequently Dena.

2nd eldest was Jantje, perhaps named for her maternal aunt Jannetje.  My great-great aunt was called Jennie.

Eldest child and daughter Willempje became Aunt Minnie.  She was actually the 2nd Willempje as her elder sibling was born a year prior and died before her first birthday.  It was common to use the name again, although something most wouldn't do in today's times. I've wondered if Aunt Minnie could also have become "Willa."  This full name is the only one that I don't see repeated either prior to Minnie or after. A nod to WIlliam of the Netherlands, I think. He was very much alive when she was born.

As for the surname, there is a documented trail from "Ten Kleij" to "Ten Kley" and for children of Henry, "Ten Clay". The pronunciation hasn't differed for some 400 years.

As for the Winkels, there was some evolution of the surname.  Peter Winkel's grandfather (also Peter) was Slotwinkel, basically translating to locksmith, which was his occupation.  Dirk Winkel was a shoemaker, and Peter the younger was a Farmer's Cooperative manager.  Pronounced "vinkel" in Dutch, I have no idea when "Winkel" began to be pronounced as it is spelled, sometime after arriving in Iowa I presume.

The naming repetition continued in this nuclear family as well.  Peter Winkel's parents were first cousins and they named both of their daughters for their mothers. Neither woman lived long enough to see any grandchildren. A pattern I just noticed in this family, thought, is that together, Elsie and Peter's parent's initials were D-D-D-M.  As were the couple's children, Dorothy, Dirk (Dick, once mistaken by non-family for Richard), David and Margaret. Research has shown that the human brain looks for patterns, and they certainly found one.



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