Our names have consisted of a first name and a last name for centuries. As far as surnames are concerned, no new ones are added within the current system. After all, family names are passed on from parent to child. It is different with the first names. Many new names are created as variations on existing names. But variations on existing names have also occurred in the past.
Possibilities of variations
The variations on existing names often concern spelling, a suffix, shortening or sound change. New names are often formed by a compound.
Spelling
A name that is changed in terms of spelling will still have the same pronunciation. The variation therefore only concerns the spelling. This different spelling may be due to ignorance of the original spelling or a deliberate change, for example to make a foreign name more Dutch. As an example, the name Thomas is spelled Tomas and the French name Monique becomes Moniek. There are of course spelling rules for the Dutch language, but not for first names.
Suffix
A large number of suffixes occur in traditional given names. The most well-known suffixes are je or tje with, for example, Keesje or Pieternelletje, which originally meant a small child. Other given names with a suffix are Andrea, Corrie, Marianneke, Sipke, Jasperinus and Wilhelmus. These suffixes are rare in modern naming and are often considered old-fashioned. However, some suffixes do lend themselves to new names such as Jorreke and Tirzy and Wubbo.
Shortening
Shortening of first names is common, examples being Cor or Nelis instead of Cornelis and Jan coming from Johannes and Dirk with the full name Diederik. Shortenings also occur due to the loss of syllables, such as in Susanne becoming Sanne and Bram becoming Abraham. More examples of a way of shortening are given by the first names Frans and Bas, which come from Franciscus and Sebastiaan and Mina from Wilhelmina.
Sound change
Especially with older names, sound variation occurs as a result of dialect. This can be the case when changing vowels, such as the a into an e in manneke, which then becomes menneke. An example of where this change occurs in first names is from Franske to Frenske and later in life Frens. The change from ij to ie also occurs in the dialect, among other things, with the first name Marij, which then becomes Marie and vice versa, Marieke to Marijke. Another example is the onion that changes into uu in Trui and Truus. Naming nowadays is no longer influenced by dialect, but a more or less similar change in letters can occur. For example, changing the vowel turns Denise into Danise and Emmely becomes Emmaly or changing the consonant in the first name Sicco becomes Siddo and Dagmar becomes Fagmar.
Compound
Forming names from compounds of two or more different name elements was not often used in the past. Nowadays, name givers fantasize to their heart’s content and compiling forms an inexhaustible source of new names to be created. One reason for a composition is, for example, to name all grandparents. In the days when families had many children, every grandparent had a turn. With fewer children, naming is a problem in order not to exclude grandparents. Names like Annemarie and Jan Pieter solve that problem. The spelling of these combinations has three options. Together like Annemarie and with a hyphen Anne-Marie or separately like Jan Pieter. In addition to compounds where the two elements can still be clearly distinguished, more and more names are appearing where this is no longer the case. The origin of the elements is not always clear, such as with the names Aranda, Jolize and Roelinda for girls and the boys’ names Erjan, Jorni and Wilmard.
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- Names of people through the ages
- Surnames in many types