The Development of Surnames
in New Netherland

    While most of the settlers arrived in America without a surname (hereditary family name), some adopted one in the New World. Quite a number of the second and subsequent generations took on surnames. Once the English took over the colony of New Netherland (a.k.a. New York), the use of surnames was widespread among the colonists.
In the section on early last names, the following list was given as sources of last names:

    When a family adopted a surname, they often drew from this list.
A few examples (click on the name to see its origin):
 
Albertson
Westfall
Ten Broeck
Bradt
Kleyn
Provoost
Van Etten
Jansen
Backer
Roosa
Decker
Barents

However,

   Not every member of a family adopted the same name. The family of Albert Andriessen Bradt is a good example of this. Some of his children and their descendants used the surname Bradt or patronym Albertson (Alberts). One of his sons, Storm, and his posterity, used the name Vander Zee (meaning "from the sea") because Storm had been born during a storm on the ocean voyage from the Netherlands to America.

Go back to Early Names.

Origins
Albertson
Patronym-"son of Albert"
Westfall
Place name- "Westphalia"
Ten Broeck
Place name- "out of the marsk
Bradt
Surname- from Norway
Kleyn
Description- "small"
Provoost
Surname- from Belgium
Van Etten
Place name- "from Etten, Gelderland, Netherlands"
Jansen
Patronym- "son of Jan"
Backer
Occupation- "baker"
Roosa
Surname- from the Netherlands; there is a possibility that this family was descended from the aristocratic Van Rosendael family on a maternal line and derived the name from that ancestral name
Decker
Occupation- "roof builder"
Barents
Patronym- "son of Barent"

Return to:

Michelle's Main Page
New Netherland Family History
Names Page (General)
Last Names Page

To contact me:  michelle@boydhouse.com
Last updated 21 Oct 2002.
© Michelle Boyd, 2003.
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