User talk:Eugene van der Pijll/Dutch people

Hi,

I'm curious: with the people in the list on your page whose names include "Xzn" (Bzn, Jzn, etc), were they all named after their grandfathers? Is that a common custom in the Netherlands?

Thanks, — kwami (talk) 07:45, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

The abbreviation 'Jzn' refers to 'Janszoon' which literally means 'son of Jan.' This happens in numerous variations: 'Bzn' probably means 'Barentszoon' (son of Barend), 'Hzn' is 'Hendrikszoon' (son of Henk). Nowadays, people who are named 'Janssen' (one of the most common surnames in the Netherlands) probably have an ancestor that was named 'Janszoon' (son of Jan). In most cases it's changed into Janssen through the centuries. Nowadays the surnames stay the same (so it's not like in Iceland), but there are still numerous Dutch people with a surname like Jansz, Dirksz, etc.

Guidje (talk) 11:15, 9 May 2012 (UTC)