Van der Elst

van der Elst or Van Der Elst is a Dutch toponymic surname meaning "from the alder (woods)". The forms Elst and Van Elst may also refer to an origin in the city of Elst, Gelderland, the town Elst, Utrecht, or other villages by that name. Certain branches belong to the Belgian nobility as well to important Dutch patrician non-noble families (Nederlands Patriciaat). The name may refer to:


 * Bartel van der Elst (or "Van der Helst"; 1613–1670), Dutch portrait painter
 * Cédric Van der Elst (b. 1980), Belgian football midfielder
 * François Van Der Elst (1954–2017), Belgian football winger, brother of Leo
 * Franky Van Der Elst (b. 1961), Belgian football midfielder and manager
 * Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst (b. 1959), German Roman Catholic bishop
 * Ingrid van der Elst (b. 1955), Dutch cricketer and field hockey player
 * (1896–1971), Belgian diplomat, art collector and writer
 * Karl Frans van der Elst van Bleskensgraaf (1938 - 2000), Captain of KLM Flight KL 867, which encountered volcanic ash over Alaska in 1989.
 * Leo Van Der Elst (b. 1962), Belgian football midfielder, brother of François
 * Léon Baron van der Elst (1865-1933), Advisor to King Albert 1 and diplomat
 * Lodewijk van der Elst (or "Van der Helst"; 1642–aft.1684), Dutch portrait painter, son of Bartel
 * Violet Van der Elst (1882–1966), English businesswoman who campaigned against capital punishment and owner of Harlaxton Manor.
 * Elst
 * Eric Walter Elst (1936–2022), Belgian astronomer
 * Koenraad Elst (b. 1959), Belgian orientalist and Indologist