Re: OT naming customs

Dan Jones wrote:
>
> Also, what's the story behind people's names on the list? Are you named
> after family members, or otherwise??
My full name is "Maarten Willem van Beek".

My first name was chosen quite accidently. My parents had expected me to be
a girl, and had only thought of a girl's name. Then a boy was born, and a
name had to be thought of. Since my birthday is a couple of days before the
holiday of Sint Maarten (Saint Martin), I was given the first name
"Maarten".

My second name "Willem" comes from my father. His full name is "Willem
Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik van Beek". He has six first names,
as he was born at the end of WWII and was given the names of all the old
princes of the royal house of The Netherlands (as some sign of patriotism, I
guess).

My family name "van Beek" means "from (the town of) Beek", where Beek is a
small village/town somewhere in The Netherlands. Some of my ancestors
proably moved from Beek to another town, and after that, he has been given
that name.

Maarten

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