Re: Dutch surnames

Chris:

In the introduction to the "Friesche Naamlijst (Onomasticon Frisicum,
1898)", there is information on names ending in -ing(a):

"Another type of name is derived from nicknames, namely the patronymic form
which ends in -ing. This form is the genuine Old Germanic patronymic. It
does not give rise to male given names; rather, it points toward a blood
relationship. It is found as -inga, -ink, or -ing among the Frisians,
Saxons, and Franks (who together comprise the Netherlanders) as a formative
which denotes a name indicating blood or family relationship. (p ix)" [my
translation]

So there is a place or (more likely) a person "Syb" that your ancestors were
named after; "Sybenga" is thus "people of Syb". In my case, the 'elz-'
portion is probably "alder (tree)", hence, 'Elzinga' = "people of the
alders". An alternate spelling of this ending is '-enga'. I have relatives
in the Netherlands who spell their name "Elzenga". Their ancestor was my
great-uncle, Geert. When my great-grandfather moved the family to the United
States, Geert didn't go; he was keen on joining the Navy and going to
Indonesia, so he stayed behind. I don't think he made it to Indonesia.

Dirk

On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 4:02 PM, Chris Peters <beta_leonis@...>wrote:

> Out of curiosity, does this trend in Dutch surnames also apply to Frisian
> names?  I've always been curious of the origin of my own Frisian ancestors'
> family name:  "Sybenga".
>
>
>
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