Thank you, Susan!! Well said. Hopefully this debate is over now. On Mar 24, 2012, at 9:26 AM, susan.avery@juno.com wrote: > I wasn't going to get in on this discussion but I think I just have to > point one thing out -- there are NOT nicknames per se - these are > English names that the Dutch took to have a name that the rest of the > population would recognize and know how to pronounce, and to blend in to > a largely English society. The name could be picked by the Dutch really > at their own will or in a lot of cases is a name that sounds close - not > exact - but close to what the Dutch name sounded like. My Aletje Opdyck > for instance became Anna - doesn't sound like Aletje, nor is there an > English equivalent - but starts with the same letter. Another name in my > family lines is Trintjie Andriessen (which by the way also got Anglicized > to Anderson - which became Catherine - absolutely nothing like Trintjie - > I could go on and on - I have tons of examples. Gertie is already the > diminutive for Gertraut or Gertrude and if the family or she chose to use > Charity it was probably unique to her, just like Catherine was no doubt > unique to this particular Trintjie. Records and Deeds eventually began > just using the English names that these people chose for themselves - and > don't forget the last names of many of these folks also got Anglicized - > as is the case for my Anderson family of Hopewell, NJ - and the Dutch had > to drop using the "son of" patronomic naming system. The Anderson line > is a good case in point - in my line Jochem Andries son was Andries > Jochemson, and this immigrant ancestor (to New Netherlands or New > Amsterdam, Long Island) named his son Joachim Andriessen. By the time > his son Cornelius came to Hopewell, NJ with his wife Annetje "Anna" > Opdyck the name was changed to Anderson. So these are not nicknames in > the usual sense, but Anglicized names for Dutch names that for the > English were next to unpronounceable. > > Susan Balde Avery > Descendant of Hopewell families of Anderson, Opdyke, Phillips, Hunt, > Parke, Smith (Andrew), & Stockton > > > On Sat, 24 Mar 2012 08:38:07 -0400 (EDT) kaysfo@aol.com writes:> >> >> I did this, and found most Dutch-English lists do not equate the >> name Charity with Geertje, but only with Gertrude or Trudie. I >> wonder if this Geertje = Charity switch is an anomaly peculiar to >> only certain areas. >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Perry Streeter <perry@streeter.com> >> To: njhunter <njhunter@rootsweb.com> >> Sent: Fri, Mar 23, 2012 10:44 pm >> Subject: [NJHUNTER] Dutch & English Name Equivalents >> >> >> By Googling on "Dutch English Name Equivalents" and similar search >> phrases >> r terms, one will find many lists of English-Dutch name pairs like >> harity-Geertje and many of these pairs are *not* intuitive. >> However, >> ccepting the validity of these pairs is no different than accepting >> stablished old-fashioned nicknames for names that are not always >> intuitive >> o us now like Polly for Mary, Patty for Martha, etc. >> Recognizing English-Dutch name pairs can provide important clues for >> solving >> ong-standing mysteries. For one of my favorite examples, please >> click on >> he link below to see how recognizing Metje as the Dutch equivalent >> of >> artha (instead of Margaret!) was critical to identifying Martha, the >> wife >> f Obadiah-2 Wilkins (William-1) and John-2 Griggs (John-1), as the >> daughter >> f John-1 and Ann (Spicer) Lake, all of Gravesend, Kings County, New >> York. >> http://www.perrystreeter.com/griggs.pdf >> For my unsolved "cold cases" for Hunterdon County and beyond, please >> see... >> > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~streeter/questions.htm >> >> Somehow your Dutch cousin, >> Perry >> Perry Streeter (perry@streeter.com) >> ww.perry.streeter.com >> >> >> isit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: >> http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter >> ------------------------------ >> o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> NJHUNTER-request@rootsweb.com >> ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the >> body of >> he message >> >> >> Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: >> http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> NJHUNTER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without >> the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJHUNTER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message