I am getting my Dutch passport soon and it will be in my maiden name, as is the custom. Whilst I agree with everything you are saying, I just want to note that whilst Gerrits (son of Gerrit) could easily become a fixed surname anywheer along the line from the VOC payroll to Napoleon's decree, Gerritsdochter would not, because her offspring would use their father's name as patronymic (pater being father), or their father's surname as their surname, if he already had one. In Frisia the suffix dochter died out fairly early and son was used for both genders. In Scandinavia it is still used as Son and Dottir in some places. Gerda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Johann Hanekom" <johann@hanekom.org> To: <south-africa@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 10:42 AM Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Weyers > Bruce > > Patronymics, and how they got translated into Afrikaans family names, can > get a bit messy at times - especially since there does not seem to be any > consistency in how they were used. > > A fixed family name only became a legal requirement subsequent to a Dutch > law made by Napoleon in about 1815, which essentially means that > GEERITSDOCHTER was perfectly acceptable as a name, or means of > identification, before then. > > I don't know if it still holds true, but until fairly recently it was > quite > possible for members of one family unit in one of the Scandinavian > countries > all to have different family names. > > The husband could be (say) Holger Svensson (son of Sven) , his wife Helga > Jensdottir (daughter of Jens), since she did not adopt her husband's > family > name. Their son would be Per Holgersson (son of Holger), and their > daughter > Inge Holgersdottir (daughter of Holger > > Johann