Hi,Johann, Thanks,I've learnt something new today Bruce -----Original Message----- From: south-africa-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:south-africa-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Johann Hanekom Sent: 16 November 2011 10:42 To: south-africa@rootsweb.com 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 Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:41:29 +0200 From: "bruce" <bruce@unibind.co.za> Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Weyers -- Holland and Germany To: <south-africa@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <000c01cca39c$4a08ad10$de1a0730$@co.za> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sonia, I don't know if you know but "GERRITSDOCHTER" is not a name,it means daughter of Gerrits. Bruce ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOUTH-AFRICA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message