Surnames

Typical Flemish surnames that participate in this project are:

Aerts, Baert, Bauwens, Bogaert, Bogaerts, Bosmans, Ceulemans, Christiaens, Claes, Claessens, Claeys, Cools, Coppens, Cornelis, Daems, De Backer, De Boo, De Bruyn, De Clercq, De Cock, de Coninck, De Greef, De Groote, De Jong, De Meyer, De Pauw, De Ridder, De Smet, De Vos, De Wilde, De Winter, De Wulf, Deboeck (De Boeck, De Bock...), DeLichte, Demesmaecker, Dermout, Devos, Dirckx, Flemming (Fleming), Geerts, Girardin, Goethals, Goorman, Goossens, Haesen (Haesenne), Hendrickx, Hermans, Heylen, Jacobs, Jacqmotte, Jansen, Janssens, Lambrechts, Lauwers, Lemmens, Lenearts, Lepoutre, Lievens, Luyten, Maes, Martens, Matthys, Mertens, Michiels, Moens, Nijs, Ooms, Pauwels, Peeters, Peremans, Pieters, Raes, Segers, Simons, Smet, Smets, Somers, Stevens, Stroobants, Thijs, Thys, Timmermans, Van Acker, Van Daelen, Van Damme, Van de Velde, Van den Boosche, Van den Broek, Van den Houte, Van Dingenen, Van Dyck, Van Hecke, Van Hoof, Vandenberghe, Verbeeck, Verbeke, Verbrugge, Vercammen, Verhaegen, Verhaeghe, Verhelst, Verheyen, Verhoeven, Verlinden, Vermeersch, Vermeiren, Vermeulen, Verschueren, Verstraete, Verstraeten, Vervoort, Wauters, Willems, Wouters, Wuyts

Full details are provided in

Flemish DNA and Ancestry.

Origin of Surnames in Flanders

Prior to 1200 people in Flanders (like in the rest of Europe) had only one name. Everyone was called by a first name. The growth of the population, the increasing trade, and the emergence of cities in the twelfth century imposed the need to distinguish better between individuals and different generations. Circa 1300 it became insufficient to simply add “young” or “old”, “junior” or “senior” after a first name.

Officially there were no family names yet, but unofficially family names became more and more popular. When there was more than one “Jan” in a village then all of them got an additional name based on some physical features. For example, Jan with blond hair became “Jan de Witte” (“witte” is Flemish for blond); Jan who was tall became “Jan de Grote” (“grote” is Flemish for tall).

When people died these additional names disappeared but when the population kept increasing, such names were more and more inherited. The official use of family names varied from one area to another.

In the late Middle Ages the second name became a name that was inherited from father to son. From August 23, 1794, onwards it was no longer permitted to use a name other than the one on the baptism certificate. From that date onwards everyone had to use the family name of his/her father.

On August 18, 1811, Napoleon ordered everyone to adopt a family name. Many people did not take this seriously and adopted a silly name assuming that after Napoleon they would get rid of it. Some simply ignored the decree of the Emperor. The period to adopt a family name was extended to January 1 of 1814.

King Willem I of the Netherlands, who ruled from 1815 till 1830 signed a royal resolution on November 5, 1825 that ordered everyone to adopt a family name. Those who did not were punished.