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What does 'van' refer to in the names (van nistelroy, van der sar, van denhugendand, van persie...etc) and what's the equivalent in english or in french ?

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Gravity ;-)

Asked by Gravity on 21:20, 10/10/2008 - 124 views
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Harregarre

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"of" in English
"du / de la / d' " in French
"von"

It's not always clear what it really means but in some cases it's obvious:

van Gorkum (ancestors hail from the city of Gorkum)
van Castricum (ancestors ......... Castricum)
van Genderen (ancestors ........ Genderen)

In other cases it could perhaps refer to someone descending from nobility:

van Nistelrooij
van Persie
van Oranje-Nassau (the family to which the Queen/King belongs)

3 months ago

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domasla

It's not necessarily the same as the french 'de' or the german 'von', an indication of nobility.

In most cases it is a part of the name. You have to take it as it is.

Historically it refers to the place a family comes from. But since the family names became permanent many people have moved away and live elsewhere.

Variations are:
van de
van der
van den

answered 3 months ago

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