'van' doesn't always mean Vietnamese
In the 'about' section of my great-grandmother Johanna Margo van Bree (LKFR-KCR) your system offers some unhelpful suggestions about what her name might mean. It suggests her surname 'Van' derives from the Chinese surname 'Wan'.
Come on!
Clearly van Bree is a common and classic Dutch surname. The element 'van' is the tussenvogel.
Your system should recognise common multi-word Dutch surnames "de Jong", "van Rijn", "van den Berg" etc. and avoid implying they are of Vietnamese origin. That's not helpful at all.
Answers
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As you can see, the source FamilySearch has used (and always uses in making such notifications) is the Dictionary Of American Names, by Patrick Hanks.
There have been plenty of other examples, over a number of years, that have caused annoyance to FamilySearch patrons. However, FamilySearch chooses to continue adding and sending out this (and other) trivial information, largely in a hope it will encourage people to pursue a further interest in their family history.
Definitions provided in surname dictionaries can be applicable to ones name, but - as you have found - there are many reasons why a name can have totally different meanings, depending on the country in which it is found and several other reasons.
I understand your specific issue here, but please understand FamilySearch does not have any particular individuals in mind (who have "van" in their name) when these "about" additions are made. It's a computer program that leads to this happening, so most of us have learned not to take these things too seriously.
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Thank you for your response Paul W.
Which other services and offers provided by Family Search should we not take too seriously?
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FamilySearch appears to have "campaigns" from time to time, the main purpose of which appears to be to attract people into a deeper interest in family history / genealogy. In my settings, I have checked the appropriate boxes to ensure I do not receive such notifications, as I (and many others) do not find the information provided to be helpful. However, different users have different ideas on what is useful (and should be taken "seriously"), so you would have to make up your own mind about receiving (or the content of) these notifications.
I have posted an item at https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/131901 which you might find of interest, as - apart from users being annoyed by being provided with "wrong" meanings of their surnames - there are sometimes complaints about being provided with details of historical events. These are placed in the Timeline section of individuals added to Family Tree, but viewing these items is optional, so the category can be turned-off if you find these details irrelevant or annoying.
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Many thanks Paul for your further response, and for your other post.
I believe it is worth continuing to raise such inconsistencies with FS, and in particular to call out the USA-centric nature of their offering. FS has many, many users outside of USA.
Kevin
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