To include or not include Dutch patronymic names on FS & FindaGrave?
My two questions stem from somebody wanting me to add a patronymic middle name to some of my FindaGrave (FG) memorials. These are people born in the late 1800s who, as far as I know, didn’t use this extra name. I don’t know if the name was legally implied even if never used.
Q1) In the sample hierarchy below, would you include the patronymic name for Ekke & Simme on trees or FG memorials, even though no records yet support it? (FYI, Simme’s 15 children born in the US [one being my grandmother] did not have middle names. I don’t believe any of them considered their middle name to be Simmes.)
Q2) If included on FG, would you put the patronymic in the middle name field, or as a 2nd first name? I’ve been told the Netherlands doesn’t use middle names.
Thank you!
Sample paternal hierarchy: Jan, Jakob, Ekke & Simme Rozema (all born in Groningen, NL, 1700s & 1800s).
Ekke's 1830 Civil Registry birth lists his father with his patronymic second name, Jakob Jans Rozema. Ekke's implied full name is Ekke Jakobs Rozema, but none of his records found so far include Jakobs. On the births and marriages of his five children, he is listed only as Ekke Rozema.
Simme is born in 1869. He immigrates to the US, marries and has 15 kids. His records also do not use Simme Ekkes Rozema.
Comments
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Q1: No, when not recorded in official documents I would not include patronymic name
Q2: Indeed, Dutch do not know the concept of middle names (same as many other European countries), so I would put the patronymic in the first name field. Except when there is no surname (pre-1811), in that case patronymic goes into last name field.
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Thank you! This is what makes sense to me, but I had never been pressed on the issue. Ancestry and FS do not have middle name fields, so it's only on FG where the placement question arises. I've never seen multiple first names on FG, although their guidelines do allow it. I'm seeing now I have entered patronymic middle names before, because I wasn't aware that the Dutch didn't use them. I'm hoping a couple more people will weigh in here.
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