Dutch Given Names
A Dutch child's birth and given name(s) must be officially registered by the parents within 3 days after birth. It is not uncommon to give a child several given names. Usually the first one is for daily use, often in a diminutive form. Traditionally, Catholics often chose Latinized names for their children, such as Catharina and Wilhelmus, while Protestants more commonly chose simple Dutch forms such as Trijntje and Willem. In both cases, names were often shortened for everyday use (Wilhelmus and Willem became Wim). Nearly half of Dutch children today receive one name, over 30% are given two names, 17% have three names, 2.5% get four names and only very few children have five or more given names.
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Famous quotes containing the words dutch and/or names:
“Too nice is neighbor’s fool.”
—Common Dutch saying, trans by Johanna C. Prins.
“The names of all fine authors are fictitious ones, far more so than that of Junius,—simply standing, as they do, for the mystical, ever-eluding Spirit of all Beauty, which ubiquitously possesses men of genius.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)