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:
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—George Gordon Noel Byron (17881824)
“Every man who has lived for fifty years has buried a whole world or even two; he has grown used to its disappearance and accustomed to the new scenery of another act: but suddenly the names and faces of a time long dead appear more and more often on his way, calling up series of shades and pictures kept somewhere, just in case in the endless catacombs of the memory, making him smile or sigh, and sometimes almost weep.”
—Alexander Herzen (18121870)