Toponymy of New Netherland - List of Place Names - Blauvelt

Blauvelt

From Dutch name that came into use nearly 150 years before the first Blauvelts came to the New World. The etymology of the name probably comes from the coat of arms adopted by the first Blauvelt, Pieter Blauwveld, a prominent trader in the Netherlands. Literally, it means blue-field, likely a reference to the blue and yellow shields hung on Pieter's ships (a common 14th century Dutch method of identifying the owner). The first Blauvelt in America was a peasant farmer who worked on Kiliaen van Rensselaer's estate cultivating tobacco, in 1638.