How to recognize the Frisians by name?

This is one of the simplest things there is, once you got the hang of it. ‘A child can do the laundry,’ as they say in Dutch. Which has nothing to do with a history of child labor, by the way. Understanding the logic of Frisian names, is essential if you want to achieve a seamless flow hiking-experience along the Frisia Coast Trail. Once you get it, a Frisian -or a Dutchman with Frisian roots for that matter- is also easily recognizable by both her or his first and last name.

Below we will explain convincingly that Sake Saakstra from the hamlet of Saaksum is a very acceptable name in the northern coastal area of the Netherlands and -to a lesser extend- region Ostfriesland in the northwest of Germany. And, very important, that it is not something to make fun of.

Do not shout it from the rooftop but it also applies to the people from province Groningen (more exactly, region Ommelanden, without the city of Groningen) east of the river Lauwers in the Netherlands.

Firstly, the first names

The variations are truly endless. And they are unpronounceable as well. Yes, the Frisian name-giving culture is actually very rich. You only need to think of the famous fashion model Doutzen Kroes (sounds like cow with the c replaced by d; dow-chún). Her name is the feminine version of Douwe (sounds like dow-wúh) which means dove. But, also think of bizarre names like Djûke (sounds like ju-kúh). Say it quickly four times in a row and you think an express train is rushing by. Or, Tsjitske (sounds like t-shit-skúh). Do not say it too loudly outside province Friesland, please. And Jitske (sounds like yeat-skúh). Or, Sjoukje. Do not even bother to pronounce it.

The extension -ke normally indicates it is a feminine name. Not to enrage feminists but -ke means little or small. This way you can bend nearly every masculine name into a feminine name, and vice versa. For example. The author’s first name is Hans. He is actually named after his grandmother Hanske, thus little-Hans. For the name Hans, the author has always been his parents extremely grateful. Besides its horrendous beauty, he is especially thankful for not having been named after his grandfather. Author’s younger brother has, and the poor man has to spell each syllabus of his name to non-Frisians each and every day of his life. Already for 45 years. His name is one of a kind and giving it away here, would mean we violate his privacy already.

But the ke-rule is not always applicable. Take for example the Frisian name of the well-known international Dutch actress Famke Janssen. If you leave -ke out, you have not created with Fam a valid masculine first name. Quite the contrary. Famke means girl in Mid-Frisian language, and fa[a]m is Mid-Frisian for an unmarried young woman. Another example is the feminine name Nynke (sounds like neen-kúh). Like Faam you will regret to have named your new-born son Nyn.

Unless you have the same lazy strategy for raising your son as Johnny Cash explained in his song ‘A boy named Sue’ it is better to name your son Popke. This time, despite the -ke, it is a proper and cool masculine first name. A poppe means infant in Mid-Frisian. Therefore, strictly speaking, Popke means little-infant. Still cool and masculine in the perception of the Frisians. Or, alternatively, name your son Fokke (sounds like fuck-kúh). Again despite the -ke it is a masculine name again. The feminine name of Fokke is Fokje (sounds like fuck-yúh). When you think a Frisian is angry with you, it might be he is just greeting his wife Fokje somewhere behind you. Are you still with us? By the way, the trick that can be done with -ke at the end may also be done with -tsje at the end, and sounds like chúh in church.

Anyway, the simple advice would be to consult a native of the north first, before giving your newborn a name if you are going to get creative with Frisian first names.

To get a little more feeling with the bizarre first names, some more examples for you to practice:

• Djurre (jur-rúh)
• Fardou (fart-dow)
• Fiebe (fea-búh) or Fiebke (feab-kúh)
• Gosse (gozz-súh)
• Iep (eap)
• Jaldert (yall-dúrt) or Jaldertsje (yall-dúrt-chúh)
• Lus (luzz) or Luske (luzz-kúh)
• Oebele (oo-búh-lúh) or Oebeltsje (oo-búhl-chúh)

One last advice. Throw in an -e at the end of the name. Mostly works. The Frisians love it. Just as the Zeeuws (i.e. people from province Zeeland in the Netherlands) love to do too with their town- and village names.

Lastly, the last names

Now it becomes a bit more simple. So, hang in there for a while longer.

Any person with a surname in the Netherlands ending with -stra (whereby a is pronounced as in aaarch), -ga or -(s)ma, is a Frisian or has Frisian ancestors. It is a bit like recognizing the Dutch and the Flemings with the prefix ‘Van’ such as: Van Halen, Van Morrisen, Van Nuys, Vanderbilt, Van Nostrand, Van Sand, Van Zandt, Vans of the wall, Van Winkle, Van Cortlands, Van Buren, Van Diesel, Van Burnt, Van der Woodsen, Van Damme, Vanguard, Vans, Vann Harl, Van der Decken, Van der Linde, et cetera. Popular in Hollywood movies and with rock stars, celebrities, brands alike. Although of origin a middle-name prefix, Van is also becoming more and more a first name in the States.

The Frisians can also bombard first names into surnames by adding the -(s)ma, -stra or -ga. And, again vice versa. To give you an example.

The first name Sake (sounds like saaa-kúh). Adding -stra makes the perfect surname Saakstra (sounds like saaa-ck-straaa). If he comes from the hamlet Saaksum in province Groningen then it is Sake Saakstra from Saaksum (saaa-kúh saaa-ck-straaa út saaaksum). No, it is not Somali language. Trust us. The extensions -ga and -stra mean something like ‘from the area/place’. The extension -(s)ma means ‘the son of’. Do we have to explain to you what bitchma is?

Vries, De Vries, and Fries

There is a final complication with the surnames, though. Next to Jansen, the most common surname in the Netherlands is ‘De Vries’ which literally means ‘The Frisian’. Both surnames have around 71,000 individuals that carry the name. This is curious since the Frisians only make up a miserable 3,8 percent of the total Dutch population of 17 million. Not very relevant you might say. Rightly so. When the Dutch Republics were seized -without much hassle by the way- by Napoleon, everyone who had no surname yet, had to give or make up one. That was in 1811-1812. Most of them apparently called themselves ‘The Frisian’? Including many outside province Friesland. Big question mark.

But they can not all have been Frisians unless the people of provinces Zeeland, Zuid Holland and Noord Holland were still aware that in the High Middle Ages their land was still known as Frisia (check out our post The United Frisian Emirates and Black Peat to read more about the history of western Frisia). That would be building upon a very old tradition, by the way. It was after all Ubba the Frisian who led, together with the Viking warriors Halfden and Ivar the Boneless, hordes of heathen warriors ransacking England in the ninth century. He and his warriors had the Walcheren island in province Zeeland as their stronghold (read our post Island the Walcheren: once sodom and Gomorrah of the North Sea).

A similar mental confusion we go through with the surname Fries (pronounce as freeze). It is a very common name in Germany and in Switzerland. To ease our mental situation, we dedicated an entire post to surname Fries; check From Patriot to Insurgent: John Fries and the tax rebellions and also A severe case of inattentional blindness: the Frisian tribe’s name.

We are side tracking. Point is, we are available for suggestions on the ‘(De) Vries’ and ‘Fries’ matter.

Conclusion

All the foregoing is very normal for the people of the north along the Wadden Sea. The name-giving culture of the Frisians is as fluid as their water-rich land. So, do not start to smile or worse, when one presents himself with: ‘My name is Gjalt Gjaltsma, Juw Juwsma, Fokje Fokkema, Eise Eisinga, Riemer Riemersma, Gosse Goslinga, Tjitske Tjitsma, Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, Jitske Jitsema, Aukje Aukema, Gale Galema or Popke Popma’. No, do not blink an eye! Otherwise stages 4, 5 and 6 of the Frisia Coast Trail turn out not only to be hell for just your legs and feet.

Note – By the way, even in the south of France people carry the (first) name Jean-Fris or Frisa meaning the Frisian. The story behind it is the Frisian warrior-saint named Saint Fris, and who is being worshiped to this very day. Read our post Like Father, Unlike Son for more about this legend.

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Suggested music

• Johnny Cash, A Boy Named Sue (1969)

Further reading

• Meertens Instituut, Nederlandse voornamenbank (website)
• Schaar, van der J., Woordenboek van voornamen (1964)