The popularity of Dutch first names now able to be traced back to 1790

People interested in the historical popularity of Dutch first names can now trace records back to 1790. The Meertens Institute has significantly extended the reach of its databank of given names, and has also recently translated their search page into English. The database first went back to 1880, but nine decades of new data was recently added. "There is no other country in the world where the popularity of first names is available for over two centuries," the Institute said.

The data bank shows that the variance in names has grown enormously over time. Therefore the names at the top of the list occur somewhat less frequently compared to previous eras. The name Anna, for example, was the most popular girl's name in 2017, with 589 girls getting the name. Historically that volume is not as substantial compared to decades ago. During the baby boom of 1946, there were 4,141 babies named Anna. And in 1790, there were at least 1,603, as shown by the statistics.

For the expansion, the Meertens Institute used marriage certificates, where the name of the bride and groom are shown. The certificates are available from 1811. People who were wedded in those earlier years were typically born before 1790, making it possible to include more records in the database. The statistics are a bit skewed, as the names of the Dutch people who did not get married have fallen by the wayside for the time being. For the period after 1880, the Institute that was researching the Dutch language and culture used the basic registry of residents.

"In the nineteenth century, the first names were traditional; they were passed down from generation to generation," the Institute explained. Under the Protestants, this started to change at the end of the nineteenth century, but Catholics held on to this until the 1950s.

Some names have more or less disappeared through the years. That was the case after 1880 for the names Garrijt and Lijsbet. On the other hand, the Meertens Institute counts 4,700 “classic” names that have survived from 1790 through to 2017. That includes names like Grietje, Maria, Johannes and Willem.