IJken Jans Kuijstensdr. is perhaps my hardest-to-pronounce ancestor based on the spelling provided in the source record. To be clear, though, she lived at a time (early 1600s) when spelling mattered much less than it does now. She was probably not asked how to spell her name for that reason and two other reasons. Another reason was that less people were literate at the time (though IJken's family was affluent and a somewhat more likely to have some ability to read). Second, she was Dutch with Dutch names living in the Netherlands. Even if everyone read back then and cared about spelling, they would not be as likely to need someone to spell out a name.
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| Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Vermeer |
How Do You Say That?
That said, you take a literate, spelling-conscious, non-Dutch-speaking 21st-century dweller like I was when I first saw IJken's name, give me a name like IJken Jans Kuijstensdr., and ask me to pronounce it...it's going to be a struggle!In fact, I ended up posting in a forum for help (to which I got a reply). The closest I can come with my current limited knowledge of Dutch (a deal greater than back then but still pretty small) is:
IJken = Ikun (hear it on Forvo)
Jans = Yans (hear it on Forvo)
Kuijsten = perhaps Kowsten (this is not recorded on Forvo but Kuijk and Kuijpers are and can help give an idea how Kuijsten is pronounced)
Dr. (short for dochter) = doctor (hear it on Forvo)
So, probably something along the lines of Ikun Yans Kowstensdoctor to an English-speaking ear.
And then there's IJken's brother-in-law, Leendert Dircxsz.:
Leendert = Lendert (Forvo or Heardutchhere)
Dirckxsz. = Dirkszoon
- Dirck = Deerck (Forvo or Heardutchhere)
- Zoon = Zone (Forvo)
So, something like Lendert Deerckszone.
And there are plenty more of those kinds of names on that side of the family. Whew!
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| 14th-century tower in Andel ("Romboutstoren" by I, Remcovn. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons) |
What's the Deal with Those Names?
One thing I learned quickly when researching my Dutch ancestry is the structure of the names and the naming traditions. This is important.IJken has three names. IJken is her given name. The others were a patronym and a surname.
The Dutch at that time used patronyms (father's name used as a last name). Therefore, IJken's name tells us that she was IJken, daughter of Jan Kuisten (in fact, he shows up in records as Jan Anthonisz Kuijst - yes, that means that Jan was the son of Anthonis, or Theunis).
Kuijsten (or Kuijst) was the family's surname. The use of surnames was unusual at this time in the Netherlands. Notice, for example, that Leendert Dirckxsz. has only a first name and patronym. Most Dutch families didn't adopt a surname until the early 1800s. Those who settled in New Netherland (like mine did) often didn't come with a last name but adopted one within the first several generations. IJken's family, however, as well as her husband's family (Roosa), had surnames before that time though. However, they were well-to-do and in the case of her husband's family may have had connections to the aristocratic Rosendael family, so they may have found it neccessary to use a surname to distinguish themselves.
Another thing to note and one that reinforces the idea that IJken was the matriarch of the Roosa family is the naming tradition. One of the patterns seen among early modern Dutch families (including colonial Dutch) is that of naming the first sons after their grandfathers and the first daughters after their grandmothers.
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| Former windmill in Herwijnen, a town associated with the Roosa family ("Herwijnen De Jager 8983" by Willemjans - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons) |
Who Was Not the Matriarch of the Roosas?
At one point, it was claimed that the mother of Albert Heymans Roosa, the immigrant to New Netherland, was named Metje Gysbertsor Roos. This name throws up red flags. First, Gysbertsor seems to be a mistranscription of Gysbertsdr. Second, Roos looks like a variation of Roosa, instead of a unique last name. Third, Metje is not a name that is passed down to her granddaughters, as it would according to the Dutch naming tradition. (However, Albert and his two known brothers named daughters Eijke or Eyke, variations on IJken.) One of these items, taken alone, could be overlooked. All three warning signs, taken together, made me question the idea of Metje being the correct mother of Albert.Then, How Do We Know IJken is the Matriarch?
Apparently, I wasn't the only one questioning the legendary Metje. Researcher Jos De Kloe found a Heijman Guijsberts, husband of IJken Jan Kuisten, mentioned as an heir in the will of Marieken Aert Willemsdr., the mother of IJken. The reasons he believes this Heijman Guijsberts to be the Roosa ancestor is:- “In Andel there is only one man, in this time period, that bore the name Heijman Ghijsberts; up to 1750 no one else in the village carried this combination of first name and patronymic name.”
- “The name Heijman is a rare name anyway in this village (later typical to the Rosa clan).”
- “Years later appear a Jan Heijmans Roza and a Govert Heijmans Rosa, both having daughters named Eijke. Jan first uses the name Rosa in 1654, Govert first in 1653.” In addition, Albert Heymans Roosa also had a daughter Eyke.
For more information on IJken and her family and to see details about her mother's will, see my page on Heijman and IJken on Boydhouse.com (I have not transferred my notes on the Roosas to my Olive and Eliza website but it's on my family's site Boydhouse. I plan on adding the Roosa pages to Olive and Eliza as I'm able.)
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| Rembrandt's Saskia in a Red Hat, painted a little over a decade after Marieken's will |
Next week's challenge from No Story Too Small: "Week 16 (April 16-22) – Live Long. Time to feature a long-lived ancestor. Any centenarians in the family?" Next week, I'll be going further back in time to an ancestor who was said to have been "aged above 100 years."
