Dutch Genealogical Word List

Dutch (like English and German), is a Germanic language derived from Old Low Franconian and Old Saxon.

Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium, the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean, and Suriname. Flemish, which is spoken in Belgium, is a major dialect (regional variation) of Dutch. It uses words similar to the words on this list. Afrikaans, a separate language spoken in South Africa, is descended from Dutch and preserves many older and dialect features of Dutch, but contains many German and English words as well. Frisian, which is spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland, is a different language from Dutch. The "Additional Resources" section below will tell you how to use the FamilySearch Catalog to find dictionaries of the various dialects and related languages.

In addition, Dutch is found in some early records of the United States (mostly in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Iowa) and in South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Brazil and Taiwan.

Key Words
To find and use specific types of Dutch records, you will need to know some key words in Dutch. This section lists key genealogical terms in English and the Dutch words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Dutch words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used in Dutch records to indicate marriage.

Numbers
In some genealogical records, numbers are written out. This is especially true with dates. The following list gives the cardinal (1, 2, 3) and the ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd) versions of each number. Days of the month are written in ordinal form.

Dates and Time
In Dutch records, dates are often written out. For example:

Donderdag, drie en twintig maart in het jaar van onse heer een duizend acht hondert en zesendertig [Thursday, three and twenty March in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and six and thirty].

To understand Dutch dates, use the following lists as well as the preceding "Numbers" section.

Times of the Day
Dutch birth and death records often indicated the time of day when the birth or death occurred. This is usually written out.

IJ

 * ijs ice
 * IJsland Iceland
 * ijzer iron
 * ijzer smelterij iron foundry
 * ijzersmid smith, blacksmith
 * ijzerwaren hardware
 * ijzerwerker ironworder

Z

 * zaken trade, business, case, affairs
 * zaterdag Saturday
 * ze they, she
 * zeeman sailor
 * zeepzieder soap maker
 * zelfde the same
 * zes six
 * zesde sixth
 * zesentwintig twenty-six
 * zesentwintigste twenty-sixth
 * zestien sixteen
 * zestiende sixteenth
 * zestig sixty
 * zestigste sixtieth
 * zetten to place, put, impose
 * zeven seven
 * zevende seventh
 * zevenentwintig twenty-seven
 * zevenentwintigste twenty-seventh
 * zevenstigte seventieth
 * zeventien seventeen
 * zeventiende seventeenth
 * zeventig seventy
 * zie see
 * ziekte disease, illness
 * zomer summer
 * zomermaand summer month, June
 * zondag Sunday
 * zonder without
 * zoon son
 * zoontje little son, small son
 * zou should
 * zuid south
 * zuigeling baby, suckling
 * zuivelboer dairy farmer
 * zuster sister
 * zwager brother-in-law
 * zwakheid weakness
 * zwakte weak
 * zwanger pregnant
 * zwart black
 * zwarten Negroes, blacks
 * Zweden Sweden
 * zweeds Swedish
 * zwelling swelling, tumor
 * Zwitserland Switzerland
 * zwitsers Swiss
 * zij she, they
 * zijn its, his, to be, are
 * zijrivier tributary, river, stream