Proper names in The Netherlands from the Civil Registration: full population data Gerrit Bloothooft Utrecht University / Meertens Institute KNAW In 2006 and 2007 we acquired, in separate selections, the first names and family names of the Dutch population from the Civil Registration. The Dutch law permits such a selection for scientific research. With restrictions, the data can be made public on the internet. They form a very rich source for (socio)onomastic investigations, and provide highly appreciated information to the public. Surnames Data Surnames are available from 16,3 million people who lived in 1994, and from 2.2 million children born between 1994 and All persons have the Dutch nationality. Besides the surname, we also have the date, place and country of birth, which helps in better understanding the linguistic and cultural background of the names. There are different surnames (of which about occur only once). Presentations We can provide the frequency of a surname in 2007, and compare this figure with the count in the census of 1947: Only surnames are both found in 1947 and 2007 Top shows limited change: de Jong, Jansen, de Vries, van den Berg, van Dijk, Bakker, Janssen, Visser, Smit, … Many new names by immigration: Yilmaz, Nguyen, Kaya, Ali, Martina, Mohamed, Ahmed, Yildiz, Wong, … Names with negative connotation have reduced frequency (by name change): Kloot, Pik, Sukkel, Poepjes, Geldmaker Besides information on the frequency of a surname in 2007, we can provide the geographic distribution of each name on the basis of place of living. Search facilities also include regular expression, which allows to study the geographic distribution of, for instance, typical suffixes or toponymic elements. Presentations often show that 20 th century migration has not completely blurred the region of origin. Some examples of accumulated data on a relative scale: Patronymic affixes Frisian origin Toponymic element –se ( ) -sen ( ) -sens (25.467) –stra ( ) -donk (21.816) The Dutch Civil Registration was digitized in It includes data from all people who were living in 1994, or were born or immigrated thereafter. First names Data We have full first names of 16,3 million people who lived in 1994, of 2.2 million children born between 1994 and 2006, and of approximately 4 million people who died before 1994, but were mentioned as parents. All persons have the Dutch nationality. In total there are about different first names, of which are found in first position. Besides the first name we have: - ID - gender - date, place and country of birth - names and ID of parents (for research of naming mechanisms) Presentations We reconstructed the frequency distribution for each name from 1900 onward, both in percentages and in absolute numbers (on the basis of total annual birth rates from the National Bureau of Statistics). Typical (relative) frequency distributions show the reduction of the lifecycle duration of first names over the last century to less than a generation: traditional names on –y or -ie Yvonne Kimberl(ey|y) Femke (snob – bandwagon?) Internet All first names, surnames, and presentations will become available online in 2009, in combination with existing information which includes etymology for first names from the Dutch dictionary of first names, and documention and analysis of surnames by Leendert Brouwer (Meertens Institute). For reasons of privacy protection, figures less than 5 will not be published at any level. Online search facilities will also include the option of using regular expressions. Development Enhancing background information for corpora of this scale requires the help of many (amateur) genealogists and historians, for which we will develop tools for online information delivery. Also, European co-operation would be extremely fruitful for the exchange of information, and for the creation of a common framework. traditional Dutch short modern Dutch Frisian English grand summary (in Dutch) On the basis of the place of birth the geographic distribution of names can be shown (here as coherent groups)