Pieter and Daria
Valkenburg

Dear Pietar and Daria:

As you know, we have always believed our name came from the fact that Lambert, being from Valkenburg, Netherlands, was known as "Lambert Van (from) Valkenburg." My question has been - does the word "Van" mean "from" in Dutch - or did it ever? You have the name of the town - was your ancestry from Valkenburg? Is there any connection between your name and the town?

Dalton Van Valkenburg

Hi There,

Pietar is going to answer all your questions when he has more time. But to answer a few: YES, Van means from. YES, Peitar's family is originally form Valkenburg. YES, there's a connection between Valkenburg the name and Valkenburg the town - this is what Pietar plans to explain more fully.

Taken in our living room in Cascais, Portugal. The tablecloth was made by Daria's aunt in the Ukraine

Basically, people in Holland in the olden days did not have a surname; they were known only by a first name and a point of reference - like from someplace, or someone's son. This system changed in Holland when a system of registration was started by Napoleon, and this explained the variances in the spelling of many families, including the Valkenburgs. A similar process happened earlier when settlers came to the USA and needed to have a more concrete identity than, say, Lambert. So Lambert could have referred to himself as Lambert van Valkenburgh (Lambert from Valkenburg).

Six families from Valkenburg qualified for a heraldic shield from centuries past; Pietar's forbears were one of them. And, theoretically, these six families and their descendants are entitled to use the "Van"" between their Christian and Surnames. I say theoretically because of course over the centuries some people entitled to the Van dropped it, or had it dropped during Napoleon's registration process, and others used it in emigrating to other countries, which had a system of recording names. Usually these coats of arms were awarded for some favour or to bestow an honour upon someone in the family, and thus all descendants could use it from then on. Pietar's coat of arms was granted to an ancestor of his who was an innkeeper and mayor.

Have you been to the town of Valkenburg? It's very pretty, has a castle (which I haven't seen, maybe Pietar has) and is a tourist area with lots of things to see and do. There are even caves and spas. I bought a postcard with only the name Valkenburg. In a nice design and colours, framed it, and it is what Pietar uses as a nameplate on his desk. At one time you could also buy all kinds of neat souvenirs with Valkenburg, like towels, and ceramic tiles. Didn't see any last time we were there.

Hope this helps!