A new online platform from Ghent University (UGent) allows people to explore the origins and meanings of around 30,000 Belgian surnames. The Namenloket (Names Counter) also provides information about place names, animal names and the naming of objects and events.
The surname database is based on the ‘Dictionary of Surnames in Belgium and Northern France‘, compiled by surname expert Frans Debrabandere and published in 1993 and 2003. Researchers have digitised the entire work, making decades of research accessible online for the first time.
Users can look up the meaning and origins of surnames, as well as their earliest known appearances in historical records. The database also allows more specific searches, such as finding names documented before 1500 or surnames derived from a mother’s first name.
Project coordinator Linde Lapauw said much of the existing research had until now remained difficult to access, as it was mainly available in printed dictionaries held by libraries or published in limited editions. The project aims to preserve this knowledge and make it available to a wider audience.
Initiated by Anne-Sophie Ghyselen, professor of Dutch linguistics at UGent, the project also seeks to revive a field of research that has become less active in Flanders. It was launched to mark the centenary of the Royal Commission for Toponymy and Dialectology.
A lifetime of research
The database draws on the life’s work of Debrabandere, now 93, who began researching surnames around 70 years ago. Before computers were available, he recorded his findings on index cards kept in shoeboxes. Over the decades, he examined sources including city accounts, abbey and diocesan records, and the registers of Kortrijk‘s orphan chamber.
His research sometimes uncovered unexpected meanings. The surname Potargent, for example, might appear to refer to someone with money, but Debrabandere traced it to the French expression “peu d’argent“, meaning little money. The name may therefore originally have referred to someone with limited means.
The current database does not include every surname. The original dictionary mainly covers names that appeared more than once in Belgium and neighbouring countries around the 1990s. Many surnames associated with more recent migration are therefore still missing.
People who cannot find their surname can submit it through the website’s ‘Donate your name’ function. Researchers will use these submissions to identify names requiring further investigation and expand the database to better reflect the population today.
Names as cultural heritage
Beyond the database, the Namenloket offers accessible information about personal names, place names, animal names and names given to objects and events. The website also includes educational materials for teachers, guidance for heritage volunteers, a bibliography and a glossary.
Names can offer insights into history and society. Place names may preserve the memory of long-disappeared settlements or castles, while surnames can reveal information about medieval occupations and family histories. The platform also explores how names influence social perceptions and how children with unusual names may be more vulnerable to bullying.
Animal names provide another example of changing social habits. Lapauw noted that dogs and cats were rarely given individual names in the past, whereas today they increasingly receive human names such as Odette or Patrick.
The researchers plan to expand the database in the coming years. Work is already under way to digitise a dictionary of Flemish municipal names, with water names and first names also planned.
The Namenloket is a collaborative project involving Ghent University, the Institute for the Dutch Language, Histories, the University of Cologne, the Royal Commission for Toponymy and Dialectology, Antwerp School of Education, and Meemoo, the Flemish institute for archives. It is supported by the Flemish Government‘s Department of Culture, Youth and Media, the Dutch Language Union and other academic partners.
The platform is available at Namenloket.be.
