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I have a name I am following up in my genealogy. Her name is Mayken, born in the Netherlands, probably in Haarlem in the 1560s. I was wondering if anyone had information on this name or if it might be a transliteration of another Dutch name?
"Okay, what are your ideas? Taylor? Uh-huh. Fletcher? Cooper? Tanner? Where are you getting these? The Big Book Of Medieval Professions?"
"Okay, what are your ideas? Taylor? Uh-huh. Fletcher? Cooper? Tanner? Where are you getting these? The Big Book Of Medieval Professions?"
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When I was in secondary school 20 years ago, one of the girls in my main class was called Mayke. She pronounced her name as MIE-kə. Mayke is a more modern form of Mayken, as -ken is a medieval diminutive suffix and -ke is its younger form (but still rather rare and old-fashioned compared to other Dutch diminutives today, such as -je and -tje). For more information about Dutch diminutive suffixes, see here:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diminutives_by_language#Dutch (in English)
Mayke (and therefore Mayken also) could be regarded as a variant form of Maaike, which is usually said to be a diminutive of Maria. However, Elbowin's statement that it can be derived from feminine Germanic given names containing the Germanic element magin or megin is also a possibility. See also:
- http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Mayken (in Dutch)
- http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Mayke (in Dutch; clearly much more common right now than Mayken is)
- http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Maike (in Dutch)
- http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Maiken (in Dutch)
The names Maike and Maiken are also used in West Frisian, according to page 84 of the book Fryske foarnammen / Friese voornamen written by Rienk de Haan and page 249 of Friesche Naamlijst (Onomasticon Frisicum) written by Johan Winkler in 1898. The latter can be downloaded right here:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diminutives_by_language#Dutch (in English)
Mayke (and therefore Mayken also) could be regarded as a variant form of Maaike, which is usually said to be a diminutive of Maria. However, Elbowin's statement that it can be derived from feminine Germanic given names containing the Germanic element magin or megin is also a possibility. See also:
- http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Mayken (in Dutch)
- http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Mayke (in Dutch; clearly much more common right now than Mayken is)
- http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Maike (in Dutch)
- http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Maiken (in Dutch)
The names Maike and Maiken are also used in West Frisian, according to page 84 of the book Fryske foarnammen / Friese voornamen written by Rienk de Haan and page 249 of Friesche Naamlijst (Onomasticon Frisicum) written by Johan Winkler in 1898. The latter can be downloaded right here:
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Thank you!
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It is clearly a Dutch and Low German diminutive of a name beginning in May- (or Mai-, Mei-, Mey-, Mij-,...all pronounced the same). Spelling wasn't normalised at that time, specially the diphthong ei can have many forms. Besides the obvious Maria, the source name can also be derived from the Germanic name element Megin- "big, great", such as Meinhild.
--elbowin
--elbowin
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I found some follow up information. It seems she wasn't born in the Netherlands but more likely Belgium where she married her husband. She was a Walloon Huguenot and moved to England then the Netherlands. Does this change your information at all?
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