Dutch Names

Saar is a very popular girls' name in The Netherlands, where it's an abbreviated form of Sarah. The Dutch feminine Saar, pronounced sahr, is distinct from the Hebrew place-name Saar used for boys in Israel.

Bas is a fashionable name in its own right in the Netherlands, where it's been in the Top 10. Used throughout Europe, it may have a future here as a straightforward-but-charming nickname name. Baz is another, similar and more appealing possibility.

Merel is a soundalike of Meryl and may be thought of as a variation of that name, but it's also the Dutch word for blackbird and so you can make it more stylish as one of the flock of cool new bird names, joining Wren, Lark, and Sparrow.

Presidential surname adopted as a first by numbers of midcentury African-American parents.

This worthy name, imported by the early Dutch colonists, has been all but overpowered by the phonetic spellings -- Skyler for boys and Skylar for girls. With the surnames-as-first-names trend, however, and the popularity of the Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton, which features the Schuyler sisters, perhaps Schuyler might receive some more interest in the coming years.

As you may surmise from its origins as a short form for Constantijn and Augustijn, Stijn rhymes with nine and fine, though most English-speakers wouldn't guess that. A popular name in the Netherlands that's obscure elsewhere, for reasons undoubtedly connected to its spelling and pronunciation issues.

Dutch supermodel Doutzen (pronounced doubt-son) Kroes has introduced us to a name from the Netherlands that might have a hard time in an American classroom and is nowhere near as glamorous as its bearer.

An undiscovered cousin of Garrett and Gerard. Gerrit has some merit, especially for its arty credentials as the name of several Old Master painters.

Fenne and its phonetic version Fenna are vintage names enjoying a resurgence in The Netherlands, where both make the girls' Top 100.

The name of the most renowned of the Old Masters is a potential option for families who put an emphasis on the creative. Rembrandt Peale was a member of the Peale family of painters, all named for famous artists.

Pepijn, with its emphasis on the second syllable pronounced with a long i to rhyme with pine, is in the Dutch Top 100. Clipped, energetic-sounding nickname names such as Pep and Pip are stylish in The Netherlands. Could that translate to the English speaking world? Stay tuned.

Apt choice for an architect's child, honoring German-born Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a central figure in modern design, and universally referred to as Mies.

This Top 100 girls' name in The Netherlands is unlikely to translate to the U.S., where it would undoubtedly pronounced fee-line and mistaken for the adjective that means cat-like. While the name Feline -- and Felina and Felinus -- do have the same root, the considerably more charming pronunciation in modern-day Europe is fee-LEEN-ah. Some websites mistakenly relate it to Felix and give its meaning as happy or fortunate.

Popular Dutch name Gijs, which rhymes with nice, originated as a short form of Gijsbert, which itself is a Dutch and Germanic form of Gilbert. Though in the Top 100 in The Netherlands, we don't see this emigrating beyond Amsterdam and environs.

Dael is cooler than Dale -- but why? Vowel switch gives an old nature name a hipper look.

Dutch, Limburgish and Afrikaans diminutive of Anne.

Has a lot of charm, giving the sense of opening the door to life, and has a creative connection to Dutch artist Kees van Dongen.

A name used in Germany and Holland as a form of Jerome, it's the unlikely moniker of fictional detective Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch.