Dutch Names for Boys

Harv and Marv are out, and this difficult Dutch choice doesn't fare any better.

A Dutch surname which is given as a full name to a handful of boys in the US each year, possibly as a spelling variant of Kurt.

Jaap is a common if not exactly fashionable first name for boys' in The Netherlands. For more on Dutch names and their pronunciation, check out this specialty website: http://www.heardutchhere.net/names.html

Though it has worthy associations with the Old Master painter and singer-songwriter Van Dyke Parks, this would be tough on a child because of the slang meaning of the second syllable.

German painter and sculptor Bendix Passig bore this eye-catching name, a Frisian and German form of Benedict, also found as a surname.

Dinand is popular in the Netherlands thanks to a local singing sensation. Dinand is one of many Dutch short forms that come from the middle or end of a name -- think Bas for Sebastian or Hans from Johannes -- rather than from the beginning as is more usual in the U.S. and UK, though we're catching on.