ViewsWatchersBrowse |
m. 2 Dec 1798 Drachten, Smallingerland, Friesland, Netherlands
Family tree▼ Facts and Events
Children
Jan Jans took the surname "Bijker" in the early 1800s during the civil registration of surnames mandated by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Frisian surname apparently has a double meaning, the first referring to the trade of bee-keeper and the second being a crude expression. Apparently some Frisians who were not in fact bee-keepers took this surname, to publicly indicate their contempt for the French who were forcing them to register but did not understand the local vernacular and thus the second meaning. References
|