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Archiver > ALT-GENEALOGY > 2000-08 > 0965403025


From: Robert Heiling <>
Subject: Re: on Genealogy Warning
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2000 08:30:25 -0700


Hessu wrote:

> <snip>
> Isn't "de" meaning origin from place (a farm for example).

Yes - from or of. . That's certainly one possibility - a farm, village, city etc, but
I don't believe it's restricted to that usage. Here's just a couple of examples of
other usages that I was able to come up with quickly:

"DeHart is likely a spelling variation of DeHerdt , a Flemish cognate of the surname
Hart , which is a nickname meaning
"stag" from Old English heorot , which the medieval timers used to describe someone
they thought resembled the male deer in some fashion."

"DeLeMaitre would be translated as "of the master" or "from the master." Maitre is a
French cognate of Master, the English
nickname for the man who behaved in a masterful manner, or was skilled at a trade."

So you can see that "de" can be used to describe physical characteristics,
personality traits, and I think that the list could go on much further.

> Swedish noble man "Pontus de la Gardie" was originally from France and
> he was living in his brother's farm which name was "Gardie" before he became a
> soldier.

The French have certainly had a historical role in Swedish nobility, but that's only
one type of use for "de" which appears also in Italian & Spanish.

Bob

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