doopnamen

Doopnamen, literally baptismal names, is a term used in Dutch-speaking contexts to refer to the name given to a person at baptism. The doopnaam is typically a saint's name or religious name chosen during the baptism ceremony and recorded in church records. It is distinct from the everyday name by which a person is called, which may be a roepnaam or voornaam.

Historically, individuals could bear one or more doopnamen in addition to their civil names. In Catholic communities, many children received a doopnaam that reflected a saint or religious figure. In baptism registers, the doopnaam appears alongside the birth name and, in some cases, served to differentiate individuals with common given names.

Regional practice varied. In the Netherlands and Flanders, the emphasis on a doopnaam depended on local tradition and confessional background; Protestant areas often placed less emphasis on saints’ names. In modern civil registries, the doopnaam may be recorded in historical documents, but the legal name is the name used on birth and identity papers; many people use only their first given name in daily life.

Today, doopnamen remain an important source for genealogists and historians. They help identify individuals in baptismal registers and trace family connections, particularly in periods when civil records were limited or inconsistent. The term doopnamen is mainly encountered in archival contexts and genealogical databases.