moederkant

Moederkant is a Dutch term that denotes the maternal side of a person’s family. It refers to relatives connected through one’s mother, including the mother’s own parents (the maternal grandparents), her siblings (aunts and uncles), and their descendants. In everyday language, moederkant is used to distinguish this lineage from the vaderskant, the paternal side connected through the father.

In genealogical and demographic contexts, moederkant is a practical categorization for constructing family trees and studying inheritance patterns. Researchers may present family history with separate branches for the maternal and paternal lines. In genetics, tracing along the moederkant corresponds to the maternal lineage; mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother and is often used to investigate maternal ancestry, though it represents only one branch of a person’s overall genealogical tree.

The term moederkant is formed from moeder (mother) and kant (side), literally meaning “the mother’s side.” Related terms include moederlijn (the maternal line) and vaderskant (the paternal side). In Dutch usage, these distinctions help describe family history, social relationships, or legal contexts where lineage matters.