Van Dam ("of the dam" or "of the water") is a Dutch toponymic surname. van is akin to the German nobility von and English House of, while Dam derives its name from the dam in Amsterdam, Netherlands' capital and most populated city.

In some cases, especially when processed by English speaking people, the name developed into the derivative, "VanDam."

Places

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People

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Derivatives

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The forms VanDam, Vandam, Vandamm, and Vandamme are often indicative of a family of Dutch or Flemish origin which had lived for generations in a non-Dutch speaking environment, for example:

Animals

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Nieuwe Wereldt ofte Beschrijvinghe van West-Indian, uit veelerhande Schriften ende Aen-teekeningen van verscheyden Natien (Leiden, Bonaventure & Abraham Elseviers, 1625) p.83: "/in den jare 1609 sonden de bewindt-hebbers van de gheoctroyeerde Oost-Indischische compagnie het jacht de halve mane/ daer voor schipper ende koopman op roer Hendrick Hudson[...]"("in the year 1609 the administrators of the East Indies Company sent the half moon captained by the merchant Hudson[...]")
  2. ^ Stratton, Eugene A. (1986). Plymouth Colony: Its History & People, 1620–1691. Salt Lake City: Ancestry Incorporated. ISBN 0-916489-13-2. (page 20).
  3. ^ Baltimore Sun obituary for Dam