Dutch
Where Dutch comes from
PIE word *tewtéh₂ From Middle English Duch (“German, Low German, Dutch”), from Middle Low German dütsch, düdesch (“German, Low German, Dutch”) and Middle Dutch dūtsch, dūtsc (“German, Low German, Dutch”), from Proto-West Germanic *þiudisk, from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz (“of one’s people”), derived from *þeudō (“people”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂. Doublet of Deutsch and Doitsu. Compare Middle English thedisch (“native, endemic”) from Old English þēodisċ (“of one’s people”), Old Saxon thiudisk (German Low German düütsch (“German”)), Old High German diutisc (modern German deutsch (“German”)), modern Dutch Duits (“German”) alongside elevated Diets (“Dutch”) (a secondary distinction, fully accepted only in the 19th century). See also Derrick, Teuton, Teutonic. Cognate with Persian توده (tude, “people, nation”). The pejorative senses (Dutch courage, Dutch wife, Dutch uncle, etc.) are said to stem from the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the accompanying rivalry.
- 1 syllable
Along the way
- 1903Debut at its peak, #1,130#1,130 among boys with 5 babies — the first year it was published, and still its best.
- 1904The fadeThe first year with half the peak's births.
In the dictionary
- A male given name, more often given as a nickname to someone of Dutch or German ancestry than as an official given name.
Namesakes
We look up famous namesakes for names that have made the top 1,000. Dutch hasn't yet.
Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.