B
Meaning & History
Bakhuizen is a Dutch toponymic surname derived from the words bak "bake" and huis "house", collectively meaning "bakery". As an occupational name, it would have originally referred to someone who worked at or owned a bakery. The name is also a village name: Bakhuizen (West Frisian: Bakhuzen) is a village in the Dutch province of Friesland, located in the municipality De Fryske Marren. The surname may thus indicate a place of origin.
The village was first recorded in 1412 as Backhuysen, and its etymology shares the same elements but is described as uncertain. The settlement developed on a clay ridge in the 12th or 13th century. As a Catholic enclave in a Protestant region, its inhabitants maintained a clandestine church after the Reformation and used the windmill Mole Polle before the St. Odulphus Church was built in 1913–1914.
Notable bearers of the surname include the Dutch painter Ludolf Bakhuizen (also spelled Backhuysen, 1630–1708), renowned for his maritime seascapes. Other variants and related names include Backhuysen and perhaps the more common pattern of occupational baker names such as Bakker.
The village was first recorded in 1412 as Backhuysen, and its etymology shares the same elements but is described as uncertain. The settlement developed on a clay ridge in the 12th or 13th century. As a Catholic enclave in a Protestant region, its inhabitants maintained a clandestine church after the Reformation and used the windmill Mole Polle before the St. Odulphus Church was built in 1913–1914.
Notable bearers of the surname include the Dutch painter Ludolf Bakhuizen (also spelled Backhuysen, 1630–1708), renowned for his maritime seascapes. Other variants and related names include Backhuysen and perhaps the more common pattern of occupational baker names such as Bakker.
- Meaning: bakery
- Origin: Dutch
- Type: occupational/locative
- Usage regions: Netherlands, particularly Friesland
Sources: Wikipedia — Bakhuizen