In september 1987 Hage Nap published a genealogy report in the Dutch historical magazine ‘Heemtijdinghen’. 1 When I started researching my familytree the result of his research was a very important startingpoint for me.
Meaning
The word Nap in Dutch means: small wooden bowl. The name can also originate from the name of a farm near Ede built in 1697 2
Unrelated to the surname: the abbreviation N.A.P. in the Netherlands also means Nieuw Amsterdamse Peil (Amsterdam Ordnance Datum), the reference height to which other level elevations are measured. 3. Interesting and necessary I’m sure, but very frustrating when performing searches…
Geographical Location
occurences of the name 'Nap' in each provence in 1947
occurences of the name 'Nap' in each municipality in 2007
In 1947 there were 1.087 persons with the surname Nap in the Netherlands, in 2007 there were 2.061. The name concentrates mainly in the provinces Groningen, Utrecht, Zuid-Holland, Noord-Holland and Gelderland. 4
As far as I know there are four branches of Nap in the Netherlands which up to know have not been connected:
Groningen: descendants of Jan Jurjens Nap born abt. 1680 in Nieuwolda. 5
Noord-Holland: descendants of Klaas Nap born abt 1711 in Akersloot. 6
Zuid-Holland/Utrecht: descendants of Pieter Nap born abt 1615 in Kamerik.
Gelderland: descendants of Cornelis Jans van de Nap, farmer on ‘de Nap’ by Ede. 4
I have also found a couple of strays who come from Emden, Germany. They were a seafaring lot and settled mostly in Zeeland and Zuid-Holland. Which brings me to another bit of gossip, that during the Reformation (16th century) several Naps fled to Emden for religious reasons.
Related Surnames
Nab, van der Nap
Coat of Arms
Coat of Arms
This picture of a coat of arms has been circulating amongst family members for years now. I have found no proof as yet that it actually belongs to my collection of Naps.
In my Tree
There are 928 people in my tree with the surname Nap, 501 males and 419 females. (There are a few stillborn children of which the sex can not be determined.) The earliest person with the surname is Pieter Nap, born about 1615 in Kamerik.
‘My’ Naps mostly come from the region Utrecht / Zuid Holland and had occupations as agricultural labourers, farmers and grocers. A fair amount of them also served the public by taking up seats in citycouncils or the waterboard (regional government bodies charged with managing the water barriers, the waterways, the water levels, water quality and sewage treatment in their respective regions.) They were religous people, all protestants (well maybe not all, see my earlier remark on the Reformation) and some of them served as elders and deacons.
My Goals
At one point I would like to start a one-name-study on the Nap surname, and maybe combine that with DNA-technology. It would be interesting to see if we could link the several Nap branches together, or not!
Sources
- 1. Nap, Hage . “Genealogie Nap.” Heemtijdinghen, September 1987, 50-69. ↩
- 2. “Boerderijcomplex De Nap” Gemeente Ede. http://www.ede.nl/fileadmin/monumentenregister/479.html (accessed January 28, 2012). ↩
- 3. Wikipedia, “Amsterdam Ordnance Datum.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Ordnance_Datum (accessed January 30, 2012) ↩
- 4. CBG. “Nederlandse Familienamenbank.” Dutch Surname Database. http://www.meertens.knaw.nl (accessed January 28, 2012). ↩
- 5. Groninger Archieven. “AlleGroningers.” AlleGroningers. http://www.allegroningers.nl (accessed January 30, 2012). ↩
- 6. Nap, Chris . “Parenteel van Klaas Nap.” Chris Nap. http://www.chrisnap.nl/Stamboom/Parenteel/parenteel_van_klaas_nap.html (accessed January 30, 2012). ↩
