Frisian Name Generator

Frisian is the closest living relative of English, and its names show it: short, consonant-heavy given names like Sjoerd, Douwe, Jelle, Wiebe, Femke, Nynke and Rixt that look nothing like the rest of the Netherlands. Many are pet forms of old Germanic names (Sjoerd from Sigurd, Tjeerd from Theodoard, Fokke from Folkert, Jelle from Gellius) and many end in the diminutives -tsje, -ke and -kje for women (Antsje, Hinke, Baukje). Anne is a common man's name in Friesland, which surprises visitors every time.

West Frisian surnames follow a few patterns. The -stra ending marks a place of origin (Dijkstra, Hoekstra, Zijlstra, Veenstra), -sma and -ma are patronymics (Boersma, Sytsma, Bouma, Douma), and -inga and -ema mark a family or farm (Huizinga, Elzinga, Miedema, Jellema). Before surnames became compulsory in 1811, people used bare patronymics such as Sjoerd Douwes or Hinke Sybrens. North Frisians on the German islands use -sen patronymics (Petersen, Nissen, Brodersen) with given names like Boy, Momme and Inken, and East Frisians around Emden favour Ubbo, Enno, Tjark and Frauke with surnames like Ubben, Eilers and Cirksena.

The list below mixes all three branches, adds historic Frisians and bare patronymics, and closes with standalone first names and surnames for your own combinations.