Kingma State
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II The family

Surname adoption of 1811 (article)

Who registered the name Kingma in 1811, and where

In 1811 and 1812 everyone in Friesland had to register a fixed family name. The registers contain 56 entries for the name Kingma: old Kingma families, families descended from the old Kingmas through a mother or grandmother, and families who chose the name then.

Napoleon annexed the Netherlands to the French Empire in 1810. An imperial decree of 18 August 1811 required every head of a household to register a fixed family name with the mairie, also those who already had one. In Friesland this happened in 1811 and 1812, village by village, with the children and grandchildren and their ages. The registers are kept at Tresoar and can be searched on Open Archieven (source type Naamsaanneming). Source: Tresoar, name-adoption registers 1811-1812.

For the name Kingma (and the spelling Kingema) they contain 56 entries in 24 registers; 56 of them are linked to a person in the family tree. What each record says about that person, his children and his signature is on the person's page; the list at the end gives every entry with a link to that page (or to the record where there is no page yet). Source: the records on the person pages; Tresoar, name-adoption registers 1811-1812.

Adopting or keeping

The form was printed: the person ‘heeft dezelve verklaard, dat hij aanneemt den naam van … voor familie-naam’ (declared that he adopts the name … as family name). Of the 56 records we have read 53 from the scan ourselves; in 46 of them the person simply ‘adopts’ the name, also where the family tree shows descent from Jelle Kingum, such as Gosse Johannes Kingma, Jan Jacobs Kingma and Jan Johannes Kingma. ‘Adopting’ in the register therefore does not prove that the name was new. Source: the records on the person pages; Tresoar, name-adoption registers 1811-1812.

A few records put it differently: Hidde Eylerts Kingma (Franeker) adopts the name, ‘als hebbende dezelve reeds lang gedragen’ (as he had long borne it); Tjeerd Pieters Kingma (Rauwerd) keeps the name (Tresoar index); Marten Johannes Kingma (Birdaard) intends to keep his name; Evert Yntes Kingma (Wolvega) keeps the name (‘aanneemt’, adopts, struck out), for the children by a guardian; Ynte Everts Kingma (Wolvega) keeps the name (‘aanneemt’, adopts, struck out). Source: the records on the person pages; Tresoar, name-adoption registers 1811-1812.

Where the name came from

Whether the name was new for a family has to come from other records: baptisms, marriages and burials before 1811 in which the family already uses the name, or does not. According to the family tree, 6 of the people registered descend from Jelle Kingum in the male line and 30 through a mother, grandmother or earlier female ancestor (for 14 of these 36 the line runs through a probable, not proven parent); for 20 no link with Jelle is known, and 16 of these families chose the name themselves according to our research. Source: the family tree on this site.

In the male line: Gosse Johannes Kingma, Jan Jacobs Kingma, Jan Johannes Kingma, Jitse Jacobs Kingma, Marten Johannes Kingma and Romke Jacobs Kingma. Source: the family tree on this site.

Through the female line, for example Aaltje Jarigs Kingma (the line to Jelle runs through her female ancestor Trijntie Jansdr Kingma), Douwe Ymkes Kingma (the line to Jelle runs through his great-grandmother Baefke Intesdr Kingma), Gerben Ates Kingma (the line to Jelle runs through his female ancestor Jetske Jellesdr Kingma) and Gerben Jans Kingma (the line to Jelle runs through his great-grandmother Bauck Gorisdr). Source: the family tree on this site.

Families who chose the name in 1811 lived all over Friesland, for example Benedictus Cornelis Kingma (Warga), Dirk Botes Kingma (Wanswerd), Dirk Wopkes Kingma (Niawier) and Gosse Tjebbes Kingma (Tjerkwerd); the list by register below names them all. Source: the family tree on this site.

Notable entries

On 6 January 1812 a husband and wife in Koudum each chose a different name: Trijntje Tjebbes Kingma registered Kingma, the name her brothers took in Tjerkwerd and Heeg, while her husband Hylke Sikkes chose Hofstra the same day. She could not write; only the deputy mayor signed. Source: record.

In Blija the skipper Gosse Jans Kingma adopted the name Kingma in 1812. He did not descend from a Kingma family himself; his aunt Antje Aedes was married to Jan Johannes Kingma, who registered in the same book. So a Kingma family without a link to Jelle grew up around Birdaard. Source: record.

Sjoerd Jentjes Kingma declared before the board of Heeg on 14 December 1811 that he adopted the name Kingma, and signed below it with his old name, ‘Sjoerd Jentjes’. In later records he signs ‘S J Kingma’. Source: record.

In Gorredijk the entry stands in the name of Michiel Jans, who had been buried in 1808: a guardian registered the name Kingma for his under-age children, and his older sons registered themselves. Source: record.

Sierk Klases Kingma, who adopted the name Kingma in Minnertsga in 1812, was born around 1759, probably in Zweins, the village of Kingma State, where his parents had their children baptised; the records show no descent from the Kingmas. He could not write and made a cross. Source: record.

In Sneek a widow registered the name for her sons, who were away as soldiers: Okjen Baukes de Boer came ‘wegens hare afwezige kinderen’ (on behalf of her absent children) and named Jelte (26) and Rein (20), ‘alle beide soldaat’ (both soldiers). According to her death record her mother was Froukjen Gerryts Kingma. The index names her late husband Arjen Jeltes as the registrant. Source: record.

All entries by register

One line per register, with the place of residence where it differs from the register, and in brackets what the family tree says about the origin of the name. Source: the records on the person pages; Tresoar, name-adoption registers 1811-1812.

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