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[Facts] Re: Dutch name Boukje
in reply to a message by Swiff
I've searched this name here: http://www.meertens.knaw.nl/voornamen/vnb/
It seems to be a relatively common name in Friesland and it derives from the male name Baue. Baue is a highly abbreviated and distorted (in a childlike manner) German name, or possibly from the names Bavo, Bovo, Buo.
Many Frisian names have this child-distortion origin.
A similar name with apparently the same origin is Baukje
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If Baue is a distortion of a German name, might that German name be Bauer (= Farmer)? (Not technically a name, I suppose.) Then a -je or -kje ending, which is a diminutive, would indicate a feminine form ... so something like Little Farm Girl or Country Girl.It might perhaps also be linkable to Bau- = Bold, as in Archibald or Baldwin (Dutch: Boudewijn).
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