Since
Belgium has three national languages — Dutch, French and German — Belgian names are similar to those in the neighbouring countries: the Netherlands, France and Germany. Thanks to this multiculturalism, Belgium has one of the highest number of surnames in the world (no less than 190,000 at the last count), and certainly the highest per capita ratio, about 1 family name for 53 people. Place names (regions, towns, villages, hamlets) with a particle meaning "from" (
de in French,
del in Walloon, or
van in Dutch) are the most numerous. An uncapitalised particle sometimes indicates nobility.
Here is for example the chronological
list of Ministers-President of the Walloon Region :
For French family names among the
Walloon and other francophones of Belgium, see
French name.
The twenty most common
French surnames in Belgium are respectively
Dubois,
Lambert,
Dupont,
Martin,
Dumont,
Leroy,
Leclercq,
Simon,
Laurent,
François,
Denis,
Renard,
Thomas,
Lejeune,
Gérard,
Petit,
Mathieu,
Lemaire,
Charlier, and
Bertrand.
Some surnames have an unclear origin, like
Berger, meaning
shepherd in French, and
mountaineer in Dutch and German. The particle
De also means
From or
From the in French and means
The in Dutch, which does not help finding the origin.
Flemish surnames are also common, due to Flemish economic immigration from
1850 to
1950. See
Flanders name.
There are also a lot of typical Walloon surnames, like
Monami (fr:
Mon ami, en:
My friend), Dehasse (fr:
de......
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