Kingdom of The Netherlands
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Caribbean elements of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, like Aruba and the Dutch Antilles, and former colonies of the Netherlands, such as Suriname, have large Creole populations consisting mostly of the descendants of slaves.
When freed during the 19th century, the ancestors of these people received surnames which were given by their former owners, many of which referred to a specific character trait. For example Aruban governor Frits Goedgedrag's name is Dutch for "good behavior", whereas football player Edson Braafheid's name means "goodness".
Many kept these names, while others later chose their own. The new names were often in the local Spanish-based creole language, and subsequently changed to 'proper' Spanish by Dutch officials. This explains why many Arubans and some Surinamese have Spanish surnames, but no Spanish ancestry.
Read more about this topic: Slave Name
Famous quotes containing the words kingdom of the, kingdom of, kingdom and/or netherlands:
“Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Then he looked up at his disciples and said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 6:20-22.
“Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 13:29.
“Greece is a sort of American vassal; the Netherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main sugar plantation of the American monopolies; Turkey is prepared to kow-tow before any United States pro-consul and Canada is the boring second fiddle in the American symphony.”
—Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (1909–1989)