A huge share of Dutch surnames carry a little unstressed prefix: van, de, van der, ten, op den. These are the tussenvoegsels ("in-between bits"), and they behave by rules that look bewildering until you see the single principle behind them. Vincent van Gogh writes van lowercase, but Van Gogh schilderde zonnebloemen capitalises it — same name, different case. The phone book files him under G, not V. And cross the border into Belgium and the rules flip. This page is the map of names: how the prefixes are capitalised, why, how to alphabetise them, and where the Dutch and Belgian conventions part ways. (For general capitalisation — sentences, languages, brands — see Capitalisation and IJ.)
What a tussenvoegsel is
A tussenvoegsel is an unstressed grammatical word stuck between a person's given name and the "real" surname. The common ones are old prepositions and articles:
| Tussenvoegsel | Origin | Example name |
|---|---|---|
| van | "of / from" | Vincent van Gogh |
| de / den | "the" | Jan de Vries |
| van der / van den | "of the" | Mark van der Berg |
| ten / ter | "at the" (fused) | Jan ten Brink |
| op den / in 't | "on the / in the" | Theo op den Camp |
Historically these meant something — van Gogh once signalled "from (the place) Gogh," de Vries meant "the Frisian," van der Berg "of the mountain." Today they are simply inert parts of the surname. They are not the van of possession, even though they look identical; in a name, van owns nothing — it is just a fossil glued to the front of the family name.
The core rule: lowercase with a first name, capital alone
Here is the principle that generates almost every Dutch case. In the Netherlands:
- When a first name, initial, or title-plus-first-name comes immediately before the tussenvoegsel, write it lowercase: Jan de Vries, J. van der Berg, Vincent van Gogh, meneer Jan van Dijk.
- When the surname stands alone — no first name or initial directly in front — capitalise the tussenvoegsel: De Vries belde gisteren, Van Gogh schilderde zonnebloemen, meneer Van Dijk, mevrouw Van den Berg.
The logic is about what the prefix is leaning on. With a given name present, the whole thing reads as one continuous personal name and the little word stays humble and lowercase. Strip the first name away and the prefix becomes the first written element of the surname on its own — so it gets a capital, exactly as the first word of a name should.
Vincent van Gogh werd pas na zijn dood beroemd.
Vincent van Gogh only became famous after his death. — first name present, so 'van' is lowercase.
Van Gogh schilderde meer dan tien zonnebloemen.
Van Gogh painted more than ten sunflowers. — surname alone, so 'Van' is capitalised.
Heb je mevrouw Van den Berg al gesproken?
Have you spoken to Mrs Van den Berg yet? — title + surname, no first name, so 'Van' is capitalised.
Jan ten Brink en zijn collega J. van der Velde komen morgen.
Jan ten Brink and his colleague J. van der Velde are coming tomorrow. — both have a first name/initial, so 'ten' and 'van der' stay lowercase.
Alphabetisation: file under the main name
This catches every English speaker. In a Dutch phone book, member list, or bibliography, names are alphabetised by the main surname, ignoring the tussenvoegsel. Jan de Vries is filed under V (Vries, Jan de), not under D. Vincent van Gogh is under G (Gogh, Vincent van). The prefix is moved to the end after a comma and disregarded for sorting.
| Name | Filed as | Under letter |
|---|---|---|
| Jan de Vries | Vries, Jan de | V |
| Vincent van Gogh | Gogh, Vincent van | G |
| Mark van der Berg | Berg, Mark van der | B |
| Jan ten Brink | Brink, Jan ten | B |
Zoek hem onder de V: Vries, Jan de — niet onder de D.
Look him up under V: Vries, Jan de — not under D.
In de bibliotheek staat Van Gogh bij de G, niet bij de V.
In the library Van Gogh is shelved under G, not V.
This is the opposite of how English handles anglicised Dutch names. In the United States, Van Gogh and De Vries are typically filed under V and D, with capital Van / De baked into the name as one inseparable unit. The Dutch system keeps the prefix grammatically separate and sorts on the substantive part of the name.
The Belgian difference
Now the regional split, which is a real, systematic difference, not a sloppiness. In Belgium (Flanders), the convention is to capitalise the prefix essentially always, regardless of whether a first name precedes it: Vincent Van Gogh would be written Van even mid-name in the Belgian style, and a Belgian De Vries stays De Vries with a first name in front.
More strikingly, Belgian surnames frequently fuse the prefix into a single word with a capital in the middle or at the start: Vandenberghe, Vanderlinden, Desmet, Vermeulen, Dewinter. These are written solid, capitalised, and alphabetised under the V or D — under their actual first letter — exactly because they are one word. So a Belgian Vandenberghe files under V, while a Dutch van den Berg files under B. Same etymology, opposite filing.
| Netherlands | Belgium (Flanders) | |
|---|---|---|
| With first name | Jan van den Berg (lowercase) | Jan Vandenberghe / Jan Van den Berghe (capital) |
| Alone | Van den Berg | Vandenberghe |
| Filed under | B (Berg) | V (Vandenberghe) |
De Vlaamse schrijver heet Vandenberghe — één woord, hoofdletter, op de V.
The Flemish writer is called Vandenberghe — one word, capital, filed under V. (regional: Belgium)
Zijn Nederlandse naamgenoot heet Jan van den Berg, op de B.
His Dutch namesake is called Jan van den Berg, filed under B. (regional: Netherlands)
For more on the Flemish conventions, see Flemish Vocabulary and Usage.
Foreign names keep their own rules
A non-Dutch name keeps its native capitalisation, even when a Dutch sentence would otherwise lowercase a prefix. A French Charles de Gaulle keeps de lowercase per French convention, and an Italian Leonardo da Vinci keeps da lowercase — but these follow the source language, not the Dutch rule. (Ludwig van Beethoven is a famous in-between case: the family was Flemish, so the van is conventionally lowercased in Dutch text as if it were a Dutch name.) The safe principle: follow the source language's own convention for foreign names, and apply the Dutch lowercase/capital rule only to genuinely Dutch and Flemish surnames.
Charles de Gaulle en Leonardo da Vinci houden hun eigen schrijfwijze.
Charles de Gaulle and Leonardo da Vinci keep their own spelling.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vincent Van Gogh (capital Van with a first name, Dutch style)
Wrong for a Dutch name — with a first name present, the prefix is lowercase: Vincent van Gogh. (The capitalised Van is the Belgian or English convention.)
✅ Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh.
❌ van Gogh schilderde... (lowercase van standing alone)
Wrong — with no first name in front, the prefix starts the surname and takes a capital: Van Gogh.
✅ Van Gogh schilderde...
Van Gogh painted...
❌ meneer de Vries (lowercase de after a title)
Wrong — a title isn't a first name; without a given name the prefix is capitalised: meneer De Vries.
✅ meneer De Vries
Mr De Vries.
❌ Filing Jan de Vries under the letter D.
Wrong — Dutch alphabetises under the main name, ignoring the tussenvoegsel: file under V (Vries, Jan de).
✅ Vries, Jan de — filed under V
Filed under V.
❌ Treating Belgian Vandenberghe like Dutch van den Berg and filing it under B.
Wrong — the fused Belgian one-word form files under its actual first letter, V.
✅ Vandenberghe — filed under V
Filed under V. (regional: Belgium)
Key Takeaways
- Tussenvoegsels (van, de, van der, ten, op den) are inert prefixes on Dutch surnames — not the van of possession.
- Netherlands rule: lowercase after a first name or initial (Jan de Vries, Vincent van Gogh), capital when alone (De Vries, Van Gogh, meneer Van Dijk). A title does not count as a first name.
- Alphabetise under the main surname, ignoring the prefix: Vries, Jan de under V; Gogh, Vincent van under G.
- Belgium capitalises the prefix always and often fuses it into one word (Vandenberghe), filed under its actual first letter.
- Foreign names keep their own native capitalisation.
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