Netherlands, Baptism Index, 1557-1902

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Netherlands, Baptism Index, 1557-1902 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Original data: DTB Dopen. WieWasWie. https://www.wiewaswie.nl/: accessed 24 May 2016.

About Netherlands, Baptism Index, 1557-1902

About the Netherlands Baptism Index, 1557-1902

General collection information

This collection contains baptismal records from the Netherlands between 1557 and 1902. All records are in Dutch. The collection is index only, however; each record includes a link to the original online source, which may include additional information and images.

Using this collection

Records in the collection may include the following information:

  • Person's name
  • Birth date
  • Baptism date
  • Baptism place
  • Father's name
  • Mother's name
  • Witness' names

    • Most baptisms occur shortly after birth, however, some churches wait until adulthood to conduct baptisms. Additionally, some parishioners may have been baptized as adults if they converted religions.

    Knowing some common Dutch phrases will help you to explore these records

  • Kind is Dutch for "child."
  • Doop is Dutch for "baptism."
  • Geboortedatum is Dutch for "date of birth."
  • Gebeurtenis Plaats is Dutch for "event place."
  • Moeder is Dutch for "mother."
  • Vader is Dutch for "father."
  • Getuige is Dutch for "witness."

    • Newer records of baptisms will sometimes contain extra information, including information about illegitimate children. In special cases, there may be notes that the child was "re-baptized." If the child was in danger of dying during, or soon after birth, Roman Catholic midwives were able to perform onsite emergency baptisms. Priests would later perform a full, proper baptism if the child survived.

    Collection in context

    Doopboeken, or baptismal record books, are among the oldest records found in the Netherlands. Church records are particularly useful because the practice of keeping civil records wasn't used in the Netherlands until 1811 when it was introduced by the French.

    Although some churches already kept baptismal records, the 1563 Council of Trent decreed that churches should start keeping records of baptisms and marriages. The practice was not widely kept until 1578, when the Netherlands became a Protestant state.

    Bibliography

    Dutch Ancestry Coach. "Dutch Birth Records Basics." Dutch Ancestry Coach.com. Last Modified August 2020.

    Hoitink, Yvette. "Church Records." Dutch Genealogy. Last Modified April 19, 2005. https://www.dutchgenealogy.nl/church-records/.

    Hoitink, Yvette. "Emergency Baptism by the Midwife." Dutch Genealogy. Last Modified August 28, 2005. https://www.dutchgenealogy.nl/emergency-baptisms-by-the-midwife/.