Family Name

During our research we run in three different roots. In the family tree these three roots are divided by a thick red horizontal line.

It might be that the name 'Teyma' is also a split-off of Teyema. This needs further investigation still. (to be continued)

Teyema or Teijema?

Both ways are used, depending on the root where we are talking about.
It appears that many Teijemas that moved to other parts of the world changed their familyname into Teyema to make it more pronouncable. In the Netherlands too a number of Teyemas are walking around (according to the white pages). In some cases this might be an error as employees from the phone company that misspelled the familyname while signing up.

What does "Teijema' mean?

It means something like 'descendant of Teije'. Teije is a firstname that is still common (but not too common) in the Netherlands, especially in the northern part of the Netherlands.
A 'teije' also means an open place in the woods. I don't see any link with that.

What is the background of the familyname?

Back in 1811 Napoleon occupied the Netherlands and decided that all citizens should have a familyname. At that moment a man with Teije as his first name decided that his familyname should be 'Teijema'. It was common practice in the Netherlands to create the familyname in that way. Compare it with 'Johnson' (son of John).

Do you know more?

We need your input to resolve this puzzle. Do you know more about anything that is published on these pages or did you see a mistake? Please send us an email to: lukas@teyema.com