Generation to Generation
First Names
Naming of children after grandparents or parents can be followed throughout Dormans generations.
Mathias Dormans (chapter 8, Vd), born in Schinnen on May 18,1734, was called Mathias after his father, grandfather, and great-grand father. In three instances, a son was called Mathias, as the earlier-born son Mathias died.
Only in recent generations has the tradition of naming children after grandparents and parents diminished.
A new range of names has appeared within our family: Bas, Beatrice, Bianca, Lynda, Evelyn, Hein, Lilian, Randy, Roge, Sandy, Sjoerd, Sonja and Sylvia.
The Top-10 Most Popular First Names in Our Family Through the Centuries
For Males:
1. J(e)an 77
2. Jo(h)annes 75
3. Petrus/Peter 51
4. Joseph 26
5. Hubertus 20
6. Pieter 18
7. Martinus 14
8. Willem 14
9. Mathias 12
10. Hendrik 12
For Females:
1. Maria/Marie 176
2. Anna 52
3. Jo(h)anna 21
4. Hubertina 10
5. Elisa(beth) 10
6. Catharina 8
7. Barbara 7
8. Margaretha 5
9. Josephina 3
10. Mathilde 3
Variations to Dormans
Although through the centuries the South-Limburgian family name Dormans was written nearly always correctly, there are some variations:
-In Brunssum (1730) as Doirmans
-In Schimmert (1807) as Dorremans
-In the North-Limburgian Bergen, the notation Dormans is present next to many other notations: Doremans, Doormans, Dooremans and Doremanns. It is unclear which notation is correct.
The great-grandfather of bishop J.Hanssen from Roermond was called Pierre Dormans (Doormans), and came from Bergen. There was no apparent link between this family and the South-Limburgian family Dormans.
The Limburgian places of Maastricht and Berg and Terblijt are adjacent to Utrecht and the only places in the Netherlands where members of the Dormanns family are living.
Limburgian Dormanns descend from Edmund Dormanns, who was born in Aachen on October 17, 1902. In 1908, he moved to Maastricht, where he married and finally died on December 23, 1983. He was the only child of Herman Dormanns (born in Aachen on February 3, 1874) Therèse Ernst and his grandparents came also from Germany.
A slip from Dormans to Dormanns in earlier times has not been ruled out. In centuries past, the family name Dormans was present in the marriage registers of Geilenkirchen (Germany) on June 13, 1686, as well as in the marriage registers of Heerlen, where Johannes Dormans from Immendorf (Germany) married on April 15, 1663.
It is curious that in 1906 in Kerkrade, on the birth record of Maria Catharina, the father was mentioned as Joseph Johannes Arnold Dormans, while he signed the act as Dormanns.
Close Families
As travel and migration back in the old days was more limited, we see that in earlier times, individuals nearly always married somebody from the same village or neighboring place. Through the centuries certain family names are linked several times to ours.
The Bruls Family
-In 1740, Petrus Dormans married Schinnen Christine Bruls.
-In 1813, Mathias Dormans married Schinnen Maria Christina Bruls.
-In 1845, Elise Dormans married Schinnen Jan Pieter Bruls
-In 1870, Jan Michael Dormans married Oirsbeek Johanna Maria Petronella Bruls
The Hoen Family
Marriages between the Dormans and Hoen families occurred several times in 1710, 1938 and 1948.
-In 1938, Maria Catherine Elisabeth Hoen married Peter Willem Aloysius Dormans, who appeared to descend directly from a brother of Catharine Hoen, who in 1710 married Nicolaas Dormans.
The Custers Family
More connections appear to exist between the Dormans and Custers families:
-In Nuth in 1836, Marie Mechtildis Dormans married Pieter Renier Custers
-In 1845 in Hoensbroek, Hendrik Nicolaas Dormans married Anna Maria Custers
-In Hoensbroek in 1873, Maria Gertrudis Dormans married Jan Andreas Custers
-In Schinnen in 1878, Maria Mechtildis Dormans married Gerard Joseph Custers.
Dormans marrying Dormans
-In Schinnen in 1831, Jean Peter Dormans married Maria Gertrudis Dormans. The bride and groom were consanguineous in the third degree (grand nephew and grand niece). Jean Peter (chapter 6, VI-3) was a son of Adam Nicolaas (VI), and a grandson of Mathias (Vb). Maria Gertrudis (chapter 7, VIb-7) was a daughter of Theodorus (VIb) and a granddaughter of Petrus (Vc). Previously mentioned Mathias (Vb) and Petrus (Vc) are brothers and sons of Nicolaas. For this marriage, dispensation had to be asked.