In October of 1636, Albert Andriessen Bradt and his wife Annetje* boarded the Wapen Van Rensselaerwyck in Amsterdam and set off for the New World. They arrived in New Netherland in March of 1637.
During the sea voyage, they welcomed their third child. He was born on November 2 during a violent storm, and so they named him Storm, fittingly. (The word is the same in both Dutch and English.)
During his early adulthood, Storm adopted the surname van der Zee, meaning “from/of the sea.” This was the surname he gave his wife Hilletje and their four children: Annatje Storm, Gerrit Storm, Wouter Stormsz, and Albert. (The “sz” ending in Dutch names is a contraction of –s zoon, or “-‘s son.”)
Storm Vanderzee’s first name ended up being passed down to many people — not just to his direct descendants, but also to the descendants of his seven siblings, and even to one of the children his widow had with her second husband (!).
What are your thoughts on the name Storm?
*Interestingly, neither one was Dutch by birth: Albert was originally from Norway, and Annetje was originally from Germany.
Sources: Storm Vanderzee – New York State Museum, Albert Andriessen Bradt – Wikipedia, Albert Andriessen Bradt (1607-1686) – WikiTree, Hilletie Lansing Vanderzee Ketelhuyn – New York State Museum, Hard to Kill (1990) – IMDb
P.S. The baby name Storm saw a steep rise in usage (as a boy name) in the U.S. in 1990. The next year, it reached the top 1,000 for the first time and remained there until 1997. Why the jump? My guess is the 1990 movie Hard to Kill, in which star Steven Seagal played Detective Mason Storm.
