This page explains a little bit about the Beernink name and its history. Of course, nobody knows how the name really arose, but here's a collection of information from various places that helps us understand where it may have come from.

In the past, spelling of names wasn't fixed, and could vary with local dialect, changing pronunciation, or personal preference. Thus names like Beernink, Beerning, and Berning may all be variants of the same name. However, until a common ancestor is found it's hard to tell whether people with these names are all descended from the same family, or whether they arose separately.

For example, there was a Beernink family that owned a piece of property in Wierden, near Almelo, from about 1350 to about 1550. In the records of the transfers of this single piece of property from one generation to the next you see the following spellings (from oldest to most recent): Berendinch, Berndinc, Beerning, Bernynge, Bernyng, Beerninck, and Berninck.

Spelling of Dutch family names became fixed in 1811, when Napoleon decreed family names for everyone. Fortunately, most of the variants were no longer in use when family names became fixed: Today, Beernink is the most common spelling, with Beerning and Berning also in use.

My aunt's theory is that Beernink is a contraction of Berend-ink, meaning "the land of Berend". I find it fascinating that in the spellings given above, you can actually see the name evolve from Berend-inch to Bern-inck. So this part of her theory makes perfect sense. Also, as illustrated below in the section on the "ink" ending, you can see that "ink" is a common suffix added to names in this region of Holland and Germany.

The other part of her theory explained why this might have happened. In the middle-ages farmers were serfs on the lands belonging to a Count. Later on they were given the title to their property and became free men. Assuming a name like Berend as a starting point, the original name both for the property, and the people who lived there, would have been Berendink, meaning "the land of Berend."

She didn't specify whether Berend was the name of the Count, or the name of the new owner of the land. Originally I assumed the former, and discovered that there was a Count Berndt (or Bernard) of Bentheim, after whom the land might have been named. But after thinking about it more, I realized this was probably wrong. One problem was that if all the people who were granted land were named after their Count, everyone would end up with the same name. There just aren't enough Beerninks for that to have been the case. Secondly, if you were granting land to someone, it simply makes more sense to name it after the new owner.

Today the Beernink population is concentrated in the eastern region of Overijssel (Twente), the eastern region of Gelderland (Achterhoek) and the German County of Bentheim, which is adjacent to the eastern borders of Overijssel and Gelderland. If you look back at historical records, you will find that the Beerninks have lived in this region since at least the middle of the 14th century.

It can be safely concluded that the Beernink family or families first formed in this area. Amazingly enough, the property records listed above start in 1379, which was during the years that Berndt was Count of Bentheim (1364-1421). Many property records start in this year, both in Overijssel, as well as in Bentheim, and I do not yet understand why this is (it appears to be related to the years that a certain Bishop was in office).

There is a database containing the Dutch census numbers for 1947. This database allows you to get the geographical distribution of any Dutch name for the year 1947. Here's the distribution, by province, for Beernink and a couple of variants:

Although I don't have the 1947 census numbers for Germany, I looked in the German telephone listings, and found about 70 Beerninks living in Germany, mostly in Bentheim.

As last names started to come into use, there were several different ways in which they could be formed.

Sometimes the surname was used to indicate the place of birth. For example:

• Van der Heide, Hordijk, Van der Meulen, Nijdam, Verdonk, Van der Werf
• Farm names from the (North) East of Holland which end on -ing or -ink: Aalderink, Bruggink, Joling, Lanting, Lieftink, Oonk.
• Other farm names like Nijhof, Bronsvoort, Nooitgedagt
• Houses and taverns: Bontekoe, Fortuin, Hardebol, Hoppezak, Nagtglas, Spiegel, Van der Wereld.

In many areas patronymic surnames were formed by adding a suffix to the father's first name. This tended to differ from one province to the next. For example:

• Drenthe: -inge, -inghe, -ink, -inck, -nge (these are the most common), -iens, and –ies. Also, names containing heide and veen for heather and moor.
• Friesland: -a, -inga, -ma, -sma, -stra, -ga (these are the most common), -es, -n, -ns, -s, and –sz.
• Gelderland: –inck, -ink, and –ing, –e, -hof, and –loo.
• Groningen: -huis, -ker, -sema, -tjer, and –wold being more prevalent in native names.
• Limburg: Ingen– prefix, suffix –mans.
• Noord Brabant: –mans, –ens and –ers.
• Noord Holland: Many suffixes from all provinces. Distinctive patterns: –sz and –x suffixes.
Short surnames common: Bos, Es or Nes, Vos, and Hap.
• Overijssel: –inck, -ing, –ink, –inge, -inghe, -inck, -ink, –huis, –sen. Prefixes: ten and ter.
• Utrecht: Patronymics derived from the names of towns and estates. Also, prefixes van and van dem.
• Zeeland: Suffixes: –se, –aert, -ge, -ghe, -ick, and –uck. Also the French prefixes of d’, de, and ver.
• Zuid Holland: Suffixes: de, den, van, vande, vanden, van der, and ver. Also, short surnames like the ones found in Noord Holland.

From this list, we'd expect Beerninks to come from Drenthe, Gelderland, and Overijssel. Thus, it's not surprising that Beerninks are found in Overijssel and Gelderland, but I'm a little surprised that they aren't found in Drenthe as well. According to the population study given above, of the 643 Beerninks in Holland in 1947, only one lived in Drenthe.