236 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

writing the termination sen, it was frequently contracted into se, or z, or s. Thus the name of William Barrentsen, who commanded in the first three Arctic voyages of exploration, in 1594, ’5, and ’6, is given in the old accounts of those voyages, Barentsen, Barentse, Barentz, Barents, sometimes in one way, sometimes another, indifferently. Or, to give an example nearer home, both of the patronymic custom and of the contraction of the name, the father of Garret Martense, the founder of a family of that name in Flatbush, was Martin Adriaense, and his father was Adriae Ryerse, who came from Amsterdam. The inconvenionces of this practice, the confusion to which it gave rise, and the difficulty of tracing families, led ultimately to its abandonment both in Holland and in our own country. In doing so, the patronymic which the person originating the name bore, was adopted as the surname. Most of the family names thus formed and existing amongst us, may be said to be of American origin, as they were first fixed in America, though the same names were adopted by others in Holland. Hence we have the names of such families of Dutch descent amongst us as Jansen (anglice, Johnson), Garretsen, Cornelison, Williamsen or Williamson, Hendricksen or Hendrickson, Clasen, Simonsen or Simonson, Tysen (son of Mathias), Aresend (son of Arend), Hansen, Lambertsen or Lambertson, Paulisen, Remsen,' Ryersen, Martense, Adriance, Rutgers, Everts, Phillips, Lefferts, and others. To trace connection between these families and persons in this country, it is evident, would be impossible for the reason stated, without a regular record.

“Another mode of nomenclature, intended to obviate the difficulty of an identity of names for the time being, but which rendered the confusion worse confounded for the future genealogist, was to add to the patronymic name the occupation or some other personal characteristic of the individual. Thus Laurens Jansen, the inventor of the art of printing, as the Dutch claim, had affixed to his name that of Coster—that is to say, sexton—an office of which he was in possession of the emoluments. But the same addition was not transmitted to the son; and thus the son of Hendrick Jansen Coster might be called Tunis Hendricksen Brouwer (brewer), and his grand-

1 It is generally supposed that the name Rembrandt was shortened into Rem and the son then became Remson or Remsen.