Surname Snip Origins
During the census of 1947 the amount of people bearing the name Snip as surname in the Netherlands was 523, the majority (231) of them living in the province of Groningen. A variety to the name is Snippe. One of the explanations of the name is the ‘address-name’ (location of the people) or ‘metonymic occupational name’ (professions of the people). (Source: Meertens Instituut)
During further examination of the Snip Family we eventually found Jannes Jans Snip, who lived and was born in Doezum. This is where the name finds its origin. Doezum happens to be adjacent to the so-called ‘Snipperij’. The Groninger encyclopedia mentions the following: “The Snipperij is a hamlet in the municipality of Grootegast nearby Kornhorn.
In 1828 educater AH. Smid mentions in ‘schoolmeesterraporten’ that the name is a remainder from the “Snip” (Snipe) hunts held back in the way. It is also possible that the name Snip comes from Sniep (which translates to a sharp edge in a far reaching piece of land). So it can be assumed that Jannes Jan picked his last name on basis of the community of which he origionated.
Doezum
Doezum is located in the municipality of Grootegast. On the report from 1828 Smid says the following about Doezum and Kornkorn (paraphrazed during translation): “The so-called Snipperij is a hamlet near the border of Noordwijk; it is located twenty minutes to the south and south east of the church, the people think that this name was given by its people, due to the snipe (Snip) hunts which were held in olden days.”
The Kornhorn, located to the west of the Snipperij, and bordering Opende, and has a distance to the church similar to the Snipperij. This place is also known for the hunts of grouse (‘korhoen’), and the people in those days called it Korhoek or Corenhorn, now Kornhorn. The hamlet the Snipperij is also adjacent to the so-called Ruskepad, a path way close to a farm called the Rusken, also belonging to the Snipperij.
The Snipperij
‘The Snipperij’ now is a hamlet between Noordwijk and Kornhorn, mostley in a dead-end street, to the east, also called Snipperij. The origin of the name is unclear. De Snipperij could point towards the Snip bird, but there is also a theory that it was named after the family Snip who used to reside in the area.
The Grootegast municipality archives were not much use coming closer to an answer, also there they were unaware how the hamlet got its name. However it is clear that it allready had that name back in 1830. During the census of 1830 in the Snipperij six houses in a row were housing a person with the Snip Suriname.
Newer investigations reveal the name “De Snipperij” allready was used in a churchbook of Doezum during the baptize of Roelf the son of Derk Roelfs and Sijbrig Aries (Snip) on the 26th December 1805 and the surname Snip was used in criminal case files against Grietje Pieters Snip in April 1807, so it is still unclear if the family got the name of the hamlet or the other way around.
Origional text written by: Andries de Leeuw
Translation by: Laura Snip Ljungqvist