The Historical Research Center

Family Name History

Somsen

The family name Somsen is classified as being of habitation origin. A surname of this kind indicates where the initial bearer dwelled or the locality whence he hailed. In this case, research indicates that the family name Somsen was derived from the Eastern Middle Dutch word 'somp', denoting 'swampland' or 'morass'. Hence, the name would have identified its original bearer as one whose residence lay on terrain of this kind. Indeed, some present-day bearers of this surname brace their origins to a farm located in IJzerlo, Gelderland, which was mentioned in documents from 1609 under the name 'Sumbs' ('Swamps').This same property was recorded in subsequent years as 'Sompsstedeken' and 'Somsenhuis', the latter giving rise to the surname as it appears today. One of the earliest references to this name is a record of one WiIlemke Somsen, who wed Geurt Renses on 25 July 1661 in Dinxperlo, Gelderland. Frerik Somsen, the son of Geert and Megtelt Somsen, was christened on 28 January 1703 in Aalten, Gelderland. Derk Somsen, son of Lubbert Somsen and Engele Broens, was born in the same town on 2 November 1749. This surname was established in the United States by Hendrik Jan Somsen, who arrived in 1851 with his wife and four children. The U.S. Census of 1850 found him residing in Sheboygan, Wisconsin as 'Henry J. Somsen'. In the 1870 Census there is an entry for his son, John W. Somsen, who likewise dwelled in Sheboygan and was the father of three young children. In Holland, the use of hereditary family names began as early as the thirteenth century, and had become widespread by 1600. To date, there is no record of a coat of arms associated with the family name Somsen, and thus the national arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are described below.

BLAZON of ARMS : Azure; billettee or, a lion rampant of the same, langued
gules and crowned of the second, holding
in the raised dexter a sword argent

and in the sinister a sheaf

of arrows argent, flighted or.

CREST: Royal Crown of the Netherlands.

ORIGIN: NETHERLANDS