About a year ago, “The Genealogy Girl” posted “What Are We?”, a post about ethnic make-up, and whether you knew the percentages of where you came from. She had calculated her percentages and those numbers represented the people who came before her.
A simple math problem, right? Well, not exactly. It also represents where you got your DNA from, and you owe your very existence to these people. That makes them very near and dear to your heart.
Her post last year inspired me so I figured out my heritage and added to my blog “Do The Math!” At that time, I knew I was part Scottish, Irish, English, Swiss and German. You can go back and read my post if you’re interested in the percentages.
But yesterday morning I might have added a new country to my ethnic heritage: The Netherlands. This excites me because I’ve always been enchanted by the Dutch.
In grade school we studied Holland (which is an inaccurate name, but more on that later), of course our book pages contained little Dutch girls with hair in braids running around through fields of tulips with windmills in the background! I’m not sure if it was the flowers that intrigued me, or those big windmills slowly pumping water away so the fields didn’t flood.
But enchanted I was. And now I find I may carry Dutch DNA from a 4x g-grandfather. Hopefully I can extend the line back to his birthplace. Right now all I have is a death certificate saying my 3x g-grandfather’s dad was born in the Netherlands.
So the exciting discovery is I’m part Dutch!
Or rather I might be.
Now let’s go back to Holland vs. The Netherlands. Do you know which is the proper name? I did not, so I searched and found this video. It explains why the correct name is The Netherlands and not Holland (and a whole bunch of other related facts).
pastsmith 
I love this! Thanks for the mention. That video is great. I also love his one about the UK. He moves so fast though – it takes a lot of concentration. 🙂
My husband’s step-father is Dutch. I can’t wait to send him a link to that video. I never knew it wasn’t called Holland. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been using them interchangeably for years, so you’re not the only one. I thought the video explained it well. Glad you liked it, and I hope your relative enjoys it too.