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Re: great grandfather's name
In Dutch 'bergen' is a word meaning 'mountains'.I also found out that Berg is a first name. I think that it will be connected to Bergan/Bergen.Berg is a Germanic, male name. It comes from one element: 'berg', meaning 'protection'.I hope this helped you.Source: Schaar, J. van der, Prisma voornamen, Het Spectrum 2002 Utrecht
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I've seen Berg and Bergh as surnames ... certainly for mountain people. But the meaning of protection puzzles me slightly - I'd always thought that Berg = Mountain but Burg = Fortified Place/Town/Citadel. So Middelberg would be the middle mountain, or the middle of the mountains, but Middelburg would be the central walled town. Related to the English "borough".It doesn't seem likely that berg and burg could be the same word originally ... the meanings are too different. Or maybe there's a lot going on that I don't know about! Wouldn't be the first time.
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