Author Archives: Billekens

What is the origin of the name Billekens?

Remarkable is that since the ancestor (Billekens) the family mainly existed in Sevenum.
This must make this family one of the oldest Sevenum families.

Until the French Revolution around 1800 a family name was not fixed. Both BELLICKES, BELLEKES, TIMMERMANS and FABRI are found.
These names were used side by side and interchangeably.

For example, Johan (Joes) Bellickes was a carpenter by profession and a son of him has reported as "the son of the carpenter (timmerman)".
This gave rise to the name "Timmermans", but also "Fabri", which in Latin means "makers".

In October 1980 G.P. Billekens elaborated an extensive pedigree of the Billekens family. In the description he wrote the following:

"Joannes Bellickes was a carpenter, which is why the name Bellickes, Billekens, Timmermans and Fabri were first used.
The current family Timmermans actually has the same ancestor.
The name Billekens probably originates from the name Sibilla, although there are other opinions here as well".

G.P. Billekens, family tree, October 1980

In De Limburger journal of July 7, 2020, an article appeared under the name "Van Poepjes tot Janssen: een duik in de historie van de achternaam“.
In this article, written by Hans Goosen, the idea is also mentioned that the name descends from Sibilla:

"Surnames were often patronymic, but for children raised without a father, matronymic names were available, such as the surname Billekens (van Sybille), which occurs in Northern Limburg. With as special characteristic the ending 'kens'. This 'reduction' served to keep seniors and juniors listening to the same name apart".

Hans Goossen, De Limburger, 7 July 2020

Personally, I am not convinced by the Sybilla/Sybille theory, because the first known Sybilla/Sybille was only born in 1664, while the name Bellickes was already in use around 1500.