Journey to His Past

The Luijendijk name originated in 1470 on the island of Hoekse Waard, Netherlands.  The name is directly related to the life and work in the polders of ancient Holland. 

Luijendijk means the lazy dyke.  It is the second dyke behind the one that protects the polder from the invasion of sea or river water.  It is not the "active" dyke, hence the word lazy (or luie/luye dijk).  The family lived near such a secondary dyke, when people started to adopt family names.

Luyendyk is the more common American spelling of the surname.  Although no one is certain of the change in spelling, one can infer the the ij was changed to y, when ij is written it is almost identical to y.

Leyn Dyke is the spelling my husband's grandfather, Peter, adopted.  Peter was five years old when his father, Cornelius Luyendyk died.  His mother, Nellie, remarried Addison B. Kennedy.  Peter used the surname Kennedy until he was older and wanted to take his father's surname back.  He was unsure of the spelling so he spelled it Leyn Dyke, with the capital D.  Peter continued using this spelling until his death.

Leyndyke is the spelling my husband's family uses.  Kirk's father, Jim, changed it during his time in World War II.  During the war, Jim wouldn't receive all his mail as it was called to Jim Dyke.  He dropped the capital D and Leyndyke was born.

Here is my husband's Leyndyke lineage:

Kirk Leyndyke
James Leyndyke
Peter Leyn Dyke (1894-1991)
Cornelius Luyendyk (1859-1900)
Pieter Luijendijk (1823-1903)
Jakob Luijendijk (1789-1834)
Klaas Luijendijk 1745-1829)
Jacob Christiann Luijendijk (1708-)
Christiaan Corstiaan Luijendijk (1678-)
Corstiaan Cornelis Luijendijk (1648-1707)
Cornelis Arend Luijendijk (1618-1701)
Arend Jan Luijendijk (1583-1647)
Jan Arend Luijendijk (1556-)
Arend Jan Luijendijk (1530-1561)
Jan Arend Luijendijk (1500-)
Arend Luijendijk (1470-)