Vos

The origin of the surname Vos

Vos means “fox,” likely a nickname for a cunning or red-haired person.

What kind of surname is Vos?

As a descriptive surname (or nickname name), the surname Vos arose from a personal characteristic — a physical trait, a quality of temperament, or a distinguishing feature of its first bearer. Communities have always coined nicknames, and in the age before fixed surnames these vivid, affectionate or teasing labels — referring to hair colour, stature, complexion or character — frequently became hereditary. Descriptive surnames give an unusually human glimpse of an ancestor, hinting at how they looked or how they were regarded by the people around them.

How Dutch surnames work

Dutch surnames frequently include a tussenvoegsel — a small connecting particle such as “van” (“of/from”), “de” (“the”) or “van der” (“of the”) — which points to a place of origin or a descriptive term, as in Van Dijk (“of the dike”) and De Jong (“the young”). Others are patronymic, often ending in “-sen” or “-s” (Jansen, “John's son”), or occupational. Surnames were made compulsory in the Netherlands under Napoleon in 1811, which fixed many previously fluid names.