Webmaster Peter van Boheemen.

Welcome to this website where the origin and the distribution of the Van Bohemen / Van Boheemen family is presented.

The earliest known ancestor Philip is born around 1430, probably in Monster or in the immediate vicinity thereof (current municipalities of Westland and The Hague).

The family tree drawn up for the period 1430-1650 has 60 family members. They all live in or near Monster and work in agriculture. From 1580 onwards, a number is named  Vercroft following a stepfather’s name. A few decades later, they switch to the Van Bohe (e) men family name.

The family tree for the period 1650-1800 includes nearly 300 members who all have the family name Van Bohe(e)men. There are 11 branches. Two of them continue to grow after 1800. For the sake of convenience they are named the ‘Loosduinen farmer’s branch’ and the ‘The Hague soldier’s branch’. The last branch, for example,  includes Arnoldus van Bohemen who, as a VOC-soldier, embarks six times for a trip to Batavia.

Within the family tree for the period 1800-1950 there are 12 branches which keep growing, and 8 branches wich don’t. This concerns a total of about 820 family members. Three-quarters of them are Roman Catholic and for a large part continue to work in the agricultural sector. The other quarter is of Protestant house and has many handworkers such as bricklayers and carpenters.

As far as we know, the family name for the first time appears in a notarial deed from 1632. This deed concerns Dirk Jansz. van Bohemen. He then lives on a farm in the Segbroekpolder in The Hague. This farm, named Bohemen, has to make way for a new residential area at the end of the Second World War. That is why The Hague now has a residential area with the name Bohemen.

In 2007, about 890 persons with the Van Bohe(e)men family name are counted in The Netherlands. This number will now amount to more than 1000. In addition, there are the relatives who live abroad, mainly as a result of the emigration wave shortly after the Second World War. The Van Boheemen spelling way occurs in nearly the same amount as the Van Bohemen spelling way.

The family tree has a small branch, in which  the members bear the name Bohemen (so without the prefix ‘Van’). This branch can also be found on this website. This does not apply to a Jewish family with the name Bohemen, because there is no relationship with the Christian family Van Bohe(e)men (see Postscript at the end of this message).

Responses in the form of a question, a correction or a supplement are welcome. This is possible via Contact.

Postscript
The Jewish family with the name Bohemen comes to The Netherlands form Central Europe in the 18th century and then settles in the city of Amsterdam and the province of Groningen. As described on this website the Van Bohe(e)men family has quite another origin.
Nowadays the family name Bohemen is rare in The Netherlands. In 1947, shortly after the Holocaust, 64 members are counted. In 2015 this number amounts to only 25.