The origin of the surname Tanis has been a source of speculation for a long time. One of the Tanis family members discovered a hamlet in Normandy, France, named Tanis.
Others have suggested that the Tanis surname could refer to the Thames River Valley in Essex, England. In the Netherlands, the prime concentration of the Tanis clan can be found in the coastal village of Ouddorp, which is only a boat ride away from the Thames, they say.
Another tongue-in-cheek explanation places the Tanis origin in Egypt because it has a town named Tanis.
The village of Ouddorp is part of the municipality of Goedereede, which is home to 555 members of the 1,548 member Dutch Tanis clan. Include those residing in adjoining municipalities of the former island of Goeree-Overflakkee and the Tanis clan concentration reaches a subtotal of 668 members. (The clan saw many emigrate to the USA in the late 1800s, but that is another story.)
The earliest birth entries with the surname Tanis date from the mid 1550s, when at least three brothers named Tanis lived in Ouddorp, a village known for dependence on fishing. The other economic activity was agricultural, including growing madder, a root used for extracting dye for treating leather and textiles, including ropes and sails.
Ouddorp’s fishermen, like their contemporaries elsewhere, needed to protect their fishing gear from deterioration and treated the material by submerging it in a ‘taanketel’ (tanning drum) and boiling it in a ‘taanhuisje’ (tanning shed) although these fireplaces could also be in the open air.
Could the Dutch verb ‘tanen’ be relevant in the solution to the Tanis origin question?
Let us look elsewhere in the country. The Vollenhove, Overijssel local historical society periodical Kondschap of June 2010 featured an article titled, ‘Het tanen van scheepstextiel’ (The tanning of seafarer’s textile), which describes the process in detail although there is no direct reference to the madder culture because they used a certain kind of tree bark.
Is there a link with the tanner trade? The genealogical research available focuses too much on the bare data without detailing information on livelihood issues which tell so much more about ancestors.
Although I plan to keep looking for more references that may clarify the origin of the Tanis surname further. With the information received since this post of 2010, I am more open to the idea that the Tanis roots may well be found across the North Sea in England (and perhaps further back to Normandy, see also David R. Tanis’ comments above. Please show genealogical research to confirm this. 2017 modification).
There are two noteworthty points about the Tanis tradition: for centuries there were no firm spelling rules but this surname’s spelling stayed the course while many others in the area did not.
The other point, the given name Jacob, its female equivalent Jacoba and minor variations such as Jaap and Jack are still being used after nearly 500 years.
As for “tanen”, Wikipedia has a brief article (in Dutch) with an illustration listed at http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanen.
To read more about the Tanis and Ouddorp connection in North America, you may want to read: http://www.godutch.com/newspaper/index.php?id=469
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I have an unusual Dutch last name, Jobsis (with an umlaut over the o). The family seems to have learned it may originally have been German, much to the chagrin of us proud Dutch folk. Thank you for taking the time to blog about genealogy.
The Concise Scots Dictionary (1987 edition) defines TANIST as a term in Celtic law, meaning “the successor to a Celtic king or chief (of Ireland or scotland) elected during his predecessor’s lifetime from within certain degrees of kinship”.
The origin of the word is a Gaelic word “tanaiste”, which translates as : “something secondary to another, or the next heir”.
source: Project Administrator
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When looking at the root of Tanis, I would consider similar sounding surnames. One of these is Kanis. I ran across an explanation of the background of a Nijmegen student, who called himself Canis in the 17th century. It is a latinized surname adapted from the Dutch noun Hond. This does not mean that the surname Kanis, found in the region around Apeldoorn and Kampen is necessarily connected to the Nijmegen case. There may well be a different scenario at play. Back to Tanis. It originated around 1550 when the Romish clergy and their assistants, the costers, still used Latin to update their church records. The Celtic era was much earlier, so I will be a sceptic as far as this solution is concerned.
The Normandy connection might make some sense, since, s early as 1550 some French Hugonot refugees who had escaped the massacre of Vaudois (1545) and the Gestapo-like “Chambre ardente” which was set up in 1549 for the
purpose of rooting out the Protestant heresy, entered England and Holland. The Huguenots were the Orangemen of France and were proud of it.They were staunch Protestants prepared to adhere to the truth though it cost them life itself, and many of them indeed sealed their testimony with their blood, dying a martyr’s death. It was mainly in Dauphiny, Normandy and Brittany that this movement had its chief support, and a large number of its adherents were members and cadets of the old aristocratic families of Nordic race, a good, solid and stolid stock. We also know that the Frisian language is closer to Old Norse than any other language, which makes sense, given the Nordic origins of Norman Hugonots. In fact, the word Norman means “Norseman”. Another main body followed almost a century later and from the middle of the seventeenth century, there was a constant exodus of the very best elements in France – the very flower of the nation, principally from Brittany and Normandy and other parts where the Celto-Nordic and Norse (Norman) elements predominated. The emigres were men of leaming and character and many were expert craftsmen who brought new industries to this land of ours and helped to make Britain great. There were ministers and pastors noblemen, solid merchants and industrious artisans and landed gentry well as husbandmen, gardeners and skilled agricultural workers. In a few months followed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In 1685, fifty thousand families left the shores of France to make their homes in England, the Netherlands and Protestant Germany. Many settled in the East End of London where they set up silk manufactories and hat-making concerns. A goodly number found their way to our American colonies, particularly New Jersey and New York, and a body numbering approximately 200 was settled at the Cape of Good Hope by the States-General of the Netherlands, where it still forms an element in that population. In all, one million Hugonots left France for England, The Netherlands and Germany between the mid-1500s and the mid 1700s.
Thanks for the contribution. Regrettably, you focus far more on Huguenot history in general then specifically on the Tanis surname origin. You do not interact with any Tanis genealogical information to make your case. In fact, there is nothing in the Tanis naming tradition that points to French influences. This one has more validity, although I would want to see the documentation as proof: Jacob Jansz. Tanis, Born ca 1520 in the Thames River Valley, Sussex. Died Ouddorp ca 1570. Adriaan and Jacob are given names still current in my wife’s Tanis lineage. Her grandfather was a Jacob and her uncles were called Jacob (Jaap) and Adriaan.
What interesting geneology! My father was Jaap Tanis and he came to the UK in the ’60’s where I was born and continue to reside. Love the thought that the Tanis family may have originated from the Thames Valley in the 1500’s.
Jacob….we may be related…………in my Family History there is a Jacob Jansz Tanis born in 1520 and died in Ouddorp, Zuid Holland.
Hi to all,
Thanks to all of you for this very interesting topic. I would like to expose my case, to help you in your investigations.
My mother is from Tanis origins. My mother family is settled in Toulouse, south-western France, for the last 200 years. I couldn’t go further back.
All the Tanis born in Southern France can be linked to my mother’s family.
I would like to add that they are protestants. And the older ones still alive in my Tanis family are very conservative about it.
I would like to add that Huguenot origins of the name may help to understand the origins of Tanis. It’s not only a name, there is a story behind.
All have good day
Quoted from my original post: “Could the Dutch verb ‘tanen’ be relevant in the solution to the Tanis origin question?” There is something I missed up to now, the surnames Tanis does have variants! What are these? Taan and Taen! In fact, Adriaan Tanis who moved from Ouddorp to Herkelingen is the ancestor of the Taan clan. Now the question is how did this variation originate? Is it connected to his work as a tanner, is it simply a contraction of the name or a misspelling that was never corrected? An error based on dialect prununciation? Or a combination of the above in a very simple 16th century isolated Dutch village society?
The foirst historical mention of Tanis is in Herodotus a greek historian who wrote in the fifth century BC Tanis was one of the seven cities where the Calasyries came from. They were Egyptian horse soldiers. The Romans under Caesar had used Egyptian soldiers in Gaul and it is not too much of a stretch to consider that a wounded or retiring Roman soldier who was a Calasyrie was given a plot of land in Gaul. When William the COnqueror summon his vassals for thebattle at Hastings one of them was Aubrey de Tanis. He was rewarded with an estate near Fyfield in Essex England. The estate was given to the Church by Maude Tanis in the 1200s . Some Tanises ir Tanbues in Engand changed the spelling to Taney. The Tanises in England were related to the Harcourt’s and Beaumonts The family seems to have originally been of Viking origin.. I have not been able to make a paper connection between these Tanises and Jacob Tanis who emigrated to Holland in 1550. At this time Queen Mary was married to the Habsburg Emperor son of Charles V of Spain. Holland at that time was part of the Hapsburg empire and the Emperor spent a lot of time there fighting the French. It is possible that Jacob Tanis was in service to the Spanish King which was the reason he went to the Netherlands. In the Tanis genealogy there are a lot of sheriffs and magistrates, There are two judges and a number of policemen among my Tanis family members. I was able to trace one ancestor, Aleman, back to William of Holland in 1320 and from him back through Charlemagne. William the Conqueror was also an ancestor which is indicative of some familial relation between him and his vassal, Aubrey de Tanis. This is more than mere speculation but falls short of being proven..
Thanks for your input. As a rule, I welcome thinking outside the genealogical box to look for ways to advance research. However, unless there is factual evidence of a connection with the Egyptian town of Tanis I would NOT put any value to that suggestion, which is highly speculative. The English connection has far more currency. Why? The surname Tanis in Ouddorp is not the only one with English roots! When direct links are absent, look for other circumstantial evidence, which in Ouddorp’s case, the Dutch hub for Tanis, is present. It is remarkable in my opinion, that the Tanis clan in the Netherlands has honoured the spelling of the family name while contemporaries were all of the place with theirs, suggesting an awareness of roots and identity?
Hello David,
I also have a direct bloodline to Jacob Jansz Tanis, and the Aleman family. I have been told that the Aleman family is a royal bloodline. I’ve been trying to locate books, and documents to verify this information. Do you know of any sources? Also, I have been unable to locate birth records from Jacob Tanis in England. Do you know where I could locate them.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes,
Karen
Yes, Karen, the Aleman lineage descends from lower nobility on Goeree Overflakkee and links up via higher nobility with Emperor Charlemagne, so we have been told a number of times. There are sources on this in the Dutch language but do not know if anyone has translated those yet. As always, use caution with genealogical information because there are critics as well. We hope that David picks up on your request.
In the Chapel at Dives-sur-Mer in Normandy there is a plaque with a long list of people who owed fealty to William the Conqueror and supported him in the invasion of England by providing ships and troops. There is the name of Auvrai de Tanie among them Auvrai (Aubrey) means to truth and Tanie is the name often seen on maps of Tanis especially in the early maps. In England the name often became Taney to distinguish from the other people named Tanis. There is some genetic evidence, although weak, since many of the Tanis’s in the Netherlands were magistrates, Roger Taney was Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and my cousin and UI were both judges. It appears that William granted Auvrai de Tanis an estate near Fifield, in Essex, England but in the 1200’s our ancestor, Maud Tanis, gave it to the church. After that the name appears to have disappeared in England until 1550 when Jacob Tanis migrated to Holland. He and his wife were drowned in the great flood of 1570 along with several thousand inhabitants of the Island of Goeree/Flakkee. Presumably Jacob was a merchant whose business involved sailing down the Thames and over to Goedereede (Good Harbor in Dutch) which was silted in by the flood.
A tenuous connection with Egypt is found in Herodotus who wrote of the Calisyries, military horsemen in Egypt who came from seven towns one of which was Tanis (Zoan) in the Nile Delta. The Roman connection with Egypt is well known as both Julius Caesar and his cousin, Marc Anthony, had liaisons with Cleopatra. It is not out of the question to believe that Caesar brought some Calisyries to Gaul and upon retiring, either because of old age or wounds, granted him some Gaulish land which became known as Tanis. Of course, there is no documentation of this, but it is an entirely conceivable chain of events.
Let’s not forget that the Kingdom of Tanis in Egypt was settled by Alexander the Great and his legions from Macedonia before building Alexandria. Egypt from that time until the Ottoman Invasion was Greek. Cleopatra was Greek, the daughter of Ptolomy II. Also, there is a Street in Alexandria named Tanis and there are many people still in Alexandria with the surname of Tanis. They are part of a remnant of Alexandrian Greeks, Orthodox Christians, who speak Greek. It is very possible that some of these Greek Tanises fled the Ottoman invasions by ship and wound up in France and Holland.
Thank you for the terrific info! I’m a descendent of one of the Tanis women who immigrated to the United States and already enjoy learning more about this line!
Based on my research it appears that my ancestors are related to the Tanis’ lineage. Trying to confirm with more documentation. Jacob Jansz Tanis married to Jacomiitje Pietersdr married into the Breen family via the Commersz’s ultimately to the Haamstee’s. Any chance this could be?
You may wish to join this discussion group. There are several member who are connected to the Breen and Tanis clan. They may be able to help you connect the dots: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DutchGenealogy
My family is really into genealogy and we believe that our ancestors immigrated from Ouddorp. There is a graveyard around a mile from my house that documents the names of the men through the line from Ouddorp. (Or at least I think, I haven’t visited in around a year.) It’s basically John Martin, Martin John, John Martin… etc. etc…
Hi Albert,
Thank you for sharing what you already know about Tanis. I am French. My mom’s surname is Tanis. We all are from Toulouse, south-west France since 1850. Tanis is very unsual here as I haven’t found people out of my familly named Tanis in the south. The olders like to say we are from Egypt. As Tanis was named by Greek people, and considering it was a long time ago, I don’t consider this option. I guess as Tanis is not a local surname, we don’t originate from here. I know from the olders that the Tanis were mainly shopkeepers. I know we were all protestants.
I am sure we are linked with the Netherlands. Still trying to find this out 🙂
The name Tanis is first recorded in the Histories by Herodotus, a Greek historian in the Fifth century BC. He refers to a caste of Egyptian military horsemen or Calasyries, coming from seven cities, one of them being Tanis, a city in the Nile Delta. The Egyptian warhorses were sturdy, fast animals. It is not beyond the realm of possibility to conclude that the Romans, who put an end to the Pharaoh’s dynasty in the First Century BC, brought some of these horsemen with them as they conquered Gaul. One of the perquisites of being a loyal Roman soldier was to receive payment in the form of land in the conquered areas when the soldier was injured or no longer able to fight and retired. The town of Tanis in Southern Normandy in Gaul may have received its name from one off these Calasyrie soldier/horsemen who retired after honorary service in the Roman army. It could be a coincidence, but I do not but stock in coincidences.
In exchange for providing protection of Paris from the invading Vikings, Charles the Simple, grandson of Charlemagne, gave the Viking Lieutenant, Hrolf the Ganger, the City of Rouen and its surrounds in 911. Hrolf enlarged the Viking controlled area around Rouen all the way west to Brittany, then ruled by Conan. That area under the Viking control became known as Normandy, after the Norsemen. In 1066 William the Bastard, a descendant of Hrolf, made an agreement with his Viking relative, Harald, to invade England. William waited a month after the predetermined time for the attack before his forces invaded England. By that time his Norwegian cousin had significantly weakened the Englishmen and also his own army. William and his cohorts met little resistance in landing at Hastings and taking London that October. William called upon all his thanes who owed him allegiance to provide ships and soldiers in support of the invasion. One of these relatives, according to the record in the church of Dives-sur-Mer in Normandy, was Auvrai de Tanie. Tanis was spelled alternately Tanie or Tanis in ancient records. Auvrai was rewarded with a fiefdom near Fyfield, Essex, England, thus becoming Lord of the Manor. In the thirteenth century the person who was then Lord of the Manor gave the fiefdom to the church.
In Ouddorp, Nederland wonen een veel mensen met de naam Tanis, maar ook in andere steden en dorpen komt de naam voor, volgens mijn stamboom kommen we rong 1500 uit essex Engeland.
In Meertens (website about Dutch names) it says that Tanis is a patronym. So his father was likely to be named Taan as a first name.
Could that be the case?
If so, can you show evidence of others having been named Taan? What is more certain that there were ‘taan’ ketels and sheds in Ouddorp, since that area produced the ‘mekrap’ root which was used to tan or colour clothing for the fishing industry. In recent times, evidence points to a far more likely solution. Jacob Tanis, who settled in Ouddorp, hailed from across the sea, and came from England. Yes, I work a lot with Meertens and owe much to that site but they are not always right. They do welcome additional info.
All 4 of my grandparents were born in Ouddorp. On my mothers side (William Casteline ~ Willem Kastelijn and variations) we go back to ~ 1480 in Ouddorp. On the Tanis side, we go back to a Jan Jacobse Tanis who died October 20, 1631. I would like to find his ancestors as well. On vanosnabrugge.org is listed a John Tanis born ~1490 in Essex, England who emigrated to Ouddorp and a son Jacob born in Essex ~ 1520 and emigrated to Ouddorp and died there in ~1570. His son was a Jan Tanis (no middle name shown) who died in `1633. I would like to know if this the same person Jan Jacobse Tanis in my genealogy. Can anyone shed more light? If we get back to England, then I have to figure out how we get to France and then to Egypt (going backwards). By the way, my genealogy has several Dutch equivalents of John and Jacob – especially in the earlier years. My father was John Jacob and his father John. (My Coptic Egyptian Christian friend, one day called me “brother” because he supposed I had Egyptian roots; he said Egyptian Christians brought the name to Europe – so there you have it!.) – Bill T
Thanks for the info! My grandfather was
Leonard Tanis and he too was born in Ouddorp. They emigrated to NJ in the late 1890’s.
If you get this message please contact me very important I have over 9000 Tanis in my tree gong back to 1500
pyboth@gmail.com
Yvonna Both-Brusik
Canada
Hi David, I am also a descendant of the Tanis and Aleman families. Thank you for this info. Hope you can keep me posted. My Grandfather was a Jacob and my dad is a Cornelius as well.
I found a document some years ago about the roots of the Tanis name. I will quote in part below.
“The cronicles of England, though sometimes shrouded by the mists of time, reveal the early record of the name Tanis as a Norman surname which ranks as one of the oldest. The history of the name is interwoven into the colorful fabric as an intrinsic part of the history of Britain.
“Careful reserarch by professional analysts using such ancient manuscripts as the Doomseday Book (compiled byin 1086 by William the Conqueror), the Ragman Rolls, the Wace poem, the Honotr role of the Battel Abbey, The Curia Regis, Pipe Rolls, the Falaise Roll, tax records, baptismals, family geneologies, and local parish and church records, shows the first record of the name Tanis was found in Essexwhere they were anciently seated as Lords of the Manor. The Norman influence of English history dominatred afeter the Battle of Hastingsin 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and Norman ambience prevailed. The family name was firrst referenced in the 13th century when they held estares in that shire. The name originated Saint Aubin du Thenney in Eure. Richard de Tani stillheld his estates in Thenney which was in honour of Gilbert FitzRichard.
“Many alternative spellings were found. They were typically linked to a common root, usually one of the Norman nobles at the Battle of Hastings. Your name Tanis, occurred in many references, from time to time, the surname spellingsof Taney, Tanny, Tauny, Tauney, Tawney, Tawny, Tannie, Tani, de Tanis, and many more. Scribes recorded and spelled the name as it sounded. Itwas not unlikely that a person would be born with one spelling,married with another, and buried with the headstone which showed anotherr. ALl three spellings related to the sme pperson. Sometime preferences for different spelling variations came from a division of the family, or, had religius reasons, or patriotic reasons.
“The family name Tanis is beleived to be descended originally from the Norman race. They were commonly believed to be of French origin but were, more accurately, of Viking origin. The vikings landed in the Orkneys and Northern Scotlandabout the year 870 A. D., inder their shief Stirgud the Stout. Later, under their Jari, Thorfinn Rollo, theyinvaded France about 911 A. D. The French King, Charles the Simple, after Rollo laid siege to Paris, finally conceded defeat and granted norter France to Rollo. Rollo became the first Duke of Normandy, the territory of the North Men. Duke William who invaded and defeated England in 1066, was descended from the first Duke Rollo of Normany.
“Duke William took a census of most of England in 1086, and recorded it inn the Doomesday Book. A family name capable of being traced back to this document, or to Hastings, was a signal of honour for most families during the middle ages, and even to this day.
“The surname Tanis emerged as a notable English family name in the county of Essex where they were anciently seated. Hasculfus de Tania succeeded to the estates in 1195. They later branched to Suffolk. From their early beginnings, for the next few centuries, the family name also aquired other eststes or manors as branches established themselves throughout England. Several conflicts, the Was of Roses, the Cromellian found the sometimes to be in oposing camps with conflicting intere4sts….”
While this source may be challenged, it seems to say that the Tanis family decensds from Normans living in the Village of Tanis in the Mnche department of Normandy. It is a tiny village and currently lists 309 residents.It is very near the cathedral on the rock, la Mont Saint Michel. The cathedral in Bayeux, also in Normandy, has a famous tapestry about the history of Normandy. One section shows Duke William gahtering his troups in Normandy with one section showing Mont St. Michel in the background. It would seem resonable that one recruit from the village of Tanis would be called de Tani (of Tanis which in french the s would be silent).. This idea of Tanis origen dovetails nicely with the assertions of David R. Tanis on 310 Jan 2014 above. While there is not yet direct evidence of Jacob Janz Tanis beong a direct descendent, it make good common sense that he was. It also would be logical that he left England at the beginning of the striff between the English church and the Prostestents.
One other indication that the Tanis name was of Viking origin is the fact that there is a village in Norway where Finland, Norways and Sweden join that is named Tanis. There is also a village in northern Denmark named Tanisby. The vikings typically settled the north coasts of the islands and the mainland.
There are a great many people with the Tanis surname living in the very nirther part of France, You might want to see if you are reated to any of these folks.
Hi there!
I strongly believe that Tanis means Thames. In our ouddurps dialect it sounds quite similar. Spoken out as Thaenus, we have a similar well known family in Ouddorp called Grinwis which comes from Greenwich hundreds of years ago. The dialect here still holds a couple of english words.