Anneliese van der Pol

Dutch last names are great. Take figure skater Angelika Naaktgeboren. Her name means "born naked". Well, of course! Sculptor Huub Kortekaas? "Short cheese". Vaguely delicious...

It's not just meanings, it's strange characters and tongue-breaking combinations. Nobel laureate Gerard 't Hooft: what's that apostrophe doing there? Soccer player Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink: yes, his last name is "Venegoor of Hesselink". They actually fit that on a jersey! A century earlier, the Dutch fielded Karel Gleenewinkel Kamperdijk and Guus van Hecking Colenbrander...

Compared to all of those, Anneliese van der Pol is rather pedestrian. It means "of the raised land". Oh, Anneliese is a Dutch-born, Jewish, former Disney Channel star. No, that's not that interesting. We just wanted to talk about Dutch last names!

And then there is another soccer player, Jan Kok. Heh-heh. At least they saved on lettering there...

Verdict: **Jew**.

_April 20, 2016_