Borkhuis Fun & Facts

THE NAME

The name is Borkhuis, but what does it mean? Originally a Dutch name and exported to the U.S.A. But even for the Dutch the meaning of the name is not clear.
The last part "huis" is not a problem, as this means "house". But what means "Bork"?
Let's consult the leading dictionary in the Netherlands: Het Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (in short: de Van Dale):

BORK : (m;-en), bark ¹ (see bark)
¹ BARK: (m; g.mv.), BORK (~high german: Borke, etymology unclear)
  1. Rough crust-like part of tree-bark;
  2. (ground) bark of an oaktree;
 

Which would lead to the conclusion: house of (a rough crust-like part of) tree or oak bark.
Only, this doesn't make much sense: there are not a lot of natural forests in the northern part of the Netherlands, mainly flat grassland on a soil of mud, and houses were not made of bark.
(although in Drente and Overijssel, other, more southern, provinces, they were made out of peat).

An other explanation would be that bork is a mis-spelling (or dialect) of 'borg' or 'borch'.
The Van Dale dictionary:
BORG: (m.&f.; -en), (old-fashioned) burg (see burg.).
BURG: (m.&f.; -en), (for etymology see burcht) (old-fashioned) burcht.
BURCHT: (m.&f.; -en) (Mnl. Borch, burch, ~berg)
1. castle, stronghold, fortified place; (etc.)

'Castle' is unlikely. There are no castles in Groningen.
The meaning would probably be: a strong, or fortified house.
Jan Klaassen Borkhuis was probably living in or near a big house or farm when he was made to register his name and choose a surname in 1811.

Of course there is a third possibility: perhaps Bork used to mean something in the dialect of North-Groningen in 1811, which isn't recorded. In that case, we really don't know what it means. So keep looking....

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THE LANGUAGE

The Language?? You mean Dutch? or perhaps the dialect of Groningen?
No, Borks is a separate 'language', to wit the language the Swedish Chef speaks in Jim Henson's The Muppets.
(Talking of the Swedish Chef: during a recent trip to Copenhagen we read in the SAS magazine that this character is based on a real Swedish chef, called Lars "Kuprik" Bäckman. For more about him, go to: http://www.somasoma.de/1/somarest1.htm )