Cogs can think.

I might as well explain to you all why I have a pretty weird name for a Dutchman: Thom Arvid Holwerda.

My surname, Holwerda, is not uncommon here. It is a name of Frisian origins, and there are small clues it even has a German influence. There is a town in Friesland called ‘Holwerd’, but whether or not that has anything to do with my surname is unclear. ‘Werd’ is most likely a derivative from ‘wierd’, which is another name for ‘terp’. And as most Dutch people will know, a ‘terp’ is a man-made hill on which houses were built to keep them dry during floods. Old chuches are often built on ‘terpen’ as well. In fact, Warmenhuizen is built on a collection of terpen, and you can still see them today; we have two churches in my hometown, and the old one, dating from the 1200s, is built on a terp.

My first name, Thom, is rare, as most people who want to name their kid in a similar way usually choose the million times as common Tom, or T(h)omas. My first name has a story attached to it: when I was born, my parents decided to call me Per, much more in line with my parents’ obsession with Scandinavian names (my brothers are named Sven Diederik and Kai Kristian, esp. the latter is such a beautiful alliterating name). However, my mother apparently wasn’t at all happy with it. So, when my father went to the bathroom, and the nurse came to my mother to note my name, my mother said, “He’s named Thom.” Of course I don’t know how dramatised this story is, but I find it really cool I was named “Per” for roughly 20 minutes. However, I am extremely grateful my mother changed it— Thom is a much more posh name. However, it does suck to have to spell out my 4 letter name every time. I wonder how many institutions have my name spelled ‘Tom’ in their databases.

Well, I already explained where ‘Arvid’ comes from. Arvid is a Scandinavian name, and not at all uncommon over there. Here in The Netherlands it is a rare name.

So, there you have it. Thom Arvid Holwerda. And no, contrary to all those silly tech columnists out there, I don’t use my 2nd initial when signing emails, articles, and other stuff.