Auke, pron. [ˈaukə], is a quite common West Frisian masculine given name. It seems to have been a diminutive form originally (-ke is one of the most common diminutive suffices in West Frisian), which developed from the historic form Auwe or Auwen. According to onomatologist Rienk de Haan, Auwe was a very reduced form of certain Germanic names, possibly starting with Alf- (meaning "elf", "supernatural" or "nature spirit").[1]
In West Frisian, masculine given names can usually be adapted to equivalent feminine given names. In the case of Auke, this is accomplished by dropping the voiceless final syllable and adding a diminutive suffix in its place (in this case -je), resulting in Aukje. This is a very common feminine given name in Friesland.[2]
People named Auke
Notable people with the name Auke include:
- Auke Adema (1907–1976), a Dutch skater and winner of the Elfstedentocht
- Auke Bloembergen (born 1927), a Dutch jurist and legal scholar
- Auke Hulst (born 1975), a Dutch writer and musician
- Auke Stellingwerf (1635–1665), a Dutch (Frisian) admiral
- Auke Tellegen, an American psychologist
- Auke Zijlstra (born 1964), a Dutch politician
People named Aukje
Notable people with the name Aukje include:
- Aukje de Vries (born 1964), a Dutch (Frisian) politician