De Bie is a surname of Dutch origin. "De bie" (modern spelling "de bij") means "the bee", and the surname can be of metonymic occupational origin, e.g. a paternal ancestor may have been a bee-keeper. Other origins could be an address ("from a house with a sign of a bee") or be metaphorical (e.g. a busy person).[1] Variant spellings include De Bij, De Bije, De By, De Bye, DeBie, Debije and Debye.

People with this name include:

De Bie
DeBie/ Debie
De Bij/ De By
  • Herman de By (1873–1961), Dutch swimmer
De Bije/ De Bye
Debije / Debye
  • Peter Debye (1884–1966), Dutch physicist and Nobel-laureate

References

  1. De Bie at the Database of Surnames in The Netherlands.
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