{{More citations needed|date=June 2021}} Since Belgium has three national languages — Dutch, French and German — Belgian names are similar to those in the neighbouring countries: the Netherlands, France and Germany. Place names (regions, towns, villages, hamlets) with a particle meaning "from" (''de'' in French, ''del'' in Walloon, or ''van'' in Dutch) are the most numerous. An uncapitalised particle sometimes indicates nobility.
Here is for example the chronological list of minister-presidents of Wallonia : {| class="wikitable" |- ! Name !! Origin |- |Jean-Maurice Dehousse|| French / Walloon origin (literally ''from Housse'') |- |André Damseaux || French / Walloon origin (derived from ''Damoiseau'') |- |Melchior Wathelet || French / Walloon origin (probably a diminutive from ''Gautier / Walter'') |- |Guy Coëme || French / Walloon origin (derived from the surname ''Cosme''<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=4bYErd60g3YC&dq=co%C3%ABme+origine+nom&pg=PA230 Dictionnaire des noms de famille en Wallonie et à Bruxelles - Coëme]</ref>) |- |Bernard Anselme || French / Walloon origin (derived from the surname ''Anselme'') |- |Robert Collignon || French / Walloon origin (diminutive from ''Collin'') |- |Elio Di Rupo || Italian origin |- |Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe || Flemish origin (literally ''from the cold hill'') |- |André Antoine || French / Walloon origin (derived from the surname ''Antoine'') |- |Rudy Demotte || Flemish / French origin (''The Motte'' in Dutch, ''From the Motte'' in French<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=4bYErd60g3YC&dq=nom+origine+demotte&pg=PA338 Dictionnaire des noms de famille en Wallonie et à Bruxelles - Demotte]</ref>) |}
For French family names among the Walloons and other francophones of Belgium, see French name.
The twenty most common French surnames in Belgium are respectively ''Dubois'', ''Lambert'', ''Dupont'', ''Martin'', ''Dumont'', ''Leroy'', ''Leclercq'', ''Simon'', ''Laurent'', ''François'', ''Denis'', ''Renard'', ''Thomas'', ''Lejeune'', ''Gérard'', ''Petit'', ''Mathieu'', ''Lemaire'', ''Charlier'', and ''Bertrand''. [http://statbel.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/chiffres/population/autres/noms/fam/index.jsp Sources]
Some surnames have an unclear origin, like ''Berger'', meaning ''shepherd'' in French, and ''mountaineer'' in Dutch and German. The particle ''De'' also means ''From'' or ''From the'' in French and means ''The'' in Dutch, which does not help finding the origin.
Flemish surnames are also common, due to Flemish economic immigration from 1850 to 1950. See Flanders name.
There are also a lot of typical Walloon surnames, like Monami (fr: ''Mon ami'', en: ''My friend''), Dehasse (fr: ''de Hasselt'', en: ''from Hasselt''), Delcroix (fr: ''de la Croix'', en: ''from the Cross''), Delhaize or Donnay (some famous tennis equipment in the 1980s).
Even crossed etymologies can be found like ''Deflandre'' (meaning in French ''from Flanders'') or Dehasse (fr: ''de Hasselt'', en: ''from Hasselt'', in Flemish Region).
==Notes== <references/>
Category:Wallonia