[Ads-l] Yankee

[victor steinbok]

I don't pretend my research was completely original. I simply followed up
on the OED note. But, I have found out a few things since then.

1. There was indeed a buccaneer captain by the name of Ian Wilems, who went
by "John Williams" in English documents or by "Captain Yankey". However, it
is very clear that Yankey (or any variation) was not his surname, which
ties up some loose ends in the OED note.

2. He operated mostly in the Caribbean between English and Dutch island
colonies, aligning with English (Peterson), Dutch (Van Hoorn) and French
(Tucker) privateers and pirates at various times. He was primarily a
mercenary, sometimes on formal commission from the crown, sometimes as just
a pirate. Dampier, in particular, stresses that in 1681 he was not a
commissioned privateer. The primary enemy was mostly the Spanish colonial
fleet. He has been known to turn down commissions to hunt down French or
English ships.

3. He was active between 1680 and 1688. The circumstances of his death in
1688 are unclear. However, his crew had joined Captain Petersen after his
death. So there's a possibility his ship had been scuttled after an
unsuccessful raid.

4. He was indeed popular with his crew - documented, but also the use of
"Janke" as his formal address suggest a degree of familiarity normally not
afforded the rank and file.

5. The identification is suggestive of a broader reference - perhaps
derogatory - to Dutch colonists as "Jankes", or "Little Johns". Whether
this reference also applied to the Dutch New Amsterdam colony is still not
clear. But it is a stronger speculation than originally presented in the
OED note and in other sources. The speculations on Dutch origin and the
supposed "surname" can be tied together.

VS-)

On Wed, Aug 5, 2026, 16:54 Jonathan Lighter <
00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Yankee
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Might be worth reposting, from October, 2005:
>
> Three tidbits concerning the mysterious etymology of "Yankee," which I
> encourage others to follow up on :
>
> 1. Evidently there was a pirate called "Captain Yankey" who sailed the seas
> in the late 17th C.
>
> 2. Some years ago I met a young fellow on campus named "Dennis Yankee."
> Naturally, he had not the slightest idea of where the name came from.
>
> 3. The Algonquian conversations subtitled in the 1993 film of _The Last of
> the Mohicans_ employ the word / 'yEngiz / (spelled "Yengees" elsewhere) to
> refer to the English.  Whatever the case in the 18th C.,  the modern-day
> film consultant on Algonquian evidently felt this word was genuine and
> appropriate.  (I believe that doubt has been expressed as to whether
> "Yengees" was a real word.)
>
> JL
>
> UPDATES:
>
> The Kingsport [Tenn.] Times-News (Dec. 17, 1983), p.10B [N] has a story on
> my former acquaintance Dennis Yankee. (Didn't know he'd been a football
> hero.)   Ancestry.com reports that the surname "Yankee" (variously spelled)
> is an "Americanized form of Dutch or North German Janke Jahnke or Jenke."
> The assertion is not a surprise, but the genealogical source may be more
> than ordinarily reliable.
>
> OED's first ex. of "Yankee," adj., is from 1781.  This is earlier:
>
> 1769 _Bath and Bristol Chronicle_ (Feb. 16) 3 [N]: There is not an
> officer...who cannot have his bedfellow for the winter; so that the Yankey
> war, contrary to all others, will produce more births than burials.
>
> OED now has a separate entry for "Yengees" (sic., pl.) with two cites so
> early as 1819. But whether it is the etymon or a reflex of "Yankee" still
> appears to be unknown.
>
> JL
>

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