The word “van” in Dutch has two primary uses:

• Preposition meaning “of” or “from,” used to indicate origin or association in phrases such as “van Gogh” (from Gogh) or “van Amsterdam” (from Amsterdam). It can also appear in place-based expressions like “de man van de straat” (the man from the street).

• Prefix in Dutch surnames (called a tussenvoegsel), where it often denotes origin or residence of an ancestor and is not itself a standalone word in many surname contexts. Common forms include van de, van der, van den, van het, and van ’t; in many cases the article that follows van changes the pronunciation or spelling depending on surrounding sounds. Examples include Ludwig van Beethoven (from Bettenhoven) and Rembrandt van Rijn (from the Rhine).

Additional notes:

• The use of van in surnames is widespread and not an indicator of nobility. While some German “von” names imply nobility, Dutch “van” is generally a geographical or locational marker and is not confined to the noble class.

• In historical naming, van can be part of a compound surname with an article (e.g., van der, van de, van den). The article forms are related to the Dutch definite article de/het and have evolved in usage over time.

If you’d like, I can provide example phrases or help you parse a specific Dutch name to identify where “van” is indicating origin versus being a fixed surname prefix.