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- Eisse (Ayse, Aisse) Janssen was shown on his birth record to be the son of Jan Focken and Geeske Janssen ("Aysen" at birth). He is the only child to take on a second or surname, and it happens to be the surname Janssen from his mother, not his father. Most often, if you were given a second name, it was the first name of your father.
In Germany, there was a rule where if the child is considered illegitimate, he would become the obligation of his mother's family but not of the stepfather. The stepfather would not pass the inheritance down to the stepchild, but rather only to his biological children. It is possible that Eisse was not the son of Jan Focken, but of a Haan. However, there is no notation on the birth record that he was illegitimate, but that simply may not have been disclosed at the time. His family began to use "Haan" as their last name after Eisse's death and kept the name thereafter. It is possible they used it before his death, but we have no
It is possible that it was only revealed that he was illegitimate upon his death, the death of his stepfather, or possible after the death of his biological father in order to save someone disgrace.
On the other hand, it is known that Napoleon in 1811 issued a decree in the Netherlands requiring all families to choose a surname. It is also possible that Eisse decided on "Haan" as his surname. However, that would not explain why Eisse was given his mother's surname at birth, but that could be just coincidence. "Haan" would have been an unusual choice as well since the family did not seem to have any relationship with others with the Haan surname. Finally, it doesn't explain why "Focken" is never attached to Eisse in any way, not in the record of his marriage, the birth of his children, his death, or the death of his widow.
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