Surinam (Dutch colony) July 1667, and again confirmed in the Treaty of Westminster of 1674. After the other Dutch colonies in the Guianas, i.e., Berbice, Essequibo, Demerara, and Pomeroon, were lost to the British in 1814, the remaining colony of Surinam was often referred to as Dutch Guiana, especially after 1831, when the British merged Berbice, Essequibo, and Demerara into British Guiana. As the term Dutch Guiana was used in the 17th and 18th to refer to all Dutch colonies in the Guianas, this use of the term can be confusing (see below). The colonization of Surinam is marked by slavery. Plantations relied
Dutch name for centuries, and the adoption of new names was limited to some Jewish citizens and some people in rural communities in the north east of the country. There is a persistent myth that some Dutch citizens, as a way of protest, chose humorous names during the forced registration. Examples often given are "Naaktgeboren" ("born naked") or "Zondervan" ("without surname"). However these names are in fact far older; "Naaktgeboren" for example is from the German "Nachgeboren" (born after the father was deceased, also one of the origins of the name "Posthumus"). Many Dutch surnames originated from different personal qualities, geographical locations,