Why are people from the Netherlands called Dutch?

Answer by  danigre (22)

Earlier in history, the Netherlands was viewed as sort of a "lower Germany. " "Deutsch," which means German, is where the word "Dutch" comes from.

Answer by  kskscsch (30)

"Dutch" is the English counterpart of the Dutch words "Diets" and "Duits", meaning "German". So, the word "Dutch" (which is the term used for people in Holland by English-speakers only) is most likely a slight corruption of the German word "deutch" which is, in fact, the German word for "German".

Answer by  lmwilkinson (131)

In the Middle Ages "Deutsch" was actually used as a term for anyone who did not speak or write Latin. The spelling was later changed to Dutch.

Answer by  monkeyz (3150)

The Dutch people and language originate from the old Germanic people of the area. The word for the German language/people is "Deutsch," which evolved to be "Dutch" for Netherlanders.

Answer by  caporfirio (804)

Ironically, only people who speak the English language call people from this area Dutch. There are various theory's on how this came into being. The most plausible is that way back when their manner of speech reminded English speakers of German. The Germans are also referred to as Dutch in the English language.

Answer by  ChristinaRamirez (481)

People from Netherlands are call dutch because they are considered germanic people. They also spoke a germanic language which is now dutch.

Answer by  nefacess (115)

Dutch people are from a specific part of the Netherlands. The culture is historically different, and is kind of like a state or province in the northern part of the country.