Nederlander surname?

Question:Evenhuis. Lots of them in Gronigen, I've been told; or there were over 35 years ago. That's where my gr-gr-grandfather came from as well.
Family name has since been Anglicized & we have no idea what the original name means, if anything.
Thanks!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Evenhuis. Lots of them in Gronigen, I've been told; or there were over 35 years ago. That's where my gr-gr-grandfather came from as well.
Family name has since been Anglicized & we have no idea what the original name means, if anything.
Thanks!

You're right, there were many branches of the family in Groningen. Here's a great site from the Netherlands' major archives where you can research your family. It's possible to find your gggrandfather in there. There are two variants of the name, depending on the era. So look for both Evenhuis and Evenhuijs.
http://www.genlias.nl/en/search.jsp

As for the name meaning, Huis = house. So you're from the House of Even.

Dutch/Nedelander surname just means the name has its origin in the Netherlands. So you would use the Dutch language to figure out what the name means. The literal translation of Evenhuis is 'even house,' but if the name has been anglicized, then the spelling could be simplified.

Evenhuis is tranlated into "a house which is even" meaning a house which literally stands firm and has not sunk away in the clay. A real issue in the old days as houses would slowly sink away in the soft bottom and become uneven.