Source of the name "Yankee"

[Silent Joe]

Hey, Pards and Pardettes. Is there anyone who can tell what the source is of the name "Yankee"? (I know !!!!       , but do you?)

[Silver Creek Slim]

The origin of Yankee has been the subject of much debate, but the most likely source is the Dutch name Janke, meaning "little Jan" or "little John," a nickname that dates back to the 1680s. Perhaps because it was used as the name of pirates, the name Yankee came to be used as a term of contempt. It was used this way in the 1750s by General James Wolfe, the British general who secured British domination of North America by defeating the French at Quebec. The name may have been applied to New Englanders as an extension of an original use referring to Dutch settlers living along the Hudson River. Whatever the reason, Yankee is first recorded in 1765 as a name for an inhabitant of New England. The first recorded use of the term by the British to refer to Americans in general appears in the 1780s, in a letter by Lord Horatio Nelson, no less. Around the same time it began to be abbreviated to Yank. During the American Revolution, American soldiers adopted this term of derision as a term of national pride. The derisive use nonetheless remained alive and even intensified in the South during the Civil War, when it referred not to all Americans but to those loyal to the Union. Now the term carries less emotion—except of course for baseball fans.

Slim

[Silent Joe]

Slim, the story I've read is this: "In the 17th century a lot of Dutch people moved over to the States and settled on Manhattan. Most of the man there had the name "Jan" or "Kees". Tipical Dutch names.  Later on is this degenerated to "Jankees" or "Yankees".  See you around, Pard.

[Sabino Bob]

One story I heard was "Yankee" was a version of the French "Le Englais" or "Le Angalis" for " The English".

[The Elderly Kid]

I heard a variant of the Dutch pirate story. In this version, Jan Kee was a famous Dutch pirate, and since the Dutch considered all Americans to be pirates (sometimes they acted that way) they applied the term to American sailors. The British picked up the term and pronounced it "yankee." Believe it or not, I heard that on the Mickey Mouse Club back on the 50s. Remember how they used to do a sketch about word origins?

[Silent Joe]

Well, Pards. There are a couple of different story's and we shall never know with one is the right one.

[Forty Rod]

Well, Joe, any way you look at it, we're either Dutch or you're a Yankee.  Maybe both.   Either way, I'll buy you and Lis a drink or several.

[Silent Joe]

Thanks, F.R. Let's say we're both. We will drink on that. Greetings for Shawna. 

[Cimarron Red]

As Sabino Bob has mentioned, I understand that 'yankee' is a corruption of the French 'l'anglais' which the indians pronounced 'yengese.'

[Captain Lee Bishop]

In the Dutch language, a "J" is pronounced as a "Y," same as the Germans pronounce it, for what that's worth. Like all lazy folks, I looked it up on Google and found some speculation on the subject:
http://www.answers.com/topic/yankee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee
http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/yankee/

[Trinity]

The Eye-talians don' pronounce the J... they don't even have a J in their alphabet.


But that's neither here nor there.