Family name origins & meanings
- Dutch and Belgian : habitational name for someone from any of the numerous places called Dam (for example in Utrecht province and in Gennep, Limberg) or Ten Damme (for example in Overijssel), or from other places named for a dam, dike, or pond (for example Stadje Damme in West Flanders).
- Claes Ripse van Dam came to Fort Orange, New Netherland (now part of Albany, NY), before 1658. His son, Rip Van Dam, was a prominent merchant and politican during the colonial era.