Steven, your post came at the same time mine did; I hadn't read it when I wrote my message immediately above this one.
Thanks for the clarification.
Okay, Liz asked if I disagreed with a decision, to let you know. I don't have any skin in this game, personally; I'm just trying to test out your criteria and process here...:
I have a potential challenge for you all in the case of Abraham Pietersen Van Deursen-25. If this has been discussed already, please point me to it.
Steven, you wrote:
So when the patronymic is not glaringly obvious, NNS convention goes with the prefix, such as van, which means "from" or "of."
BUT, the patronymic for Abraham IS glaringly obvious-- it's Pietersen. In fact, when I went looking for the source for Abraham's mother's name, I spent some time in Albert Harrison Van Duesen, Van Deursen Family, NY, NY: Frank Allaben Genealogical Co. (1912), vol I. (This book can be found through openlibrary.org)
Page lxii discusses the use of surnames in this family. Through the marriages of Abraham's children, they used the patronymic form of a surname. There are no records where Abraham appears as Abraham Van Deursen; the author points out : "He did not use his [Van Deursen] surname nor did any of the family until 1667, when Peter Abrahamszen Van Deursen is so designated on the baptismal record of one of his children."
So um, what do we do with that?
NOTE: I have not been actively involved in the New Netherlands Project because I've been too busy elsewhere and my own "New Amsterdam" folks (De Veaux -- on my husband's side) came after the era of the NNS project. However, not too long ago, I discovered that my near 99% German heritage has one itsy bitsy line that goes back to colonial New England and New Netherlands/Amsterdam: Selina van Deusen (1825- aft 1910), dau of Ethan Allen Van Deusen and Climene Tobey.