LEEUWENHOEK’S NAME 301 
p. 18 supra.) Nevertheless, it is certain that, at the present 
day, there can be no Leeuwenhoeks who are directly descended 
from the great Antony himself: for he was the only son of 
his father, and none of his male issue outgrewinfancy. His 
sisters married—and so changed their names—while his only 
surviving daughter remained unmarried. 
The literal meaning of the name ‘‘ Leeuwenhoek”’ is 
obvious: for leeww means a lion, and a hoek is a corner or 
angle. (Accordingly, the name was neatly graecolatinized '— 
in Antony's own lifetime—into “ Leogonus”.) That the 
name itself is probably a place-name seems equally obvious, 
especially as we find it coupled with van. A very plausible 
derivation has been found recently by Bouricius (1924, 1925). 
According to him, Antony’s forefathers resided in a corner- 
house by the Leeuwenpoort (= Liongate) in the HKast-End of 
Delft : * and consequently they were, in all probability, known 
to their neighbours as the family “from the corner of the 
Liongate ” (van [den] Leewwen[poorts] hoek). 
At the present day there is nothing in Delft to connect 
Leeuwenhoek and his family with the topography of the place. 
It is true there is his effigy on the railings round the playground 
of a girls school in the Oude Delft; but this was put there 
recently in error.’ And there is also, of course, a modern road 
called Antony van Leeuwenhoek singel—outside the old town, 
and leading to the railway station. 
For the orthography of the name ANTONY VAN 
LEEUWENHOEK there is good authority. In his early life, 
however, he signed himself “ Antonj Ieeuwenhoeck ’’—the 
christian name ending with a longz (not English 7) and the 
surname with ch, and without van. This is the spelling in all 
MS. signatures up to and including Letter 39 (17 Sept. 1683): 
but Letters 40, 41, and 42 are signed “ Antonj Leeuwenhoek ”— 
1 Cf. the panegyric poem prefixed to the first volume of the Opera 
Omnia. 
2 In early days the town of Delft was fortified by walls and moats, 
communicating with the outside by various “ gates’? (poorten). This 
enclosure was originally effected about A.D. 1070-1072 by Duke Godfrey of 
Lorraine, the Hunchback (Govert mit den bult, or den Bultenaer). Some of 
these gates are still standing—more or less: but the Leewwenpoort was not 
one of them. It was an alley near the East Gate (Oostpoort), and has now 
vanished. Cf. Boitet (1729, p. 592), Bouricius (1924, 1925). 
* See p. 338 seq. 
