Mees sounds cheerful, looks simple and is about as Dutch as a name gets. It was one of the five most popular boy names in the Netherlands in 2025. And hidden inside those four letters is one of the longest saint's names you will ever meet.
How do you pronounce Mees?
Say MAYS, like the English month "May" with an s. The Dutch ee is a long vowel close to the English "ay", but without the little "ee" glide at the end: keep your mouth still.
What does Mees mean?
According to the Meertens Instituut, which keeps the Dutch first name database, Mees is a short form of Bartholomeus, the apostle. Dutch has a long habit of keeping only the end of a long saint's name, and from Bartholomeus you get Mees. Some parents also registered Mees as the everyday name for Aemilius. By the way, een mees is also a Dutch word: a tit, the small garden bird (de koolmees is the great tit).
How popular is Mees?
Mees was the number 5 boy name of 2025 in the Netherlands, right after Sem, according to the SVB baby name list.
Make it cute: Meesje
Dutch people love the diminutive, the small and sweet form of a word. It works on names too: Mees becomes Meesje. A name that ends in a consonant like k, p, s or t gets just -je, like het boek (book) becomes het boekje. Every diminutive is a het-word, even for people: het kleine Meesje.
Use Mees in a Dutch sentence
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| Mees speelt buiten. | Mees is playing outside. |
| Mees is jarig! | It is Mees's birthday! |
| Zie je die mees in de tuin? | Do you see that tit (bird) in the garden? |
| Mees fietst naar school. | Mees cycles to school. |
See where Mees sits among the 10 most popular Dutch boy names, and read what common Dutch last names mean.
Want to hear these names out loud and use them in real sentences? Practise with our Dutch WhatsApp Buddy, or take the free Dutch level test to see where you stand.