The Corpus of Given Names in the Netherlands is a website by the Meertens Institute for research and documentation of the Dutch language and culture. It has a database of almost half a million Dutch first names, taken from civil registration records.
The website has Lists of Popular Names. For each municipality or province, you can see the most popular first names from 1880 to the present. I like using these lists to see whether my ancestors gave their children popular names or not. If not, there might be a reason for the unusual name that could warrant a closer look.
Example: Winterswijk, 1914 and 1916
My grandfather Hendrik Hoitink was born in Winterswijk in 1914. The top three boys’ names in Winterswijk of that year were Jan, Gerrit, and Hendrik. So his parents did not choose a particularly original name. I already knew that, since he was named after his grandfather, also Hendrik Hoitink. My grandfather went by the name Henk, a diminutive of Hendrik.
My grandmother Gesiena Wilhelmina Woordes was born in Winterswijk in 1916. Gesiena was the number four name and Wilhelmina the number eight. I know grandma was named after her grandmother Gesiena van Eerden. “Wilhelmina” was probably added in honor of Queen Wilhelmina, and to give her two first names, like her older brothers. Like most people in Winterswijk, she went by her second name. She went by Mien, a diminutive of Wilhelmina.

Henk Hoitink and Mien Woordes on the steps of Winterswijk town hall. Credits: Personal collection
The picture of Henk and Mien was taken while they entered the town hall. That building had two staircases. After the wedding the other one was used. I have no idea why this custom was followed, maybe because the onlookers could see the bride better?