The Van Baalen family – based in Indiana

Van Baalen is a Dutch name, which means “From Baalen” – or more specific “From Balen” which is a small town in Belgium. As the story goes that we’ve been told, the difference of AA vs. A is religious based. The AA version of Van Baalen is someone who is Jewish, while the A version is Protestant. In fact, Richard Van Baalen Sr. was the first generation in our family that was no Jewish, so that story makes some sense.