The Van Baalen family – based in Indiana, USA

Van Baalen is a Dutch name, which means “From Baalen” – or more specific “From Balen” which is a small town in Belgium. At least that’s what we’ve been told. As the story goes, 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. Which makes some sense since Richard Van Baalen Sr. (my father) was the first generation in his family that was not Jewish. So that story makes some sense.