Coetzee

Coetzee (/kʊtˈsiː/ kuut-SEE;^[1] Afrikaans: [kutˈseə]) is an Afrikaans surname, derived from the Hungarian Kocsi, meaning "from Kocs", which gave its name to the coach in numerous European languages. The surname also originates from the French Couche, which itself originates from the Breton Coet.

Notable people with the surname include:

• Basil Coetzee (1944–1998), South African musician
• Clem Coetzee (c. 1939 – 2006), Zimbabwean conservationist
• Danie Coetzee (born 1977), South African rugby union footballer
• Dirk Coetzee (1945–2013), co-founder and commander of the covert South African Police unit in the 1990s
• Felix Coetzee (born 1959), South African jockey in thoroughbred horse racing
• George Coetzee (born 1986), South African golfer
• Gerrie Coetzee (born 1955), South African boxer
• Hannes Coetzee (born 1944), South African guitarist
• Hendrik Coetzee (c. 1975 – 2010), South African adventurer
• Jandre Coetzee (born 1984), South African first class cricketer
• Jeff Coetzee (born 1977), South African tennis player
• J. M. Coetzee (born 1940), South African-Australian author awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Justin Coetzee (born 1984), South African-Australian cricketer
• Lee Coetzee (born 1984), South African cricketer
• Pietie Coetzee (born 1978), South African field hockey player
• Price Coetzee (born 1946), South African actor
• Rivaldo Coetzee (born 1996), South African footballer
• Ryan Coetzee (born 1973), South African politician and political strategist, businessman
• Tansey Coetzee (born 1984), Miss South Africa 2008
• Willie Coetzee (born 1990), South African born ice hockey player
• Charles Coetzee (born 1963), Councillor at Nama Khoi Municipality, Technical Financial Accountant

Notes and references

1. Sangster, Catherine (1 October 2009). "How to Say: JM Coetzee and other Booker authors". BBC News. Retrieved 26 November 2012. The first syllable is pronounced kuut (uu as in book); debate rages about the pronunciation of the "ee" at the end. Many South Africans, whether Afrikaans speakers or not, pronounce this as a diphthong EE-uh, as in the word "idea". Indeed, kuut-SEE-uh was the [BBC Pronunciation Unit]'s original recommendation in the early 1980s, based on the advice of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and his London publisher, Secker and Warburg. However, that vowel can also be pronounced as a monophthong (kuut-SEE), especially by those from the south of the country, and this is the pronunciation that the author uses and prefers the BBC to use too.