Who is knowledgeable about the geographic nomenclature (particularly in Dutch) of the Caribbean during the late 1600s?
A New Netherland (Dutch-language) marriage record from 1693 indicates that the groom (Michiel Bassett) was a young man from "Eijl't Christoffel." "Eijl't" being a shorter form of "Eijlandt," in English this is literally "Island Christopher" or more idiomatically "Christopher's Island". The only place in the world that I have found (by web searching) that I think might have had that name circa 1693 is St. Kitts, but I have limited knowledge of both Dutch language and Caribbean history, so I am not confident of the identification.
A 1941 journal article (Roney, Lila James. "Bassett - Schoonmaker Lineage," New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 72, 1941, pages 42-47.) translated the name as "St. Christopher's Island."
Was there some other island that was known to 17th century Dutch as "Eijlandt Christoffel"? What name did the Dutch West India Company have for St. Kitts? Was St. Kitts known as "St. Christopher's Island" in 1941?
