What is "sietske"

Sietske, pron. [ˈsitskə], is a West Frisian feminine given name. The form 'Sietske', though it is prevalent, is actually the Dutch spelling of this name; the correct West Frisian spelling is Sytske (In West Frisian, 'Sietske' would be pronounced [ˈsi.ətskə]). Although traditional West Frisian given names are less and less popular, Sietske is still a very common girls' name in the province of Friesland. Sietske is the feminine form of the masculine given name Sietse (Sytse), formed by dropping the voiceless final syllable and adding a diminutive suffix in its place (in this case -ke). Outside of Friesland, where no Frisian is spoken, this convention is not well known. Therefore, the greater part of the Sietskes from provinces other than Friesland are wrongfully addressed as "Sir" in written correspondence. Sietske and Sietse are both based on the stem Siet (Syt). According to onomatologist Rienk de Haan, Siet is a reduced form of Germanic names starting with Sigi- (meaning "victory"), or possibly starting with Sith- (meaning "companion"). It is also possible that it derives from Old Frisian side (meaning "morale").