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Her father, Harry Streep, Jr. was a pharmaceutical executive of Dutch descent and her mother Mary was a commercial artist of Irish, Swiss and English descent. The family's original surname, Messerschmitz, was changed to Streep in the Netherlands by her Sephardic Jewish ancestors. Her Jewish ancestry is distant and Streep's father was raised an Episcopalian. The Dutch word "streep" means "line" as in dividing line. There is a Dutch saying,"zet er een streep onder", which translate loosely to "let's start over again". The saying probably explains why her ancestors picked the name "Streep" for their new family name.

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Justus Rau

Lvl 10
3y ago

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