Steenbecque

Commune in Hauts-de-France, France

Steenbecque Steenbeke
Commune
The town hall in Steenbecque
Coat of arms
Location of Steenbecque
(2020–2026)		Carole Delaire^[1]
Area ¹	11.96 km² (4.62 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	1,650
• Density	140/km² (360/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	59578 /59189
Elevation	17–65 m (56–213 ft) (avg. 18 m or 59 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Steenbecque (French pronunciation: [stɛ̃bɛk]; Dutch: Steenbeke or Steenbeeke) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.^[3]

Etymology

Steenbecque has historically been attested as Steenbeka in 1183. The toponym Steenbecque is of Germanic origin, deriving from a Low German dialect, ultimately from Proto-West-Germanic *stain. Within the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments, the Germanic hydronym *-bak(i) entered the French language via Low German, and took on two forms: the Germanic form -beek and Romance -becque (also -bec, -becques).^[4]

Heraldry

The arms of Steenbecque are blazoned :
Azure, 3 escallops argent.

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ INSEE commune file
^ Caljouw, William Robert (1981). Germanic elements in French Toponymy (Thesis). University of British Columbia. pp. 148, 151. doi:10.14288/1.0094985. Retrieved 12 January 2021.