Cornelis is a Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees, Neel and Nelis.
Cornelis (Kees) and Johannes (Jan) used to be the most common given names in the Low Countries, and the origin of the term Yankees is commonly thought to derive from the term Jan-Kees for the Dutch settlers in New Netherland.
Some of the better known people named Cornelis were:
Cornelis Engebrechtsz (c. 1462 – 1527), painter from LeidenCornelis Floris de Vriendt (1513/14-1575), architect and sculptorCornelis Cort (c. 1533 – 1578), engraver and draughtsmanCornelis Corneliszoon (c. 1550 – 1607), inventor of the wind powered sawmillCor Dillen (c. 1920 - 2009), director of Philips and their CEO in South AmericaCornelis van Haarlem (1562–1638), leading Northern Mannerist painterCornelis de Houtman (1565–1599), explorer who started the Dutch spice tradeCornelis Drebbel (1572–1633), builder of the first navigable submarineCornelis de Vos (1584–1651), Flemish Baroque painterCornelis de Graeff (1599–1664), Golden Age policianCornelis Evertsen (disambiguation) (1610–1666, 1628–1679, 1642–1706), three admirals in the Anglo-Dutch WarsCornelis de Witt (1623–1672), politician of the Dutch RepublicCornelis Tromp (1629–1691), admiral in the Anglo-Dutch Wars and in the Scanian WarCornelis Pietersz Bega (1631/32-1664), painter and engraverCornelis de Bruijn (1652–1726/27), artist and travelerCornelis Cruys (1655–1727), first commander of the Russian Baltic FleetCornelis Dusart (1660–1704), genre painter, draftsman, and printmakerCornelis M.H. (born 1953), governor of West Kalimantan, IndonesiaCornelis de Pauw (1739–1849), philosopher, geographer and diplomatCornelis Tiele (1830–1902), theologian and scholarCornelis Lely (1854–1929), civil engineer and statesmanCornelis Jacobus Langenhoven (1873–1932), South African writer and poetCornelis Bernardus van Niel (1897–1985), microbiologistCornelis Berkhouwer (1919–1992), President of the European Parliament 1973-75Cornelis van Beverloo (1922–2010), artist better known under his pseudonym "Corneille"Cornelis Vreeswijk (1937–1987), Dutch-Swedish singer, poet and actorCornelis Bodenstein (born 1992), South African-born cricketer