The term “Caucasian” originally referred to the people of the Caucasus. In the 19th century, the term was taken up as a racial designation for White Europeans, informed by the anthropological work of J.F. Blumenbach (1752-1840). In the 20th century “Caucasian” was used within the Nazi ideology of racial hierarchies. Within the Netherlands, the term mainly appears in museum databases, and is not often used in common language. In other places— such as the US –the term is more commonly used in daily language. There is growing criticism of the term, however, because of its racialized origins.