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CRONJÉ is a French Huguenot name from the Normandy region, France. [It is not derived from German or Dutch.] The Cronjé brothers, Estienne and Pierre (Cronje, Crognet, Crosnier, Cronier, (their father's name in France, Caron)) arrived in 1698 at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa from Holland on the ship "Driebergen". They were Protestant refugees fleeing from the tyranny of Catholic persecution. The spelling stabilized as "CRONJÉ" in South Africa. All people with the surname Cronjé, wherever they are, have a South African connection.
SOURCES:
1. Botha, Colin Graham. The French refugees at the Cape. Cape Town, Cape Times Ltd., 1919. pp.12,47,65,69,95,117.
2. Malherbe, D.F. duToit. Famiily Register of the South African nation, 3rd ed., Stellenbosch: Tegniek Stellenbosch, 1966. p.188.
3. Coertzen, Pieter. The Huguenots of South Africa 1688-1988. Contributing author, Charles Fensham. Cape Town: Tafelberg Publishers, 1988. pp.81,100,119,121.