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Jewish Naming Customs: Difference between revisions
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''[[Jewish Genealogy Research|Jewish | ''[[Jewish Genealogy Research|Jewish Genealogy]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Jewish Names Personal|Names Personal]]''<br> | ||
Understanding Jewish surnames and given names can help you find and identify your ancestors. This section discusses the origin and development of Jewish names and naming patterns. | Understanding Jewish surnames and given names can help you find and identify your ancestors. This section discusses the origin and development of Jewish names and naming patterns. | ||
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After the Arabs were driven out of Spain, Jews made their Arabic-sounding names sound more like Spanish. Among Spanish Jews we find the family name Avinbruch which corresponds to Abu Baruch. The Hebrew word for son, ben, was also used; the son of Elisha became Benelisha or Belish. Some-times Jewish given names were translated into their Spanish form and used as a surname. For example, Mendel, a common Jewish given name, became Mendez and Chaim, a Hebrew given name meaning "life," became the Spanish surname Vital or Vidal. | After the Arabs were driven out of Spain, Jews made their Arabic-sounding names sound more like Spanish. Among Spanish Jews we find the family name Avinbruch which corresponds to Abu Baruch. The Hebrew word for son, ben, was also used; the son of Elisha became Benelisha or Belish. Some-times Jewish given names were translated into their Spanish form and used as a surname. For example, Mendel, a common Jewish given name, became Mendez and Chaim, a Hebrew given name meaning "life," became the Spanish surname Vital or Vidal. | ||
Surnames of occupational origin include Chazan [ | Surnames of occupational origin include Chazan [Cantor], Gabbai [synagogue official], Dayan [rabbinic judge], Coffen [Cohen], and Tibbon [flax merchant]. | ||
Surnames of place origin are Toledano, Cordoza, Espinoza, and de Castro. | Surnames of place origin are Toledano, Cordoza, Espinoza, and de Castro. | ||
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Jews also used given names as part of a surname. From Aaron, for example, comes the surnames Arnstein, Arndt, Ahrens, Ehrens, Ehrenstamm, Ehrlich, and Ohrenstein. A man with a wife named Perla could have taken the surname Perlmann. | Jews also used given names as part of a surname. From Aaron, for example, comes the surnames Arnstein, Arndt, Ahrens, Ehrens, Ehrenstamm, Ehrlich, and Ohrenstein. A man with a wife named Perla could have taken the surname Perlmann. | ||
But the most common names were ones that were cleverly disguised. Often the German name chosen had a different meaning to the Jew than it did to the German official who recorded it. For example, the acronym of the Hebrew words kohen ha-tzedek [righteous | But the most common names were ones that were cleverly disguised. Often the German name chosen had a different meaning to the Jew than it did to the German official who recorded it. For example, the acronym of the Hebrew words kohen ha-tzedek [righteous priest] produced Katz (German for cat), a name acceptable to German officials. This same abbreviation of form is found in Bach [German for brook] from ben Chaim [son of Chaim]. | ||
Family names were often derived from place-names. Place-names chosen by Ashkenazic Jews may represent a recent place of origin or may go back to some ancestral home (real or supposed) the family was expelled from in the Middle Ages. Thus we find such names as Amsterdam, Lemberger (from Lemberg, L'vov), Halpern (from Heilbronn), Dreyfus (from Trèves), and Shapiro (from Speier). Some names are less specific like Westermann (from the West), Unger (from the Hungarian county of Ung), Schlesinger (from Schlesien [ | Family names were often derived from place-names. Place-names chosen by Ashkenazic Jews may represent a recent place of origin or may go back to some ancestral home (real or supposed) the family was expelled from in the Middle Ages. Thus we find such names as Amsterdam, Lemberger (from Lemberg, L'vov), Halpern (from Heilbronn), Dreyfus (from Trèves), and Shapiro (from Speier). Some names are less specific like Westermann (from the West), Unger (from the Hungarian county of Ung), Schlesinger (from Schlesien [Silesia]), and Hess (from Hessen [Bavaria]). | ||
Occupations were also a source for family names, including Schneider, Kravitz, or Portnoy [ | Occupations were also a source for family names, including Schneider, Kravitz, or Portnoy [tailor], Kaufmann [shopkeeper], Schuler, Schulmann or Szkolnik [sexton, beadle], Singer [cantor], Metzger, Reznick, Schlachter, or Schochet [ritual slaughterer], and Klopman [one who knocks on the shutters to wake people for morning worship]. Many surnames reflect priestly or levitical heritage. One of the most common of all Jewish surnames is Kohen [priest] and its variations, Cohen, Kahn, Kogan, and Katz. Surnames showing Levitic or priestly heritage include Levy, Levinsky, Levin, Lewek, Lewenberg, and Segal (an abbreviation for segan leviah [member of the Levites]). | ||
Many Jewish names are based on personal traits, including Gross [ | Many Jewish names are based on personal traits, including Gross [big], Kurz [short], Krummbein [cripple], Rothbart [red-beard], Weiss [white], and Lustig [merry]. | ||
Jews often combined elements of languages, such as Hebrew with Yiddish and German or Slavic roots with Yiddish or Slavic endings. Thus, Jewish names are often found with various spellings depending on the languages that influence them. In Russian, for example, the h sound is substituted with g. This factor creates such diverse spellings as: | Jews often combined elements of languages, such as Hebrew with Yiddish and German or Slavic roots with Yiddish or Slavic endings. Thus, Jewish names are often found with various spellings depending on the languages that influence them. In Russian, for example, the h sound is substituted with g. This factor creates such diverse spellings as: | ||
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{{Jewish|Jewish}}<br> | {{Jewish|Jewish}}<br> | ||
[[Category:Jewish records]] | |||