JEWISH  FIRST  NAMES AND  SURNAMES






<PRE>

<font color="red">COHEN</font>:
      Most popular Jewish surname; means priest, and is derived from Aaron's
appointment to that office. Cohen leads all names in the Brooklyn, New York
City telephone directory, 1933. The following are derivatives from Cohen, or
names adopted by those who were of the priestly group, and exchanged Cohen
for some term characteristic of the priesthood, its service, history, or
assumed personal characteristics: Aaron, Aaronsohn, Aaronson, Aronowitz,
Arons: Baruch, Benedict; Caen, Cahan, Cahana, Cahen, Cahn, Cahun, Cain,
Coen, Coffen (Spanish), Cohan, Cohane, Cohene, Cohne, Cohnfeld, Cohnheim,
Cone, Coon, Cowan, Cowen; Kagan, Kagane, Kahn, Kahane, Kahin, Kahn, Kan,
Kaner, Kann, Kaplan, Katz, Kogan, Koganowich, Kohan, Kohn, Kohne,
Kohner,Kohonowski, Kohn-Zedek, Krausharr, Krauskopf: Mandelbaum,
Mandelstamm; Price, Priest: Zangwill.

<font color="red">HAYIM</font>:
      "Life." Common first name which has also been used as a surname. Its
variants and derivatives include: Aim, Agin, Chajim, Chakin, Chakinet,
Hagin, Haine, Hayem, Haym, Hayum, Heine, Hyam, Hyams, Hyamson, Jehiel,
Veide, Veitel, Vida, Vital, Vitales, Vitelles, Vivian, Vivis, Vivo. Its
feminine synonym is Zoe. It is now often interchanged as Charles, but Henry
is regarded as more correct.

<font color="red">NAMES</font>:  (Personal,  First Names):
      There are about 2,800 original first names in the Bible. These names
either originated in some circumstance of birth, characteristic of the
person, or expressed a religious sentiment. Names are either given at birth
or circumcision. The repetition of names for the express purpose of denoting
relationship was even in the period of the kingdoms rare, though compounds,
involving either paternal or maternal ancestry were not unknown in royal
families. Many names were borrowed from nature. 
Deborah is a "bee";
Zipporah, "bird",  
Hadasash (Esther), "myrtle";  
Tamar, "palm";  
Jonah,"dove."  
A large group of names were descriptive; 
Esau, "hairy";  
Laban,"white";  
Gideon, "maimed."  
Others now rarely used represent a mood, though
those which represent consolation derived from the birth of a child after
the death of other children are as popular as in Bible days. Manasseh,
Nahum, Nehemiah, Menachem, belong to this type. After the captivity foreign
names became a vogue amongst the Jews. Alexander is the most striking of
those perpetuated. Wholly Greek names were introduced in the Maccabean era,
and were continued into the Byzantine period, but except those which are
Roman or Greek forms of biblical names, like James, have fallen into disuse.
In the Middle Ages the system of translating names was introduced to provide
additional appelations. Judah became Leo-Aryeh, Naphtali, Hirsch, Benjamin,
Wolf, etc. These in turn permitted recomposition and expansion. Of women's
names Miriam has experienced a large number of transmutations, including
Mariamne, Mary, Marie, Irma, etc.,  Hannah is re-written Anna, Annie,
Annette, Antoinette, Grace, etc. Such variations are, however, not
specifically Jewish for a German onomatologist has traced over 100
derivatives of Alfred. The translation of Hebrew names into Latin terms of
the same import was in vogue in France in the 6th cent.
      The departure from original names in favor of retaining a certain name
within the family, produced many strange results. Thus, Rabbi Judah the
Pious in his "Sefer Hasidim" inveighed against Jews of the same name living
in the same town for having their children marry into each other's families.
Some scholars hold that this was a reversion to exogamy. A more reasonable
explanation is that Rabbi Judah was probably inspired by the desire to avoid
confusion in the case of a possible divorce, where the slightest trace of
ambiguity is sufficient to invalidate a document. Thus, he ruled that one
should not marry a woman bearing the same name as one's mother; or whose
father bears the same name as the prospective son-in-law. Unfounded as these
restrictions necessarily are, they powerfully impressed the Jewish masses
and were profoundly respected by otherwise unobservant Jews. Also, there
appears to be an expressed fear of naming Jewish children after relatives or
persons still living. It is considered an ill omen. This, too, seems to have
no foundation in Jewish law or lore. On the contrary, Rabbi Nathan, tells
(Tractate Sabbath 134a) of two instances in which he offered medical advice
to young mothers that was the means of saving their children's lives, and in
both cases, the mothers, in appreciation, named their infants Nathan, which
would indicate that whatever the origin of this inhibition, it is assuredly
post-Talmudic.  In the case of illness, it is customary to add a name,
usually Haim (life) to the sick person, in the hope that it will help him
survive the illness. Also, in the case of the death of the first or second
child, the next one born is usually called Alter. Of recent years, beginning
with the Haskalah movement, and more particularly with the spread and growth
of Zionism, there is a marked tendency on the part of the more enlightened
to disregard these practices and restrictions, and to name Jewish children
with the revived, beautiful and original Hebrew names that commemorate some
outstanding  Jewish feature or a new phase of life in Palestine.
        I.H.W. (Names article)
        Israel H. Weisfeld, B.A.
        Rabbi, Agudath Achim North Shore Cong.,Chicago, Ill.

SURNAMES:
      The use of family or surnames began in Roman days, though as far as
the Jews were concerned the practice was confined to families of royal
lineage. Those who followed the Roman custom placed the family name in
front. In the Middle Ages learned Jews acquired surnames by uniting the
initials of their given names: RaSHI,  RaMBaM, and later BeShT and MaLBIM
are among the best examples. Prior to the compulsory use of surnames the use
of "son" in various languages as an ending was introduced: in English,
Jacobson; in Polish, Abramovitch: in German, Mendelssohn;  in Russian,
Kaplansky. Place names are found amongst the Sephardim from the 11th cent.
The Maranos blended the family names of their god-fathers, and some
translation of their own given names. Trade and vocation names did not cling
to the Jews except the two connected with the synagog, Rabbi and Hazan,
which have given rise to endless metamorphoses and translations in all
countries. The majority of all Jewish names now in use, though often
mutilated by translation or by the transfer of some letter are place names.
      When compulsory names were introduced the Jews made liberal use of
variants of their father's first name as a surname. Of this type Isaac
exhibits the most interesting mutations:  Eisech,  Eissig,  Gitzok, Itzack,
Isaacs,  Itzig, Izaaks,  Hickman, Hitchcock,  Lachman, Sachs, Sacks, Sace,
Saqui, Seckel, Sichel, and Zeklin (See: Cohen.*). The place names may be
traced through a complete alphabet from Berlin to Zwolle. Another group of
names are descriptive like Bloom from Blumele, originally Susanna, or are
translations adapted, like Mazal which became Gluckstein and Bonheur. The
typical Hungarian names like Hollander and Englander are descriptive of
physical characteristics, though the Hungarian Jews have accepted as
surnames a whole range of colors:  Blau, Grun,  Roth, Schwartz, and Weiss
(Americanized Wise).
      The derisive names have led to much speculation but their conferring
or adoption was not limited to Jews, for they are to be found among all
peoples. Typical are Blutkopf, Rindskopf, Maulwurf, Wanzenknicker,
Pfenniglos, Gotthelf. The use of surnames by the Jews was made compulsory by
the French in 1808 in Prussia in 1812 and in Posen in 1833. The popular
Western Jewish names Cohen and Levi are not met with as surnames in the
Orient. In northern Africa all the surnames of Jews suggest desert places.


Source:  The Encyclopedia of Jewish Knowledge (one Volume)
Edited by Jacob De Haas (in collaboration with more than one hundred and
fifty scholars and specialists).
Publisher:  Behrman's Jewish Book House-New York
Copyright:  1934.
____________________________________________
        Researched and Transcribed by Miriam Medina
<a href="/Ethnic/Jewish/index.html"><font color="blue">Back To ETHNIC Main</font></a>
<a href="/index.html"><font color="green">Back To BROOKLYN Main</font></a>