No nation can boast of such a variety of surnames as that of the Jews.
Not always a Jewish surname serves as proof of kinship with Jews. But each of them is unique, as it has its own origin and meaning.
The history of most Jewish surnames goes back three centuries. After all, this ancient people was scattered all over the world, and for the time being did not need a specific identification. Even in Eastern and Western Europe, Russia, where quite a lot of Jews lived, such a process began after the relevant laws were adopted at the state level. It was these laws that already obligated Jews to have their own surnames.
Jewish surnames were created in those days hastily, and their diversity in modern world partly explained by this. Sometimes officials assigned a nickname in their own way, sometimes Jews chose it for themselves during the next census. And yet, like any nationality, in most cases, the Jews of the twenty-first century have their own, specific surnames.
The first Jewish surnames
Before Jews never used surnames. It was enough to say the name and patronymic. And for every respecting Jew - also 7 names of ancestors.
Only a few well-born rabbinic families had a surname that passed from generation to generation. Here is a small list of Jewish surnames:
Kalonymus Lurie Shif
Assignment of surnames to Jews
Previously, the Jewish people did well without surnames. What can not be said about the countries of Europe.
At the end of the 18th century, they decided to assign surnames to Jews and all citizens. This was done to better account for the living population.
Some Jews chose their own surnames, others were assigned local authorities depending on the mood, weather conditions, appearance.
1. Surnames chosen independently. Only wealthy Jews used this right, because surnames denoting the name of flowers or precious metals cost a lot of money:
Rubinstein (ruby stone); Goldstein (gold bar); Rosenthal (valley of roses) and others.
A comparison of man with an animal is found in one of the oldest Jewish books- Tore. The progenitor of the Jewish people, Jacob, calls his children the names Yehuda, Dann, Naftali, Issachar. It literally translates as a lion, a snake, a doe, a strong donkey. Such comparisons among names are not uncommon. For example, Dov comes from the name of the bear, Aryeh - from the name of the lion, Rachel - from the name of the sheep. Later these names became the basis for Jewish surnames.
During the period of mass appropriation of surnames, many artificial surnames arose. This is very interesting group nicknames, the first root of which was dominated by the elements "glik" - happiness, "rose" - rose, "gold" - gold. This was followed by the ending "shtein" - a stone or "berg" - a mountain. Such is the history of the Jewish surnames Rosenberg, Rosenbaum, Goldman, Glikberg, Glikshtein. If it was required to quickly assign a surname to a Jew, officials very often used just such a method.
2. Offensive Jewish surnames. Disobedient Jews who evaded taking surnames were punished by the Austrian authorities. The poor were no exception.
Ezelskopf - donkey's head; Wilder is a savage; Urin - urine; Tol - rabid and others.
3. Jewish surnames from the name of the father:
Male names gave rise to many surnames, many peoples of the world. Jewish surnames are no exception. Sometimes they acted very simply here: they took given name and made it a nickname. Their most simple surnames we know Solomon, Benjamin, as a variant of Moses - Moses or Moses ...
In more complex cases, they took their own name and added a suffix or ending to it. In Russia, for example, how did the surnames come about Petrov, Sidorov, Ivanov. To the Jews - Abrahams, Samuels, Israels. When the surname ends in "zon", it means that the son of a particular person bears it. Davidson is the son of David, Jacobson is the son of Jacob, Abramson is the son of Abram.
The ending "-bein" and "-shtam" nor Yiddish means, respectively, "bone" and "trunk") - Fishbein, Hirshbein, Mendelssohn, Mandelstam. Here we also see an indication of a certain genus. In Tsarist Russia, purely Slavic, they also acted in this way: they took the name of a Jew and added the suffix "-ovich / -evich" to it. This is how the Jewish surnames Berkevich, Abramovich, Gershkovich arose. Definitely Polish ending "-sky", with light hand officials turned a particular Jew from Rabinovich to Rabinovsky. Despite their differences, they were united by a common basis - male names from which they originated.
4. Jewish surnames on behalf of the mother:
If a Jew prays for one of his relatives, as a rule, he calls him by his mother's name. Perhaps this religious factor played a role in the fact that some Jews have surnames derived from female names. Or the Jewish people, thus, decided to perpetuate the names of the representatives of the weaker sex, who played in its history an important economic or political role. And there were enough of these women.
From Riva came the Jewish surname Rivman, from Sarah - Sorison, Beila - Beilis; Gitis (son of Gita); Beilis (son of Beila), etc.
5. Surnames from the locality. The most common type of Jewish surnames at present is the type formed from the name of the locality, town, city, region. An additional suffix was added to them. This is how the surnames Birnaum, Rubinstein and Rosenthal arose. There were especially many of their carriers in tsarist Russia and Western Europe.
A city in Italy called Padua gave rise to the surname Padua, Lvov - Lemberg, Gomel - Gomelsky. Among the Jews there are quite a few Sverlovs, Teplitskys, Volinskys, whose surnames are formed from the names of the respective settlements.
Vileykin (the city of Vileyka, which borders Belarus and Lithuania); Berliner (Berlin is a city in Germany); Turkish (Turets city in Belarus).
6. Surnames by occupation. List of Jewish surnames of this type can be divided into 2 types:
- descended from professions:
In all the surnames of the world, there are those that originated from the profession of ancestors. If you are Kuznetsov, then you can be one hundred percent sure that your ancestor was once engaged in blacksmithing. Jewish surnames, formed from the carrier's profession, are also not uncommon. At first, it meant the occupation, and over time it evolved into a stable nickname, which was finally fixed. Many Jews have the surname Rabiner, Rabinovich, Rabinzon, Rabin, which indicates religious activity and were formed from the word rabbi.
The Jewish surname Shulman means "servant in the synagogue", Kantorovich - the one who leads the process of worship in the synagogue, Soifer - the copyist of sacred texts.
Happen among Jewish surnames and such that are formed from simple professions. Tailor in Hebrew means Schneider, hence Schneiderov, shopkeeper - Kramer, hence Kramerov. Merchants were called Gendlers, shoemakers - Schusters.
- related to religion
Shulman - a minister in the synagogue; Rabinovich - rabbi; Soifer is a writer of sacred texts.
Two titles were especially popular: Cohen - the sacred priest and Levi - the priest's assistant.
These statuses were inherited only through the male line.
The surnames Cohen and Levi are considered the most ancient, since at first they simply indicated the estate of a person.
Kogan, Kaganovich, Kaplan, Koganov, Katz, Kon, Kaganman - all this is derived from the surname Cohen. No less Jewish surnames gave birth to the nickname Levi. Let us recall, at least, the famous Levitan. And there were and are Levinson, Levinsky, Levin, Levit, Levitansky. All of them are reminiscent of the ancient Levi tribe and everything connected with it in Judaism.
The Jewish surname Levin, for example, in the former Soviet Union was the most common among this people. After her, Kogan was in second place. When they allowed the Jews to leave for Israel, the Soviet “Levins” and “Kogans” went there en masse with everyone else. Apparently, this factor also influenced the fact that three percent of the citizens of this country bear the ancient Jewish surname Cohen, and the nickname Levi became the second most common.
Jewish surnames formed from the appearance or character of the carrier
Jewish surnames very often indicate the character of a person, sometimes they emphasize some feature appearance. The Schwartzmans were all black, the Shtarkmans were strong, the Fines were handsome. Jews Russian Empire bore the names of Gorbonos, Belenky, Mudrik, Zdorovyak.
Features of Jewish surnames in the Russian-speaking environment
Jews migrated en masse to the territory of Tsarist Russia after the annexation of Poland. This happened during the reign of Catherine II. And before that, there were not so many of them living here. And almost all Jews until the nineteenth century were mentioned in various historical documents only by name.
In 1804, Emperor Alexander I approved the Decree, which at the legislative level obliged Jews to have a surname. Officially, this was explained by the need to arrange their civil status, protect property and conveniently resolve all kinds of disputes between representatives of the Jewish people.
Later, when the government of the SRSR allowed its citizens to change their surnames, Jews began to do so too. Sometimes they even took Russian surnames. So some tried to infiltrate society as the majority of the nation. Others were just making a career. Although many Jews did not change their traditions and retained not only their Jewish roots, but also Jewish surnames that have come down to us from past centuries without change.
1. Russian Jewish surnames
Gavrila Derzhavin, for the first time in Russia, suggested that Jews receive a surname. In his opinion, it should reflect the character of a person.
For example, Zamyslyuk - intricate, Koval and others.
The nobles, whose surname ended in "-ko", added the letter "v": Pfepenkov.
Jewish surnames, obtained in Russia, end in "-on", "-ov", "-ovsky":
Warsaw;
Sverdlov;
Pyatigorsky.
2. German-Yiddish surnames
They came to Russia from German-speaking countries. When translating, you get a word or phrase in German:
Wald - forest; Wolf - wolf; Seelandfreund is a spiritual friend.
Very often, surnames can end with the suffix "-er-" and the endings "-man" (person), "-berg" (mountain), "-baum" (tree):
Fishman is a fisherman; Strassberg is a city in Germany; Zwergbaum is a dwarf tree.
3. Surnames of Mountain Jews
Mountain Jews received their surnames after the connection of the Caucasus with Russia.
What guided the Russian officials? They added the suffix "-ov" to the parental name and received surnames for Mountain Jews:
Shaul is the son of Shaul; Ashurov - the son of Asher; Ilizarov is the son of Ilizar.
4. Surnames of Bukharian Jews
After Central Asia joined the Russian country, the process of issuing a surname began.
Bukharian, as well as Mountain Jews, were given patronymic surnames after the father's name, adding only the suffix "ov-ev": Musaev, Yusupov.
But Bukharian Jews have surnames that belong only to their people. The surname Leviev indicates their Levitical status, because they had kohanim and Levites.
5. Georgian Jewish surnames
When Georgia reunited with Russia, some Georgian Jews already had their own surnames. Most of which resemble Georgian ones. Through their structure, Georgian-Jewish surnames can be divided into 2 types:
1. With the addition of the suffix "dze" (son), there is only one surname - Pichkhadze;
2. With the addition of the suffix "-shvili" (child, descendant):
From personal names: Khananashvili, Aronashvili;
From nicknames and phrases: Kosashvili, Sepiashvili; From Georgian surnames: Papiashvili from Papashvili, Tsitsiashvili from Tsitsishvili.
6. Surnames of modern Israel
In connection with the revival of Hebrew, a massive replacement of old surnames with new ones based on Hebrew began.
The first to decide was Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who previously bore the name Perelman.
The Israeli government encouraged all law-abiding citizens to change their last names. By what principle were Israeli surnames formed?
1. For my own reasons:
Galili - Galileo; Dror - freedom; Amichai - my people are alive.
2. Through life events:
Shaul Meirov became Avigur; Zvi-Girsh - Ben-Zvi; Schneider - Sarid (survivor).
3. Because of the habit of the old surname:
Halperin - Khar-El; Berlin - Bar-Ilan; Jacobson - Jacobi.
4. The old surname was translated into Hebrew:
Friedman changed to Ish-Shalom; Rosenberg - on Har Shoshanim; Eisenberg - to Barzilai.
Genealogy of Jewish surnames
Every nation has its own history. The history of the Jews can be told by their surnames, which contain the secrets of origin and meaning.
Many Jews are trying to find their namesakes, hoping to find a large family from distant relatives.
And some are working on compiling a family tree, trying to find their roots. To find more information on Jewish genealogy, as well as find out which Jewish surnames are on the list, the Avoteinu and
The ancient Jews did not have surnames, they managed with names, patronymics and nicknames. We found out where the Jews got their surnames from, what is common between the Cohens and the Levins, the Shusters and the Sandlers.
Jews, like other peoples of the Middle East, never had surnames. The nomination was made by name and patronymic. The word "ben" (son) or "bat" (daughter) was attached to the name. Every self-respecting Jew had to remember the names of his ancestors to at least the seventh generation.
Since the names could often be repeated, for a more accurate representation, geographical landmarks were used (ha Romi - from Rome, Iuerushalmi - from Jerusalem), the name of the profession (Sandalar, Sandler - shoemaker, Sofer - scribe). In addition, the Jews often had nicknames (Shapiro - handsome, Ioffe - handsome), which also added specifics when recognizing.
Jews began to receive surnames only at the end of the 18th century. In 1787, Emperor Joseph II of Austria issued a law requiring all Jews to have hereditary surnames. Their receipt immediately began to grow into a web of corruption: they demanded money from the Jews for good sonorous surnames, in case of refusal they could assign surnames far from euphony and honor. Such, for example, as Krautkopf (cabbage head) or Oksenschwanz (oxtail).
In Russia, it was Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin who proposed to give Jewish surnames. At the same time, he insisted that they should sound “in a Little Russian way” and reflect not only the character of a person, but also the attitude of the authorities towards him. Secretive received the names Intricate or Zamyslyuk, disputed in the case - Shvydky. The “Regulations on the Jews”, which stipulated the mandatory assignment of surnames to Jews, was approved on December 9, 1804. In 1850, Jews were also forbidden to change their surnames, even if they converted to another faith.
The first and to this day the most common Jewish surnames are Cohen and Levy. Cohanim - the Jewish class of clergymen, levi - assistants to clergymen. These statuses were passed on to the Jews through the paternal line, so they began to be perceived by other peoples as a family nickname.
From the Cohens and Levys, as the Jews settled, many variations of Jewish surnames were formed (Kogan, Kon, Kan, Koganovich, Kaganov, Levin, Levitan, Leviev, etc.). In addition, even if the Jewish surname is not similar to the original "Kohen", it may be related to him. Like, for example, the surname Katz (an abbreviation for “kohen-tsedek”, that is, “righteous kohen”).
Surnames formed from "cohen" and "levi" are still the most common Jewish surnames today. Among the Jews former USSR the most common surname is Levin, followed by Kogan. In Israel, 2.52% of the population have the surname Cohen, 1.48% Levi.
A large number of Jewish surnames have a toponomic etymology, which is not surprising, given the fact that Jews often found themselves settlers in other places. So, a person who arrived from Austria could get the surname Oistrakh (in Yiddish "Austria"), who arrived from Lithuania - Litvin, Litvak, Litvinov, and so on. There are also surnames formed simply from the names of cities: Livshits, Landau, Berlin.
Toponymic Jewish surnames were often formed using the suffix "-sk" (Gomel, Shklovsky), the suffix "-ov". For example, the Jewish surnames Sverdlov and Lioznov are formed respectively from the names of the towns of Sverdly and Liozno in the Vitebsk region, Sarnov - from the name of the town of Sarny in the present Rivne region).
Close in toponymic ethnonymic Jewish surnames, such as Deutsch (German), Nemets (as options - Nemtsov, Nemtsovich, Nimtsevich), Polyak and others.
Many Jewish surnames come from the names professional activity. So, for example, the surnames Portnov, Khayat, Schneider and Schneiderman are related, since they originated from the same word “tailor”, such surnames as Schuster, Sandler, Shvets originated from “shoemaker”. The Jewish surname Melamed is translated as "religious teacher", Mogel - "master of circumcision", Shadkhan - matchmaker.
Patronymic and matronymic surnames, that is, those formed respectively from personal male and female names, are common among Jews, but not as widely as, for example, surnames formed from the names of professions. The simplest form of patronymic surname formation is the use of one's own personal name. Hence such surnames as David, Israel, Adam, etc.
A large group of Jewish surnames are surnames formed from "kinnui" - household names (Jews also have " holy name”, which is called “shem kadosh”). So, for example, the surname Marx is the German form of the name Markus, used as kinnui for the name Mordechai, the surname Lobrozo is kinnui for the name Uria, Benveniste is kinnui for the name Shalom.
In addition, surnames could be formed by the names of close relatives on the paternal and maternal lines, as well as by the name of the wife. Patronymic surnames could be formed using the formants "-shtam" (trunk), or "-bein" (bone). For example, such surnames as Mandelstam or Fishbein. Also, surnames could be formed using the suffixes "-chik" (Rubinchik), "-ovich / -evich" (Abramovich), prefixes (Ben-David) and various formants.
If we talk about the purely Jewish tradition of the formation of surnames, then it is necessary to single out abbreviated surnames. They contain information about their carriers in a special way.
For example, the surname Zak stands for “zera kadoshim”, that is, “the seed of the saints”, the surname Marshak is an abbreviation for “Morenu Raben Shlomo Kluger”, which translates as “our teacher, our lord, Solomon the Wise”, the surname Roshal is an abbreviation for “ Rabbi Shlomo Luria.
Not all Jewish surnames are related to the place of residence, profession or kinship of a person. Often there are also so-called decorative or ornamental surnames. They usually form from roots. German language or roots from Yiddish. The Jews were very fond of forming surnames from the word "gold" (Goldbaum (golden tree), Goldstein (golden stone), etc.), from the word "rose" (rose) - Rosenbaum (rose tree), Rosenblum (pink flower).
Many surnames have been derived from the name precious stones and materials for jewelry. Finkelstein - sparkling stone, Bernstein - amber, Perelstein - pearl, Sapir - sapphire, Edelstein - precious stone.
Not everyone could afford to get an ornamental surname, often they were simply bought for solid money.
If you ask a person who does not live in Israel what is the most common Jewish surname in our country, then most likely the answer will be “Rabinovich”, “Chaimovich” or “Shapiro”. With a high degree of probability, characters with such surnames will also be among the heroes of Jewish jokes.
Meanwhile, an official list of the most common surnames in Israel exists, and with an exact indication of the number of Israelis bearing each of them. Not so long ago, the Israeli site Ynet spoke about the most popular surnames in Israeli, based on a report containing data on the 500 most frequent surnames of Israelis and published by the Central Bureau of Statistics of Israel as of the end of 2013.
We decided to limit our review to the fifty most popular Jewish surnames in the country, and divide it into two parts, the first of which will consider the top ten. To begin with, a table indicating the spelling in Hebrew, community affiliation and the prevalence of surnames.
|
Hebrew writing |
Russian transcription |
Number of people in Israel |
Share in the country's population |
community affiliation |
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Cohen (Kogan) |
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|
from Heb. name |
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from Heb. name |
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So, the palm in the ranking of the most common Israeli surnames, with a noticeable margin from the others, is held by Cohen (Kohen / Cohen - 1.93%) and Levi (1.12%), who trace their genealogy from the names of the priestly estates of Kohanim and Levites who served in the Jerusalem Temple . According to tradition, both of them come from the tribe of Levi, and both surnames, of course, are common to both Ashkenazim and Sephardim. The total number of Israelis wearing them is very significant and today is almost 268 thousand people. By the way, it is these surnames that are perceived as the most Jewish, so that when you need to name three abstract Israelis, then in accordance with the Russian “Ivanov, Petrov, Sidorov” in Hebrew they will say “Cohen, Levy, Israel”. It is appropriate to add that from the point of view of synagogue worship, the division into Cohanim, Leviim and Israelim, where the latter means all other Jews, is quite relevant today.
The third place with a share of 0.33% is occupied by the Jewish surname Mizrahi. The word "Mizrahi" is translated from Hebrew as "Eastern", and the vast majority of the bearers of this surname belong to the Sephardic community, that is, they refer to the descendants of Spanish Jews from Morocco to Turkey.
In fourth place is the Jewish surname Peretz (0.32%), which comes from a personal name. Many surnames are based on Jewish name. According to experts, surnames of this type, for example, Avraham, Yitzhak, Jacob or David, are common among both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, but the latter are more popular. In the summary table, the communal affiliation of such surnames is provided with the indication “from Heb. name."
In fifth place is the Sephardic surname Beaton (0.30%), most of whose carriers are from Morocco and Tunisia. Interestingly, it is etymologically related to Spanish and comes ultimately from the Romance vita - "life", which, in turn, is a translation from the Hebrew word "chaim", this is also a common Hebrew name with the same meaning.
In sixth place in terms of the number of carriers in Israel is the Sephardic surname Dahan (0.23%), which comes from the Arabic "trader of oil or medicinal drugs."
On the seventh place - a Jewish surname, derived from the Jewish personal name Avraham (0.22%). As we have already mentioned, such surnames are common among both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, but are more popular with the latter. Here it is appropriate to note that one of the variations of surnames formed from personal names are quite numerous surnames with the component Ben- (i.e. son), for example, Ben-David, Ben-Sason, etc. In terms of meaning, Ben-Avraham corresponds surnames Abramson or Abramovich or even Abramov, that is, a descendant of Abraham.
The most common exclusively Ashkenazi surname is in eighth place, and this surname is not Rabinovich at all, but Fridman (0.21%). The surname Friedman is of Yiddish origin and means "peaceful", in full accordance with its Hebrew version - Shlomi.
Next in the table is the common Sephardic surname Malka (0.19%), derived from the Hebrew "king/queen". It is characteristic that the female Jewish name Malka also sounds. Some researchers also believe that a number of carriers of this surname owe it to the Spanish city of Malaga.
Closes the top ten is another surname of Sephardic Jews - Azulai (0.19%). Avraham Ariel, the author of the 1997 reference book of Israeli surnames “Sefer Ha-Shemot”, gives three options for its origin: from the Berber Aizil, “kind”, from the toponym Buzulai or Tazulai in Morocco, or from the Spanish azul, "blue", according to the color of the eyes of the ancestors of numerous Israeli carriers of this surname.
So, the bearers of the ten most common Jewish surnames in Israel are over 443,000 people, and more than half of them, about 268,000, bear exclusively common surnames Cohen and Levy.
It should be noted that, according to experts, the popularity of certain Jewish surnames does not reflect the demographic ratio of communities in the country. Today in Israel, the Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities are represented approximately equally. The fact that the number of carriers of popular Sephardic surnames is much greater than that of Ashkenazi ones is explained by the fact that there are much more surnames of Ashkenazi origin in our country than Sephardic ones.
To be continued.
Since about half of all the Jews of the world lived in the Russian Empire and there is a huge variety of surnames among Russian-speaking Jews (most of which are of Jewish origin), it must be clarified that the presence of a Jewish surname in a person is not direct evidence of Jewishness.
It should also be noted that there are many surnames whose bearers are both Jews and non-Jews. In that summary we will try to tell only about the main types of Jewish surnames of Russian-speaking Jews. For more information on the topic of Russian-speaking Jewish surnames, we recommend looking at the book by Alexander Bader "Dictionary of Jewish Surnames of the Russian Empire" (http://www.avotaynu.com/books/DJSRE2.htm).
Jews in their permanent life, in principle, did not use surnames. And at birth, and at the conclusion of a marriage contract, and when writing a divorce letter, and when calling to the Torah, and in the inscription on the gravestone, it is customary to indicate the name of the person himself and the name of his father (when praying for health or recovery - the name of the mother). But already in the Middle Ages, we find in Europe several well-born Jewish families - mostly rabbinical, such as Kalonimus, Lurie, Schiff and others - owners of surnames "in their pure form", i.e. passing from generation to generation for many centuries. For example, these are the descendants of the Rappoport (Rapaport, Ropoport) clan, many thousands of people. Despite the fact that the bulk of Jews (as well as non-Jews) in European countries did not have surnames, nevertheless, by the 18th century (beginning of the 19th), in almost all European countries, mass assignment of surnames to both Jews and others began. citizens. This was due to the need for Russia, Austria-Hungary, the German principalities and other countries to have a head count of the population for tax collection and recruitment.
Thousands of Jewish surnames are stored in the city archives of the former Russian Empire
The surnames were chosen both by the bearers themselves, and could also be given by local officials, so we find unusually harmonious surnames, such as Muterperel (sea pearl), or Rosenzweig (rose branch), or Rubinstein (ruby stone). We also find, for example, in Austria-Hungary, the assignment of insulting surnames to Jews.
As a rule, surnames were given by the name of the parents: Aizikson (son of Aizik), Gitis (son of Gita), Minkin (son of Minka), Malis (son of Mali); by the name of the settlement where the person was from: Aizenstadt (a native of the German city of the same name), Brisk (a native of the city of Brest-Litovsk, which was called Brisk in Yiddish), Vileykin (a native of the town of Vileyka on the border between Belarus and Lithuania) quite often surnames arose on the basis of nicknames: Sirota, Babin, Deaf; by profession: Hayat (Tailor), Sandlyar (Shoemaker); by occupation: Reznik, Kantor, Soifer; by origin: Katz, Kagan, Levin, Levinsky, etc.
In addition to Jewish surnames formed in Russian, we find a huge number of German and Yiddish surnames. Obviously, the ancestors of the bearers of these surnames came to Russia already with them.
Among the Russian-speaking Jewish surnames, several types can be distinguished according to their national and linguistic origin. For example:
German-Yiddish surnames, as a rule, came to Russia from Germany and Austria-Hungary and are German words or phrases, such as: Klein (small), Groys (large), Miller (Melnik), Berman (literally - a bear man, in Russian - Medvedev), Nuremberg (a city in Germany), etc. Often they end with the ending "-man", "-berg", "-kind", etc., and the suffix "-er". It can be assumed with great certainty that, since surname formation in Russia occurred later than in Central Europe, the ancestors of the carriers of such surnames came from German-speaking countries: Zalkind.
Russian Jewish surnames, as a rule, have the ending "-in", sometimes "-ov", "-ovsky", such as: Pyatigorsky (from Pyatigorsk), Sverdlov (from the town of Sverdly). The appropriation of the Russian Empire to the Jews began at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries with the aim of registering the total population, and especially in the recently annexed Eastern regions of the Kingdom of Poland. It is important to note that among the Ashkenazi Jews of Russia, surnames formed by the name of the father or mother with the addition of the suffix "-ov" are extremely rare, with the exception of Mountain and Bukharian Jews.
Polish Jewish surnames formed Polish words, as, for example, Zholondz (acorn) or, as a rule, they are based on the name of the locality or parents with the addition of the ending “-ovich”, “-ivic” or “-sky”, such as Grzhibovsky.
As a rule, they reflect the occupation of the person himself, without ending, such as the Weaver, the Tailor.
Their origin begins with the Jews of Spain and Portugal, who through Holland and Italy, Byzantium and Turkey spread throughout the world, including in Eastern Europe, for example, Tsiyuni (from Zion), Luria, Toledano (from Toledo).
Surnames for Bukharian Jews began to be given by the Russian authorities after the accession Central Asia to the Russian Empire. It was a rather long process - from the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. As a rule, with rare exceptions, Bukharian Jews can be recognized by a surname composed of the name of the father or mother (in the Sephardic-Russian pronunciation, as Russian officials heard it) with the addition of the Russian ending “-ov” or “-ev”, for example, Yakubov , Pinkhasov, Gulkarov, Abramov, Moshaev, Levaev, Gavriilov.
The surnames of the Mountain Jews were given by Russian officials in the second half - the end of the 19th century after the annexation of the Caucasus to the Russian Empire. As a rule, with rare exceptions, she made up the name of the father or mother with the addition of the Russian ending “-ov”, for example, Ashurov (son of Asher), Sadykov (on behalf of Zadok), Shaulov (son of Shaul), Nisimov (son of Nisim).
Georgian Jewish surnames are formed by adding the suffix "-shvili", like the Georgians, for example, Isakashvili. Education with the help of the suffix "-dze" is not found among Jews with the rarest exceptions, such as the surname Pichkhadze.
As a rule, the names of prominent Jewish sages, for greater ease of use, especially in books, are written as abbreviations, such as: Rambam, Ramban, - or they are called by the name of those famous books and Torah commentaries that they wrote. Like, for example: Chafetz Chaim (Thirsty for life, the title of the book of Rav Yisroel-Meir a-Cohen from Radzin), Chazon Ish. In rare cases, these names are passed on to descendants, as, for example, the famous Russian children's writer Jew Samuil Marshak is a descendant of Morainu ve-Rabeinu Shmuel (MaRShak).
Since religious life is inseparable from the Jewish way of life, among Jews the share of such surnames is very high, such as, for example: Avrekh (a married yeshiva student), Parnis (Parnassus is a wealthy leader of the community who supports it), Rabinovich (the son of a rabbi, as well as other similar formations of this surname: Rabin, Raber, Rabiner), Melamed (Jewish teacher of small children), Shames (synagogue servant), Reznik (cattle cutter, and the same in Hebrew - Shoikhet), Menaker (carcass skinner), Liner, Kantorovich ( the son of a cantor or with a Hebrew root - Khazankin), Lerner (Yiddish teacher), Gabay - Gabbe (headman of the synagogue).
Famous and wealthy Jews could afford
to perpetuate your last name with a family coat of arms
This includes both surnames that reflect the external qualities of a person, such as Schwartz (Black), Weiss (White), Jaffe, Yoffe (handsome), Weissburd (white beard), Kosoburd (slanting beard), Nosik, Superfin (very handsome), or with inner qualities a person, such as a Hasid, etc.
As you know, many Jews were engaged in crafts, and therefore Jewish surnames often indicate the type of activity of our ancestors: for example, Shoemaker or Shoemaker (Sandlyar in Hebrew, Sandler in Yiddish, Shuster or Shusterman in German), Furrier (Kushnir, Kushner, Kushnerov, Kushnerenko), Zlotnik (jeweler), Shleifman (sheath maker), Sklyar (glazier).
As a rule, the ending of a surname clearly indicates a geographical origin, for example: surnames with the ending "-mann" are of German or Austrian origin, such as Fuhrman, Schneiderman, Zuckerman; Ukrainian with the endings "-ovich", "-uvich", Baltic with the ending "-on", "-en", Moldovan with the endings "-esku", "-usku", etc.
As you know, Jews attach great importance to their origin, therefore, for example, the descendants of the tribe of Levi or a special family in the tribe of Levi - Cohens - add to their name a-Levi or a-Cohen, i.e. indication of its origin. Therefore, one of the most common Jewish surnames - not only in the Russian Empire, but throughout the world - is: Kagan, Kogan, Kaganovich, Katz, Kaan, Kaganov, Barkat, Kazhdan, Levi, Levit, Levitan, Levinsky, Levinson, Levitansky, Segal, etc.
As a rule, census takers did not think long and gave surnames on behalf of the father or mother, as, for example, on behalf of the father: Abramovich, Pinkhasovich, Yakobzon, Davidzon.
A huge number of surnames of Russian Jews are formed on behalf of the mother. For example, Malkin, Raikin, Gitlin, Sorkin, Vitkin.
As you know, Hebrew often uses abbreviations, which we also find in surnames: Katz, Shub, Shats, Albats, Shah, Patlas, Tsatskis.
Perhaps the most numerous group of Jewish surnames is associated with the area of residence. Either these are surnames without any suffixes, such as Mints, Landau, Berlin, Oyerbach, or with the Russian suffix "-iy", such as Zarudinsky, Warsaw Russian suffix "-ov", like Sverdlov (from the town of Sverdly), or with the Yiddish ending "-er": Mirer (from Mir), Logovier (from Den). Sometimes - by country of previous residence, such as: Pollak (Polyakov), Deutsch (Nemtsov), etc.
Already in the Torah we find comparisons of Jews with various animals. So, for example, Yaakov compares his children: Judah with a lion, Issachar with a powerful donkey, Dan with a snake, Naftali with a deer, etc. We especially see this comparison of Jews with animals in personal names: Zeev (wolf), Zvi (deer), Arye (lion), Yael (capricorn), Rachel (sheep), Dov (bear), Ber (bear - Yiddish), etc. .d.
Apparently, this is the reason for the frequent use of animal names in Jewish surnames, for example: Nightingale, Bull, Cancer, Bear, Crow, Magpie, Hare, Bunny and derivatives from them, such as Solovyov, Rakov, Medvedev.
They are, as a rule, of German-Austrian origin, they arose during the mass assignment of surnames to the Jews of these countries without fail. They usually have two roots conjugated in one word, such as: Rosenzweig, and have roots: Gold (gold), Berg (mountain), Mann (man, man), Baum (tree), Boym (tree - Yiddish ), Stein (stone), Stern (star), Stadt (city), Zweig (branch), Blum (flower), etc. It is interesting that these roots can also be separate Jewish surnames.
Sometimes we meet the purest Jews with purely Russian surnames. We can only speculate about the reason they received such surnames, but, for example, we know the majority of Jews who were forcibly drafted into the cantonist service, were forcibly given Russian surnames, or were sold into the recruiting service instead of some other people whose surname they received. For example: Romanov, Slizenev, Chesakov.
Many returnees changed
their last names in Hebrew
After the beginning of a new wave of settlement in Eretz Israel, around the end of the 19th century, many repatriates changed their surnames to Hebrew. This movement was started by the revivalist of modern Hebrew, Ben-Yeuda (Perelman), who actively fought for the revival of the spoken language of the Jews of Hebrew against spoken language the vast majority of the Jews of that time - Yiddish. After the formation of the state, its "founding fathers" carried out the change of "Galut" surnames to Hebrew ones.
Therefore, for example, Shifman became Ben-Sira, Golda Meerovich became Golda Meir, Utyosov became Bar-Sela, Mirsky became Bar-Shalom, Brook became Barak, Yakobzon became Yakobi, Zilberberg became Ar-Kesef. The leader of the labor movement Shneur-Zalman Rubashov (whose name was given in honor of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe) stood out in particular. He took a new surname, which was the abbreviation Shazar. The surname of the parents, for example, Ariel Sharon, is Scheinerman, and the surname of the first Israeli president, Ben-Gurion, was Green.
Many modern Jews are actively interested in their genealogy, make family trees, search for the graves of their ancestors, their distant relatives, and some of them, thanks to this, return to their roots and their Tradition. There are very large sites dedicated to Jewish genealogy, such as Avoteinu and Jewishgen.
But it should be noted that due to the fact that in the tsarist empire, from the beginning of the 19th century, Jews were forcibly taken into the army, except for those who had the only son in the family, so many Jewish families recorded many of their children under different surnames. There are also numerous facts of changing surnames during emigration both to America, Israel, and to other countries. For example, Rav Yitzhak Zilber's father, Rav Benzion Tziyuni, changed his surname to Zilber in 1916 when moving from Latvia to Russia.
The surname Maltsev came either from the name of the village of Maltsy, or from the word "small", or from Yiddish with
If the Orthodox used to look into the Saints to choose a name for a newborn, then the Jews always chose in three ways:
Kabbalah teaches that the letters in the name are a connection with spiritual forces, so in practice there are cases when seriously ill people are called double names, adding Chaim (life). In the books of Sholom Aleichem and Isaac Babel, such options are quite common. Sometimes used and next - translation. For example, Zeev - Wolf.
The list of names will include only Hebrew (or Yiddish), although since 1917 any names are allowed in Russia. Everywhere Barukhs and Berls turned into Boriss, and Leibs into Lviv. In other countries (Palestine) there were reverse processes, which were strictly monitored by the state. The naming of boys occurs during circumcision - on the eighth day from birth. Consider the most common Jewish male names.
The list of Jewish male names includes the most common ones, without borrowings.
The list of Jewish male names with the last letters of the alphabet is the most significant, so we should dwell on the most important ones.
Are there borrowed Hebrew male names? The list can be replenished with those that appeared in everyday life, while the Talmud did not play an important role. By naming children after relatives, the Jews contribute to their spread. The names come from the Hebrew language: Meir, Menuha, Nechama. The Babylonians brought Mordecai, Chaldeans - Atlaia And Bebay. Greek rule gave the Jews a name Alexander(option - C ender). Georgian Jews have: Irakli, Guram; at Tajik - Bovojon, Rubensivi, Estermo.
Their feature is small distribution area. There are names that appeared because of beliefs. So, the name Alter (“old man”) was called all newborns, but after a month it was changed. It was believed that it protects from evil spirits.
The list of Jewish male names is very important because before early XIX they did not have surnames for a century (they appeared in the Austrian Empire at the end of the 18th century). How were they created?
As we have seen, the origin of surnames is Jewish male names, a list of which is presented in the text.
