Jewish Surnames around the World: Occupation, Characteristic, Geographic, and More
Jewish caste: A name that reflects hereditary Jewish caste
Name | Meaning | Community of Origin |
Cohen | כהן—Priestly descent | Multiple communities |
Katz | Acronym: כ״ץ—Kohen tzedek (righteous Kohen), German: cat | Ashkenaz |
Sacerdote | Priest | Italy |
Kagan | כהן— Priestly descent (Russian h=>g) | Russian Empire |
Caplan | Chaplain | Ashkenaz |
Kahane | כהנא—Priestly descent (Aramaic) | Ashkenaz |
Levy | לוי—Levite | Multiple communities |
Segal | Acronym: סג"ל—S’Gan Leviya (associate of the Levite order), German: seal | Ashkenaz |
Rabbinic line: Rabbi or son of rabbi
Name | Meaning | Community of Origin |
Akhamzadeh | Born of (H)akham (son of rabbi) | Iran |
Rabinowitz | Son of rabbi | Ashkenaz |
Zak | Acronym: ז"ק—Zera Kodesh (holy seed), German: sack | Ashkenaz |
Braff | Acronym: בר"ף—Ben Rabi Pinchas/Peretz . . . (son of Rabbi . . .) | Ashkenaz |
Babad | Acronym: באב"ד—Ben Av Bet Din (son of the head of the rabbinic court) | Ashkenaz |
Barshal | Acronym: ברש"ל—Ben Rabi Shlomo Levi . . . (son of Rabbi . . .) | Ashkenaz |
Charmatz | Acronym: חרמ"ץ—Ḥatan Rabi Meir Tzvi . . . (son-in-law of Rabbi . . .) | Ashkenaz |
Magarshak | Acronym: מהרש"ק—Morenu Harav Rabi Shmuel Kaidanover (Russian h=>g) | Ashkenaz |
Jewish function: A name that reflects a non-hereditary Jewish communal function
Name | Meaning | Community of Origin |
Gabbai | גבאי—Synagogue administrator | Multiple communities |
Melamed | מלמד—Teacher | Multiple communities |
Chazan | חזן— Cantor | Multiple communities |
Shochet | שוחט—Ritual slaughterer | Multiple communities |
Katzav | קצב—Butcher | Multiple communities |
Dayan | דין—Rabbinic judge | Multiple communities |
Shatz | Acronym: ש"ץ—Shaliach Tzibur (prayer leader), German: treasure | Ashkenaz |
Matz | Acronym: מ"ץ—Moreh Tzedek (righteous teacher—rabbi) | Ashkenaz |
Occupational: A name that reflects a profession beyond the Jewish community (may be shared by non-Jews)
Name | Meaning | Community of Origin |
Shumacher | Shoemaker | Ashkenaz |
Metzger | Butcher | Ashkenaz |
Maddar | Potter | Yemen |
Fornaro | Baker | Italy |
Haddad | Smith | Arabic |
Kirschner | Furrier | Ashkenaz |
Fingerhut | Tailor (literally thimble) | Ashkenaz |
Tabib | Physician | Yemen |
Geographic: A name that refers to a place the family comes from or has a connection to
Name | Meaning | Origin |
Mizrahi | From the east | Mizrahi |
Deutsch | German | Ashkenaz |
Hamburger | From Hamburg, Germany | German |
‘Ajami | Foreigner | Iran |
Rajpurkar | From Rajpurkar, India | India |
Yerushalmi | From Jerusalem | Multiple communities |
Yazdi | From Yazd, Iran | Iran |
Toledano | From Toledo, Spain | Sephardi |
Characteristic: A name derived from the way a person looks or behaves
Name | Meaning | Origin |
Gross | Big | Ashkenaz |
Elbaz | Falcon | North African |
Hassan | Beautiful | Arabic |
Jaffe | Beautiful | Czech origin (from Hebrew) |
Atrash | Deaf | Arabic |
Klein | Small | Ashkenaz |
Sedaca | Charity | Sephardi/Italian/N. African |
Bialik | Light (hair or skin color) | Ashkenaz |
Patronymic: A name that comes from the first name of a male ancestor; prefixes like ben- and suffixes like -zadeh, -man, -ovich, -pour, and -ov mean “son of.”
Name | Meaning | Origin |
Yaghoubian | Son of Jacob | Iran |
Abramovich | Son of Abraham | Eastern Ashkenaz |
Danialpour | Son of Daniel | Iran |
Bensimon | Son of Simon | Sephardi, Mizrachi, N. Africa |
Nissim | (Son of) Nissim (miracles) | Sephardi, Mizrachi, N. Africa |
Binyaminov | Son of Benjamin | Bukhara (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan), Dagestan |
Aronashvili | Son of Aaron | Georgia |
Mendelssohn | Son of Mendel | Ashkenaz |
Matronymic: A name that comes from the first name of a female ancestor; the suffixes -in and -kin can mean “child of” or “husband of.”
Name | Meaning | Origin |
Rivkin | Rivka’s (Rebecca) child or husband | Eastern Ashkenaz |
Esterman | Esther’s husband | Ashkenaz |
Ben-Esther | Esther’s son | Sephardi/Mizrachi |
Frumkin | Frumka’s child or husband | Eastern Ashkenaz |
Esperanza | A woman’s name (means hope) | Sephardi |
Roskies | Roske’s (Rose) child or husband | Ashkenaz |
Aziza | A woman’s name | Sephardi/Mizrachi |
Mirkin | Mirka’s (Miriam) child or husband | Eastern Ashkenaz |
Ornamental: A name that doesn’t fit into the other categories but was selected because it sounded attractive or fashionable; often combined two words; a common category for Ashkenazic Jews
Name | Meaning | Origin |
Rosenberg | Rose hill | Ashkenaz |
Eisenfeld | Iron field | Ashkenaz |
Rothblum | Red flower | Ashkenaz |
Rubinstein | Ruby stone | Ashkenaz |
Weiss | White | Ashkenaz |
Stern | Star | Ashkenaz |
Wald | Forest | Ashkenaz |
Zilber | Silver | Ashkenaz |
Credits
Sarah Bunin Benor, Jewish Surnames Around the World. Used with permission of the author.