Jewish Surnames around the World: Occupation, Characteristic, Geographic, and More

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Traditionally Jews did not have hereditary surnames and were known by their given name, followed by “son of” or “daughter of” and then their father’s name, sometimes with the addition of his priestly caste. For example, Rachel bat Moshe means “Rachel daughter of Moshe,” and Shlomo ben Yishai ha-Kohen means “Shlomo son of Yishai the Priest.” This changed in various Jewish communities from the thirteenth through the twentieth centuries, sometimes based on fashion or legislation of the surrounding society, and sometimes after mandates directed toward Jews in particular, especially around emancipation.

In some cases, Jews were assigned surnames, and in other cases they selected them. There is no evidence of Jews having purchased more desirable names. However they acquired their hereditary surnames, they can be categorized into nine types, indicated in this table.

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 nonhereditary 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, Mizrahi, N. Africa
Nissim	(Son of) Nissim (miracles)	Sephardi, Mizrahi, 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/Mizrahi
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/Mizrahi
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 combines 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.

Discussion Questions

Imagine selecting a surname for your family. Would you use a parent’s name? A nickname, trait, or occupation? A place where your family came from? Or just a word with appealing connotations?
How are migrations reflected in Jewish surnames? Why are many Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews named Ashkenazi? How can geographic names distinguish people living in the same place?
Ornamental names are common among Ashkenazic Jews. Can you think of names that combine two words related to nature, food, or jewels, like Silverberg (silver hill) or Berenbaum (pear tree)?

Jewish Surnames around the World: Occupation, Characteristic, Geographic, and More

About This Entry

Credits

Discussion Questions

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