Jewish Surnames

These reflect the different countries inhabited by the Jewish people. Despite being taken from the language of the country of residence, some are considered typically Jewish. These include names with the element 'Gold' in particular. Traditionally, Jewish people did not inherited surnames but used patronymics or matronymics preceded by 'ben' son of or 'bat' daughter of, for identification. As hereditary surnames became established in Europe during the middle ages, Jewish people began to use second names which were sometimes combinations of a personal name and a patronymic or words reflecting events in a family's life.

In 1787, Joseph II of Austria passed a law which required all Jews to adopt a hereditary surname and similar rules were made throughou Europe with Russia one of the last countries to make one in 1845. Some officials in Austria and Germany would only register names with favourable meanings if they were paid and as many could not afford this, they were assigned surnames with derogatory meanings. In Nazi Germany, many Jews did not have Jewish names so they were forced to take Israel for men, Sarah for women, to identify themselves as Jewish.

Israel

The Israeli government encourages people to use Hebraicised names but many surnames still retain Germanic or Slavonic forms.

Aharoni Barak Bashevis Ben Zeev Ben-Shahar Berkovic
Blomstein Bruck Chertok Cohen Datz Dayan
Demsky Dobias Eshel Eshkol Federman Feinstein
Gadi Ganani Golan Goldberg Goldman Golembo
Goni Gottesman Grossman Haber Hadar Halevi
Hamutal Harel Harpaz Har-Zahav Hefetz Ish-Shalom
Jakubowicz Jerayesh Kafni Kantor Kedar Kempinski
Kollek Kostiner Krickstein Kuttab Liberman Lotner
Machuv Mandebaum Mazar Meir Mendenhall Nachum
Oded Ophir Pazy Peres Persky Pick
Posner Rabin Ran Reiss Romach Rosenbaum
Rosenberg Sayar Segal Shahar Shameel Sharett
Shiloh Shimshelewitz Shkolnik Shmerkin Shoshan Shulman
Singer Smashnova Tzon Uki Weidenseld Wiezman
Yadin Yakobovitch Yedidyah Zahavy    

Britain

Abraham Abrams Abramsky Abramson Adler Aidallbery
Almog Alter Altman Altmann Angel Apfel
Argov Aronsfeld Aronthal Ascher Asher Auerbach
Bach Backer Baeck Bakstansky Baline Ballin
Bamberger Barak Barnato Basch Bash Basin
Baskin Baum Baumberger Bayme Beck Becker
Beer Beit Benisch Benski Berlin Berlinger
Bettman Bezalel Bloom Blum Blumenfeld Bomberg
Borach Braff Brann Brasch Brenner Breuer
Brodetsky Büchler Cantor Cassel Chagall Cohen
Cowen Daiches Danielovitch Davidson de Worms Deronda
Deutsch Diamond Dienesman d'Israeli Dresner Dreyfuss
Duchan Duchen Duchin Dukes Eban Ehrenburg
Einhorn Einstein Eisen Emanuel Endelman Epstein
Erlich Farber Fersht Fiedler Filipowski Finestein
Fishman Fleischer Fleischmann Fraenkel Frank Frankau
Frankel Frankfurter Franklin Friedlander Friedman Garbacz
Garfinkle Gartner Gaster Geiger Gerber Gerlis
Gertler Gestetner Ginsberg Gluckstein Gold Goldberg
Goldbloom Goldschmidt Goldsmid Gollancz Goodman Gottesdiener
Gould Goulston Graetz Greenberg Gretz Grois
Gross Grossman Grunwald Halevy Hart Hartog
Heilbron Henriques Hershon Herzl Hillman Hirschell
Hirst Hodesmann Homa Horovitz Horowitz Hurwitz
Hyamson Isaac Isaacs Isaacson Isaaman Iskowitch
Itzik Jacob Jacobovits Jacobowitz Jacobs Jacobsen
Jacobson Janner Jessel Josephs Jung Kadish
Kagan Kahan Kahn Kalish Kantor Kantorowitsch
Kaplan Katz Kershen Kobler Kohnstamm Kölmel
Kosmin Kramer Kraushaar Krausz Lachman Lahrheim
Landau Landeshut Lasker Laski Latchman Lawson
Lebzelter Lehmann Lehrer Lerner Levenberg Leverson
Levi Levin Levine Levinson Levinstein Levitch
Levitt Levy Lichtman Lieberman Liebermann Lipman
Littauer Livshin Loewe Löwy Lyons Maccoby
Malbim Manis Manischewitz Mankowitz Mannes Margolin
Margolis Marks Mattuck Matz Maxse Meir
Meldola Mendel Mendelson Meninsky Merton Metz
Mocatta Monash Mond Montagu Montefiore Morgenthau
Moses Mowshowitch Munk Myer Myers Nenbauer
Neuberger Neumegen Novokovichi Paliakov Perlman Pinero
Pinsker Pinsky Piratin Pirbright Poliakov Pollack
Prag Prais Rabbinowitz Rabinowicz Reinhartz Reinharz
Resnick Reuben Rivkin Rocker Rose Rosen
Rosenberg Rosenstein Rosenthal Roth Rothenstein Rothschild
Rothstein Rubin Rubinstein Sachar Sacher Salbstein
Salomons Saltman Saltzmann Samuel Samuels Sandler
Sarasohn Sarkin Sarlin Sassoon Schach Schalit
Schapiro Schechter Schecter Schiff Schiller Schlesinger
Schmool Schneider Schonfeld Schuster Schwab Sebag
Segal Semon Shalit Shapiro Sharot Sherman
Shimoni Shine Shub Sieff Singer Sklare
Somper Speyer Spiegel Spiro Starkman Stein
Steinberg Steiner Stephany Stern Sternberg Stiebel
Straus Susser Sutro Sylvester Szinessy Theodores
Trachtenberg Twersky Ussishkin Vinchevsky Waley Wallach
Wandsworth Wassermann Watterman Weber Wechsler Weil
Weizman Weizmann Wiener Wigram Wirth Wolf
Wolmark Woolf Yoelsen Yoffey Zalkind Zangwill
Zedner Zeiman Zoegell Zundel    

Russia

Chicherin Kabotinsky Levinsky Levitansky Levitsky Litvinov
Matusevitch Okin Okun Pekarsky Pomerantz Segalowitch
Sharansky Sokolov Trumpelder Tschkenow Zlato  

Germany

Eisner Feldshuh Gryn Helfgott Kupner Luxemburg
Mayer Mohilewer Poupko Silberstein Spector Spiro
Spitzer          

Poland

Balsam Duzy Grajek Kandelcukier Liss Wakstok

Czech

Sidon

Main index

Middle East index

Jewish index

This collection of names compiled by Kate Monk. Copyright January 1997, Kate Monk. Last updated July, 98. Copies may be made for personal use only.


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