Whether you are a Jewish researcher, or a non-Jewish researcher, if you are on this site, you probably want to know more about the history of Jewish surnames to help you with family history. We asked leading Jewish genealogist Dan Stepel to write something helpful to assist your understanding.
The Sacred Script of Our Surnames: An Exploration of Jewish Family Names
By Dan Stepel
Introduction: I’ve got a name
“And I carry it with me like my daddy did.”
Jim Croce
For the Jewish people, a name has never been merely a label. It is a vessel of memory a connection to the past. To understand the history of Jewish surnames is not only an act of historical curiosity—it is a mitzvah, a good deed, an affirmation that memory matters.
The modern search for Jewish surnames is more than academic. For genealogists and seekers of ancestral truths, these names are guideposts—sometimes faint, sometimes altered, always meaningful. Yet the path is filled with thorns. Migration, bureaucratic edicts, war, and the dynamics of identity have reshaped and often obscured the original names.
In this post, we will trace the historical, cultural, and moral arc of Jewish surnames and examine how the unique migration patterns of Jewish communities pose significant challenges for genetic genealogy.
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From Avraham to Abramson: A Historical Journey
In ancient times, surnames were not necessary. One could be Avraham, Yitzhak, or Yaakov. Communities were small, and identity was relational in nature. As populations grew and societies became more complex, identifiers expanded.
First came patronymics. Yehoshua ben Nun. Miriam bat Bilgah. These “son of” or “daughter of” identifiers served well for centuries. However, they were not passed down across generations. They functioned more like today’s phone numbers—temporary and specific.
Among Sephardic Jews, hereditary surnames emerged as early as the 10th century, influenced by Arabic and Romance naming customs. Benveniste (from Shalom), Toledano (from Toledo), Rofe (doctor), and Albo (white) are examples. These names became spiritual passports when Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal.
Ashkenazi Jews, however, were slower to adopt surnames. Until the late 18th and early 19th centuries, names were informal and subject to change. In the shtetl, people were known by their occupation (Yankel the shoemaker), lineage (Sarah bat Leah), or house symbol (Rothschild, the red shield).
The great shift came with the Naming Laws of Europe, particularly the 1787 edict by Emperor Joseph II of Austria, which required Jews to adopt permanent surnames for bureaucratic purposes. While some Jews were allowed to choose their names, many were assigned names—sometimes at random, sometimes cruelly.
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The Price and Politics of Naming
As Benzion Kaganoff recounts, those who could afford a bribe were given names like Goldstein, Edelman, and Rosenberg. The poor and powerless were assigned names like Schmalz (grease), Ochsenschwanz (ox tail), or even Affenkraut (monkey weed). This grotesque mix of comedy and tragedy marks a chapter in which the Jewish soul was subjected to the whims of clerks with ink-stained fingers and hard hearts.
Even today, some descendants carry these imposed names, unaware of their origins. It is a solemn task to study and remember, to lift these names from shame and replant them in dignity.
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Categories of Jewish Surnames
Jewish surnames generally fall into five main categories:
1. Patronymic and Matronymic
Examples: Abramson, Mendelsohn, Rivkin, Sorkin
Insight: Rare matronymics honor women—a tender thread of egalitarianism in a patriarchal tapestry.
2. Occupational
Examples: Schneider (tailor), Sofer (scribe), Shochet (ritual slaughterer), Melamed (teacher)
These names echo the daily lives and spiritual roles of Jews within their communities.
3. Geographic/Toponymic
Examples: Berliner, Lemberger, Posner, Toledano
Note: Not all are literal. “London” might mean Lamden (scholar), not the British capital.
4. Descriptive or Character-Based
Examples: Jaffe (beautiful), Hirsch (deer), Schwartz (dark), Klein (small)
These names reflect either physical traits or aspirational qualities.
5. Acronyms and Honorifics
Examples: Rashi, Rambam, Katz (Kohen Tzedek), Segal (Segan Leviyah)
These carry deep spiritual resonance and link individuals to sacred service.
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A Sea of Sameness: The Surname Problem in Jewish DNA Research
DNA has given modern genealogists a powerful tool—but for Jews, it comes with unique challenges. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin once remarked, “We carry a treasure chest of memory, but many of the labels have worn off.” In Jewish DNA research, those labels are often surnames, places, and stories lost to time.
In an ideal world, DNA matching works best when four elements align: a healthy number of reasonably close cousin matches, repeated surnames in family trees, shared geographic origins, and accessible ancestral records. Jewish genealogy, however, rarely meets those conditions.
Geography? Fragmented by centuries of forced migration—Jews expelled from one town, resettled in another—“Ukraine,” “Poland,” “Lithuania,” and “Russia” might all describe the same shtetl in the Pale of Settlement.
Surnames? Unreliable. Fixed Jewish surnames only became common in the 19th century. Even then, brothers sometimes chose different names. Others adapted them to new lands. “Katz” became “Kaye,” “Leibowitz” became “Levy,” and some were shed entirely, like coats at a border crossing.
Records? Many never existed. Others were burned, bombed, or buried—along with the families they documented.
So how do we explain it when a Harris in London, a Hirsch in New York, and a Phillips in Melbourne turn out to be genetic cousins? Their paper trails diverge. Their memories differ. But their DNA is in quiet agreement.
Jewish DNA research, then, is not a precise road map—it is more like a compass guided by soul and story. It doesn’t always tell us where we come from. But it reminds us, profoundly, that we are still connected.
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Ellis Island and the Myth of the Changed Name
Let’s pause and debunk a myth: names were not changed at Ellis Island. Immigration officers checked names against ship manifests created at the time of departure. However, immigrants often changed names after arrival—to assimilate, to avoid antisemitism, or simply to simplify.
Zeligman became Silverman. Kaganovich became Kane. Yankelowitz became Young. The royal family even did it with their foreign sounding surname: Battenberg to Mountbatten.
And then there’s the Soviet story. In the USSR, openly Jewish names could limit careers or draw persecution. Name changes were often about survival.
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Women in the Shadows: Matronymics and Lost Stories
One of the most quietly powerful aspects of Jewish surname study is the rare glimpse into matronymics—names derived from mothers. Names like Rivkin (son of Rivka) or Sorkin (from Sarah) are whispered acknowledgements of the vital but often invisible role of women in Jewish continuity.
In a world where men led in synagogue and signed legal documents, these maternal echoes are not just touching—they’re revolutionary.
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Names with Nature, Names with Prayer
Not all Jewish surnames were functional. Some were poetic:
• Blumenfeld: flower field
• Tannenbaum: fir tree
• Teitelbaum: date palm tree
• Rosenthal: rose valley
Others were spiritual aspirations:
• Edelman: nobleman
• Friedman: man of peace
• Zelman: a peaceful man
When you say these names, you are speaking prayers. The prayer to bloom again. The prayer to live in peace. The prayer to endure.
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The Moral of the Name
Why does any of this matter?
Because Jewish history is not just about events, it’s about people. And people come with names. To study Jewish surnames is to fight forgetting. It is to reweave the tapestry that exile, war, and assimilation have torn.
In the end, whether your name is Cohen or Kaplan, Goldstein or Goodman, Harris or Hirsch, it is a link in the chain. A note in the symphony. A candle in the dark.
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Conclusion: The Holiness in the Hunt
So what should we do with all this?
We should ask. Ask our elders. Ask our DNA. Ask our own hearts.
We should research. Visit cemeteries. Read manifests. Join surname projects. Speak the forgotten.
And we should remember that every name is a story. And every story deserves to be told.
As it says in Proverbs, “The memory of the righteous is a blessing.”
So say the names. Write them. Search them. And let them live again.
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Popular Jewish Surnames and Their Origins
• Abrams: Descendant of Abraham
• Barenbaum: Pear tree
• Cohen/Kohn/Kagan: Priest
• Eisenberg: Iron mountain
• Friedman: Man of peace
• Goldberg/Goldman: Gold mountain / Man of gold
• Hirsch: Deer
• Isaacs: Son of Isaac
• Jaffe: Beautiful
• Kaplan: Chaplain (also priestly)
• Katz: Kohen Tzedek
• Levi/Levy/Levin: Joined or attached
• Markowitz: Son of Mordecai
• Nadel: Needle
• Perl: Pearl
• Rabinowitz: Son of a rabbi
• Rosenthal: Rose valley
• Schwartz: Black
• Segal: Levitical assistant
• Shulman: Synagogue man
• Singer: Cantor
• Tannenbaum: Fir tree
• Weinberg: Vineyard mountain
• Wolf: Animal symbol for Benjamin
• Zuckerman: Sugar man
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