Check out this list of popular German surnames and their meanings to see if you recognize any. This biblical surname comes from the Book of Joshua where it is the name of a mountain. This is a toponymic name and derived from the Old English word Byng meaning a dweller of the hollow. The name could also refer to someone who originally belonged to the town of Bingen in Germany. It is derived from the Yiddish word zinger, which means singer. This occupational name was adopted by those who worked as a cantor in a synagogue. Alcazar= Sephardic Jewish From spain. Our team is comprised of parents, experts, and content professionals dedicated to bringing you the most accurate and relevant information in the parenting space. Urbino - In America some jewish families changed surname to Alcazar. It refers to an ornamental name combined of the Germanic elements gut meaning good and berg meaning hill or mountain., It is derived from the Yiddish personal name Khayim that comes from the Hebrew word chayyim meaning life.. Bauer leads in eastern Upper German-speaking Bavaria. It is the Yiddish and German word for a printer. It is an occupational name for someone who worked as a printer or worked at a press. It is the anglicized form of the German surname Grunberg that means green mountain. The name may have referred to someone from any of the several places called Grunberg in Poland and Germany. It comes from the Jewish word kohen meaning priest. This surname is derived from the priestly family line who served at Jewish temples in ancient times. Until this period, Jewish names generally changed with every generation. Lieb means lion in Yiddish. Veneziano - Due to the historical settlement of Slavs, Slavic names are most common in Saxony, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (especially in Lusatia, where Sorbs continue to reside today). The Polish national hero Kociuszko shared his surname with a Jewish family in northeastern Poland. As with most last names, they point to a family's place of origin. An Ashkenazic Jewish surname, comprised of "flower" and "mountain.". An occupational surname. Among themselves, they kept their traditional names. She also specializes in baby names. Recanati - Giphy Mller Meaning: A miller. It is a toponymic name derived from the Yiddish word eck meaning a corner. Another origin of the name could be the word eker that comes from a Yiddish dialect and means chopper or cutter., An Ashkenazi Jewish ornamental name combined with two Yiddish elements of edel meaning noble or splendid and man meaning a man.. The name is derived from the German word lehrer or Yiddish lerer, both meaning teacher., It comes from the Yiddish word leyb meaning lion.. Pisa - Hebrew word meaning "laughter," and the name of Abraham's son in scripture. German girls were baptized Maria, Anna or Anna Maria. Montecorboli - 2002-2023 LoveToKnow Media. So, if you are looking for last names that start with 's,' we have got you covered. This surname has been adopted by those who were writers of religious texts. If you're a mensch, it says a lot about you, and it's all good. Reggio - It is an ornamental name from the Yiddish word falk meaning falcon., This is an Ashkenazi Jewish surname that is derived from the Yiddish word fayn meaning excellent or fine.. This surname is composed of the German words rosen meaning rose and kranz meaning wreath. The name thus means rose wreath, It is a variation of the Hebrew name Reuben. This name is composed of the Hebrew elements reu meaning behold and ben meaning a son.. Huber is common in southern Bavaria and is, with the exception of Munich, the most frequent name in that area. Other names, chosen or purchased, were combinations with these roots: Blumen (flower), Fein (fine), Gold, Green, Lowen (lion), Rosen (rose), Schoen/Schein (pretty) combined with berg (hill or mountain), thal (valley), bloom (flower), zweig (wreath), blatt (leaf), vald or wald (woods), feld (field). His name was Conrad Widman. Foligno - Wolf is the root of the Ashkenazic last names Wolfson, Wouk, and Volkovich. Sabari, Tzubari, Tzoubari, Zubari, Subari, Tzabari . It is derived from the Hebrew word shachat for butcher. The surname is thus an occupational one. Bronfman/Brand/Brandler/Brenner distiller; Braverman/Meltzer brewer; Kabakoff/Krieger/Vigoda tavern keeper; Geffen wine merchant; Wine/Weinglass wine merchant; Weiner wine maker. Baer/Berman/Beerman/Berkowitz/Beronson bear; Adler eagle (may derive from reference to an eagle in Psalm 103:5); Einhorn unicorn; Falk/Sokol/Sokolovksy falcon; Fink finch; Fuchs/Liss fox; Gelfand/Helfand camel (technically means elephant but was used for camel too); Hechtpike; Hirschhorn deer antlers; Karp carp; Loeb lion; Ochs ox; Strauss ostrich (or bouquet of flowers); Wachtel quail. Spanish for "palaces." InYiddish, "zetser" means a "typesetter.". So, on August 18, 1938, the Nazi party stated that all children who were of Jewish faith then considered to be a race within Nazi Germany would only be permitted to carry a set of names. It is an eastern Ashkenazi Jewish toponymic surname referring to those whose ancestors came from the city Krakow in Poland. Scandiani - Pontecorboli - Means "thorny" in Spanish. It is taken from the Hebrew word shor which means ox. The name may also have been inspired from the name of Joseph, the Biblical character who is compared to an ox. David ben (son of) Jesse, or Miriam bat (daughter of) Aaron). This surname can come from a few different origins. The name was originally a nickname for someone with light hair. Mentana - Spain forced all Jews to leave the country in 1492. Mean "gift of God." Some examples include- Brownstein, Adler, and Cronenberg. It is a toponymic Jewish surname referring to those whose ancestors came from the town of Yampol in Ukraine. It's from "silver" (silver) and "stein" (stone). Torinesi - Read on to know some last names that start with 'S' from across . Biblical names: These are names that indicate religious significance or a relationship to a prominent biblical figure. Popular Jewish Last Names 1. The sexton maintains the synagogue and works as a warden. Some traditional surnames, such as Sofer (scribe), Kantor (Cantor), and Cohen (priest), are related to religion too. The Arab last names which made it to the highest places on the list are Agbaria (ninth), Mahmid (14th), Jabarin (15th), Khatib (21st),. 5. It comes from the Polish word krol that means king. The name could be an occupational one for someone working for an aristocratic family. Where the Lowells speak only to the Cabots; The name comes from the German word rot that means the color red., This is an ornamental name, which is a combination of the German elements rot meaning red and berg meaning hill or mountain., It has been taken from the Middle High German elements rot meaning red and schilt meaning shield or sign., This is a metonymic occupational name composed of the Yiddish elements ruder meaning rudder or oar and man meaning man., It is a toponymic name for those who belonged to the state of Saxony in Germany. Family names can be unique or come in large numbers. American cartoonist, Charles M. Schulz, had a variation of this surname. The common names Schmidt and Schmitz lead in the central German-speaking and eastern Low German-speaking areas. Finally, there may have been Jewish names changed or shortened by immigration inspectors (though this is disputed) or by immigrants themselves (or their descendants) to sound more American, which is why Sean Ferguson was a Jew. It is another variant of the surname Schaefer, which is derived from the German word schaf meaning sheep. It was an occupational name for those who worked as shepherds. For centuries, Jewish communal leaders were responsible for collecting taxes from the Jewish population on behalf of the government, and in some cases were responsible for filling draft quotas. This surname is derived by combining the German words stern meaning star with bach meaning stream. The name is likely to have been a toponymic one. It is derived from the German word hell that means bright or light. This was likely used as a nickname for a person with a light complexion. Many surnames provide clues to a family's country of origin. Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning. Yiddish for "Solomon," Israel's third king. Related: 10 Traditional Jewish Recipes that Work for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, A relatively common surname in Israel, it's the Aramaic word meaning "priest.". Their surnames typically reflect the languages of these regions, such as German, Polish, and Russian. Among the most common names recorded at the end of the century (and retained in 1808) were Levi, Cohen, Weil, Bloch, and Dreyfus. Many Polish-named Germans reside in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin, though they are mostly "Germanized" by form (e.g. Michael is also the name of an angel in Jewish tradition. This surname is an ornamental name adopted from the German phrase rosen baum meaning rose tree referring to the rose plant. It means son of Mendel. The name Mendel is a Yiddish personal name and a diminutive form of mendl meaning man., It is an Ashkenazi Jewish surname that comes from the Hebrew word meir meaning enlightened., This name is derived from the Yiddish word milgrym, which means pomegranate., It comes from the Yiddish feminine personal name Mindl that likely comes from the Old High German word minne meaning love.. Some Jews either held on to or adopted traditional Jewish names from the Bible and Talmud. The Nazi minority census of 1938/1939 lists given names and surnames, birth dates, birthplaces, education levels, and which grandparents were Jewish. Ashkenazic Jews were among the last Europeans to take family names. Lang/Lange/Long Meaning: A very tall person. It is a toponymic name referring to the ancestral line, which once inhabited in the town of Zgan in Poland. In attempting to build modern nation-states, the authorities insisted that Jews take last names so that they could be taxed, drafted, and educated (in that order of importance). Marino - This surname can be found in English, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish communities. Camerino - A Yiddish surname of a descendant of a ritual slaughterer or butcher. It is an anglicized form of the Jewish name Feuerman that in German means fireman. The root element in the name is feur meaning fire in German. It is an Ashkenazi Jewish name. This is a toponymic name referring to someone who belonged to the city of Grodno in Belarus. With Jewish surnames, . A habitational surname for someone from places like Jablonka. This is an Ashkenazi Jewish ornamental last name taken from the German word Bach meaning a creek or a stream.. Means "free." Samuel is a Hebrew name meaning "God has heard.". It is a Germanic form of Cohen, a priest who serves at a Jewish temple. Torinese - Conigliani - It is the variant of the surname Polonsky. This name likely refers to someone who came from any of the several places called Polonnoe in Ukraine or Polonka and Polonsk in Belarus. [1] [2] [3] Mller, occupation ( miller) Schmidt, occupation ( smith) Schneider, occupation ( tailor) Fischer, occupation ( fisherman) Weber, occupation ( weaver) Meyer, occupation (originally a manorial landlord, later a self-employed farmer) Zara -, Biblical Hebrew personal names and their derived surnames, Germanised, Yiddishised surnames translated from Hebrew or other sources, Germanised or German surnames (Ashkenazic) with "meaning" in German, Italian municipality-derived surnames (from villages or cities), . Whether you love the look or the sound of a J name for girls, ther, Polish baby names are rooted in deep meaning and have an old-world feel for both boy and girl options. Heinrich W. and Eve H. Guggenheimer, Jewish Family Names and their Origins an Etymological Dictionary (Ktav Publishing House: USA, 1992). Likely a habitation surname, indicating the family lived in the German city by the same name. It is an elaborative form of the Yiddish word shul meaning synagogue. This surname was adopted by those who came from a family line of Shamash, who is a Sexton (warden or caretaker) of a synagogue. It is a toponymic name referring to a family line that came from the city of Ulm in Germany. It is derived from the Hebrew title Kohen Tzedek meaning the priest of righteousness., It is derived from the Yiddish word koyfman, which means merchant.. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company. Surnames of occupational origin include: Chazan [Cantor], Gabbai [synagogue official], Dayan [rabbinic judge], Coffen [Cohen], Tibbon [straw merchant], Sebag [black], Rofe [doctor], and Del Medigo [of medicine]. Cividale - Jesi - Patronymic surnames are taken from the father's first name. It is an ornamental name that comes from the German word flinte meaning shotgun.. Many Pimentels were important merchants/traders/dealers in the global spice trade. Possibly indicating the family came from a line of goldsmiths, or someone in a similar business relating to precious stones. The large number of Turkish immigrants to Germany accounts for the frequency of Turkish surnames. Also, many of their surnames are Yiddish, the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews. Rovighi -, Saravalle (Veneto) - This is a listing of common surnames (alphabetical by country names): Gonzlez Rodrguez Lpez Garca Gmez Prez Galleti Villa Dominguez argentinez Ahmed Alam Begum Choudhury Das Hossain Khan Miah . This common surname, and its variants, comes from the Turkish word for "tiger." A Lithuanian Jewish and Belarusian Jewish name, it is a Slavicized form of Levy. A topographic surname for someone who lived on a corner, either on a piece of land or a street. Castelfranco - ); Stein/Steiner/Stone jeweler; Wasserman water carrier. Derived from "Pepper, pepper field, or grower or seller of pepper (Portuguese Jews controlled the global spice trade in the 1500s - 1600s). For example, Asch is an acronym for the towns of Aisenshtadt or Altshul or Amshterdam. Cave - An occupational surname from the German "smit"a "blacksmith. Daniel means "God is my judge" in Hebrew. Pimentel = Sephardic Jewish from Portugal and Spain. Both Polish and Jewish. Montagnana - It is an ornamental name derived from the Yiddish elements finkl meaning sparkle and stein meaning stone.. The town had a thriving Jewish population in the Middle Ages. Nepi - Milanese - Messina - First Trimester To-Do List: Take Care of Yourself. Occasionally, it indicates a rabbi, but not always. It is the German word for bird. The name is a metonymic occupational name for a bird-catcher or someone who took care of birds. An occuapational Sephardic surname meaning "straw merchant.". Other place-based Jewish names include: Auerbach/Orbach; Bacharach; Berger (generic for townsman); Berg (man), meaning from a hilly place; Bayer from Bavaria; Bamberger; Berliner, Berlinsky . Parzymies, Anna. Terni - This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 19:46. Africa, Asia, and the Middle East Algeria 5. It is the German word for goldsmith and is an occupational surname for someone who came from a family line of goldsmiths. Kraus Meaning: Curly-haired. And this is good old Boston; It means white in German. Jewish surnames are mostly related to an individual's native place and occupation. Family name First name Father's name Age Place of residence Place of death Date of death The names of the Holocaust victims that appear on this list were taken from Pages of Testimony submitted to Yad Vashem Patronymic surnames such as Jansen/Janssen, Hansen, and Petersen are the most common names in the far north (Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein). Sereni - This surname is an ornamental name composed of the word gold and the German word baum meaning tree., It is a toponymic name referring to someone who belonged to the town of Goldberg in Germany. Monselice - Shikha is a writer-turned-associate editor at MomJunction, with over seven years of experience in the field of content. Jewish surnames are quite popular worldwide because the Jewish community is spread all over the world. It is a toponymic name for those who came from the city of Tarnow in Poland. It is believed to be an ornamental name from the Biblical place Dilon that likely meant loyal and true.. Surnames can be influenced by traditions, family history, or religion. Mortara - This name is composed of the German elements schiff meaning ship and mann meaning man. The name could have been that of a sailor or someone whose house had a sign of ship at its entrance. Goldman: a popular choice among Austrian Jews for its beautiful connotation "gold" and "man" Goldschmidt: this Germanic name refers to an ancestor who worked as a goldsmith Green: adopting colors as surnames was popular among Austro-Hungarian Jews -- Amsterdam : Scheltema & Holkema ; Polak & Van Gennep, 1967. Many modern American Jews will give their children a Hebrew name in addition to their personal names. Ancona - For example, the surname Segal means "assistant Levite," or someone that serves as an assistant to a priest in a Jewish temple. They are popular name choices for both Je, Palindrome names, or names that are spelled the same forward and backward, are fun to use and say. Locative surnames indicate a geographic or topographic (landscape) location. For instance, Goldberg and Schonberg. It's a common surname for families from the Iberian Peninsula. In Yiddish, literally "little fish." It means blue in German. Levi/Levy Origin: Hebrew Data updated to 12 February 2021.[1][2][3]. Derived from German, "schneiden," meaning "to cut.". Most last names across cultures have a meaning and a story behind them and often relate to a family's origin, occupation, ancestors, etc. The easiest way for Jews to assume an official last name was to adapt the name they already had, making it permanent. A German location-based surname, meaning "wild boar" and "stone.". Having done a certification in Relationship Coaching, her core interest lies in more. Caivano - FamilyEducation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Names are derived from so many factors. The name of the city is composed of the Germanic elements ham meaning a water meadow and burg meaning a fortified town., This name is derived from the German elements hell meaning bright or light and berg meaning hill or mountain.. Alterman. It is the root of many Ashkenazic last names, including Liebowitz, Lefkowitz, Lebush, and Leon. Poggibonsi - 3 Patronymic names: These last names indicate familial relationships. Montalcino - The two most common Jewish names are Cohen and Levi. These surnames have been influenced by the cultural assimilation, geographic diversity of the community, and the Hebraization of surnames (1). In Germany, there are about 850,000 different family names.