Dictionary of Jewish Names and Their History

by Benzion C. Kaganoff

This reference examines the history of Jewish forenames and surnames, tracing the origin of each name and the changes that have occured over generations.

Genres: Jewish, Judaism

294 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1977

Reviews

[Bobbi Baker]

Names are sort of a hobby of mine, so I have a collection of name books. This humble rabbi named his book *A* Dictionary-- when he wrote *The* Dictionary. The history is fascinating. For example, the 18th century brought about the compulsory adoption of names, which gave rulers an excuse to extort money from the Jews. The wealthy Jews were able to buy the beautiful flower and gem names like Rose and Diamond, while the poor could afford only the unattractive Schmucky-type names.

[Jacob Lehman]

Overview of last-name origins. Some compelling ones, but also a lot of repetition, the main takeaway seeming to be that Jewish names (as those elsewhere) came from patronymics, places, and occupations, with the occasional acronym/matronymic as well.

[LM]

I highly recommend this. Kaganoff glosses over the history of when Jews stopped going
by their first name, son/daughter of their mother and father, to being required by
countries to have a last name. He writes about the roots for many last names and the
common reasons they were used or might have been used. Some were based on
profession, patriarchs, matriarchs, or towns and others came from appearances, the
amount of money one had or did not have to purchase a nice sounding name, and even
what name represented a nice image to put on a house sign (from when addresses were
house titles instead of numbers with street names). He writes mostly about last names, but
also mentions many first names, their trends, and origins. The origins of first names
particularly interested me. According to the author many very Jewish sounding Yiddish
names used today were based on popular, non Jewish, European names which makes me
wonder if the names were an attempt to assimilate and whether it would be preferable to
use the Hebrew equivalents or if the evolution of the name is just an ironic side note to
the rich history of our names. If I ever get stuck in an elevator with a Rav or mohel who
is knowledgeable about this stuff I will definitely pick his brain.

[Ruth]

I read the 1977 edition. I noticed the perpetuation of the "name changed by Ellis Island officials" myth. I hope the rest of the book and the later edition is accurate because there is a lot of interesting information about the origin of Jewish first and last names (both etymology and when a name passed from another culture into widespread Jewish use) and the waxing and waning of their popularity.

The most enlightening piece of information for me was that prior to widespread literacy and the (later) establishment of house numbers, people marked their homes and businesses (often the same premises) with memorable pictures on wooden signs. Animals and trees were the most popular kinds of pictures. Finally an explanation for all the Jewish names ending in "-baum"! Incidentally this is the origin of the Rothschild name--they lived at the sign of the red shield.

[Nicole]

I'm a total nut when it comes to language and religion. Combining the two in this book definitely made my day. Interesting to read, not at all hard to get through, and educational to boot.

[Matty]

Excellent source; feels qualified to be ascribed as encyclopedic level for its broad, yet rare, intense-as-possible, coverage

[Peyton]

This really wasn't what I thought it was!