You know that this son-father name-scheme is used until today in Iceland? âEinar Jonassonâ means Einar son of Jonas. And girls names and with -dottir (daughter). They do not and never had second names how we know them.
Doesnât quite explain where mine comes from, but a fascinating read nonetheless.
Occupational names or place names are not an jewish phenomenon. Itâs prevalent in most german speaking countries.
BTW lots of words that are claimed (in the linked article) to be of yiddish origin are actually simply of german origin (e.g. Hirsch, springen, Klausner etc.
The womenâs name Feygele is mentioned - it sound quite similar to the german word âVĂśgeleâ short for âVĂśgelchenâ = âlittle Birdâ. Wrong?
The ending sky or ski is not particularly jewish but has a slawic origin and similar to the german âvonâ (= engl. âofâ) - could signal a place name like Tarnowski ( âof/from Tarnowâ), often noble property or a patronymic/matronymic name like âStefanskyâ (from the family Stefan, son of Stefan). The suffix -ski is most often found in a polish context and -sky more likely in Czechia, Russia or Ukraine.
I was going to mention Iceland, as it is the only place I know if that still does this.
Itâs not correct to say that Icelanders âdo not and never had second names how we no themâ. A significant minority of Icelandic families do indeed use surnames instead of patronymics. Some prominent Icelanders with surnames include former president KristjĂĄn EldjĂĄrn and former prime ministers JĂłhann Hafstein, Benedikt SigurĂ°sson GrĂśndal, and Ălafur Thors.
Iâd always been told that in my case, my surname meant shepherd, but Iâm not sure that matches. (it used to be -ski, but got changed by my grandfather and his brothersâŚ)
Itâs interesting to see how similar Yiddish is to High German (I sometimes find it easier to understand Yiddish than Schwäbisch). Ladino is also very similar to standard Spanish, although there seems to be some Catalan influence in there too and the spelling is different. Quite a few of the Yiddish words in this video are pretty much German with an accent:
When my toddler started counting to ten in Yiddish, my mother-in-law (of German descent) asked me who was teaching her German at school⌠
Yes, Feygele means little bird in Yiddish. Itâs a Yiddishization of the Hebrew name Tzipporah, which also means bird.
Just had a look at the wiki article:
âYiddish (××Ö´××׊ yidish or ××××׊ idish, literally âJewishâ) is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jews, and it is written in the Hebrew alphabet.â
Somalis do a similar thing. For both boys and girls, your first name is your given name, your middle name is your fatherâs first name and your last name is your paternal grandfatherâs first name (fatherâs middle name.) Most Somali immigrants have continued this practice after moving to the United States, though I have seen some who have given their children the fatherâs last name.
Heh. Growing up in a Jewish community, you hear that sort of thing alot. I knew one guy who spoke fluent Yiddish and thought that heâd just take German as a cake course in college. The teacher immediately picked him out when she asked them to recite the days of the week. He was fine⌠until he said âShabbosâ instead of âSamstagâ. Then⌠he knew things were about to get interesting. Yes, Yiddish is a dialect of German⌠but itâs only a dialect. Itâs more distinctive to the German ear than Valleyspeak or Southern Drawl is to English speakersâand with some significantly semantical differences (most of them rather vulgar).
Beyond that, interesting article! I had no idea that the origin of Jewish surnames was that recent. And then I realize that Iâm describing 200+ years ago as ârecent.â 
Iâve got to wonder though, about the more âgenericâ surnamesâthe ones that consist solely of the root words for others. I noticed that the example given of the âfancy shmancyâ names were all based around the (ahem) root word of Baumâwhich is my entire surname, no prefixes or suffixes. Given the context of the example in the article, I have to wonderâdid my ancestors get a discount? Humor aside, though, I know Rosens, Feins, Golds and Blatts, just to name a few. Those of us with just the root words for other surnames are hardly unknown, so I have to wonder what the situation/origin was there.
If your surname comes from Poland it may have something to do with agriculture, as âoboraâ in polish means âbarnâ. But Iâve never heard about anyone that would actually call himself Oboranowski. More likely your surname would be spelled âBaranowskiâ, and that would make a bit more sense shepherwise, as âbaranâ means âa ramâ in polish. It would also be more plausible, because âBaranowskiâ exists in the list of polish surnames. The thing is, the spelling of american surnames of polish descent changed slightly, but they are still traceable. Anyways, I hope that this made things a little but clearer for you.
Interesting how many places do maintain the usage of patronymics in some form or another. The arabic version is apparently still in use in Saudi Arabia, for example.
In many cases (I have no idea about your family, of course), that was an artifact of Ellis Island (or other immigration depot) and the laziness/casual cruelty of the officials there. Lots and lots of âcomplicatedâ foreign names got simplified on arrival; many of my Jewish friends with monosyllabic last names trace them back to their grandparentsâ immigration.
as a youth in metro Detroit, I went to school with many jews and went to a jewish summer camp, so Iâm well familiar with these words (shikker and alte kacker are new to me, though.) Iâm probably the only secular Atlantan to use these expressions; at least, to use them un-affectedly/un-ironically. I use âputzâ and âschmuckâ a lot. Iâm pretty sure it all falls on deaf ears around here, though.
Iâve heard "farkuckde"translated as âshitty,â although in spirit and in usage thereâs no difference between that and âfucked-up.â I usually use it to describe being hammered drunk, so either applies. (spelling yiddish words in english is notoriously variable, but Iâm told thereâs no ârightâ way anyhow?)
Names were not changed by immigration officials, lazy or otherwise, at Ellis Island or other entry points. Names were only changed by the immigrants themselves, usually after entry. It is a very common myth.
Names may not have been forced on people, but itâs pretty well documented that there were some mishearings/mistranscriptions, especially when nonliterate immigrants passed through. When you canât ask âhow do you spell thatâ â or when the answer comes back in an alphabet you donât know â approximation may be the best you can do.
