The 70 most common Jewish surnames

A review of the most common Jewish surnames, explaining their origin and meaning.

The Jewish community is one of the oldest ethnic groups that exist today, and its identity is largely reflected in some surnames with roots in the Hebrew language, and that today are very present especially in countries such as the United States, Israel and Argentina.

In this article we show you the 70 most common Jewish surnamesand also mentioning their origin and meaning.

What are the most common Jewish surnames?

It is usual that the Jewish surnames make reference to the progenitor or the father, in this case we will speak of patronymic surnames.

On the other hand, many of the most common Jewish surnames are common in two Jewish communities: the Sephardim, who come from the Iberian Peninsula, and the Ashkenazi, the Jews of Germany and Eastern Europe, this community being much more recent.

Next we will see the most used Jewish surnames, as well as their origin and meaning. You will be able to see how most of them come from Hebrew, although we also observe German and Arabic influences. In reference to the meaning, it is typical the mention to God, being also common that many of them can be used as a proper name both feminine and masculine.

1. Cohen

The surname Cohen, or Kohen, derives from the Hebrew word meaning "Priest". In addition, it has its origins in one of the most powerful lineages in Judaism, as the Cohens are traditionally understood to come from a line of direct male descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses according to the Bible.

2. Levy

The surname Levy comes from the Hebrew and means "to unite".. This name is given to the members of the Levi tribe who were called Levites, these are assistants of the cohanim, plural of cohen which as we have said before means priests.

3. Mizrachi

The surname Mizrachi means "oriental" which is the name given to the Jews coming from the Middle East or North Africa.

4. Peretz

The surname Peretz derives from a Hebrew proper name that translates into English as "advance" or "break through". It is believed that the surname Pérez may be the Spanish version that the Jews themselves made of this surname to hide from the Inquisition. from the Inquisition.

5. Biton

The surname Biton derives from the name Hayyim which means "life". Being a quite common surname, it has evolved in different ways depending on the area.

6. Dohan

The meaning of the surname Dohan is not clear and could refer to a "house painter" or an "oil seller". Similar derivations of this surname are also found such as Dahan, Dihan or Dohan.

7. Abramov

The surname Abramov uses the Russian suffix -ov which indicates that it is "son of Abraham". So this surname was used by Jewish families living in Russia or nearby areas.

8. Friedman

The surname Friedman comes from German, from the words "fridu" which is translated as "peace" and "mann" which we translate as "man". We deduce therefore that means "man of peace"..

9. Azoulai

The meaning of the surname Azoulai is not clear, it has been proposed as an option "blue eyes" or "good". This surname is frequently used in the community of Sephardic Jews who refer to the descendants of the Jews who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492.

10. Malka

It is a Judeo-Spanish surname that means "queen".

11. Katz

The surname Katz indicates that it belongs to a priestly family. Katz is an acronym that means "cohen tzedek" which translates into Spanish as "priest of justice".

12. David

David is a patronymic surname, which designates ancestry, very old and one of the most common in the world. In Hebrew it means "the one who is loved by God".

13. Ohayon

The surname Ohayon is composed of the Berber prefix "O-" which indicates "son of" and the proper name Hayon which translates as "life".

14. Hadad

The Hebrew surname Hadad means "ornament".

15. Amar

The surname Amar is also is frequent in the communities of Sephardic Jews and can be translated as "architect" or "builder".. It has Arabic origin and is for this reason that it is popular among Moroccan Jews.

16. Gabbai

The surname Gabbai translates as "guardian of charity" and refers to the function performed by some men in the synagogues.

17. Yosef

The surname Yosef is a patronymic that refers to the proper name Yosef which means "may God give another child".

18. Ben David

The prefix "Ben-" in Hebrew means "son of"; therefore, Ben David will be a patronymic surname that will be translated as son of David, a proper name meaning "beloved".

19. Edri

The surname Edri refers to the Draa Valley in Morocco, for this reason this surname will be frequent in the Jews living in this country.

20. Klein

The surname Klein which means "small" or "humble" was used as a substitute for the Hebrew surname Alemalej during the Jewish persecution in 1500.

21. Chen

The surname Chen is a Hebrew word meaning "grace" or "charm". Not only has it been used as a surname, but it can also be a proper name for both women and men.

22. Tal

The Hebrew surname Tal means "dew" and in the same way that the previous surname we can also find it as a proper name.

23. Levine

The Levine is a surname derived from the already named "Levy", in this case we could translate it as "he who unites his own".

24. Shapira

The surname Shapira, that we also find it with other forms like Shapiro, is a toponymic that refers to the a toponymic that refers to the Jews who lived in the German city of Speyer..

Hazan

The surname Hazan means "cantor" or "singer", the one who recites the prayers in the synagogue.

26. Moshe

The surname Moshe is the Hebrew form of Moses. That comes from the Egyptian root "mes" that means "son of" in this case "son of Jehovah" or "son of Yahweh".

27. Ohana

In this case the surname Ohana would be a matronymic that refers to the name of the mother together with the suffix "O-" that as we have said means "son of", in this case "son of Hanna".

28. Golan

Golan is a toponymic surname that refers to the city of Golan in Israel.

29. Ashkenazi

The surname Ashkenazi is a patronymic that indicates us "son of Ashkenaz" that means "fire that spreads", This end was also used to name the European Jews who lived in Central or Eastern Europe after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70.

30. Segal

Segal was the name given to the teachers of the Torah, which is the religious text that contains the heritage and the Israeli law. The surname Segal has its origin in the time of the first Temple of Jerusalem.

31. Yitzhak

The surname Yitzhak can also be found as Isaac, which translates as "he laughs".

32. Bar

Bar is a Jewish surname coming from German which means "bear".

33. Yaakov

The surname Yaakov can also be found as Jacob and means "taken by the heel".

34. Shalom

The surname Shalom means "God's peace". It is also commonly used as a greeting.

35. Mor

The surname Mor derives from the word More which means "teacher" or Mora which translates as "teacher".

36. Dayan

The surname Dyan comes from the Hebrew word Dayana, name that received who had the function of judge in the synagogue.

37. Eliyahu

Eliyahu is used as a first name and as a surname and it means "Jehovah is my God”.

38. Elbaz

The Jewish surname Elbaz is of Arabic origin and means "the falcon".

39. Lavi

The Jewish surname Lavi comes from Hebrew and translates as "lion".

40. Suissa

Suissa is a toponymic surname that refers to a village called Suesa in Spain or to the Souss region of Morocco.

41. Shemesh

The surname Shemesh means "house of God".

42. Atias

The surname Atias derives from the Arabic name Attya which means "gift of God".

43. Stern

The surname Stern is Ashkenazi and is of German origin. is of German origin, being translated as "star".

44. Nachum

The Jewish patronymic surname Nachum means "the one who comforts".

45. Alon

Alon is a Jewish surname also frequently used by Ashkenazis and means "tree".

46. Rosenberg

The surname Rosenberg can be considered matronymic (referring to the mother) or toponymic (referring to a place) and means "mountain of roses".

47. Sharabi

The surname Sharabi is a toponym referring to a district of Shar'ab in Taiz, Yemen, a country located in the Arabian Peninsula.

48. Maman

The toponymic surname Maman indicates that it comes from the Meanám people in the province of Orense in Spain.

49. Sasson

The Jewish surname Sasson translates as "happiness" or "joy".

50. Bachar

The surname Bachar refers to a trade in particular to a seller of spices, since we know that it comes from the Turkish word "bahar" which means "spices".

51. Shahar

The surname Shahar is believed to come from the name Morgenstern and means "dawn".

52. Maimon

The surname Maimon was used by the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, coming from the Arabic and means "fortunate".

53. Schwartz

The surname Schawartz comes from Hebrew and means "salvation". It is believed that it could be the origin of the Spanish surname Suarez.

54. Ovadia

Ovadia is a surname of Hebrew origin frequent among the Sephardic Jews and means "servant of God".

55. Ben Hemo

The surname Ben Hemo is composed by Ben that indicates "son of", and Hemo, that is believed that it derives from the name Haim that means "alive".

56. Vaknin

It is believed that Vaknin is a nickname of the proper name Jacob in Berber language.

57. Assouline

The toponymic surname Assouline is of Berber origin and means "rock" or "stone".

58. Meir

The surname Meir of Hebrew origin means "he who shines" and is also used as a proper name.

59. Greenberg

Of German origin, the Jewish surname Greenberg means "mountain".

60. Goldstein

The surname Goldstein comes from German and is translated as "golden stone"..

61. Weiss

Weiss is a surname of German origin that translates as "white".

62. Baruch

The surname Baruch of Hebrew origin means "Chosen and guided by God".

63. Amsalem

The surname Amsalem is popular in the Sephardic Jewish community and means "seeker of peace".

64. Rubin

The surname Rubin with Israeli roots comes from the proper name Reuven which in English would be Reuben and translates as "behold a son".

65. Feldman

Coming from the Yiddish dialect, where different languages such as French, Italian, Hebrew and German are united, it is formed by the German words "feld" which means "field" and "mann" which translates as "man", that is to say, the surname Feldman means "man of the field".

66. Ezra

The Jewish surname Ezra means "help".and this word was also used as a proper name for both men and women.

67. Harel

The surname Harel has Hebrew origin and is translated as "the mountain of God".

68. Yifrah

The surname Yifrah is of Hebrew origin and means "will bloom".

69. Sabag

The surname Sabag is of Arabic origin and refers to the trade of dyeing fabrics.

70. Kadosh

The Hebrew surname Kadosh means "holy" and is believed to be the origin of the Spanish surname Santo.