Contents

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION .......................................................................................................................... XI

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION (1993)................................................................................................................. XIII
ALPHABETS AND THEIR SPELLINGS ....................................................................................................................... XVI
Hebrew, Aramaic and Yiddish........................................................................................................................... xvi
Cyrillic .............................................................................................................................................................. xvii
Phonetic Equivalents of Certain Polish, German and Romanian Letters......................................................... xviii
MAP OF THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT......................................................................................................................... XX
ADMINISTRATIVE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE PALE OF SETTLEMENT .......................................................................... XXII
CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF JEWISH NAMES IN EASTERN EUROPE .................................................................................1
1.1 Names in Hebrew Sources before the End of the 18th Century.......................................................................1
Jewish Communal Records ...........................................................................................................................1
Tombstone Inscriptions .................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Names in Slavic Sources before the End of the 18th Century .........................................................................4
Given Names .................................................................................................................................................4
Patronymics ...................................................................................................................................................6
Women’s Names ...........................................................................................................................................6
Nicknames .....................................................................................................................................................7
Surnames .......................................................................................................................................................7
Languages Used to Create Nicknames ..........................................................................................................8
Jewish Names at the End of the 18th Century...............................................................................................8
1.3 General Aspects of the Surname Adoption ......................................................................................................9
Legislation .....................................................................................................................................................9
Attitude toward the New Names .................................................................................................................10
1.4 Secondary Surnames ......................................................................................................................................11
1.5 Surname Changes in Russia and USSR .........................................................................................................12
Pseudonyms.................................................................................................................................................13
CHAPTER 2. TYPES AND MORPHOLOGY OF JEWISH SURNAMES...............................................................................14
2.1 Global Statistics .............................................................................................................................................14
2.2 Surnames Indicating Kohen or Levite Origin ................................................................................................17
Kohen Origin...............................................................................................................................................17
Levite Origin ...............................................................................................................................................18
2.3 Rabbinical Surnames......................................................................................................................................19
2.4 Surnames Derived from Toponyms ...............................................................................................................22
Patterns Used to Create Surnames from Toponyms....................................................................................24
Principal Features of Surnames Derived from Toponyms ..........................................................................27
Surnames with the Suffix skij or tskij..........................................................................................................27
Surnames with the Suffix er ........................................................................................................................28
Surnames with the Suffix in ........................................................................................................................29
Surnames Formed with No Added Suffix ...................................................................................................29
Toponyms with Endings Particular to Geographic Areas ...........................................................................30
2.5 Patronymic Surnames ....................................................................................................................................30
Masculine Given Names .............................................................................................................................30
Surnames Identical to Given Names ...........................................................................................................32
Surnames with Patronymic Suffixes ...........................................................................................................32
Compound Surnames with Artificial Extensions ........................................................................................34
Acronymic Surnames Derived from Masculine Given Names ...................................................................34
Statistics of Surnames Based on Masculine Given Names .........................................................................35
2.6 Metronymic Surnames ...................................................................................................................................35
General Discussion of Feminine Given Names...........................................................................................37
Contents • vii
 Suffixes Used in Metronymic Surnames .....................................................................................................38
Compound Surnames with Artificial Extensions ........................................................................................40
Metronymics Not Based on Feminine Given Names ..................................................................................41
2.7 Occupational Surnames..................................................................................................................................41
Surnames with the Suffix nik ......................................................................................................................41
Surnames with Other Slavic Suffixes..........................................................................................................43
Surnames with Germanic Suffixes ..............................................................................................................43
Surnames with Hebrew Affixes...................................................................................................................44
Compound Surnames ..................................................................................................................................44
Surnames Derived from Adjectives.............................................................................................................44
Surnames Derived from Names of Objects, Tools and Workplaces ...........................................................45
Surnames Created Morphologically from Slavic Words.............................................................................45
Surnames with the Element man .................................................................................................................45
Compound Surnames with Artificial Extensions ........................................................................................46
Occupational Surnames with Patronymic Suffixes .....................................................................................46
Statistics for Occupational Surnames ..........................................................................................................46
Semantics of Surnames ...............................................................................................................................47
2.8 Surnames Derived from Personal Characteristics..........................................................................................48
Compound Surnames ..................................................................................................................................50
Surnames Based on Personal Characteristics with Patronymic Suffixes ....................................................51
Semantics of Nicknames .............................................................................................................................52
2.9 Artificial Surnames ........................................................................................................................................53
Semantic Groups .........................................................................................................................................53
General Structure of Artificial Compound Surnames .................................................................................55
Reasons for Widespread Use of Artificial Compounds by Ashkenazic Jews .............................................56
Distribution of Artificial Surnames .............................................................................................................61
2.10 Migrated Surnames ......................................................................................................................................61
2.11 Acronymic Surnames ...................................................................................................................................62
General Features..........................................................................................................................................62
Phonetics .....................................................................................................................................................63
False Acronyms...........................................................................................................................................63
CHAPTER 3. LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF JEWISH SURNAMES .......................................................................................65
3.1 Languages Used to Form Surnames...............................................................................................................65
3.2 Yiddish Phenomena .......................................................................................................................................66
3.3 Surnames Based on Hebrew ..........................................................................................................................69
3.4 Slavic Phenomena ..........................................................................................................................................71
3.5 Surnames that Arose from Transliteration .....................................................................................................72
3.6 Distortions in Surnames .................................................................................................................................72
3.7 Normalization of Surnames ...........................................................................................................................76
Russification................................................................................................................................................76
Slavonization in Ukraine, Belorussia and Bessarabia .................................................................................76
Yiddishizing ................................................................................................................................................77
Germanizing ................................................................................................................................................78
CHAPTER 4. ADOPTION OF SURNAMES IN VARIOUS REGIONS .................................................................................79
4.1 Courland.........................................................................................................................................................79
4.2 Polish Livonia ................................................................................................................................................82
4.3 Kovno and Vilna Areas..................................................................................................................................83
4.4 Grodno and Belostok Areas ...........................................................................................................................88
4.5 Eastern and Central Belorussia ......................................................................................................................91
4.6 Volhynia and Podolia.....................................................................................................................................94
4.7 Eastern Ukraine and New Russia...................................................................................................................95
4.8 Bessarabia ......................................................................................................................................................98

viii • A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire: Revised Edition
CHAPTER 5. JEWISH SURNAMES AND GENTILE SURNAMES IN EASTERN EUROPE .................................................100
5.1 Jewish Surnames that Coincide with Slavic Christian Surnames ................................................................100
Jewish and Slavic Surnames with Identical Etymologies .........................................................................100
Some Jewish Surnames Derived from Slavic Words, but Given Other Meanings by Jews......................102
Jewish Surnames Derived from Words Given Other Meanings by Slavs .................................................102
Jewish Surnames Homonymic with Slavic Surnames...............................................................................102
5.2 Jewish Surnames Identical to Surnames of German Christians ...................................................................105
Jewish and German Surnames of Identical Etymologies ..........................................................................106
Identical Jewish and German Surnames with Different Meanings ...........................................................106
5.3 Surnames Borrowed by Jews from Christians .............................................................................................107
5.4 Surnames Borne Only by Jews ....................................................................................................................109
Surnames with Hebrew or Yiddish Elements............................................................................................109
Semantics and Exclusively Jewish Surnames ...........................................................................................110
CHAPTER 6: A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO THE ETYMOLOGIES OF JEWISH SURNAMES .........................................112
6.1 Classification of Source Words: the What-Question ...................................................................................113
6.2 Reasons for the Choice of Source Words: the Why-Question .....................................................................114
6.3 Differences Between Surnames and Their Etymons: the How-Question ....................................................119
6.4 Additional Basic Questions for Etymological Research ..............................................................................120
6.5 Genealogical Sources ...................................................................................................................................122
6.6 General Historical Background....................................................................................................................125
6.7 Statistical Analysis.......................................................................................................................................126
6.8 Synthesis ......................................................................................................................................................129
6.9 Approach Used in This Book.......................................................................................................................130
APPENDIX A. HYPHENATED SURNAMES ................................................................................................................132
Tripled Surnames ...............................................................................................................................................133
APPENDIX B. THE MOST COMMON JEWISH SURNAMES .........................................................................................134
At the Beginning of the 20th Century ................................................................................................................134
Soviet Union ......................................................................................................................................................137
APPENDIX C. SPELLING CHANGES..........................................................................................................................140
Courland, Livonia / Latvia .................................................................................................................................140
Lithuania ............................................................................................................................................................141
Belorussia / Belarus and Ukraine.......................................................................................................................142
Russia.................................................................................................................................................................145
Bessarabia / Moldova.........................................................................................................................................145
APPENDIX D. SUFFIXES FOUND IN RUSSIAN JEWISH SURNAMES ...........................................................................147
Slavic Suffixes ...................................................................................................................................................147
German and Yiddish Suffixes ............................................................................................................................155
Affixes of Other Origins ....................................................................................................................................158
APPENDIX E. THE STRESS IN RUSSIAN JEWISH SURNAMES ...................................................................................159
Surnames with Slavic Elements .........................................................................................................................159
Surnames with Germanic Elements ...................................................................................................................160
Surnames of Semitic origin................................................................................................................................161
APPENDIX F. MAIN INTERNAL MIGRATIONS ..........................................................................................................162
APPENDIX G. LIST OF ADVANCED SUBSCRIBERS ...................................................................................................163
GLOSSARY ..............................................................................................................................................................166
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................................................168
Works Cited .......................................................................................................................................................168
Dictionaries and Vocabularies ...........................................................................................................................171
Principal Sources of Surnames ..........................................................................................................................171

Contents • ix
 Gazetteers...........................................................................................................................................................174
INDEX TO SURNAMES MENTIONED IN THE INTRODUCTORY PORTION ...................................................................175
PART II DICTIONARY OF SURNAMES .....................................................................................................................189
HOW TO USE THIS DICTIONARY .............................................................................................................................190
Information in the Dictionary of Surnames .......................................................................................................190
What to Do if You Cannot Find Your Surname Listed......................................................................................198
DICTIONARY ...........................................................................................................................................................199
INDEX OF GERMAN SPELLINGS OF SURNAMES IN DICTIONARY ...........................................................................1001

Tables
Table 0.1 Transliteration of Yiddish letters........................................................................................................... xvi
Table 0.2 Transliteration of Cyrillic letters .......................................................................................................... xvii
Table 0.3 Phonetic Equivalents of Certain Polish Letters and Letter Combinations .......................................... xviii
Table 0.4 Phonetic Equivalents of Certain German Letters and Letter Combinations.......................................... xix
Table 0.5 Phonetic Equivalents of Certain Romanian Letters and Letter Combinations ...................................... xix
Table 0.6 District and Guberniya Centers of the Pale of Settlement.................................................................... xxii
Table 0.7 Administrative Affiliation of Most Important Localities .................................................................. xxviii
Table 1.1 Surnames on Tombstones in the Old Prague Jewish Cemetery ............................................................... 3
Table 1.2 Number of Bearers of Different Forms of the Same Given Name in Various Time Frames .................. 4
Table 1.3 Percentage of Jewish Given Names in Certain Regions........................................................................... 6
Table 2.1 Percentage of Jewish Surnames Found in Russian Parliament Voter Lists by Type ............................. 14
Table 2.2 Morphological Distribution of Jewish Surnames (in Percentages) ........................................................ 16
Table 2.3 Distribution of Jewish Surnames Derived from Toponyms in Various Guberniyas ............................. 24
Table 2.4 Distribution of Jewish Surnames Derived from Toponyms ................................................................... 27
Table 2.5 Distribution of Jewish Surnames Derived from Masculine Given Names............................................. 35
Table 2.6 Distribution of Jewish Metronymics ...................................................................................................... 40
Table 2.7 Distribution of Jewish Surnames Derived From Occupational Names .................................................. 47
Table 2.8 Distribution of Jewish Surnames Based on Personal Characteristics..................................................... 51
Table 2.9 Distribution of Jewish Artificial Surnames by Language ...................................................................... 61
Table 3.1 Percentage of Jewish Surnames Found in Russian Parliament Voter Lists by Language..................... 66
Table 4.1 Jewish Surnames in Hasenpoth (1833)................................................................................................... 81
Table 5.1 Jewish Surnames Homonymic with Slavic Surnames.......................................................................... 102
Table 5.2 Jewish Surnames Identical to Slavic Surnames Where Jewish Etymology is a Place Name ............... 103
Table 5.3 Jewish Surnames Homonymic with German Surnames....................................................................... 107
Table 5.4 Jewish and German Surnames Derived from Given Names ................................................................ 107
Table 6.1 Typology of Surnames ......................................................................................................................... 117
Table B.1 Most Common Jewish Surnames for Twelve Guberniyas of the Russian Empire .............................. 134
Table B.2 Most Common Jewish Surnames in Other Parts of the Russian Empire ............................................. 135
Table B.3 Most Common Jewish Surnames in Kiev and Its Surrounding Townlets .......................................... 136
Table B.4 Most Common Jewish Surnames for Six Cities of the Soviet Union .................................................. 138
Table C.1 Correspondences between German, Russian and Latvian Spellings ................................................... 141
Table C.2 Correspondences between Russian and Lithuanian Spellings ............................................................ 141
Table C.3 Some Correspondences between Russian and Polish .......................................................................... 142
Table C.4 Main Correspondences between Russian and Belarusian Spellings.................................................... 144
Table C.5 Standard Transiteration Rules from Russian to Romanian.................................................................. 145
Table D.1 Slavic Suffixes Found in Russian Jewish Surnames ........................................................................... 147
Table D.2 Palatalization in Surnames................................................................................................................... 155
Table D.3 German and Yiddish Suffixes Found in Russian Jewish Surnames .................................................... 155
Table D.4 Umlaut in Surnames ............................................................................................................................ 157
Table D.5 Affixes of Other Origins Found in Russian Jewish Surnames ............................................................ 158
Table II.1 Variations of Surnames by Gender and Case in Russian..................................................................... 191
x • A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire: Revised Edition