What are some Jewish last names?

Question

Also, if Portnoy a Jewish last name? Someone told me it is, but . . .
I'm just curious. Names interest me is all.

Answer 1

I've never met a Portnoy...but perhaps you're thinking of the protagonist in Phillip Roth's "Portnoy's Complaint," who I'm pretty sure is Jewish. Haven't read the book, and I can't tell you if it's a specifically Jewish name. You can have Jews with names like "Smith" or "Jones," if either they or one of their ancestors changed the family name for whatever reason (happens a lot), or if the mother is Jewish but the father isn't (also happens a lot).

In some countries, the people were forced to take surnames. Sometimes they had the option to buy nicer-sounding names, or sometimes they were assigned names (these were usually derrogatory in their original language). A last name, Jewish or not, could signify where someone's from, what they did for a living, it could be a description of the head of the household, it could be an indicator of their lineage (think like, Jacobson, for example). You can find an article on the subject with an index of Jewish names here:

http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Kolomea/nameorigin.htm

I cannot vouch for the information personally, but it looks alright at first glance, anyway.

But like I said, you can find plenty of Jews with non-Jewish names, and non-Jews with Jewish names. A more important matter dealing with names amongst Jews are those names that indicate that someone is a Levite (Leivi) or a Priest (a Kohein). Kohanim and Leviim are a minority among Jews, and are given special priveleges and ceremonial duties in the synagogue. (For example, on the three annual festivals, or more often than that depending on the custom of the community, the priests in the community, if there are any, give a special benediction - the Levites, if there are any, wash the priests' hands prior to the blessing).

Common Kohein names include Cohen, Kahn, Cohn, Coen, Katz (originally an acronym, standing for Kohein Tzedek - righteous priest), etc.

Common Levite names include Levi, Levy...lots of names that start with L-e-v or L-e-w.

By the way, the names that some other people mention here are common amongst Ashkenazi Jews, that is, Jews from most of Eastern and Western Europe, with the exception of Spain. "Ashkenazi" actually means something more like "German," but it's applied more broadly. There are lots of other types of Jews, including Sephardim (Jews of Spanish descent, though the term is often used, somewhat incorrectly, to refer to Oriental Jews as well). In any event, I have lots of Jewish friends whose families hail from places like Iraq, Iran, Syria, Morocco...and usually their last names are Arabic.

Answer 2

Yes Portnoy is a Jewish last name

Answer 3

Portnoy is a Jewish surname.
Also sonme Portuguese surnames that depict trees: Pereira - which in Hebrew is Agassi (the Pear tree)
Pinto as well. these were taken by the Portuguese Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, and that was a sing to the next generations.
Other Jewish surnames from various countries, such as Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Northern African countries as Morocco, Algeria: Moskovitz, Najmanovitz, Abrabanel, Ezagoury, Varshavsky, Rachewsky, Solomon, etc.

Answer 4

is Spackman a jewish name

Answer 5

Gold, Goldburg, Richmond, Wiensteen, Weiss, Weintraub, Cohen,
Herold,

Answer 6

Jerry Seinfeld - Ben Stein - Brian Epstein

Answer 7

Well lissa if you look at alot of german names that end with man, mann, or stien you might find that some time ago they used to end with "baum". Under pressure from the German government since WW1 alot of people change thier names and became catholics. To avoid oppression.

Answer 8

Finkelstein

Answer 9

Names with "Stein" in them are often Jewish.

Answer 10

My teacher's last name is Weinberg & he's Jewish.