115+ Most Common Jewish Surnames & Their Meaning

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Plus, learn the history of Jewish surname traditions
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Historically, Jewish last names are a relatively new phenomenon, and they’re often connected to family ancestry, occupations, geography, and Biblical figures. Finding out popular surnames can help you learn more about your background, or discover the origins and history of Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Old Testament Jews. That’s why we’re providing the ultimate list of common Jewish last names and their meanings, plus covering the history of Jewish surnames and common naming practices.

What are the most common Jewish surnames?

  • Cohen - Means “priest.”
  • Rabin - Refers to a rabbinic ancestor.
  • Goldberg - Means “mountain of gold.”
  • Katz - Means “priest of righteousness.”
  • Rothschild - Means “at the red shield.”
  • Schwartz - Means “black hair or dark complexion.”
  • Levy - Means “descendant of the biblical tribe of Levi.”
Section 1 of 8:

The Most Common Jewish Last Names

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  1. Cohen, Goldberg, and Friedman are the most common Jewish surnames. According to Hebrew teacher Roi Bracha, “Goldberg, Goldstein, Cohen, Alpert, Friedman, and Lieberman” are common Jewish last names in America, while “Ashkenazi, Cohen, and Levi” are common in Israel. [1] Here are other surnames you’ll hear often, along with their meanings:
    • Abrams - Refers to Abraham, the first Biblical patriarch.
    • Alpert - Means “noble or bright.”
    • Ashkenazi - Means “of Ashkenazi descent.”
    • Blau - Means “blue.”
    • Blumenthal - Means “flower valley.”
    • Cohen - Means “priest.”
    • Eisenberg - Means “iron mountain.”
    • Feldman - Means “field man.”
    • Friedman - Means “peace;” derived from the Yiddish word “frid.”
    • Goldberg - Means “mountain of gold.”
    • Kaplan - Means “chaplain or priest.”
    • Katz - Means “priest of righteousness.”
    • Lang - Means “long or tall.”
    • Levi - Means “to join.”
    • Oppenheimer - Means “from Oppenheim,” a town in Germany.
    • Rabin - Refers to a rabbinic ancestor.
    • Rosenberg - Means “rose mountain.”
    • Rosenthal - Means “rose valley.”
    • Rothschild - Means “at the red shield.”
    • Schwartz - Means “black hair or dark complexion.”
    • Shulman - Means “synagogue man.”
    • Singer - Means “singer or cantor.”
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Section 2 of 8:

Popular Jewish Last Names

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  1. Abelman, Greenberg, and Weisz are some other popular Jewish surnames. The following surnames still appear frequently, but they just aren’t as common as Cohen, Goldberg, and Friedman (and others from the “most common last names” section). Here are some more popular Jewish surnames and their meanings: [2]
    • Abelman - Means “noble one.”
    • Alterman - Means “old man.”
    • Cooperman - A form of the Yiddish nickname “Yankel,” which means “Jacob.”
    • Ehrlich - Means “honest.”
    • Eisen - Means “iron (related to strength).”
    • Fein - Means “fine or delicate.”
    • Fingerhut - From the Yiddish word for “thimble.”
    • Finkel - Means “spark or light.”
    • Gelb - Means “yellow.”
    • Geller - Means “yellow.”
    • Goldman - Means “man of gold.”
    • Gottlieb - Means “God’s love.”
    • Hakimi - Means “wise.”
    • Jaffe - Means “beautiful.”
    • Klein - Means “little or small.”
    • Koppelman - Derived from “Koppel,” a Yiddish nickname for “Jacob, and the German suffix “man.”
    • Kraus - Means “curly-haired.”
    • Levy - Means “descendant of the biblical tribe of Levi.”
    • Lieberman - Means “dear man.”
    • Lievowitz - Means “beloved.”
    • Maggid - Means “teaching” in Hebrew.
    • Margolis - Means “pearl” in Hebrew.
    • Maze - An acronym for “M’zera Aharon Hakohen,” meaning from the seed of Aaron the High Priest.
    • Mizrahi - Means “from the east.”
    • Roth - Means “red.”
    • Sebag - Means “dyer.”
    • Soros - Means “princess.”
    • Weiss - Means “white or blanched.”
    • Weisz - Means “white or pale.”
    • Zelman - Means “peaceful man.”
    • Zuckerman - Means “sugar man.”
Section 3 of 8:

Occupational Jewish Last Names

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  1. Many surnames, like Hoffman, are based on an ancestor’s profession. These surnames reflect trades, crafts, or professions, which provide information on the historical livelihoods of Jewish communities. The last name Nadel, for example, means “needle,” referring to the occupation of a tailor. Here are other common occupational surnames and their meanings: [3]
    • Becker - Germanic name for “baker.”
    • Bergman - Means “mountain man.”
    • Cantor - Means “one who sings in a synagogue.”
    • Elkayim - Means “tentmaker.”
    • Fischer - Means “fisherman.”
    • Fishman - Means “fish seller.”
    • Goldschmidt - Means “goldsmith.”
    • Hoffman - Means “steward or farm laborer.”
    • Kaufman - Means “merchant or trader.”
    • Kohn - Means “priest.”
    • Koval - Means “blacksmith.”
    • Kravitz - Means “tailor.”
    • Melamed - Means “teacher.”
    • Nadel - Means “needle.”
    • Nudel - Means “needle.”
    • Portnoy - Means “tailor.”
    • Richter - Means “judge.”
    • Sas - An acronym of “sofer stam,” a writer of religious texts.
    • Schecter - Means “butcher.”
    • Schneider - Means “tailor.”
    • Schreiber - From the Hebrew word “sofer,” meaning a writer of religious texts.
    • Segal - Means “assistant or deputy (usually in a priestly context).”
    • Shamash - Means “one who worked in a synagogue.”
    • Shapiro - Means “tailor.”
    • Silberman - Means “silversmith or man of silver.”
    • Silverman - Means “works with silver.”
    • Wexler - Means “moneychanger.”
    • Zimmerman - Means “carpenter.”
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Section 4 of 8:

Patronymic Jewish Last Names

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  1. Surnames, like Abramson and Horowitz, indicate familial relationships. Many Jewish surnames are patronymic, meaning they come from a father's or male ancestor’s given name. The last name Mendelson, for example, means “son of Mendel.” Below are some other common patronymic surnames and their meanings: [4]
    • Aaronson - Means “son of Aaron.”
    • Abramson - A patronymic name meaning “son of Abraham.”
    • Horowitz - Means “son of Horowit.”
    • Isaacs - Means “Son of Isaac.”
    • Jacobs - Means “son of Jacob.”
    • Markowitz - Means “son of Mordecai.”
    • Mendelson - Means “son of Mendel.”
    • Perlman - Means “husband of Perl,” a common Jewish woman’s name in Eastern Europe.
    • Rabinowitz - Means “son of a rabbi.”
    • Rivkin - A matronymic name, derived from “Rebecca.”
    • Rivlin - Derived from the name “Rebecca,” the Jewish matriarch who married Isaac.
    • Sasson - A matronymic name meaning Shoshana, or “rose” in Hebrew.
    • Weinstein - Means “son of wine.”
Section 5 of 8:

Jewish Last Names Derived from Places

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  1. Surnames like Brody indicate towns with thriving Jewish communities. Another popular naming convention was using towns or regions where Jews lived, or where their families came from. Many Ashkenazi Jewish surnames are derived from European cities and towns, while Sephardic surnames usually reflect Spanish, Portuguese, or Mediterranean origins. Here are some popular surnames based on place, along with their meanings: [5]
    • Brody - Refers to Brody, a city in Ukraine.
    • Danziger - Refers to Danzig, now Gdansk, in Poland.
    • Dreyfus - Refers to Trier, a city in Germany.
    • Epstein - Refers to Eppstein, a town in Germany.
    • Frankel - Refers to Franconia, a region in Germany.
    • Ginzburg - Refers to Gunzburg, a Bavarian town.
    • Halpern - Refers to Heilbronn, a city in Germany.
    • Landau - Refers to Landau, a town in Germany.
    • Posner - Refers to Posen, now Poznan, in Poland.
    • Ullman - Means “man from Ulm,” a city in Germany.
    • Wiener - Refers to Vienna, the capital of Austria.
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Section 6 of 8:

Nature-Inspired Jewish Last Names

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  1. Surnames, like Lieb and Teitelbaum, reflect natural elements and animals. These surnames incorporate elements of the natural world, including trees, mountains, flowers, fruit, and animals. They’re usually compound names, derived from the German language, and were randomly assigned for the most part. Here are the most common surnames and their meanings: [6]
    • Adler - Means “eagle.”
    • Alpern - Derived from the Yiddish word for “alpine.”
    • Barenbaum - Means “pear tree.”
    • Blumenfeld - Means “flower field.”
    • Brand - Means “fire or torch.”
    • Fuchs - Means “fox.”
    • Greenberg - Means “green mountain.”
    • Hirsch - Means “deer or stag.”
    • Levin - Means “lion.”
    • Lieb - Means “lion.”
    • Perl - From the Old German word for pearl.
    • Pomerantz - Means “bitter orange.”
    • Steinberg - Means “stone mountain.”
    • Stern - Means “star.”
    • Tannenbaum - Means “fir tree.”
    • Teitelbaum - Means “date palm tree.”
    • Waldman - Means “forest man.”
    • Weinberg - Means “vineyard mountain.”
    • Wolf - Refers to the animal.
Section 7 of 8:

The History Behind Jewish Surnames

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  1. Jews began adopting surnames after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. In ancient times, most Jewish people were only known by their first name and used patronymics, where they were called the “son of” or “daughter of” someone, for a last name. They descended from the priestly groups of Cohens and Levis, which are the most common surnames today. In the 15th century, Sephardic Jews (from areas around the Mediterranean) were expelled from Spain, so they adopted surnames to keep their families close. [7]
    • Ashkenazi Jews (from Eastern Europe and Germany) didn’t use surnames until the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1787, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II required all Jews in Austria to adopt surnames for record-keeping purposes. [8]
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Section 8 of 8:

Frequently Asked Questions

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  1. 1
    How can you tell if a last name is Jewish ? While there’s no definitive way to tell if someone is Jewish based on their last name, there are distinctive surname endings you can look for, especially among Ashkenazi Jews. Here are some common suffixes linked to Jewish heritage: [9]
    • -baum (Kirchbaum, Stalbaum)
    • -berg (Weinberg, Goldberg)
    • -blum (Weissblum, Rosenblum)
    • -feld (Seinfeld, Blumenfeld)
    • -ler (Adler, Winkler)
    • -man or -mann (Feldman, Kaufmann)
    • -sky or -ski (Minsky, Lipski)
    • -stein (Bernstein, Einstein)
    • -thal (Rosenthal, Eichenthal)
    • -witz or -vitz (Horowitz, Rabinowitz)
  2. 2
    What are common Jewish last names in America? Variations of Cohen and Levi are the most common Jewish surnames, reflecting their historical roles as priests and Levites. Other common surnames include those ending in “-baum,” “-berg,” “stein,” “-thal,” and “-witz.”
  3. 3
    What are examples of Ashkenazi Jewish last names? Common Ashkenazi Jewish surnames include Cohen, Goldman, Katz, Levy, Rosenberg, and Schwartz. They’re usually derived from central and eastern European origins (Germany, Poland, Russia), but some have Hebrew roots. [11]
  4. 4
    What are examples of Sephardic Jewish last names? Common Sephardic surnames include Abravanel, Baruch, Cardoso, Da Costa, Espinosa, Fonseca, Galante, Henriquez, Lopes, Navarro, and Toledano. These are surnames used by Jews who descend from those expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1496, respectively. [12]
  5. 5
    Why do so many Jewish last names sound German? Many Jewish surnames sound German because a large number of Ashkenazi Jews settled in the lands of Germany, Austria, and Poland. Their communities developed the Yiddish language, which evolved from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Middle High German, meaning many surnames were based on German words. [13]
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      References

      1. ↑ Roi Bracha. Hebrew Teacher. Expert Interview
      2. ↑ https://jewishcurrents.org/the-origins-and-meanings-of-ashkenazic-last-names
      3. ↑ https://jewishcurrents.org/the-origins-and-meanings-of-ashkenazic-last-names
      4. ↑ https://jewishcurrents.org/the-origins-and-meanings-of-ashkenazic-last-names
      5. ↑ https://jewishcurrents.org/the-origins-and-meanings-of-ashkenazic-last-names
      6. ↑ https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4825070/jewish/10-Keys-to-Understanding-Many-Ashkenazi-Surnames
      7. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Jewish_Naming_Customs
      8. ↑ https://jewishcurrents.org/the-origins-and-meanings-of-ashkenazic-last-names
      9. ↑ https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4825070/jewish/10-Keys-to-Understanding-Many-Ashkenazi-Surnames.htm
      1. ↑ Roi Bracha. Hebrew Teacher. Expert Interview
      2. ↑ https://jewishcurrents.org/the-origins-and-meanings-of-ashkenazic-last-names
      3. ↑ https://www.myheritage.com/wiki/Sephardic_Jewish_surnames
      4. ↑ https://smartergerman.com/blog/german-sounding-names/

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