Jewish surnames are delightfully varied, stemming from various countries and regions around the world. Explore the storied history of one of the oldest communities through the names they've passed down for generations.
Common Jewish Surnames Found in the United States
The website Behind the Name has a list of the 1,000 most common names in the U.S. When compared to a list of Jewish surnames on Family Education and other websites in the Where to Find More section, these last names emerged as some of the most common in the United States:
- Bender
- Benjamin
- Berg
- Burns
- Cline
- Cohen
- David
- Fisher or Fischer
- Fox
- Franco
- Glass
- Green or Greene
- Hahn
- Holder
- Jacobs
- Kaufman
- Klein
- Kramer
- Levine
- Levy
- Lowe
- Mayer, Meyer, or Meyers
- Miller or Mueller
- Moses
- Rose
- Roth
- Schmidt
- Schneider
- Schultz
- Schwartz
- Simon
- Solomon
- Vang
- Wallace
- Weiss
- Wolfe
- Zimmerman
Ashkenazi Surnames With Various Origins
Jews who settled in the nations of northern and eastern Europe became known as Ashkenazi Jews. Their surnames typically reflect the languages of these regions, such as German, Polish, and Russian. Many of their surnames are also Yiddish, the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews.
Some examples of Ashkenazi Jewish surnames include:
- Abrams
- Adler
- Alter
- Barak
- Barkin
- Baruch
- Bernstein
- Bieber
- Birnbaum
- Blumenthal
- Cantor
- Davidov
- Diamond
- Dreyfus
- Dworkin
- Edelstein
- Eichhorn
- Einstein
- Engel
- Feinstein
- Feld
- Fishman
- Gelfman
- Ginsberg
- Glick
- Greenberg
- Greenspan
- Grossman
- Grunewald
- Halperin
- Hammerstein
- Hearst
- Hershey
- Hirsch
- Horowitz
- Joffe
- Jonas
- Kagan
- Kaminski
- Kaplan
- Katz
- Kopel
- Kravitz
- Lapidus
- Lazarus
- Leatherman
- Leibovitz
- Lieberman
- Loeb
- Lovitz
- Mandel
- Morgenstern
- Neff
- Neufeld
- Neuman
- Nobel
- Nussbaum
- Orenstein
- Orman
- Osher
- Ostrow
- Perelman
- Pollak
- Pomerantz
- Posen
- Rabinowitz
- Raines
- Rappaport
- Reiss
- Rosenberg
- Sagan
- Salk
- Sandler
- Schenk
- Schneider
- Schreiber
- Segal
- Shell
- Silverstein
- Singer
- Sokol
- Spector
- Steinberg
- Susskind
- Syms
- Taubman
- Teitelbaum
- Tisch
- Turkel
- Vogelman
- Wallach
- Wasserman
- Weingarten
- Wexler
- Wolper
- Yaffee
- Yager
- Zaslow
- Zuckerberg
- Zweibel
Sephardic Surnames From the Eastern Hemisphere
Jewish communities settling in Spain, Portugal, North Africa, and the Middle East became known as Sephardic Jews. Their surnames are typically of Spanish, Portuguese, or Arabic origin.
Some examples of Sephardic last names include:
- Abadi
- Aslan
- Azaria
- Behar
- Benatar
- Cardozo
- Durant
- Eshkenazi
- Falco
- Falk
- Fermi
- Ferrer
- Garson
- Gershon
- Ibrahim
- Khalifa
- Lodriguez
- Maimon
- Malka
- Matos
- Melamed
- Merman
- Mizrahi
- Omar
- Pardo
- Paredes
- Pinheiro
- Pinkas
- Pinto
- Ribeiro
- Rodrigue
- Romy
- Saad
- Salah
- Salomon
- Sarfati
- Shapiro
- Soriano
- Spinoza
- Tedeschi
- Toledano
- Uziel
- Yehudi
- Zacarias
Related: 75+ Italian Last Names & Their Meanings (Traditional and Famous)
Common Variations of Jewish Surnames
When researching a surname, look for variations of the name as well. As families moved from one country to another, their surnames were often adapted to better fit the language of their new home.
The following surname variations are common:
- Baron: Baronstein, Barron, Baran, Baren, Barret, Barrett
- Fleischer: Fleischman, Fleishchmann, Fleischhacker
- Guttman: Gutman, Gutmann, Goodman, Goodmann
- Hirsch: Herz, Hersch, Hertz, Hertzfield, Hershfield
- Horowitz: Horovitz, Horwitz, Hurwitz, Hurewicz, Gurvich
- Kohen: Cohen, Cohn, Kuhn, Kohn, Cohen, Cahan
- Matus: Matusoff, Matusowitz, Matusor
- Reznik: Reznikoff, Reznikov, Reznikof
- Rosen: Rosenberg, Rosenburg, Rozenburg, Rozenburgh, Rosner, Rose, Rosemand
- Schuler: Schul, Shulton, Schulerr, Schuller
- Schur: Schorr, Schurr, Schor, Shore
- Segal: Sagan, Shagal, Siegel, Spiegal, Segalis
Explore Even More Jewish Surnames
There are so many more Jewish surnames than what we've gathered here. Visit these websites to explore even more of Jewish last names.
- Avotanyu: The Avotaynu website has a "Consolidated Jewish Surname Index." To use this index, type the name you are looking for in the surname finder at the bottom of the page. The finder will give you an exhaustive list of names, places, and other pertinent information to help you discover more about the surname. Avotaynu's free website is connected to millions of databases and searches for your information in just a matter of seconds.
- Jewish Records Indexing: Jewish Records Indexing (JRI) has a compiled database of thousands of names. You can search for a specific surname or search by geographic region or date range. The names on JRI came from Polish historical documents.
- JewishGen: The JewishGen website provides a database of Sephardic names. There are plenty here to explore, with some focusing on specific regions like the Balkans and the Caribbean.
- Family Education: Family Education has a search feature called "Last Names by Country of Origin." Visitors can select "Jewish" for an alphabetical list of hundreds of Jewish surnames. You can also click on any name to see its origin and meaning.
- Behind the Name: The website Behind the Names includes a list of 158 Jewish surnames. Many of the names have their country of origin listed beside them.
Last Names Carry a Beautiful History
There's an incredible history just waiting to unfold lying behind your last name. See what Jewish communities your last name may have come from and connect with your ancestors, both old and new.
