Have you ever thought about names?
Why do we have names, and what is their significance? Well, we cannot just say “Hey you!” They are the means by which we identify each other. But they also have a deeper significance.
In Judaism, names have always been considered extremely important. When they were given, the meaning was a prime consideration of its selection. It often embodied characteristics that the parents wish the infant to have or experiences during the pregnancy or birth.
We use names in synagogues to call men to attend the reading of the Torah. In cases when life hangs in the balance, we even change the persons name to Chaim or Chaya, which means life, hoping that it will help.
My own grandson was in such a situation when he was only two days old. Immediately we named him Chaim. It is said that the purpose is to confuse the angel of death. This belief is embodied in the Talmud (Rosh Hashana 16b), where it reads: “Four things can abrogate the decree of man: charity, supplication, change of name and change of action”. Today, with the help of God, my grandson Chaim ben Pinchas is now a healthy man of 44.
We also ask for the name of a sick person to be called out during prayer in the presence of the Torah scroll, for God to bring about a speedy recovery; and when we have lost a loved one and we remember them, we often drink a ‘L’Chaim,’ wishing for their soul to be elevated to a higher plain.
Ashkenazi Jews never give a newborn the name of a living relative. Some fear that the angel of death might confuse the infant for the adult and take the wrong one. Others believe that it might rob the adult of their soul, as the name is tied very closely to it.
Those, whose families originate from eastern Europe know that after the Napoleonic years of the early 19th century, names like Zeev ben Zalman which happens to be mine, were no longer accepted in western Europe as sufficient identification. Most of the Jews in countries captured by Napoleon were ordered to get surnames for tax purposes.
After Napoleon’s defeat, many Jews dropped these names and returned to the ‘son of’ names, but in a westernized form like Mendelson, Jacobson or Levinson.
It also happened in America at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. We’ve all heard stories from Ellis Island, which was the immigration gateway to America, where Jews were asked to adopt a Western name before being admitted, and how the old Jew was sent around the departments, and when he finally had a name and was asked for it at the very last window he had forgotten it and told them “Schon vergessen”, he was promptly admitted as Shaw Fergusson. That’s just one example about changing Jewish names.
Some Ashkenazi families have only had last names for 150 years or less, while the early American Jews were Sephardim whose name stretched back for centuries.
The adoption of Western names fell into five categories.
Firstly, descriptive of the head of the household: Klein (small), Gross (large), Levy or Cohen etc.
Then there are names describing occupation:
Schneider (tailor), Fisher, Handler (dealer)
Thirdly, names taken from the city of residence:
Frankfurter, Danziger, Oppenheimer or Berlin.
Those are examples of what one could buy.
Other more expensive names were:
Gold, Silver or Kupfer (copper) associated names and Diamond.
The last category were less desirable assigned names:
Klotz (clumsy), Plotz or Platz (to burst)
Many people thought that their Jewish sounding names were retarding their progress in the Western world and decided to disguise them in one form or another or change them totally. Cohen became Cogan, Conn or Cone. Kantorowitz might have become Kent. By the way would Kantoriwitz have been a chasan, a Kantor who makes witz? (who jokes) If you wonder about my own English name “Bingham,” that was changed because I took part in the World War II Normandy landings to prevent me from being treated as a Jew rather than a POW, should I have had the misfortune to fall into German hands.
Many Jews in show business changed their names by which they became famous. Woody Allen was Alan Stewart Koenigsberg; Fred Astair changed from Friedrich Austerlitz; Israel Baline became Irwin Berlin; Al Jolson was born Asa Joelson; Joan Rivers was Joan Molinsky. Bob Dylan was born as Robert Zimmerman (which means a carpenter).
Names are a fascinating subject and I only touched on the subject. Perhaps you will be encouraged to research the origin of your own name.
The writer is the host of ‘Walter’s World’ on Israel National Radio (Arutz 7) and ‘The Walter Bingham File’ on Israel Newstalk Radio, both of which are broadcast in English.