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Sorry, I was talkung about DAHL, not TAHL
see above
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Thank you so much for all your insights into Tahl. I’m in an acrimonious divorce (on his side) over 44 yrs. In Oregon a woman can revert to her maiden name for free. In my case that would be Bossen. Coming to the end of this trial by fire and TRO’s and have to choose soon. His name as he wears it sickens me but as I study Hebrew I love the name in the context of the early morning dew. Yes the male line were Jews in deep denial.
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I have to say, it seems extremely rare for a European Jewish family to have a Hebrew surname. Aside from Cohen, I can't think of any. Surnames in the European tradition were given by one's neighbours and acquaintances, and although a few words crossed into the vernacular, Hebrew was largely a liturgical language in both Europe and Palestine, and so surnames of European Jews are usually coined from the local language - German, French, Slovakian, Ukrainian etc. — Rothschild, Dreyfus, Goldstein, Hamarnick. There are of course patronymics based on Hebrew first names, but these may also be used by non-Jews, after all Hebrew names are popular among Christian communities as well. The majority of "Hebrew" surnames like Tal are relatively recent, having their origin in the Zionist movement of the 20th Century and the revival of the Hebrew language as a modern vernacular. It's far more likely that a Hebrew name Tal has a "hidden" past as the Swiss-German surname Tahl.
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