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Re: Jewish names from the border of Poland and the Ukraine
It's possible that Charlotte B's mother, or grandmother, was named Breine. Most Jewish subjects of the Russian Tsar did not have surnames until ordered to adopt them in 1847. There seems to have been some confusion among the Jewish population about how to go about this, I don't know if it was some sort of religious scruple. Some adopted existing Jewish names, such as Cohen, Ginzburg and Horowitz, without having any connection to these surnames. It's as if they were thinking "If it's OK for them to be called that, then it's OK for other Jews." A lot of families adopted a metronymic, surname from the given name of a female ancestor. I have an idea why this was done; it's a bit complicated, suffice to say I think it's to do with religious practices and probably adopted by stricter Jews, possibly Hassidim. Lees (Leah), Bayliss (Beile, "white"), Perlis (Perle), are some of those ending in S, like Breines. Those German looking surnames beginning with Rosen and Gold are often ornamental forms indicating descent from a Rosa or a Golda. There are lots more.
On the subject of the -sky or -ski ending; it was originally adopted by Polish nobles who took their surnames from their estates. As the non-noble status groups took surnames they sometimes imitated this fashion, adding the adjectival ending to names from occupations, etc. It would have been very unusual for a Jew to be Permitted to own land, so any -sky/-ski surnames from place names would be from a place of residence rather than from an estate.
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Wow, very educational, thanks!
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