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ArchivesGraecoJewish surnames and JudeoGreek surnames...
I've searched for Greek surnames associated with Jewish families just as there are German surnames associated with Jewish families (like Bernstein for instance) but I haven't succeeded, I have seen Zakynthos had a Jewish community up to 1953 but I cannot find any Greek surname (like Papadopoulos or the like) which can be said to be common among Jews... So far all I have found is a list of Jews with Hebrew surnames born and raised in Greece or its islands. Anyone knows?
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You might find what you're looking for at http://books.google.ca/books?id=_dQP4nHgyVUC&q=greek#v=snippet&q=greek&f=false.
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Thanks... I found some candidates but I have had a hard time verifying both their existence as surnames and their existence as Jewish surnames
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1.Bacolas as a surname meaning "Grocer" does exist as a Greek surname, I haven't found it among Greek Jews yet;
2.Caroz as a surname meaning "herald" seems to have some meaning but I can't find it as a surname, even less as a Jewish surname;
3.Epomedos as a surname meaning "neck and shoulder" or "highest point of a ship" goes nowhere when I search;
4.Stavres which should mean stake, pole or pale gets me into results for stavros which means cross and is definitely a christian surname not a Jewish one;
5.Rubelevitz may be the best option so far but the ending "vitz" is not really Greek, of course it means "son of [behold, a son]" then
6.Sirioti ("from Serres" I haven't found the etymology of Serres) while what may be the best option of all is
7.Vehoropoulos meaning "son of the first born" but it doesn't produce any results of people with that surname, instead I get results for people with the surname "Veropoulos" and then a last alternative would be
8.Voussouky which does seem Greek but I can't find neither meaning nor use as a Surname, even less as a Jewish surname).
(
1.Bacolas as a surname meaning "Grocer" does exist as a Greek surname, I haven't found it among Greek Jews yet;
2.Caroz as a surname meaning "herald" seems to have some meaning but I can't find it as a surname, even less as a Jewish surname;
3.Epomedos as a surname meaning "neck and shoulder" or "highest point of a ship" goes nowhere when I search;
4.Stavres which should mean stake, pole or pale gets me into results for stavros which means cross and is definitely a christian surname not a Jewish one;
5.Rubelevitz may be the best option so far but the ending "vitz" is not really Greek, of course it means "son of [behold, a son]" then
6.Sirioti ("from Serres" I haven't found the etymology of Serres) while what may be the best option of all is
7.Vehoropoulos meaning "son of the first born" but it doesn't produce any results of people with that surname, instead I get results for people with the surname "Veropoulos" and then a last alternative would be
8.Voussouky which does seem Greek but I can't find neither meaning nor use as a Surname, even less as a Jewish surname).
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I have seen one Jewish name that is Greek in origin, but can't remember it. I think it was from a place name.
I believe that the most Jews settled in Greece were from elsewhere in Europe, Spain or Venice, fleeing persecution, and finding security in the countries of the Ottoman Empire. As a result I'm guessing that many Greek Jews would have Sephardic or perhaps Arabic names, Arabic being one of the languages of Spain before the expulsion of Jews and Moors (c.1490).
It might be worthwhile to do a search for material on the Jews of Salonika/Thessaloniki. This town had a thriving Jewish community before the Nazi genocide.
You might be interested to know that the Jewish surname Kalman is a corruption of the Greek Kalonymos, "good name". This is a translation of the Hebrew phrase shem tov, which has some religious significance. I don't know if this name originated in Greece or elsewhere; how old the name is; or how it got to be Kalman. This last, as Kálmán, is also a Hungarian surname, with no connection to the Jewish surname. Confusing, eh!
I believe that the most Jews settled in Greece were from elsewhere in Europe, Spain or Venice, fleeing persecution, and finding security in the countries of the Ottoman Empire. As a result I'm guessing that many Greek Jews would have Sephardic or perhaps Arabic names, Arabic being one of the languages of Spain before the expulsion of Jews and Moors (c.1490).
It might be worthwhile to do a search for material on the Jews of Salonika/Thessaloniki. This town had a thriving Jewish community before the Nazi genocide.
You might be interested to know that the Jewish surname Kalman is a corruption of the Greek Kalonymos, "good name". This is a translation of the Hebrew phrase shem tov, which has some religious significance. I don't know if this name originated in Greece or elsewhere; how old the name is; or how it got to be Kalman. This last, as Kálmán, is also a Hungarian surname, with no connection to the Jewish surname. Confusing, eh!
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"Good name" is also related to "Geronimo" and, in a way, to "Benedict"... I guess its indeed a diffcult goal.
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I've remembered the Greek-Jewish surname - it's Capsali, from a place in Greece called (I think) Cape Capsali.
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