Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-10-24
After that period some of them formed

After that period some of them formed
surnames with the Hebrew word Ben;
signifying son, rs per example, Moses
Ben Solomon. Some centuries later
they adopted a regular surname, andin
ninety-nine cases out of q hundred
with some significance. English read,
ers not conversant with the German
tongue will probably be surprised when
they learn that all of the Hebrew
names beginning with CHOSEN" have
some beautiful meaning. The names
OF Rosenthal. a very common one
among Jewish people of German de-
scent, translated into English means
Rosedale; Rosenbaum signifies Rose
tree; Rosenberg, Rosenill: Rosenzweig,
Rosebranch; Rosenfeld, Rosetield;
R~osenoarten, Rosegarden; Rosenblatt,
valid, Rosewood; Rosenwasser, Rose
water. The last name has been trans
lated into English by some, and others
have compromised matters by calling
it Rosenwater. Nearly all the names
can be translated with ease, as, for in
stance, Steinfeld, which translated
would read Stonefield; Nussbaum,
Nuttree; M%andelbaum. Almondtree;
Steinberg, Stonehill; Felsenheld, Hero
of the Rock; Lilienthal, Lilydale; Wei
denbaum, Willowtree; Wiengarten,
Vineyard; Morgenthal, Morningdalei
Sonenschicn, Sunshine; Rothschild
Redsign; aud so on through the long
list of Hebrew names. The above
would indicate that a number Of these
names were chosen owing to some pc
culiar circumstance connected with
their surroundings. A number of the
surnames were evidently taken from
the name of the city they occupied at
that time, as the following few exam
pies will show: Guggenheimer, Rohr-
heimer, Tiemendorfer, Hamburger,
Lahrheim. Berliner, Alsbacher. etc.
They also adopted the names of coun-
tries, such as Highlander, Englishman;
Deutsch, German, and Others without
number. In the animal kingdom are
found such cognomcns as Leow, lion;
Kalb, calf; Cans, goose; Wolf, bear;
Katz, cat. Among the birds a very
common name is that of Strauss, os.
trich, which a also be translated into
nosegay; Vogel, bird; Hahn, rooster,
and Adler, eagle. A number of jew:
ish people have adopted for the family
name the first name, which explains
the presence all over the world of peo-
pie bearing such surnames as Abrams,
Isaacs, Moses, Levi, Samuels, Solo
mons, Aarons, Jacobs, and others.
Some annexed the ''son." a custom
common with other people, producing
such names Is Aaronson, Solomonson.
and others. Surnames, s,snifyine
some occupation, are not COM
mon in the Hebrew race, al
though such names as Smith, Koch,
Cook, Lederer, Leatherman. Mailer,
Painter, Schoenfaerber, Dyer, Schlos-
ser, Locksmith, Kaufman, Merchant,
and others of like import are OCCASION
ally found. Some of them have part
ly or in whole been Anglicized, which
accounts for such urnames among
American Hebrews of German descent
as Austrian, Oestrelcher. Black,
Schwartz, Goodheart, Gutherz, etc.
The nam of Cashberg was doubtless
written originally Kirchberg, Church.
hill; and thus q number of names
which have no particular significance
can be accounted for. Colors Of every
description are also found among Jew
lsh names, such as Weiss (white), Roth
lred>, Gluen (green), Blau (blue).
The sizes are distinguished by Gross
Garge), Klein (Anglicized occasion
ally to Kline, signifying small or
litlle.) Among the curious names can
be found such as Gutentag (g%ood-day),
Grosskopf Chg headl, and a few 9TH
ers. COIN, Cohen, Kohn or Kahn, a
name often found, has its derivation
from the title given in biblical days to
the jewish people who OBLIGATED as
high priests. Those bearing that sur
name claim to be direct descendants
of the chosen among the '.chosen peo-
pie Of God" There are also Neu-
mann and Altman (new man and old
MANI, Grossmann and Kleinmann (big
man and little many, Bergman (moun-
tain MANI .'and so on through the long
list. Surnames such as Sampllner and
and ~Schlesinger have their origin in
hungarian towns and counties. The
number is almost without limit Col
umns might be printed on the subject
and the end could never be reached
Cleveland Her0ld.