Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-12-01

v6y H0uo nav NnOSou N,DO1o 0USo00Ss
1cnsissh Fovms-chn.Sss.
ford Colcridgc tous led upon En- IN.
tc:csting theme tho other day when LIS
INQUIRED Of certain Jewish witnesses how
Il vns that they had adopted the names
OF Mordaunt and savills In lieu Of their
nntivc ratronymic Of Moses and Sam.
,uel. It 10 not quite correct to say that
Jews over change their original names.
In the synagoguea they bear throughout
their lives tho Hebrew names-in the
traditional Oriental form Of So-and-so,
son Of So-and-so--given to them shortly
after their birth. Tho instability Of the
names by which they are known to tho
world Is due to the fact that originally,
like all Oriental peoples, they had no
family names, and that wherever they
have congregated very closely together
the secular use Of the traditional genoa
logical forms has been tenaciously pre-
served In some countries, such as Ger
many and Austria, special legislation has
been found necessary to compel them to
adopt fixed surnames. AS, at different
times, they have como into closer con-
tact with tho Gentle world, they have
themselves seen the necessity Of sur
names, and it is not surprising If, under
these circumstances, some Of them should
| have chosen the most sonorous and dis
| tinguished they could find.
An examination Of the lists of seat hold
| ers in the twelve principal synagogues Of
| London shows that less than per cent.
Of the names-such as Beddington, Cliff
ford, Coburn, Curtis, Graham, Halford,
Hamilton, Hardinge, Hardy, Herbert,
Howard, Lumley, Manville, Marsden,
Merton, Montagu, Morley, Morton,
! Neville, Norman, Russell, Sydney, Wal
ford, etc~-are accounted for on this
hypothesis.
I Tho foreign surnames and place names
preserved by the Jews Of England form
a small epitome Of the history OF the
Israelitish dispersion. Side by side with
tho Hebrew Abrahams, the Egyptian
Moses, and the English Mordaunt, we
have the Greek Alexander and Margolies,
the Latin Marcus, and the Arabic Mocatta.
Those derived from medieval house
signs are Rothschild, Adler, CAM, Schnf,
Strauss, Silberkron, etc. Some of the
occupation names are interesting. Rophe
Is Hebrew for physician, and Rappoport
is corruption Of Rophe d'Oporto; Jalfon
is Hebrew for money changer, and
| Mocatta is Arabic for mason.
| More strictly Anglo-Jewish are the
natural assimilations Of Hebrew and
Jewish names to English forms. Thus,
Coleman is corruption of Kalman,
which is an abbreviation Of Kalonymos,
the Greek translation of the Hebrew
Shem Tob Good Nance. Bonny is de-
rived, through Bondi, from u Latin
translation Of Yom lob Good Day..
Phillips comes from the Hebrew Uri OF
Meier, both meaning eight through
the Greek equivalent Phnbos and its
German Polish diminutive Pheibul. Sa
] vile is more natural corruption Of
} Samuel than is generally imagined, sec
ing that in Germany the Scriptural name
has been shortened into Sanyel, and il
England we have the authority of Mr.
Weller, senior, to spell it with a I'VE. >
Freeman is from the German friedman
translation and Appropriation Of Shalon
! ben Menachem. uaymen is derived
,, through Lyman and Hyan from the He
brew Hahn Qife). Jessel is from Eches
j, kel, the Hebrew pronunciation of Eze
kiel. Yates is from Goetz, an abbrevia
, ton Of Gottschalk, which in Low Ger
, man means Goods servant, and is 1
, literal translation of Eliakim. Among
5 simpler changes are Cowan-Cohen
; Lewin-Leyi, Victor-Avigdor, Archer
Asher, Jessop-Joseph, and Sonar
and Slowman-S Solomon. Curious in
stances of misdirected TRANSACTIONS are at
forded by the names Marchant and Chap
: man, both of which are Anglczation'
, If the German Kaufman OF Handles
| l,v har n
I these names meant merchant" among
/ the Teutonic Jews. Kaufman is a cor
~ ruption of Koppelman, of which the frs
e two syllables are German diminutiy'
e Of Jacob and the third an abbreyiation o
!, Menachem, the whole being a contrac
ton of Jacob ben Menachem. Handles
: mann has a similar history, being
derived from Elchanon ben Menachem
!, | through Handl, recognized German
9 diminutiye of Elchanon. In the sam
. way Seligman is q contraction Of Sell
n ben Menachem, and Felberman col
rupted contraction of Phnbus (UrD be
Mcnachem.
One of the most curious instances G
b IN erroneous etymology Is the nam
q Jaffe, which figures among the lande
Ii gentry of county Down. 1t is the lie
;, brew word for ..beautiful, and IS
d direct translation of the German sSchon.
., AS a Jewish surname, however, Schon c
% Schen has no meaning. 1t is simply a
y acrostic of the Hebrew Schliach Memo
- Iaithful messenger THESE acrosti
y names arc peculiarly jewish and man
:, of them are found among English Jeks!
! For example, Katz. which one OF thes
70 days will perhaps be Anglicized INTO Ca
1t Is derived from the initials of kohc
10 Tzedek priest of righteousness; Schat;
er which in Hungary has actually bee
le translated into kincz, the Magyar K
III Treasure, is from Schliach Tzibr
re messenger of the congregation); Baba
II is from hen Alb Beth Din Son of Il
10 President Of the House Of Judgment
q. ,, Sack is from Sera kadosh (holy poste
- ity), and when the name of town b
ginning with is addded-as, for exam
pie, Sera Kadosh Speyer (holy posteri,
of Speyer)-it becomes Saks or Sach
40 which has been frequently mistaken Fl
u an abbreviation OF Sachsen (Saxony
~ Bran is from Ben Rabbi Moses; Bra
.. corrupted into Braun, and translate
N into BROWN from Ben Rabbi Nachma
so Bard. from Ben Rabbi David; Bersa
IS from Ben Rabbi Solomon the Levite, al
or Bril- from Ben Rabbi Judah the Leyite.
be The exegetical names are also peculia
Il. " Jewish. They consist of equiyalen
a. for Hebrew names, derived from colloc
Q, tons in biblical tests. Thus the cor
Ill ,,,r;enpS in Tocoh's blascinO filrni