page_title: Kohen
section_title: Cohen (and its variations) as a surname
hierarchical_section_title: Kohen / Cohen (and its variations) as a surname
caption_attribution_description: English: Family portrait taken circa 1944. The family of Suleiman ben Pinhas al-Cohen (the elderly man sitting), and his son, Salam (Shalom) Cohen, sitting next to him with a baby in his arm. Standing next to Salam is his sister, Sham’a (Shoshanna Bedihi). In Yemen, the father and his son worked in silver gilded with gold (Ar. asli), the only family in Sana’a to work in this profession. Other information Copies of the original photo were made and distributed to members of the family, before Rumia (the wife of the photographer, Yihi’el Haiby) bequeathed her deceased husband’s photographic collection to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. This image, however, is now in the public domain because its term of copyright has expired in Israel. According to Israel's copyright statute from 2007 (translation), “a work is released to the public domain on 1 January of the 71st year after the author's death (paragraph 38 of the 2007 statute) with the following exceptions: ##A photograph taken on 24 May 2008 or earlier — the old British Mandate act applies, i.e. on 1 January of the 51st year after the creation of the photograph (paragraph 78(i) of the 2007 statute, and paragraph 21 of the old British Mandate act).” Since this photograph was made in Yemen in the circa 1944, more than 70 years have transpired since its creation.
context_page_description: Kohen or cohen is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronides. Levitical priests or kohanim are traditionally believed and halakhically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the biblical Aaron, brother of Moses.
  During the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, kohanim performed the daily and holiday duties of sacrificial offerings. Today, kohanim retain a lesser though distinct status within Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism, and are bound by additional restrictions according to Orthodox Judaism.
  In the Samaritan community, the kohanim have remained the primary religious leaders. Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders are sometimes called kahen, a form of the same word, but the position is not hereditary and their duties are more like those of rabbis than kohanim in most Jewish communities.
context_section_description: The status of kohen in Judaism has no necessary relationship to a person's surname. Though it is true that descendants of kohanim often bear surnames that reflect their genealogy, there are many families with the surname Cohen (or any number of variations) who are not kohanim nor even Jewish. Conversely, there are many kohanim who do not have Cohen as a surname.
  There are numerous variations to the spelling of the surname Cohen. These are often corrupted by translation or transliteration into or from other languages, as exemplified below (not a complete list).
  English: Cohen, Cowen, Cowan, Cahn, Cahan, Carne, Cohn, Cone, Conn, Conway, Cohan, Cohaner, Cahanman, Chaplan, Keohan, Kaplan, HaCohen (Cohan is also an Irish surname and Conway is also a surname of Welsh origin)
  German: Kohn, Cohn, Kogen, Korn, Kuhn, Kahn, Cahn, Kane, Kaner, Konel, Cön/Coen, Katz (a Hebrew abbreviation for kohen zedek (כהן צדק) i.e. "righteous priest"), Jachmann, Jachmann-Kohn, Jachkone, Kogenmann, Kogenman, Kogner, Kogener, Kagen, Cohner, Kohner, Kahnmann, Kahaneman, Cahnmann, Kohn, Korenfeld
  Dutch: Cohen, Käin, Kohn, Kon, Cogen
  French: Cahen, Cohen, Caen, Cahun, Chon, Kahane
  Greek: Koen, Kots, Kotais, Kotatis, Kothanis (Romaniote Jews)
  Hungarian: Kohn, Kohen, Korn, Korenfeld, Káhán, Konel
  Russian: Kogan, Kogen, Kokhen (Kochen), Pop (Priest) Brevda, Kagedan/Kagidan (in Hebrew, this name is spelled "kaf-shin-daled-nun" and is an acronym for "Kohanei Shluchei DeShmaya Ninhu," which is Aramaic for "priests are the messengers of heaven"). Kamadan, Kazhdan, Kazdan, Kasdan, Kasdin, Kasden, Kogan, Kogon, Kozen, Kozer, Kogensohn, Kagan, Kaganovich, Kaganovsky are also possible variations of this name
  Georgian: Kotais, Kotatis, Kutatisi, Kutaïssi
  Serbian: Koen, Kon, Kojen
  Polish: Kon, Kochan, Jach, Kaplan, Kaplin, Kaplon
  Italian: Coen, Cohen, Prohen, Sacerdote (Italian for "priest"), Sacerdoti, Sacerdoti Coen, Rappaport (and variants)
  Spanish: Coen, Cohen, Koen, Cannoh, Canno, Canoh, Coy, Cano, Cao, Corena, Correa
  Basque: Apeztegui "priestly house", in basque "apaiz" (priestly) and "tegi" (house). Also Apéstegui, Apesteguia, Apaestegui, Aphesteguy
  Portuguese: Cão, Cunha, Coutinho, Correia, Coelho
  Persian: Kohan, Kahen, Kohanzâd, Kohanchi, Kohani, Kohanqâdoš, Kohanteb
  Turkish: Kohen
  Romanian: Cozer
  Arabic: al-Kohen, al-Kahen, al-Kahin, Tawil, Tabili, Taguili
  Ancient/Modern Hebrew: Kohen, HaKohen, ben-Kohen, bar-Kohen, Koheni, Kahana, Kohanim, Kohen-Tzedek/Kohen-Tzadik (Katz)
  Others: Maze/Mazo, Mazer (acronym of the Hebrew phrase mi zera Aharon, meaning "from [the] seed [of] Aaron [the Kohen/Priest]"), Azoulai (acronym of the Hebrew phrase ishah zonah ve'challelah lo yikachu, meaning "a foreign [non-Israelite woman] or divorced [Israelite woman] shall not he [a Kohen] take": prohibition binding on kohanim), Kahane
  One of Zo (Zhou/Yo) descendants/clan is called by the name Kunhen or Kohen; these group originate in Myanmar (Burma) and Northeast India.
  In contemporary Israel, "Moshe Cohen" is the equivalent of "John Smith" in English-speaking countries – i.e., proverbially the most common of names.
caption: The Suleiman ben Pinhas al-Cohen family of Sana'a, circa 1944.
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