Most Jewish last names are younger than the families who carry them. Emperor Joseph II’s patent of July 23, 1787 ordered Jewish households across the Habsburg Empire to register a fixed German surname by that November and to start using it on January 1, 1788 (1). Napoleon’s decree of July 20, 1808 did the same job in France (2), and the requirement reached Czarist Russia in the 1840s.
What families chose in those few years is still readable. The oldest markers held: Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics counts about one in every 50 Israeli Jews named Cohen and one in every 85 named Levy (3). Others took a trade, a hometown, a father’s name or simply a pleasant pair of German nouns, which is why Schneider, Landau, Abrams and Rosenberg all belong to the same tradition.
Alexander Beider built his dictionaries of Jewish surnames out of primary archival records rather than out of earlier books, and his own name makes the point. “Bathkeeper was certainly the occupation of one of my ancestors,” says Alexander Beider, who reads the name as Ukrainian Yiddish for the keeper of a bathhouse. Below are 100 Jewish last names with their meanings, pronunciations, notable bearers and, where U.S. records hold them, current figures.
Popularity at a Glance
The most popular names on this list in the United States, 1965 to 2025: Levi, Cohen, Israel, Solomon and Baron.
100 Popular Jewish Last Names
Each name below carries a meaning, an origin and a route to where it is spoken now.
Abate
Abate is one of the Italian names on this list, and it carries a title rather than a tool. The root is the Latin “abbas,” meaning “priest,” which reached Italian as a name for an abbot, and Jewish families in Italy took up the same word for a rabbi. Say it Ah-BAA-tey and the church-and-synagogue double life is still audible.
- Origin: Jewish, Italian
- Meaning: Abbot, priest
- Pronunciation: Ah-BAA-tey
- Namesakes: Rosa Silvana Abate, an Italian senator for the Five Star Movement since 2018. Carmine Abate, an Italian writer known for the novel Tra due mari (2002).
- Popularity: Abate is uncommon worldwide and mostly used in Ethiopia, where it ranked 34th in 2014.
Abrams
Abrams is the patronymic straight from the source: it marks “the son of Abraham,” built on the biblical name Abram. Abraham is called the father of a multitude of nations in the Bible, so a family taking this name claimed the widest possible ancestry. The plural -s ending is the English-language habit, which is why Abrams reads as American while Abramson and Abrahams read as older Europe. It is one of the easier names on this list for a stranger to spell on the first try.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Son of Abraham
- Pronunciation: AY-brahms
- Variations: Abramson, Abrahams
- Namesakes: Dan Abrams, an American host of Dan Abrams Live on NewsNation. Cal Abrams, an American baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
- Popularity: Abrams is rare worldwide and mainly used in the U.S., ranking 1,172nd in 2014. It has surfaced only once in U.S. baby name records, at 10,621st in 2020, when six boys were given it as a first name.
Abulafia
Abulafia is Sephardic to its bones, a name that left Spain rather than one that stayed. It belongs to the family of Spanish surname forms around Abolafio. After the 1492 expulsion it traveled with its bearers into Italy, where it settled as Abolaffio. The Arabic sense behind it, father of health, tells you which world the name grew up in before Spain. Five syllables make it a mouthful, though Ah-buw-LAH-fiy-Ah has a rhythm once you commit to it.
- Origin: Jewish, Arabic
- Meaning: Father of health
- Pronunciation: Ah-buw-LAH-fiy-Ah
- Variations: Abolafia
- Namesakes: Yossi Abulafia, an Israeli children’s book author known for HaKina Nechama (1990). David Abulafia, an English historian awarded the 2020 Wolfson History Prize.
- Popularity: Abulafia is very rare worldwide and primarily used in Argentina.
Abutbul
Abutbul keeps its secret. No agreed origin has been pinned to it, which puts it in the small group of Jewish family names that resist a tidy etymology. The shape of the word points toward Arabic or Sephardic ground rather than German or Slavic, and it is most familiar today from Israeli public life. Sometimes a name is interesting precisely because nobody can finish the sentence about it.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Unknown
- Pronunciation: Ah-BOOT-buhl
- Namesakes: Alon Abutbul, an Israeli actor who won the IFFI Best Actor Award at India’s 44th International Film Festival. Shay Abutbul, an Israeli footballer for Hapoel Tel Aviv.
- Popularity: Abutbul is extremely rare worldwide, with 75 known occurrences in 2014, mostly in the U.S.
Acker
Acker is farmland in a word, and German and English speakers hear it slightly differently: an acre to one, of the acre to the other, though both land on a household beside a plowed field. Extend it to Ackerman and the meaning sharpens to plowman, the person working the field rather than living near it. It is a quiet, sturdy name with no ornament on it at all.
- Origin: Jewish, English
- Meaning: Plowed field
- Pronunciation: AA-kher
- Variations: Ackerman
- Namesakes: Sharon Acker, a Canadian actress known for the series The New Perry Mason. Bill Acker, an American football player for the Buffalo Bills.
- Popularity: Acker is rare worldwide and mainly used in the U.S.
Arenberg
Arenberg fuses a person to a place: the German form of Aaron, plus “berg,” meaning “mountain.” The House of Arenberg took its name from the same spot, an aristocratic family that became one of the wealthiest of the Habsburg Netherlands. That double life gives the name an odd resonance, at once a Hebrew given name and a European noble address. Variants such as Aremberg and Ahremberg show how unsettled its spelling was before records fixed it.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Aaron’s mountain
- Pronunciation: AA-ren-Burg
- Variations: Aremberg, Ahremberg
- Popularity: Arenberg is very rare worldwide and primarily used in the U.S.
Babel
Babel reaches back further than almost anything else here. Read through Assyrian, it combines “bāb,” meaning “gate,” and “ilu,” meaning “God,” the gate of God that gave the Tower of Babel its name. In Polish and German the word simply means Babylon, and there it became a lesser-known Ashkenazi surname. Two syllables, BAA-behl, and several thousand years of association.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Babylon
- Pronunciation: BAA-behl
- Variations: Bable
- Namesakes: Günther Babel, a German member of the Landtag of Bavaria from 2003 to 2008. Ryan Babel, a Dutch footballer for the Netherlands national team.
- Popularity: Babel is rare worldwide, mostly used in Germany, and ranked 157th in Suriname in 2014.
Barber
Barber is a trade name that has quietly changed jobs. It comes from the German Barbier and behind that the Latin “barbarius,” from “barba,” meaning “beard.” The medieval barber pulled teeth, set bones and let blood as often as he cut hair, so the surname once described something closer to a surgeon. Today the work is beards and haircuts again, which makes Barber one of the few names on this list whose meaning has narrowed rather than faded.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Barber
- Pronunciation: BAAR-ber
- Variations: Barbor, Barbour
- Namesakes: Charles E. Barber, the sixth chief engraver of the U.S. Mint from 1879 to 1917. Glynis Barber, a South African actress appearing in the series EastEnders.
- Popularity: Barber is uncommon worldwide, mainly used in England, and ranked 222nd in England in 2014. As an American first name it belongs to the early 1900s: it did best in 1913 at 2,856th and last appeared in the records in 1932.
Baron
Baron began as a rank, not a surname. A baron was a noble knight who held land in return for allegiance to a king, and the word appears in Middle English as “barun.” Jewish families in France and the German lands took it as a family name, and the aristocratic echo came along free. It is one of the very few names here that a reader hears as a title before they hear it as a name.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Son of strength
- Pronunciation: BAA-rohn
- Variations: Barron, Barone
- Namesakes: Fred Baron, an American film producer and the current studio executive at 20th Century Fox. Martin Baron, the American editor of The Washington Post from 2012 to 2021.
- Popularity: Baron is uncommon worldwide and primarily used in France, where it ranked 109th in 2014. It is also a steady American boys’ name, ranked 1,370th in 2025 with 135 births, some way below its 1966 best of 589th.
Baruch
Baruch means blessed, and it has been in continuous use as both a given name and a family name since biblical times. Baruch was the scribe and disciple of Jeremiah, which is a strong claim for a family to make. In Germany the surname was read as descendant of Baruch. Among Jewish families, though, the plain sense of blessed and fortunate stayed in front. Stress the second syllable, Baa-ROOK, and it sounds like the benediction it is.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Blessed
- Pronunciation: Baa-ROOK
- Namesakes: Bertha Hirsch Baruch, a German-American writer and county president of the Los Angeles Suffrage Association, in 1905. Bernard Baruch, the American chairman of the War Industries Board during World War I.
- Popularity: Baruch is rare worldwide and mostly used in Mexico. It is gaining ground as an American boys’ name, ranked 2,260th in 2025 after its best showing of 1,999th in 2023.
Belman
Belman is a compliment turned into a family name. It joins the Hebrew “beyle,” meaning “beautiful,” to the Yiddish “man,” meaning “husband,” by way of the German Bellmann. Names of this kind describe a person rather than a job or a town, which makes them rarer and more personal. Mexico is the one place it shows up in any numbers, spelled Belman or Bellman alike.
- Origin: Jewish, Yiddish
- Meaning: Beautiful husband
- Pronunciation: BEHL-mahn
- Variations: Bellman
- Popularity: Belman is rare worldwide and mainly used in Mexico, ranking 1,858th in 2014.
Benowitz
Benowitz is a name with two grammars in it. The front is the Hebrew Beniamin, the source of Benjamin and of the whole family of “ben” names; the back is “-owitz,” the German rendering of the Polish patronymic ending “-owicz.” Put them together and you get a Hebrew father with a Central European suffix, which is exactly what most Ashkenazi patronymics are. Bennewitz is the same name wearing slightly different clothes.
- Origin: Jewish, Slavic
- Meaning: Son of Ber
- Pronunciation: Beh-neh-WITZ
- Variations: Bennewitz
- Popularity: Benowitz is very rare worldwide and primarily used in the U.S.
Bensoussan
Bensoussan is Maghrebi rather than European, rooted in North Africa and the Western Arabic world. Its second half traces to the Hebrew “shôshannah,” meaning “lily,” a flower name carried under a patronymic “ben.” That combination is unusual on a list where most of the Hebrew elements are priestly or paternal. Ben Soussan and Bensussan both turn up, depending on which registrar wrote it down.
- Origin: Jewish, French
- Meaning: Lily
- Pronunciation: Ben-SUW-sahn
- Variations: Ben Soussan, Bensussan
- Namesakes: Michel Bensoussan, a French footballer and gold medalist at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Babette Bensoussan, the Australian founder of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals.
- Popularity: Bensoussan is rare worldwide and mostly used in France.
Berenson
Berenson is a bear with a German suffix. It builds on the Yiddish first name Ber, meaning “bear,” and the German “sohn,” meaning “son.” Put the two together and the name reads plainly as son of Bear. Some read it instead as an Americanized Berendsen. That would put it with the many names that shifted spelling at a U.S. port or courthouse. Either route ends in the same place: a family named for an ancestor called Bear.
- Origin: Jewish, Yiddish
- Meaning: Bear son
- Pronunciation: BEH-ren-Sohn
- Variations: Bernson
- Namesakes: Alex Berenson, an American reporter for The New York Times. Berry Berenson, an American actress and widow of actor Anthony Perkins.
- Popularity: Berenson is very rare worldwide and mainly used in the U.S.
Berg
Berg is the shortest way to say mountain, and it turns up wherever German was spoken. Swedish carries the same word, which is why the name reads as Scandinavian to some ears and Ashkenazi to others. It also works as a clipped form of longer German surnames such as Schönberg and Goldberg, the ornamental names built by stacking two nouns. One syllable, BURGH, and no decoration at all.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Mountain
- Pronunciation: BURGH
- Variations: Bergman, Berger
- Namesakes: Dave Berg, an American cartoonist known for Mad’s The Lighter Side of…. Jeremy M. Berg, the American director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Personalized Medicine.
- Popularity: Berg is uncommon worldwide, primarily used in the U.S., and ranked 14th in Norway in 2014. As a first name it has appeared once in U.S. records, at 8,824th in 1999.
Bernstein
Bernstein means amber, but it says so the long way round. The German parts are “bernen,” meaning “to burn,” and “stēn,” meaning “stone.” Put together, the literal reading is burn stone, which is what amber looks like when it catches light. It is one of the ornamental names that Ashkenazi families chose for sound and image rather than for trade or town. It is also the name most people can spell after The Berenstain Bears, whose title it very likely inspired.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Amber
- Pronunciation: BURN-steen
- Variations: Berenstein
- Namesakes: Jake Bernstein, an American investigative journalist who wrote Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers (2017). Leonard Bernstein, an American conductor, and recipient of the 1980 Kennedy Center Honor.
- Popularity: Bernstein is rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 206th in Israel in 2014.
Bichler
Bichler splits along religious lines. In German it is geographical, from “bichel,” meaning “hill,” for a family living on one. Among Ashkenazi Jews it is occupational, from the Yiddish “bukh,” meaning “book,” for a bookseller. Same spelling, two entirely different pictures of the ancestor, and no way to tell from the name alone which one you have.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Bookseller
- Pronunciation: BIK-lehr
- Variations: Bechler
- Namesakes: Timo Bichler, a German racing cyclist and bronze medalist at the 2018 UEC European Track Championships. Nicholas J. Bichler, an American member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1935 to 1942.
- Popularity: Bichler is rare worldwide, mainly used in Germany, and ranked 203rd in Austria in 2014.
Blum
Blum is the Yiddish word for flower, used with no adjustment at all. Its cousins are the Dutch “bloem” and the Swedish “blom,” and in the U.S. it very often became Bloom. Flower names were a favorite when families were choosing under time pressure, since they were pleasant, short and easy for a clerk to write. It stayed short in every language it passed through, Bluem and Blumm included.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Flower
- Pronunciation: BLUUM
- Variations: Bluem, Blumm
- Namesakes: Jason Blum, an American horror film producer and founder of Blumhouse Productions. Léon Blum, the three-time Prime Minister of France.
- Popularity: Blum is rare worldwide, primarily used in Germany, and ranked 151st in Switzerland in 2014.
Broder
Broder is family shorthand made permanent. It is a Germanic nickname for a brother, usually the younger one, and it sits close to the German and Yiddish “bruder.” Names like this began as what the neighbors called someone rather than what the record said, which is why they feel warmer than the occupational names around them. It has surfaced exactly once in U.S. baby name records, in 2006, spelled with or without the extra e of Broeder.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Brother
- Pronunciation: BROW-dehr
- Variations: Broeder
- Namesakes: Andrew Broder, a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1896 to 1911. David S. Broder, an American journalist for The Washington Post.
- Popularity: Broder is very rare worldwide and mostly used in the U.S. It has appeared once in U.S. baby name records, at 10,849th in 2006.
Burns
Burns has two family trees that meet by accident. The English and Irish name comes from “bourne,” for a household living at the burn, meaning the brook. The Jewish Burns is a different animal. It is most likely a shortened Bernstein, which brings the meaning back to amber. Comedian George Burns, born Nathan Birnbaum, is the cleanest illustration of how the second kind happened.
- Origin: Jewish, Irish
- Meaning: Amber
- Pronunciation: BEHRNS
- Variations: Burn
- Namesakes: George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum), an American comedian known for the 1975 film The Sunshine Boys. DeWayne Burns, an American member of the Texas House of Representatives since 2015.
- Popularity: Burns ranked 1,666th worldwide, is mainly used in the U.S., and ranked 66th in Northern Ireland in 2014. As an American first name it peaked in 1916 at 1,307th and has nearly disappeared since, last charting in 2016.
Cantor
Cantor is a job you can still hear on a Saturday morning. It is the Anglicized form of the German and Jewish Kantor, from the Latin “cantōrem,” a male singer. In Judaism the cantor is the clergy member who leads the sung portions of worship, so the surname names a role rather than a craft. Canter is the same name with one letter shaved off.
- Origin: Jewish, Latin
- Meaning: Singer
- Pronunciation: KANT-or
- Variations: Canter
- Namesakes: Leo Cantor, a Jewish-American football player for the New York Giants. Liz Cantor, an Australian TV presenter who won the reality game show The Mole in 2005.
- Popularity: Cantor is rare worldwide, primarily used in Colombia, and ranked 507th in Honduras in 2014.
Chazen
Chazen is Cantor in the original language, blending the Yiddish “khazn” and the Hebrew “ḥazan” to name the singer who leads a congregation in prayer. Where Cantor went through Latin and German, Chazen stayed home, which is why the two names mean the same thing and look nothing alike.
- Origin: Jewish, Yiddish
- Meaning: Cantor
- Pronunciation: CHAY-sen
- Namesakes: Deborah Chazen, an English actress appearing in The Smoking Room series. Adam Chazen, an American special effects producer known for the Game of Thrones series.
- Popularity: Chazen is very rare worldwide and primarily used in the U.S.
Cohen
Cohen is the priestly name, from the Hebrew “kohen,” meaning “priest.” It marks descent from the Kohanim, the priestly line traced to Aaron, and that inherited status is why the name spread so far and held so firmly. Cohn, Coen and Coehn are the same claim spelled for different clerks. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics counts roughly one in 50 Israeli Jews carrying it, which makes it the most common surname in the country by a distance.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Priest
- Pronunciation: KONE
- Variations: Cohn, Coehn, Coen
- Namesakes: Ed Cohen, an American sportscaster who did play-by-play for the New York Knicks. Gezi Cohen, an Israeli weightlifter who competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
- Popularity: Cohen ranked 1,386th worldwide and is mainly used in Israel, where it ranked number one in 2014. As an American boys’ name it has never stood higher than it does now, at 225th in 2025, its best rank on record, with 1,590 boys given the name that year.
Davidov
Davidov is David with a Slavic ending, the “-ov” that means son of. It is the Russian-Jewish member of a very large international family of David names. Some argue that Davidov is an American shortening of the Russian Davidovich, trimmed at the point of arrival, and Davydov is the more Russian spelling. Whichever route it took, the meaning has never moved.
- Origin: Jewish, Slavic
- Meaning: Son of David
- Pronunciation: DAA-vih-Dov
- Variations: Davydov
- Namesakes: Lado Davidov, a Soviet soldier during World War II and a hero of the Soviet Union. Ivan Davidov, a Bulgarian footballer for PFC Slavia Sofia.
- Popularity: Davidov is rare worldwide and primarily used in Israel, where it ranked 116th in 2014.
Diamond
Diamond is the English polish on a German and Yiddish original. Behind it are the German “diamant” and the Yiddish “diment.” Behind those sits the Greek “adamantos,” meaning “unconquerable,” which is where the stone got its reputation for hardness. Anglicized spelling made it look like an English word, so it passes as an ornamental surname and a first name at the same time. Dymond is the older-looking variant.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Son of Dyamond
- Pronunciation: DAEY-mond
- Variations: Dymond
- Namesakes: Neil Diamond, an American singer-songwriter who has sold over 130 million records worldwide. Reed Diamond, an American actor known for the series Homicide: Life on the Street.
- Popularity: Diamond is rare worldwide and mostly used in the U.S., ranking 1,334th in 2014. Measured as an American girls’ name it has fallen the furthest of any name on this list, down about two thirds across the last 10 years of births against the 10 years before them, from 150th in 1999 to 2,024th in 2025.
Drexel
Drexel is a workshop name. In Germany it described one who turned a lathe, the craftsman shaping wood or metal by spinning it against a blade. The wider trade of a turner could stretch to turning soil or spinning cloth, so the ancestor was not always at a bench. Drechsel is the spelling closer to the German original.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Turner
- Pronunciation: DRECK-sehl
- Variations: Drechsel
- Namesakes: Íngrid Drexel, a Mexican road bicycle racer who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. John Drexel, an American poet for the online Contemporary Poetry Review.
- Popularity: Drexel is very rare worldwide, mainly used in the U.S., and ranked 1,829th in Austria in 2014. As an American first name it has held on for over a century, from 1,197th in 1914 to 7,318th in 2025.
Dreyfuss
Dreyfuss is usually filed as French-Jewish, though its origin sits over the German border in Trevis, the place a Dreyfuss family came from. A second reading takes it from the German “drivuoss,” meaning a tripod. Applied as a nickname, it named someone walking with a crutch, a third leg of sorts. Two possible ancestors then: a traveler from Trevis and a man who needed help walking. The Dreyfus affair later made the surname one of the most recognized in French history, for reasons that had nothing to do with either origin story. Dreyfus, without the final s, is the more common French form. Dreyfuss, with the extra letter, is the shape the name mostly took in the U.S.
- Origin: Jewish, French
- Meaning: From Trevis
- Pronunciation: DRAEY-fus
- Variations: Dreyfus
- Namesakes: Richard Dreyfuss, an American actor known for Jaws (1975). Robert Dreyfuss, an American editor for The Nation magazine.
- Popularity: Dreyfuss barely registers worldwide, with its heaviest concentration in the U.S.
Efron
Efron is a place name first and a bird second. It appears in two different books of the Bible as a location, and the personal name is glossed as singing bird, with young stag offered as an alternative. It is one of the few names here given to boys as a first name in Hebrew tradition rather than adopted as a surname later. Ephron and Effron are the usual spelling variants.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Singing bird
- Pronunciation: EHF-ron
- Variations: Ephron, Effron
- Namesakes: Paloma Efron, an Argentine journalist and its first professional jazz singer. Marshall Efron, an American actor known for the PBS show The Great American Dream Machine.
- Popularity: Efron is very rare worldwide and mostly used in the U.S.
Ehrlich
Ehrlich is a character reference. The High German “ērlich” means respected, and the Yiddish “erlekh” means virtuous. Together they call the bearer honest or honorable. Nickname surnames of this kind were handed out by neighbors and stuck, which means an ancestor earned this one in public. Erlich drops the h and keeps the meaning.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Honorable
- Pronunciation: UHR-lik
- Variations: Erlich
- Namesakes: Jonathan Erlich, an Israeli tennis player who won the men’s doubles title at the 2008 Australian Open. Abel Ehrlich, an Israeli composer who won the 1997 Israel Prize for Music.
- Popularity: Ehrlich is rare worldwide, mainly used in Germany, and ranked 466th in Israel in 2014.
Einstein
Einstein is built from “ein,” meaning “one,” and “stein,” meaning “stone.” Read as an occupation it names a mason; read as a location it points to a household inside a stone enclosure. It is a perfectly ordinary German construction that one physicist turned into shorthand for genius. No other name on this list carries that kind of second meaning.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: A rock
- Pronunciation: AEYN-stine
- Namesakes: Albert Einstein, a German-American physicist best known for the theory of relativity. Arik Einstein, an Israeli rock named “the voice of Israel.”
- Popularity: Einstein is very rare worldwide and primarily used in the U.S. It has appeared once in U.S. baby name records, at 12,579th in 2006.
Eisen
Eisen means iron, and it went to work. Among Jewish families in the German lands it became the occupational name for a smith or ironworker, and it sits beside the Yiddish “ayzn,” which is the same word. Eisner is the extended form. It is short, hard-edged and says exactly what the ancestor did all day.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Ironworker
- Pronunciation: AEY-sen
- Variations: Eisner
- Namesakes: Richard Eisen, an American host of The Rich Eisen Show. Gary Eisen, a member of the Michigan House of Representatives since 2019.
- Popularity: Eisen is rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 1,349th in Luxembourg in 2014. It is climbing slowly as an American boys’ name, ranked 8,438th in 2025 against a 1953 best of 3,968th.
Engel
Engel is the German word for angel, and it has never stopped being one. As a surname it started life as a short form of longer names such as Engelbert and Engelhard, the way Ben stands in for Benjamin. That clipping happened in the Middle Ages. By the time it reached the New World it was already its own established name. Engel has carried that softness through every generation since. Few surnames manage to be this gentle and this old at once.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Angel
- Pronunciation: ENG-ehl
- Namesakes: Roy Engel, an American actor appearing in the series Gunsmoke. Steven Engel, an American baseball player for the Chicago Cubs.
- Popularity: Engel is rare worldwide and mainly used in Germany, where it ranked 87th in 2014. In U.S. baby name records it is a recent arrival, first charting in 2006 and reaching 9,994th in 2025.
Falk
Falk is a falcon and a patronymic at the same time. The German Falke gives the bird; the name also carries the reading son of Fulk, which is the personal name behind it. It became common among Jewish families in the German lands and traveled north, appearing in Sweden as Falck. FAWK takes about half a second to say, which suits the bird.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Falcon
- Pronunciation: FAWK
- Variations: Falke
- Namesakes: Miksa Falk, a Hungarian editor-in-chief of the German-language newspaper Pester Lloyd. Peter Falk, an American best known for the series Columbo (1968 to 1978).
- Popularity: Falk is rare worldwide, primarily used in Germany, and ranked 90th in Sweden in 2014.
Feldman
Feldman puts a man in a field. The German “velt” means an expanse of open country. The “-man” ending marks the person attached to it, either living there or working it. It is one of the plainest geographical names in Ashkenazi use, which is part of why it spread so widely. That plainness is also why it crossed so easily into English. Feldmann keeps the German double n; Feldman is the form that settled here.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Fieldman
- Pronunciation: FEHLD-mahn
- Variations: Feldmann
- Namesakes: Corey Feldman, an American actor known for Stand by Me (1986). Dave Feldman, an American sportscaster for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area since 2012.
- Popularity: Feldman is rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 58th in Israel in 2014.
Fischer
Fischer is the German fisherman, the exact counterpart of the English Fisher. There is a second theory that links it to the French Poissant, meaning powerful, misread along the way as “poisson,” meaning fish, which would make the trade a translation error. Occupational names this common tend to have several unrelated origins, and Fischer has more than most. Fisher and Fissher are the same job spelled by different clerks.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Fisherman
- Pronunciation: FISH-ehr
- Variations: Fisher, Fissher
- Namesakes: Emil Fischer, a German chemist and 1902 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Ricardo Fischer, a Brazilian basketball player for Flamengo.
- Popularity: Fischer ranked 883rd worldwide and is mainly used in Germany, where it ranked 4th in 2014. As an American boys’ name it has been steady since the 1990s, ranked 2,215th in 2025 against a 2015 best of 1,556th.
Friedman
Friedman is peace with a person attached: the Yiddish “frid,” meaning “peace,” plus “man.” German reads it instead as descendant of Friduman, and Jewish tradition treats it as a counterpart of the Hebrew Solomon, which carries the same idea. The doubled n of Friedmann, and the Freedman and Freidman spellings, all trace to the same root. It is one of the most recognizable Ashkenazi surnames in the world.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Man of peace
- Pronunciation: FREED-mahn
- Variations: Friedmann, Freidman, Freedman
- Namesakes: Stephen Friedman, the American co-chief operating officer from 1987 to 1990. Don Friedman, an American jazz pianist who performed with Chet Baker.
- Popularity: Friedman is rare worldwide, primarily used in the U.S., and ranked 9th in Israel in 2014.
Gelb
Gelb means yellow in German, but the Yiddish nickname it became was for men with red hair, the way color names often described the person rather than the object. A separate thread ties Gelb to the northern German town of Geldern, which would make it geographical instead. One short syllable, GEHLB, and two possible ancestors.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Red-haired
- Pronunciation: GEHLB
- Variations: Ghelb
- Namesakes: Arthur Gelb, the American managing editor of The New York Times from 1986 to 1989. Richard L. Gelb, an American senior executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb from 1960 to 1995.
- Popularity: Gelb is very rare worldwide and mostly used in the U.S.
Gershon
Gershon names a founder. It means descendant of Gershon, the ancestor of the Gershonites, one branch of the biblical Levite clan. The related personal name Gershom is read as exile, from “ger sham,” meaning “stranger there” in Hebrew, which gives the whole family of names a note of displacement. It is currently rising as an American boys’ name.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Sojourner
- Pronunciation: Gehr-SHAWN
- Variations: Gersh
- Namesakes: Gina Gershon, an American actress known for The Insider (1999). Amit Gershon, an Israeli basketball player for Hapoel Eilat.
- Popularity: Gershon is rare worldwide, mainly used in Ghana, and ranked 517th in Israel in 2014. It is rising in U.S. baby name records, ranked 3,150th in 2025 with 38 births.
Glass
Glass comes from the Middle German “glas.” It covered anyone in the glass trade: the blower, the glazier, the seller. A separate line ties it to the German Klass, a familiar form of Nikolaus. That reading would make it a personal name rather than a trade. Glas without the second s is the German spelling. The English word does the rest of the work for modern readers.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Glassmaking
- Pronunciation: GLAS
- Variations: Glas
- Namesakes: Ira Glass, an American host of the series This American Life. David Glass, the American owner of the Kansas City Royals.
- Popularity: Glass is rare worldwide, primarily used in the U.S., and ranked 345th in Northern Ireland in 2014.
Goldberg
Goldberg is a place that exists many times over: gold hill, from the German “gold” and “berg,” meaning “mountain.” Plenty of German towns and rises carry the name, so families took it from a real address rather than as pure ornament. Goldberg and its cousins Gold and Goldburg spread far enough that the name is now read as Jewish first and German second. It is the archetype of the two-noun Ashkenazi surname.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Gold hill
- Pronunciation: GOHLD-burg
- Variations: Gold, Goldburg
- Namesakes: Andrew Goldberg, an American writer and co-creator of the Netflix animated series Big Mouth. Mike Goldberg, an American sports commentator with BYB Extreme Fighting Series,
- Popularity: Goldberg is rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 85th in Israel in 2014.
Goldman
Goldman comes from the Yiddish personal name Golde and works as a patronymic, the son of Goldman. That makes it a family name built on a woman’s name, which is more common in Ashkenazi naming than most people expect. Goldmann and Gouldman are the alternate spellings. It remains a familiar name in Israel and in American finance alike.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Son of Goldman
- Pronunciation: GOLD-mahn
- Variations: Goldmann, Gouldman
- Namesakes: Marcus Goldman, the Jewish-American founder of Goldman Sachs. Vivien Goldman, a British journalist with Sounds magazine.
- Popularity: Goldman is rare worldwide, mainly used in the U.S., and ranked 162nd in Israel in 2014. As an American first name it belongs to the early 1900s, best at 2,229th in 1915 and last recorded in 1940.
Green
Green is a color and an address at once. The Jewish line runs through the German “grun,” meaning green. The English line describes a household living at the green, the patch of common grass at the center of a village. Both readings landed on the same English spelling. That coincidence makes the name impossible to sort by sight. Greene with an e is the older-looking twin.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Green (color)
- Pronunciation: GREEN
- Variations: Greene
- Namesakes: Bruce Green, an American film editor on the board of directors of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. Dror Green, an Israeli psychotherapist who developed the Emotional Training method.
- Popularity: Green ranked 634th worldwide, is primarily used in the U.S., and ranked 17th in England in 2014. As an American first name it is a period piece, best at 780th in 1914 and last charting in 1984.
Haddad
Haddad is the blacksmith of the Arabic-speaking world, from “ḥaddād,” and it was used by Jewish families living across North Africa as readily as by their neighbors. The same word names a Libyan tribe in Misurata, Al Haddad, on the same logic. Metalwork was one of the trades open to Jewish communities in the region, so the name records an economy as much as a job. Haa-DAAD lands hard on the second syllable, like a hammer.
- Origin: Jewish, Arabic
- Meaning: Blacksmith
- Pronunciation: Haa-DAAD
- Variations: Haddado
- Namesakes: Caroline Haddad, a Canadian figure skater and the 1993 Nebelhorn Trophy champion. Kasia Haddad, a Scottish actress appearing in the children’s television show Balamory.
- Popularity: Haddad is uncommon worldwide and mostly used in Algeria, where it ranked 7th in 2014.
Herzog
Herzog is a duke. The German “herzoge” breaks into “heri,” meaning “army,” and “ziohan,” meaning “to lead.” Together the title describes the man at the head of the column. As with Baron, a Jewish family taking it was not claiming the rank so much as the sound of it. The Herzog family has since supplied Israel with a president, which gives the name a second, more literal claim to leadership.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Duke
- Pronunciation: HERTZ-og
- Variations: Hertzog
- Namesakes: Werner Herzog, a German film director known for Grizzly Man (2005). Roman Herzog, the president of Germany from 1994 to 1999.
- Popularity: Herzog is rare worldwide, mainly used in Germany, and ranked 1,968th in Israel in 2014.
Hirsch
Hirsch is a deer, and it hides a Hebrew name underneath. The Yiddish “tsvi” means gazelle and pairs with Hirsch in traditional double names, though the German word behind the surname means stag. Deer hunters took it as an occupational name, and a whole branch of Ashkenazi surnames grew out of it, from Hirschfeld to Hershkowitz. Say it HERSH and the c and h vanish, which surprises most first-time readers.
- Origin: Jewish, Yiddish
- Meaning: Deer
- Pronunciation: HERSH
- Variations: Hirsche, Hirsh
- Namesakes: Emile Hirsch, an American actor known for Into the Wild (2007). Tomás Hirsch, a Chilean political candidate in the 2005 Chilean presidential election.
- Popularity: Hirsch is rare worldwide, primarily used in Germany, and ranked 292nd in Israel in 2014. As an American first name it is scarce, best at 3,922nd in 1918 and last recorded in 2022.
Horowitz
Horowitz is an address in Bohemia. It points to the town of Hořovice, a center of learning in medieval times. Czech neighbors, working independently, reworked the same sounds from the given names Hořimir and Hořislav. Two unrelated paths landed on nearly the same sound by coincidence. Horovitz, Horwicz and Horwitz are the spellings that survived the journey west. One of them belonged to a Stooge.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: From Hořovice, Bohemia
- Pronunciation: HOHR-oh-witz
- Variations: Horovitz, Horwicz, Horwitz
- Namesakes: Adam Horowitz, an American screenwriter who co-created the series Once Upon a Time. Moses Horwitz (known as Moe Howard), an American comedian and member of the Three Stooges.
- Popularity: Worldwide, Horowitz is rare and concentrated in the U.S., though it still ranked 104th in Israel in 2014.
Israel
Israel is the name Jacob was given for wrestling with God’s angel, read as contender with God or prince of God. It became the name of a people, then of a country founded in 1948, though the word itself long predates both. Carrying it as a surname is about as direct a statement of identity as a family name can make. As an American first name it has held remarkably steady across the decades.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: God contends
- Pronunciation: IZ-raey-El
- Variations: Izrael
- Namesakes: Gerli Israel, an Estonian footballer for the Estonia national team. Steven J. Israel, a U.S. Representative from New York from 2001 to 2017.
- Popularity: Israel is uncommon worldwide, mainly used in Tanzania, and ranked 106th in Haiti in 2014. It is also a common American boys’ name, ranked 315th in 2025 with 1,081 births; its best rank was 202nd in 2006.
Jacobs
Jacobs marks the son of Jacob, from the personal name that began as Yaakov. Jacob’s twelve sons founded the tribes, so the name sits at the origin of the whole system this list describes. The English plural ending puts it alongside Abrams and Williams. Jacob and Jacoby take the same root elsewhere. It is common enough in France and Belgium that it reads as local there.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Son of Jacob
- Pronunciation: JAY-cohbs
- Variations: Jacob, Jacoby
- Namesakes: Gary Jacobs, an American comedy writer for The Dick Cavett Show. Tramain Jacobs, American football player for the Detroit Lions.
- Popularity: Jacobs ranked 1,286th worldwide, is primarily used in the U.S., and ranked 4th in Belgium in 2014. As an American first name it is rare, best at 5,780th in 1983 and last recorded in 2019.
Javorský
Javorský is a tree with a Czech ending. In former Czechoslovakia it described a family living near a “javor,” meaning “maple tree,” and the “-ský” suffix does the work of “from.” Belarusians read it instead as from the town of Yavor. The accent on the y is the giveaway that the name has not been through an English-speaking registrar.
- Origin: Jewish, Slavic
- Meaning: From Yavor
- Pronunciation: Jaah-VOHR-skee
- Variations: Javorski
- Namesakes: Jiří Javorský, a Czech tennis player who won the mixed doubles at the 1997 French Open. Vladimír Javorský, a Czech actor appearing in the film Flower Buds (2011).
- Popularity: Javorský is very rare worldwide and mostly used in the U.S.
Kaplan
Kaplan is Cohen in translation. It means chaplain or priest, and in Germany specifically a curate, but the family it marks descends from the same Kohanim, the ancient priestly sect. Names like this let a family keep its status while changing languages, which is why so many Cohen relatives look nothing like Cohen. As an American first name it is brand new by comparison, not appearing in the records until 2002.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Chaplain
- Pronunciation: KAP-lehn
- Variations: Kaplin
- Namesakes: Gabe Kaplan, an American actor known for the 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. Ron Kaplan, an Israeli gymnast and gold medalist at the 1989 Maccabiah Games.
- Popularity: Kaplan is uncommon worldwide, mainly used in Turkey, and ranked 103rd in Israel in 2014. As an American first name it is new and small, first charting in 2002 and reaching its best rank of 7,426th in 2025.
Katz
Katz is an abbreviation that became a name. It stands behind the phrase “cohen tsedek,” meaning “priest of righteousness.” That puts it with Cohen and Kaplan rather than with the German words it resembles. A family carrying it is claiming the same priestly descent in three letters. It ranks 10th in Israel, among the most common of the priestly names on this list. Katzman extends the same claim with a full syllable added.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Priest of justice
- Pronunciation: KATS
- Variations: Katzman
- Namesakes: Joseph Katz, a Soviet spy who worked with Soviet intelligence from the 1930s to the late 1940s. Ian Katz, a British editor of The Guardian.
- Popularity: Katz is rare worldwide, primarily used in the U.S., and ranked 10th in Israel in 2014.
Klein
Klein means small, in Yiddish, in German and in Dutch alike. It was handed out as a nickname for the younger of two men with the same first name, the way families still say big John and little John. It also survives as the front half of longer names such as Kleinhans. Kline is the spelling that got through Ellis Island.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Small
- Pronunciation: KLEIYN
- Variations: Kline
- Namesakes: Marci Klein, an American TV producer known for Saturday Night Live. Naomi Klein, a Canadian author of No Logo (1999).
- Popularity: Klein ranked 1,157th worldwide, is mostly used in Germany, and ranked 34th in Israel in 2014. It is rising as an American first name, ranked 5,506th in 2025 against a 2013 best of 4,017th.
Koppelman
Koppelman grows out of the Yiddish root Koppel, itself likely from Kob, a familiar form of Jakob. A separate Dutch line reads it as an occupational name for a yoke band tie, the strap used to join draft animals. That gives the name a rope in one hand and a grandfather in the other. Either account fits a family that worked with its hands. Koppelmann and Kopelman are the spellings you will meet most often.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Copple man
- Pronunciation: KAH-puhl-man
- Variations: Koppelmann, Kopelman
- Namesakes: Brian Koppelman, an American co-writer of Ocean’s Thirteen. Kim Koppelman, an American North Dakota House of Representatives member from 2020 to 2022.
- Popularity: Koppelman is very rare worldwide and mainly used in the U.S.
Landau
Landau is a real place, and more than one. Several German towns carry the name, built from the Old German “lant,” meaning “territory,” and “auwa,” meaning “damp valley.” Families took it on the move, which is why Landaus turn up far from any of those valleys. Landauer names the same origin with the German ending for a person from somewhere.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: From Landau
- Pronunciation: LAN-dauw
- Variations: Landauer
- Namesakes: Martin Landau, an American actor known for Ed Wood (1994). Uzi Landau, an Israeli member of the Knesset from 2009 to 2015.
- Popularity: Landau is rare worldwide, primarily used in the U.S., and ranked 1,102nd in Panama in 2014.
Levi
Levi means joining, and it belonged to a son of Jacob before it belonged to anyone else. His descendants became the Levites, the tribe that served in the Temple alongside the priests, so the name records a job that lasted centuries. It has stayed in constant use as a boys’ given name and a surname at the same time, which very few names manage. Levy is the same name with the English-language tail.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Joining
- Pronunciation: LEE-VY
- Variations: Levy
- Namesakes: Primo Levi, an Italian writer known for If This Is a Man (1947). Nimrod Levi, an Israeli-Swedish basketball player for Hapoel Galil Elyon.
- Popularity: Levi is rare worldwide, mainly used in the U.S., and ranked 2nd in Israel in 2019. As an American boys’ name it is the highest ranked name on this list by a wide margin and the only one currently inside the U.S. top 100, at 12th in 2025 with 9,642 births.
Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg is light mountain, from the German “licht” and “berg.” Towns of that name sit in Germany, France and the Netherlands, so the surname does not point to one address so much as to a type of place. Lichtman is the related name built on the same first half. It is a long name that reads as gentler than most of the -berg family.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Light mountain
- Pronunciation: LIHKT-ehn-Burg
- Variations: Lichtman
- Namesakes: Leopold Lichtenberg, an American violinist and a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Byron Lichtenberg, an American fighter pilot who flew aboard two NASA Space Shuttle missions.
- Popularity: Lichtenberg is rare worldwide and mostly used in Germany.
Lichtman
Lichtman worked by candlelight, from the Yiddish “likht.” The job was a chandler, the member of a medieval household responsible for the candles, which in a house without windows was closer to running the lighting than running errands. It is one of the more specific occupational names on this list.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Candlelight man
- Pronunciation: LIHKT-mahn
- Variations: Liechtman
- Namesakes: Jeffrey Lichtman, an American criminal defense lawyer who represented the mobster John Gotti Jr. Rachel Lichtman, an American writer who created the independent channel Network 77 in 2017.
- Popularity: Lichtman appears rarely worldwide, concentrated mostly in the U.S.
Lieberman
Lieberman is affection made official. It comes from Lieb, a German and Jewish nickname meaning dear and beloved, with the familiar “-man” ending. German also reads it as the beloved servant of Lieber, a second layer under the first. Either reading keeps the name in the same warm territory. Liebermann and Liberman are the same name with more or fewer letters, depending on the country.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Dear
- Pronunciation: LEE-behr-Mahn
- Variations: Liebermann, Liberman
- Namesakes: Joe Lieberman, an American politician and Vice Presidential nominee in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Jeff Lieberman, an American film director known for Just Before Dawn (1981).
- Popularity: Lieberman is rare worldwide, primarily used in the U.S., and ranked 189th in Israel in 2014.
Loeb
Loeb is a lion. It varies the German and Yiddish “leib,” and it was given either as a nickname for a strong person or to a family living under the sign of a lion, the painted house signs that stood in for street numbers. A third reading ties it to the German town of Löban, meaning deer meadow. Löb keeps the umlaut that English dropped.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Lion
- Pronunciation: LOWB
- Variations: Löb
- Namesakes: Lisa Loeb, an American singer-songwriter known for the song Stay. Jeph Loeb, an American writer on the series Smallville.
- Popularity: Loeb is rare worldwide and mainly used in the U.S.
Marelli
Marelli sits at the Sephardic-Italian end of Jewish naming, which makes it uncommon company on this list. It is a diminutive of Mare, tracing back to the Greek “mavros,” meaning “black” or “dark,” used of complexion, and Morelli is the more common spelling of the same name. It looks and sounds entirely Italian, which is the point.
- Origin: Jewish, Italian
- Meaning: Dark complexion
- Pronunciation: Maa-REHL-iy
- Variations: Morelli
- Namesakes: Aldo Marelli, an Italian footballer for Gallaratese. Marco Arturo Marelli, a Swiss set designer for the Vienna State Opera.
- Popularity: Marelli is rare worldwide and primarily used in Italy, ranking 661st in 2014. It has barely registered as an American first name, best at 14,818th in 2008 and last recorded in 2010.
Margolis
Margolis means pearls in Hebrew, and it turns up most often in Belarus, Lithuania and Poland. It also works as a female given name, and Russian speakers read it as descendant of Margaret, which is a different word entirely arriving at a similar sound. Margulis and Margules are the same name transliterated by different hands. Pearl names sat alongside gold, silver and rose in the ornamental group families favored.
- Origin: Jewish, Slavic
- Meaning: Pearls
- Pronunciation: MAAR-gow-Lihs
- Variations: Margulis, Margules
- Namesakes: Mark Margolis, an American actor known for the series Breaking Bad. Eric S. Margolis, an American editor for the Toronto Sun.
- Popularity: Margolis is rare worldwide and primarily used in the U.S.
Marx
Marx traces to the Latin Marcus and works as a German first name as readily as a surname, meaning the son of Mark. Its Hebrew counterpart is Mordechai, the name it often stood in for. Two very different famous bearers, a political theorist and a comedian, have kept it in circulation for a century. In current U.S. baby name data it is now the rarest name on this whole list, at one boy in roughly 333,333 births. Fame and rarity have landed on the same four letters. Marxen is the older German form that few families still carry.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Son of Mark
- Pronunciation: MARKS
- Variations: Marxen
- Namesakes: Karl Marx, a German political theorist known for The Communist Manifesto. Groucho Marx, an American comedian and member of the Marx Brothers.
- Popularity: Marx is rare worldwide, mainly used in Germany, and ranked 42nd in Luxembourg in 2014. It is the rarest of these names in current U.S. baby name data, ranked 13,228th in 2025, about one boy in every 333,333 births.
Meyer
Meyer comes from the Hebrew Meir, meaning “enlightener,” and it is one of the few names here whose Hebrew original is still widely used. German offers a competing source in “meter,” a term for a bailiff or mayor, and the Hebrew given name Me’ri, meaning “shining,” pulls in the same direction as Meir. Maier, Majer and Meier are the same name spelled across four borders. When a name has this many origins, families rarely agree on which one is theirs.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Enlightener
- Pronunciation: MAEY-ehr
- Variations: Maier, Majer, Meier
- Namesakes: Russ Meyer, an American film director known for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). Sven Meyer, a German figure skater and the 1998 German national champion.
- Popularity: Meyer ranked 719th worldwide and is primarily used in Germany, where it ranked 6th in 2014. It is the biggest comeback story in U.S. baby name records here: after peaking in 1913 it bottomed out in 1954 and has since recovered about 19 times over, reaching 1,693rd in 2025.
Mizrahi
Mizrahi means eastern, from the Hebrew “mizrakh,” meaning “east.” It was applied to Jewish families who came to the Iberian peninsula from the east, so the name records the direction of travel rather than a destination. Today Mizrahi is also the broad term for Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa, which gives the surname an unusually wide second life. Mizrakhi and Mizrakh are the alternate spellings.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Eastener
- Pronunciation: Mihz-RAH-hee
- Variations: Mizrakhi, Mizrakh
- Namesakes: Isaac Mizrahi, an American fashion designer and judge on Project Runway All Stars. Moshe Mizrahi, an Israeli member of the Knesset from 2013 to 2015.
- Popularity: Mizrahi is rare worldwide and primarily used in Israel, ranking 3rd in 2014.
Montefiore
Montefiore is flower hill in Italian, from “monte” and “fiore.” The Sephardic family that carried it became famous bankers in Europe and founded the Montefiore Medical Center in New York, so the name travels with an institution attached. Montefiori and Montifiore are the variant spellings. It is the most lyrical name on this list, and one of the longest to say.
- Origin: Jewish, Italian
- Meaning: Flower hill
- Pronunciation: MOHN-Teh-fiy-OWR-eh
- Variations: Montefiori, Montifiore
- Namesakes: Jacob Montefiore, an Australian New South Wales Legislative Council member from 1856 to 1860. Moses Montefiore, the British founder of the Mishkenot Sha’ananim settlement outside the Old City of Jerusalem, in 1960.
- Popularity: Montefiore is very rare worldwide and mainly used in Italy.
Nazarian
Nazarian is Armenian in form, with the “-ian” ending that marks descent, and it is used by Armenians, Arabs, Iranians and Jews alike. It derives from the Arabic “nazar,” meaning “vision,” and works as a short form of longer names such as Nazarethian. Nazaryan is the transliteration you meet in Armenia itself. Few names on this list cross quite so many communities.
- Origin: Jewish, Armenian
- Meaning: Son of Nazar
- Pronunciation: Naa-ZAA-riy-Ahn
- Variations: Nazaryan
- Namesakes: Angella Nazarian, an Iranian-American writer known for Visionary Women. Sharon Nazarian, an Iranian-American senior vice president of International Affairs for the Anti-Defamation League.
- Popularity: Nazarian is rare worldwide and mostly used in the U.S.
Pasternak
Pasternak means parsnip, which makes it the most literal name here. It was given to the person who grew or sold them. From there it settled across Slavic, Ukrainian and Russian communities. Pasternack is the spelling with the hard ending. A vegetable seller in one century and a Nobel novelist in the next is a fair range for one word.
- Origin: Jewish, Slavic
- Meaning: Parsnip
- Pronunciation: PAAS-ter-Nak
- Variations: Pasternack
- Namesakes: Boris Pasternak, a Russian writer known for the novel Doctor Zhivago (1957). James Pasternak, a Canadian member of the Toronto City Council since 2010.
- Popularity: Pasternak is rare worldwide, mainly used in Poland, and ranked 1,368th in Israel in 2014.
Pereira
Pereira is one of the oldest Sephardic family names of Spain and Portugal. It comes from “pera,” for the fruit of the pear tree, and it names many villages as well as many families. That double use, place and plant, is common in Iberian naming and rare in Ashkenazi naming. Pereyra and Perera are the same name in neighboring countries.
- Origin: Jewish, Spanish
- Meaning: Pear tree
- Pronunciation: Peh-REHR-ah
- Variations: Pereyra, Perera
- Namesakes: Tomás Romero Pereira, the President of Paraguay from May 1954 to August 1954. Joseph Pereira (known as Joe Perry), an American musician and founding member of Aerosmith.
- Popularity: Pereira ranked 90th worldwide and is primarily used in Brazil, where it ranked 3rd in 2014.
Portnoy
Portnoy is a tailor, from the Russian “portnoj,” used of one who makes outer garments. Tailoring was among the trades most open to Jewish families in the Slavic lands. That is why this name and Schneider both appear on this same list with the same meaning. The two words come from opposite ends of Europe and describe the identical bench. Neither trade name needed a town or a father to explain it, only a needle. It is short, blunt and easy to spell, unlike most of its neighbors here.
- Origin: Jewish, Slavic
- Meaning: Tailor
- Pronunciation: PORT-nouy
- Namesakes: David Portnoy, an American blogger and founder of Barstool Sports. Mike Portnoy, an American musician, and drummer for the band Dream Theater.
- Popularity: Worldwide, Portnoy is rare and concentrated in the U.S., ranking 755th in Israel in 2014.
Rabinowitz
Rabinowitz means son of the rabbi, and it wears its grammar on the outside. The German-derived suffix is “-witz,” Polish gives Rabinowicz, and Russian gives Rabinovich, all doing the same job of marking descent. A family with this name was announcing a scholarly lineage, which carried real standing in Eastern European communities. Whichever spelling you meet, the father in question had a congregation.
- Origin: Jewish, Slavic
- Meaning: Son of the rabbi
- Pronunciation: Rah-BIHN-ah-Witz
- Variations: Rabinowicz
- Namesakes: Jay Rabinowitz, an American film editor known for working with director Jim Jarmusch. Nik Rabinowitz, a South African comedian and TV presenter on SABC.
- Popularity: Rabinowitz is rare worldwide and mainly used in the U.S.
Rappaport
Rappaport joins a bird to a town: the German “rappe,” meaning “raven,” and a place in Italy, usually identified as Portobuffolé. It is also one of the strangest to parse, since neither half is obvious from the English spelling. Few readers would guess a raven and an Italian town are hiding inside it. Rappoport and Rapaport shed a letter each on their way through different countries. The spelling that survives usually says more about a clerk than about the family. The raven of Porto is a better image than most surnames manage.
- Origin: Jewish, Italian
- Meaning: Raven of Porto
- Pronunciation: Rapp-ah-POHRT
- Variations: Rappoport, Rapaport
- Namesakes: Ben Rappaport, an American actor known for the sitcom Outsourced. Summer Rappaport, an American triathlete who competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
- Popularity: Rappaport is rare worldwide with its largest population in the U.S., and it ranked 767th in Israel in 2014.
Resnik
Resnik is a butcher, and specifically a ritual one. The Yiddish word sits close to “shochet,” the kosher slaughterer, which made it a religious office as much as a trade. The name is a favorite in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, where the same root serves non-Jewish families too.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Butcher
- Pronunciation: REZ-nik
- Variations: Resnick
- Namesakes: Judith Resnik, an American NASA astronaut and the first Jewish woman to go to space. Yuri Reznik, a Ukrainian footballer for FC Stroitel Poltava.
- Popularity: Resnik is very rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 180th in Slovenia in 2014.
Rogen
Rogen is Belarusian ground, naming a family from the towns of Rogi or Rogin. The lookalike Irish surname Rogan means red-haired, from the Gaelic “ruadh,” and the same spelling also serves as a variant of this Jewish name, so the letters alone will not tell the two apart. Comedy has done more for its recognition than genealogy ever will.
- Origin: Jewish, Slavic
- Meaning: From Rogi
- Pronunciation: ROW-gen
- Variations: Rogan
- Namesakes: Seth Rogen, a Canadian actor who directed The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). Lauren Miller Rogen, an American actress appearing in Superbad (2007).
- Popularity: Rogen is very rare worldwide and mainly used in the U.S. As an American first name it is a recent and small entry, first charting in 2008, best at 6,738th in 2009 and last recorded at 9,689th in 2024.
Rosenberg
Rosenberg is rose mountain, from the German “ros” and “berg,” and it names a scatter of locations across Germany. It is the prettiest of the -berg family and among the most widely carried. Rozenberg is the Slavic spelling of the same two words. Like Goldberg and Lichtenberg, it shows how much of Ashkenazi naming was assembled from a small stock of German nouns.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Rose mountain
- Pronunciation: ROW-sehn-Burg
- Variations: Rozenberg
- Namesakes: Stuart Rosenberg, an American film director known for Cool Hand Luke (1967). Scott Rosenberg, the American co-founder of Salon.com.
- Popularity: Rosenberg is rare worldwide but has its largest population in the U.S., ranking 49th in Israel in 2014.
Rothschild
Rothschild is a house sign that outlived the house. The German phrase “zum rothen schild” means to the red shield, the family’s house sign. Yiddish reads the same name as red coat. When street numbers replaced painted signs, the sign became the surname. It is now attached to a banking dynasty, but the origin is as ordinary as an address.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Red shield
- Pronunciation: ROTHs-chaeld, RO-chilt
- Variations: Rothschilds
- Namesakes: Samuel Rothschild, a Canadian ice hockey player and the first Jewish player in the NHL. Jonathan Rothschild, the 41st mayor of Tucson, Arizona, from 2011 to 2019.
- Popularity: Rothschild is rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 1,010th in Israel in 2014.
Rubin
Rubin arrives twice. It appears in the Bible as Reuven, meaning “behold my son,” and it matches the German “rubin,” meaning “ruby,” which puts it with the gemstone names families chose for their sound. Reuben is the fuller spelling of the biblical original. It has aged into a vintage-style boy’s name that sounds ready to come back.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Ruby
- Pronunciation: RUW-bihn
- Variations: Reuben
- Namesakes: Danny Rubin, an American-Israeli basketball player for Bnei Herzliya. Jennifer Rubin, an American political commentator with a column at The Washington Post.
- Popularity: Rubin is rare worldwide, mainly used in the U.S., and ranked 700th in Switzerland in 2014. As an American boys’ name it is well past its 1913 high of 447th, ranked 5,571st in 2025.
Sachs
Sachs points to Saxony, and also to a father called Sagge, since German reads it as a patronymic too. A third tradition treats it as an acronym of the Hebrew phrase “zera kodesh shemo zaks,” meaning his name is a holy seed. That reading turns four ordinary letters into a memorial. Names built that way are unusual and deliberate. Three separate origin stories rarely converge on one short surname this cleanly. Saks, without the c, is the department store name most people meet first.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: From Saxony
- Pronunciation: SAKS
- Variations: Saks
- Namesakes: Milan Sachs, a Czech-Croatian conductor associated with the Zagreb Opera. Hugh Sachs, an English actor appearing in the series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
- Popularity: Sachs is rare worldwide and primarily used in Germany, ranking 750th in 2014.
Salah
Salah works in two scriptures at once. The Bible reads it as mission or sending; Arabic reads it as righteousness, goodness and peace. It serves as a boys’ given name and a surname across Jewish and Arab communities, which is rarer than it sounds on a list this size. It is also climbing in American birth records, one of the few names here doing so.
- Origin: Jewish, Arabic
- Meaning: Mission
- Pronunciation: Saa-LAAH
- Variations: Saleh
- Namesakes: Mohamed Salah, an Egyptian footballer for Liverpool. Trish Salah, an Arab-Canadian poet known for Wanting in Arabic (2002).
- Popularity: Salah ranked 542nd worldwide and is mostly used in Egypt, where it ranked 7th in 2014. It is rising as an American given name, ranked 3,300th for boys in 2025 after a 2019 best of 2,652nd.
Schmidt
Schmidt is the German Smith, from “schmied,” meaning “blacksmith.” It is carried by Jewish and non-Jewish German families in equal measure. Trade names this common tell you nothing about a family beyond what an ancestor did, which is precisely why so many people have them. Schmid drops the t in the south. It is the plainest name on this list and one of the most widespread.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Blacksmith
- Pronunciation: SHMIDT
- Variations: Schmid
- Namesakes: Torge Schmidt, a German member of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein from 2012 to 2017. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015.
- Popularity: Schmidt ranked 486th worldwide and is mainly used in Germany, ranking 2nd in 2014.
Schneider
Schneider is a tailor, from the Middle German “snīder” and the Yiddish “shnayder,” both of which literally mean cutter. It became one of the signature German-Jewish occupational names, and it means exactly what Portnoy means at the other end of Europe. Schnieder, Sneider and Schnyder are the same cutter with different vowels. The name still ranked 3rd in Germany in 2014.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Tailor
- Pronunciation: SHNAEY-der
- Variations: Schnieder, Sneider, Schnyder
- Namesakes: Andrew Schneider, an American journalist and winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize. Kjell Schneider, a German volleyball player and bronze medalist at the 2005 Beach Volleyball World Championships.
- Popularity: Schneider ranked 716th worldwide, is primarily used in Germany, and ranked 252nd in Israel in 2014. As an American first name it stays small and steady, ranked 7,115th in 2025 against a 2010 best of 4,815th.
Schultz
Schultz was the man who collected the taxes. The German “dorf-schulz(e)” named the village headman, a medieval office closer to a sheriff or a modern mayor than to a landowner. That made it a name of local authority rather than of craft. Schultze and Schulz are the German spellings. One of them signed the Peanuts strip.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Sheriff
- Pronunciation: SHUHLTZ
- Variations: Schultze, Schulz
- Namesakes: Charles Schulz, an American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Peanuts. Dwight Schultz, an American actor known for the series The A-Team.
- Popularity: Schultz is uncommon worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 85th in Denmark in 2014.
Segal
Segal comes from the Hebrew phrase “segan leviyyah,” meaning “assistant to the Levites.” It records a rank in Temple service, one step down from the priests and one step up from the congregation. That places it in the same family of status names as Cohen, Katz and Kaplan, and it explains why Levy and Segal families sometimes share a history. Siegel and Segel are the spellings that traveled west.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Assistant to the priest
- Pronunciation: SEE-gahl
- Variations: Siegel, Segel
- Namesakes: George Segal, an American actor known for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). Peter Segal, an American film director known for Tommy Boy (1995).
- Popularity: Worldwide, Segal is rare, with its heaviest concentration in the U.S.
Seinfeld
Seinfeld means sea field, or possibly his field, from the German. It described land cleared of forest, which was worth naming in a country that was mostly trees. Sheinfeld is the variant spelling. It was a rare name until a sitcom made it one of the most recognizable words in American television.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Sea-field
- Pronunciation: SAEYN-fehld
- Variations: Sheinfeld
- Namesakes: Jerry Seinfeld, an American stand-up comedian and co-creator of the sitcom Seinfeld (1989 to 1998). John H. Seinfeld, an American chemical engineer known for his research on air pollution.
- Popularity: Seinfeld is scarce worldwide, found mainly in the U.S.
Shapiro
Shapiro is probably a place: Speyer, the German city with a large medieval Jewish community, worn down over centuries of retelling. Competing accounts derive it from the Hebrew “sofer,” meaning “scribe,” or the Russian “safir,” meaning “pure.” The scribe reading is the one families tend to prefer, and it fits a name long associated with learning. Schapiro is the spelling that keeps the German consonants.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Scribe
- Pronunciation: Shaa-PEER-oh
- Variations: Schapiro
- Namesakes: Milly Shapiro, an American actress known for the horror film Hereditary. Susan Shapiro, an American writer and co-author of Unhooked (2014).
- Popularity: Shapiro is rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 22nd in Israel in 2014.
Silverstein
Silverstein is silver stone, from the German “silber” and “stein.” Among Ashkenazi families in Germany it was an occupational name for silversmiths and silver traders, so the metal in it was literal before it was ornamental. Silver on its own is the shortened American form. It belongs to the same two-noun pattern as Bernstein, Weinstein and Einstein.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Silver stone
- Pronunciation: SIHL-ver-Steen
- Variations: Silver
- Namesakes: Jamie Silverstein, an American ice dancer and the 2000 U.S. silver medalist. Matt Silverstein, an American TV writer and co-creator of the series Drawn Together.
- Popularity: Silverstein turns up rarely worldwide, mostly among U.S. families.
Solomon
Solomon comes from “shalom,” the Hebrew greeting that means peace. It also doubles as a patronymic, the son of Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 957 BC, which is about as long a shadow as a name can cast. That history alone would keep the name in circulation. Salomon is the continental spelling. It has never really gone out of use in any of the languages that borrowed it.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Peace
- Pronunciation: SAAL-ah-Mahn
- Variations: Salomon
- Namesakes: Reanna Solomon, the first female Nauruan winner of a Commonwealth Games gold medal for weightlifting. Shirley Solomon, a Canadian TV talk show host of The Shirley Show from 1989 to 1995.
- Popularity: Solomon ranked 442nd worldwide and is primarily used in Ethiopia, where it ranked 7th in 2014. It is also a common American boys’ name on the rise, ranked 422nd in 2025 with 767 births, its highest count since a 2016 peak.
Spinoza
Spinoza is not a typical Jewish surname, but it is a telling one. It belongs to Espinosa, a Spanish place name, and it stayed with the Sephardic communities of Spain and Portugal and then with the families who left them. Before 1492 roughly 750,000 Jews lived in Spain, and the expulsion scattered those names across Italy, North Africa and the Netherlands (4). The philosopher who carried it to Amsterdam is the reason most readers know it at all.
- Origin: Jewish, Spanish
- Meaning: From Espinosa
- Pronunciation: Speh-NOUW-sah
- Variations: Espinosa
- Namesakes: Baruch Spinoza, a Portuguese-Jewish philosopher and leading figure of the Dutch Golden Age.
- Popularity: Spinoza is very rare worldwide and mostly used in Chad.
Stern
Stern means star in Yiddish. It began as a house sign, marking a home that displayed one. German gives a competing reading, a nickname for someone austere, which is the opposite mood entirely. A warm sign and a cold temperament share the same four letters. Stearne and Sterne are the older spellings. Both meanings are still legible in the single syllable.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Star
- Pronunciation: STUHRN
- Variations: Stearne, Sterne
- Namesakes: Itzhak Stern, a Polish-Jewish accountant who worked for Oskar Schindler to rescue Jewish people during the Holocaust. Marcus Stern, an American journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006.
- Popularity: Stern is rare worldwide, mainly used in the U.S., and ranked 62nd in Israel in 2014.
Stiller
Stiller describes a calm person, from the German for quiet. A separate line points to the village of Still in Alsace, which would make it geographical rather than a comment on the ancestor’s temperament. Stille is the shorter variant. It is a mild-sounding name that comedy has done its best to undercut.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Calm person
- Pronunciation: STIH-lehr
- Variations: Stille
- Namesakes: Jerry Stiller, an American comedian and member of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara. Cheynee Stiller, an Australian rules footballer for the Brisbane Lions.
- Popularity: Stiller is rare worldwide and primarily used in Germany, ranking 740th in 2014.
Tapuchi
Tapuchi is one of the rarest names here and one of the least documented. The likeliest account makes it an adaptation of the Russian Yablochnik, from the word for apple, pointing to a family that worked or owned an orchard, though beyond that the trail runs cold. TAA-puw-Chee has a lightness that suits the fruit.
- Origin: Jewish, Russian
- Meaning: Apple
- Pronunciation: TAA-puw-Chee
- Popularity: Tapuchi is extremely rare worldwide, with 25 known occurrences in 2014, mostly in the U.S.
Turkel
Turkel is a turtle dove in Yiddish and a chatterbox in Ukrainian. The second reading comes from “turkaty,” meaning to tell over and over again, which is a fairly pointed thing for the neighbors to have called someone. Both senses circle the same bird noise. It is one of the few names on this list that might have started as a complaint.
- Origin: Jewish, Yiddish
- Meaning: Turtle dove
- Pronunciation: TURK-uhl
- Namesakes: Jacob Turkel, a judge for the Supreme Court of Israel Justice from 1995 to 2005. Joe Turkel, an American actor known for The Shining.
- Popularity: Turkel is very rare worldwide and mainly used in the U.S.
Vogel
Vogel is the Old German word for a bird, and it became common among Germans and Jews alike as a nickname for a cheerful person or one who sang like one, so the name is a compliment rather than a trade. Voegel and Vogl are the spellings that survived in different regions. It stays light in the mouth, VOW-gehl, which suits it.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Bird
- Pronunciation: VOW-gehl
- Variations: Voegel, Vogl
- Namesakes: Michelle Vogel, an Australian writer of biographies including one of Marilyn Monroe. Hermann Carl Vogel, a German astrophysicist and director of the Astrophysical Observatory from 1882 to 1907.
- Popularity: Vogel is rare worldwide and primarily used in Germany, where it ranked 52nd in 2014.
Weinstein
Weinstein is wine stone, from the German “wein” and “stein,” and it names the crystals that form in a barrel during winemaking. A second reading places a family near a field instead. The winemaking sense is the more satisfying one, since it describes something an ancestor would have handled every autumn. That seasonal image has outlasted the field theory in most retellings.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Wine stone
- Pronunciation: WAEYN-stiyn
- Variations: Weiner
- Namesakes: Irv Weinstein, an American news anchor for WKBW-TV’s Eyewitness News in Buffalo from 1964 to 1998. Yehuda Weinstein, the Attorney General of Israel from 2010 to 2016.
- Popularity: Weinstein is rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 203rd in Israel in 2014.
Weiss
Weiss means white in both German and Yiddish, from the High German “wîz,” meaning blonde, and “(h)wīz,” meaning bright or shining, so the name described hair or complexion rather than anything a person owned. Weis and Weisz are the same word in fewer or more letters. Color nicknames like this were among the earliest surnames to stick, long before anyone was required to have one.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: White
- Pronunciation: WAEYZ
- Variations: Weis, Weisz
- Namesakes: Luigi Weiss, an Italian ski mountaineer, and bronze medalist at the 1979 Biathlon World Championships. Shevah Weiss, the Knesset Speaker in Israel from 1992 to 1996.
- Popularity: Weiss is uncommon worldwide, mainly used in the U.S., and ranked 20th in Israel in 2014.
Wolfe
Wolfe comes from the Yiddish “volf,” and it travels in company: Jewish tradition pairs the wolf with Benjamin, whose blessing in Genesis compares him to one. The Hebrew word for the same animal, “ze’ev,” looks and sounds nothing like it, which is why the two versions of this name never converged. Wolf and Wolff are the shorter spellings. It is one of the few names on this list that sounds equally at home in a synagogue and a Western.
- Origin: Jewish, Yiddish
- Meaning: Wolf
- Pronunciation: WULF
- Variations: Wolf, Wolff
- Namesakes: Hugh Wolfe, an American football player for the New York Giants. Miriam Wolfe, an American actress appearing on the radio show Let’s Pretend.
- Popularity: Wolfe is rare worldwide and primarily used in the U.S., ranking 332nd in 2014. It is the fastest riser on this list as an American boys’ name, up about 327 percent across the last 10 years of births against the 10 years before them, and ranked 2,879th in 2025.
Yehudi
Yehudi is the Hebrew word for a Jew, and it originally meant from the Kingdom of Judah. As a given name it is read as praised one, a separate and older sense tied to the same root. That makes it both an identity and a compliment, which is unusual even in a naming tradition this old. Few names on this list carry a meaning that doubles as the name of a whole people.
- Origin: Jewish
- Meaning: Praise
- Pronunciation: Yeh-HUW-dee
- Variations: Jehudi
- Popularity: Yehudi is extremely rare worldwide, with 19 known occurrences in 2014, mostly in Tanzania.
Yuter
Yuter is a Russian boy’s name built on the Yiddish “yude” and the Hebrew “jude,” meaning praised. It sits close to “yevry,” the Russian word for a Jewish person, so the name states an identity rather than a trade or a town. Very few families carry it. Two syllables, YUW-ter, and no obvious way to guess the spelling from the sound.
- Origin: Jewish, Russian
- Meaning: Praised
- Pronunciation: YUW-ter
- Popularity: Yuter is extremely rare worldwide, with 197 known occurrences in 2014, mainly in the U.S.
Zalman
Zalman is Solomon after a long stay in Yiddish. It is common in Israel and the U.S., and in Hasidic communities it works as a first name rather than a surname. That makes it one of the names on this list you are more likely to hear called across a room than read on an envelope. The meaning, peace, survives every one of those spelling changes.
- Origin: Jewish, Yiddish
- Meaning: Peace
- Pronunciation: ZAAL-mahn
- Popularity: Zalman is very rare worldwide and primarily used in Israel. It is rising as an American boys’ name, ranked 4,855th in 2025 with 21 births.
Zimmerman
Zimmerman is a carpenter, from the German Zimmermann, built on “zimber,” meaning “timber wood,” plus “man.” Modern German prefers “zimmerer” or “tischler” for the trade, but Zimmerman is the form that stayed in Jewish use and crossed the Atlantic. Zimmer and Zimmerer are the shortened variants. It closes this list on the same note it opened: a family named for the work of its hands.
- Origin: Jewish, German
- Meaning: Carpenter
- Pronunciation: ZIH-mehr-Maan
- Variations: Zimmer, Zimmerer
- Namesakes: George J. Zimmermann, the 50th mayor of Buffalo, New York, from 1934 to 1937. Urs Zimmermann, a Swiss road racing cyclist who won the 1984 Tour de Suisse.
- Popularity: Zimmerman is rare worldwide, mostly used in the U.S., and ranked 682nd in Israel in 2014.
