Along with determining our immigrant ancestors’ communities of origin, determining the names our ancestors used in a variety of contexts is critical to following them back to the old country. Finding our ancestors in the new world and the old is dependent upon seeking out and understanding the clues that may come from a variety of records.
Our Jewish ancestors’ names were the result of a complex amalgam of family, business, social, and religious influences, as well as their interaction with the government. Unlike their Christian neighbors, most Jewish people only adopted permanent family surnames when required by the government. Ashkenazi Jews, depending upon context, may have answered to several different forenames in several different languages.
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