Ashkenazi Last Name Generator
Polish, Russian and German Jewish surnames, labeled by kind
500 Ashkenazi Jewish family names, one per entry and each labeled by kind: patronymics like Abramowitz and Mendelsohn, matronymics like Rivkin, town names like Shapiro and Brodsky, trades like Schneider and Portnoy, rabbinic and Hebrew names like Luria and Katz, and ornamental names like Rosenblum.
About Ashkenazi last names
Ashkenazi family names are young. Apart from a few old rabbinic lineages, most Jews of central and eastern Europe used a given name and a father's name until the state required a fixed surname, in a run of decrees from the Habsburg law of 1787 to the Russian rules of the 1840s. Every entry here carries its kind in brackets.
Patronymics and matronymics name a parent: Abramowitz, Mendelsohn, Rivkin from Rivka, Perles from Perl. The endings -owitz, -owicz, -ovich, -ovici and -ovits are one Slavic suffix in German, Polish, Russian, Romanian and Hungarian spelling, so the label shows a spelling, not a homeland. Place names recall a town a family once left: Shapiro comes from Speyer and Ginsburg from Günzburg, both in Germany, yet both were common among Russian Jews. Trade names include Schneider, Kravitz and Portnoy, three words for a tailor. Hebrew-language names are marked as Hebrew, among them Cohen, Levi and acronyms such as Katz and Segal. Ornamental names such as Rosenblum, Silberstein and Lilienthal were built from pleasant German words when surnames became compulsory.
Polish, Russian and German Jewish last names therefore overlap heavily. No surname and no ending proves Jewish ancestry or faith, and many of these names are also carried by German, Polish and Russian families who are not Jewish.
How to choose Ashkenazi last names
- Drop the label when you use a name. The brackets are there to help you choose, so write Brodsky or Halpern, not the whole entry.
- Match the spelling to the setting. One family name is Rabinowitz in a German or American record, Rabinowicz in Poland and Rabinovich in Russia, so pick the form your character's papers would show.
- Do not read a label as a birthplace. A Warshawsky or a Berliner was named for the city after leaving it, and a family called Deutsch or Pollack was usually living somewhere else when the name stuck.
- For family history, search every spelling: Horowitz, Hurwitz and Gurevich are one name, and so are Shapiro and Spira. Many of the communities behind these names were destroyed in the Holocaust, so surviving records are often found in state archives and memorial books.
- For fiction set before about 1800, consider no surname at all. A patronymic such as Moshe ben Avraham, or an old rabbinic name like Luria or Rappaport, fits the period better than Rosenblum.
Frequently asked questions
What are common Polish Jewish last names?
Polish Jews carried every kind of Ashkenazi name. Town names such as Warshawsky, Lubliner, Krakauer and Posner point to Polish cities, patronymics appear in Polish spelling, as in Jakubowicz and Lewkowicz, and ornamental names such as Rosenberg and Goldstein were as common in Poland as anywhere. The same names are found among Jews of Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine.
What are common Russian Jewish last names?
In the Russian Empire the typical forms were patronymics in -ovich, such as Rabinovich and Abramovich, matronymics in -kin, such as Rivkin, Sorkin and Malkin, and town names in -sky, such as Brodsky, Slutsky and Minsky. Trade names often used Slavic words, as in Portnoy, Reznik and Kushnir. Older German-spelled names such as Shapiro and Ginsburg were common there too.
Did Polish Jews have Hebrew last names?
Some did, though most Ashkenazi surnames are Yiddish, German or Slavic in language. The Hebrew-language ones are marked in this list: Cohen and Levi, trade names such as Melamed and Chait, and acronyms such as Katz, Segal, Shatz and Babad, which shorten Hebrew phrases. Hebraized surnames of the kind common in Israel today came later and are not part of this page.
Does one of these surnames prove Jewish ancestry?
No. Schneider, Klein, Weiss and many other names here are ordinary German surnames, and names such as Novick or Brodsky are shared with Slavic families. No surname and no ending shows a person's ancestry or faith, so treat a name as a starting point for research and nothing more.
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All 500 Ashkenazi last names
A: 19 names
- Abeles (patronymic)
- Abrahamson (patronymic)
- Abramovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Abramowicz (patronymic, Polish spelling)
- Abramowitz (patronymic)
- Abramson (patronymic)
- Ackerman (trade, farmer)
- Adler (ornamental)
- Altman (nickname, old)
A, continued
- Ansbacher (place name, Ansbach)
- Anschel (given name)
- Apfelbaum (ornamental)
- Aron (given name)
- Aronovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Aronowitz (patronymic)
- Aronson (patronymic)
- Ascher (given name)
- Auerbach (place name)
- Austerlitz (place name)
B: 41 names
- Babad (Hebrew acronym)
- Bacharach (place name)
- Bader (trade, bathhouse keeper)
- Baer (given name)
- Bamberger (place name, Bamberg)
- Barash (Hebrew acronym)
- Baskin (matronymic, from Basya)
- Becker (trade, baker)
- Beer (given name)
- Beilin (matronymic, from Beila)
- Beilis (matronymic, from Beila)
- Belenky (nickname, fair)
- Belotserkovsky (place name, Bila Tserkva)
B, continued
- Belzer (place name, Belz)
- Bercovici (patronymic, Romanian spelling)
- Berdichevsky (place name, Berdichev)
- Berkovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Berkowitz (patronymic)
- Berliner (place name, Berlin)
- Bernstein (ornamental)
- Berson (patronymic)
- Birkenthal (ornamental)
- Birnbaum (ornamental)
- Blecher (trade, tinsmith)
- Bloch (regional name)
- Blumenkranz (ornamental)
- Blumenstock (ornamental)
B, continued
- Blumenthal (ornamental)
- Bodek (Hebrew, meat inspector)
- Boehm (regional name, Bohemia)
- Bondar (trade, cooper)
- Borukhovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Brauer (trade, brewer)
- Braun (nickname, brown-haired)
- Braunstein (ornamental)
- Breinin (matronymic, from Breina)
- Breitbart (nickname, broad beard)
- Breslauer (place name, Breslau)
- Brill (Hebrew acronym)
- Broder (place name, Brody)
- Brodsky (place name, Brody)
C: 8 names
- Chait (Hebrew, tailor)
- Chajes (matronymic, from Chaya)
- Charlap (Hebrew acronym)
- Chasid (Hebrew)
- Chazan (Hebrew, cantor)
- Cherikover (place name, Cherikov)
- Chernin (matronymic, from Cherna)
- Cohen (Hebrew, priestly)
D: 13 names
- Danziger (place name, Danzig)
- Davidovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Davidowitz (patronymic)
- Dawidowicz (patronymic, Polish spelling)
- Deitch (regional name, Germany)
- Dessau (place name)
- Deutsch (regional name, Germany)
- Dokshitsky (place name, Dokshitsy)
- Drucker (trade, printer)
- Dubner (place name, Dubno)
- Dubnov (place name, Dubno)
- Dvorkin (matronymic, from Dvora)
- Dworkin (matronymic, from Dvora)
E: 15 names
- Edels (matronymic, from Edel)
- Ehrenberg (ornamental)
- Ehrenfeld (ornamental)
- Ehrenthal (ornamental)
- Eidlin (matronymic, from Eidl)
- Einbinder (trade, bookbinder)
- Eisenstadt (place name)
- Eisenstein (ornamental)
- Elkin (matronymic, from Elka)
- Emden (place name)
- Epstein (place name, Eppstein)
- Erlanger (place name, Erlangen)
- Esterkin (matronymic, from Esther)
- Estrin (matronymic, from Esther)
- Ettlinger (place name, Ettlingen)
F: 27 names
- Farber (trade, dyer)
- Federman (trade, feather merchant)
- Feiglin (matronymic, from Feigl)
- Fein (nickname, fine)
- Feinberg (ornamental)
- Feldman (ornamental)
- Feldsher (trade, barber-surgeon)
- Fischer (trade, fisherman)
- Fishelson (patronymic)
- Fleischer (trade, butcher)
- Fleischman (trade, butcher)
- Fradkin (matronymic, from Frada)
- Frank (regional name, Franconia)
F, continued
- Frankel (regional name, Franconia)
- Frankfurter (place name, Frankfurt)
- Freidin (matronymic, from Freida)
- Freidkin (matronymic, from Freida)
- Freilich (nickname, cheerful)
- Freund (nickname, friend)
- Friedlander (place name, Friedland)
- Friedman (given name)
- Frisch (nickname, lively)
- Frum (nickname, devout)
- Frumkin (matronymic, from Fruma)
- Fulda (place name)
- Furman (trade, carter)
- Futterman (trade, furrier)
G: 30 names
- Gans (house sign, Frankfurt)
- Garber (trade, tanner)
- Garfinkel (ornamental)
- Geiger (trade, violinist)
- Geller (nickname, fair-haired)
- Gershenson (patronymic)
- Gershkovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Gerson (given name)
- Getz (given name)
- Ginsburg (place name, Günzburg)
- Ginzburg (place name, Günzburg)
- Gitlin (matronymic, from Gitl)
- Glaser (trade, glazier)
- Glick (nickname, lucky)
- Glickman (nickname, lucky)
G, continued
- Goldberg (ornamental)
- Goldblatt (ornamental)
- Goldblum (ornamental)
- Goldin (matronymic, from Golda)
- Goldschmidt (trade, goldsmith)
- Goldstein (ornamental)
- Goldwasser (ornamental)
- Gomelsky (place name, Gomel)
- Gottesman (nickname, God's man)
- Gottschalk (given name)
- Gross (nickname, big)
- Grossman (nickname, big)
- Grunfeld (ornamental)
- Gurevich (place name, Horovice)
- Gutman (given name)
H: 19 names
- Haimovici (patronymic, Romanian spelling)
- Halpern (place name, Heilbronn)
- Hamburger (place name, Hamburg)
- Hanau (place name)
- Handler (trade, trader)
- Harif (Hebrew)
- Heilprin (place name, Heilbronn)
- Henkin (matronymic, from Henya)
- Hersch (given name)
H, continued
- Herskowitz (patronymic)
- Herszkowicz (patronymic, Polish spelling)
- Hirsch (given name)
- Hirschensohn (patronymic)
- Hoch (nickname, tall)
- Hodes (matronymic, from Hadassah)
- Hollander (regional name, Holland)
- Honigman (trade, honey merchant)
- Horowitz (place name, Horovice)
- Hurwitz (place name, Horovice)
I: 5 names
- Iancovici (patronymic, Romanian spelling)
- Isaacson (patronymic)
- Isserles (patronymic)
- Itskovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Itzkowitz (patronymic)
J: 7 names
- Jacobson (patronymic)
- Jacoby (given name)
- Jaffe (Hebrew)
- Jakobovits (patronymic, Hungarian spelling)
- Jakubowicz (patronymic, Polish spelling)
- Joelson (patronymic)
- Josephson (patronymic)
K: 42 names
- Kagan (priestly name)
- Kahana (Aramaic, priestly)
- Kalisher (place name, Kalisz)
- Kalman (given name)
- Kalmanovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Kalmanowitz (patronymic)
- Kalmanson (patronymic)
- Kanevsky (place name, Kanev)
- Kann (house sign, Frankfurt)
- Kantor (trade, cantor)
- Kaplan (priestly name)
- Karfunkel (ornamental)
- Katsev (Hebrew, butcher)
- Katz (Hebrew acronym)
K, continued
- Katzenellenbogen (place name, Katzenelnbogen)
- Katzoff (Hebrew, butcher)
- Kestenbaum (ornamental)
- Khaikin (matronymic, from Chaya)
- Khaimovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Khavkin (matronymic, from Chava)
- Kirschner (trade, furrier)
- Kishinevsky (place name, Kishinev)
- Klausner (trade, study house keeper)
- Klein (nickname, small)
- Knoblauch (house sign, Frankfurt)
- Knopfmacher (trade, button maker)
- Koenigsberger (place name, Königsberg)
- Kohn (priestly name)
K, continued
- Kornblum (ornamental)
- Korostyshevsky (place name, Korostyshev)
- Kotlyar (trade, coppersmith)
- Kovner (place name, Kovno)
- Krakauer (place name, Krakow)
- Kramer (trade, shopkeeper)
- Kravets (trade, tailor)
- Kravitz (trade, tailor)
- Kreinin (matronymic, from Kreina)
- Krichevsky (place name, Krichev)
- Kupferschmidt (trade, coppersmith)
- Kurtz (nickname, short)
- Kushnir (trade, furrier)
- Kutscher (trade, coachman)
L: 41 names
- Lamdan (Hebrew, scholar)
- Landau (place name)
- Landsberg (place name)
- Landsberger (place name, Landsberg)
- Langer (nickname, tall)
- Lazarus (given name)
- Lederer (trade, leather worker)
- Lefkovits (patronymic, Hungarian spelling)
- Lefkowitz (patronymic)
- Leibovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Leibovici (patronymic, Romanian spelling)
- Leibowitz (patronymic)
- Leibson (patronymic)
L, continued
- Leikin (matronymic, from Leah)
- Leizerovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Lerner (trade, scholar)
- Levi (Hebrew, Levite)
- Levin (Levite name)
- Levitan (Levite name)
- Levitas (Levite name)
- Lewkowicz (patronymic, Polish spelling)
- Libkin (matronymic, from Liba)
- Lichtenberg (ornamental)
- Lichtenfeld (ornamental)
- Lieberman (given name)
- Lifshitz (place name)
- Lilienblum (ornamental)
L, continued
- Lilienthal (ornamental)
- Lindenbaum (ornamental)
- Lipman (given name)
- Lipschitz (place name)
- Lissa (place name)
- Litvak (regional name, Lithuania)
- Litwin (regional name, Lithuania)
- Loeb (given name)
- Loewy (Levite name)
- Lowenstein (ornamental)
- Lubliner (place name, Lublin)
- Luria (rabbinic family)
- Lurie (rabbinic family)
- Lutsky (place name, Lutsk)
M: 37 names
- Magid (Hebrew, preacher)
- Malkes (matronymic, from Malka)
- Malkin (matronymic, from Malka)
- Mandelbaum (ornamental)
- Mandelkern (ornamental)
- Mannes (given name)
- Mannheim (place name)
- Mannheimer (place name, Mannheim)
- Marcus (given name)
- Margolis (Hebrew)
- Markovits (patronymic, Hungarian spelling)
- Marshak (Hebrew acronym)
M, continued
- Mayer (given name)
- Meerovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Melamed (Hebrew, teacher)
- Melnik (trade, miller)
- Menaker (Hebrew, porger)
- Mendel (given name)
- Mendelowitz (patronymic)
- Mendelsohn (patronymic)
- Meyer (given name)
- Meyerowitz (patronymic)
- Michaelis (given name)
- Michelson (patronymic)
M, continued
- Milner (trade, miller)
- Minsker (place name, Minsk)
- Minsky (place name, Minsk)
- Mintz (place name, Mainz)
- Mirels (matronymic, from Mirel)
- Mirkin (matronymic, from Miriam)
- Mirsky (place name, Mir)
- Morgenstern (ornamental)
- Moscovici (patronymic, Romanian spelling)
- Moskowitz (patronymic)
- Moszkowicz (patronymic, Polish spelling)
- Movshovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Mushkin (matronymic, from Mushka)
N: 7 names
- Nadler (trade, needle maker)
- Nagler (trade, nail maker)
- Nakhimovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Nathan (given name)
- Nekhamkin (matronymic, from Nechama)
- Neumann (nickname, newcomer)
- Novick (nickname, newcomer)
O: 6 names
- Oelbaum (ornamental)
- Oestreicher (regional name, Austria)
- Oettinger (place name, Oettingen)
- Ofner (place name, Ofen)
- Oppenheim (place name)
- Oppenheimer (place name, Oppenheim)
P: 21 names
- Pachter (trade, leaseholder)
- Pappenheim (place name)
- Pappenheimer (place name, Pappenheim)
- Parnes (Hebrew, community leader)
- Pauker (trade, drummer)
- Peisachowitz (patronymic)
- Peisakhovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Perlberg (ornamental)
- Perles (matronymic, from Perl)
- Pesin (matronymic, from Pesya)
P, continued
- Pinczower (place name, Pinczow)
- Pinkus (given name)
- Pinsker (place name, Pinsk)
- Pinsky (place name, Pinsk)
- Pollack (regional name, Poland)
- Pollak (regional name, Poland)
- Portnoy (trade, tailor)
- Posner (place name, Posen)
- Prager (place name, Prague)
- Preuss (regional name, Prussia)
- Pruzhansky (place name, Pruzhany)
R: 26 names
- Rabinovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Rabinowicz (patronymic, Polish spelling)
- Rabinowitz (patronymic)
- Rapoport (rabbinic family)
- Rappaport (rabbinic family)
- Ratner (place name, Ratno)
- Redlich (nickname, honest)
- Regensburger (place name, Regensburg)
- Reines (matronymic, from Reina)
- Resnick (trade, ritual slaughterer)
- Reznik (trade, ritual slaughterer)
- Rivkin (matronymic, from Rivka)
- Rivlin (matronymic, from Rivka)
R, continued
- Rosenberg (ornamental)
- Rosenblum (ornamental)
- Rosenfeld (ornamental)
- Rosengarten (ornamental)
- Rosenkranz (ornamental)
- Rosenthal (ornamental)
- Rosenwasser (ornamental)
- Rosenzweig (ornamental)
- Roth (nickname, red-haired)
- Rothbart (nickname, red beard)
- Rovner (place name, Rovno)
- Rubin (given name)
- Rubinstein (ornamental)
S: 79 names
- Salomon (given name)
- Salzman (trade, salt merchant)
- Samuelson (patronymic)
- Sandler (trade, cobbler)
- Saperstein (ornamental)
- Saphir (ornamental)
- Sattler (trade, saddler)
- Schechter (trade, ritual slaughterer)
- Schenker (trade, innkeeper)
- Schiff (house sign, Frankfurt)
- Schlesinger (regional name, Silesia)
- Schmelkes (patronymic)
- Schmulowitz (patronymic)
S, continued
- Schneerson (rabbinic family)
- Schneider (trade, tailor)
- Schneiderman (trade, tailor)
- Schoen (nickname, handsome)
- Schor (Hebrew)
- Schreiber (trade, scribe)
- Schuster (trade, shoemaker)
- Schwartz (nickname, dark)
- Schwartzberg (ornamental)
- Schwarzschild (house sign, Frankfurt)
- Schweitzer (regional name, Switzerland)
- Schwerin (place name)
- Segal (Hebrew acronym)
S, continued
- Selig (given name)
- Seligman (given name)
- Seligsohn (patronymic)
- Shames (Hebrew, sexton)
- Shapiro (place name, Speyer)
- Shatz (Hebrew acronym)
- Sheindlin (matronymic, from Sheindl)
- Shifrin (matronymic, from Shifra)
- Shmulevich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Shochet (Hebrew, ritual slaughterer)
- Shpolyansky (place name, Shpola)
- Shub (Hebrew acronym)
- Shulman (trade, synagogue attendant)
S, continued
- Sichel (house sign, Frankfurt)
- Siegel (Hebrew acronym)
- Silberberg (ornamental)
- Silberstein (ornamental)
- Simanovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Simkin (matronymic, from Sima)
- Simonsohn (patronymic)
- Sirkes (matronymic, from Sarah)
- Sirkin (matronymic, from Sarah)
- Sklar (trade, glazier)
- Skolnik (trade, synagogue sexton)
- Slonimsky (place name, Slonim)
- Slutsky (place name, Slutsk)
S, continued
- Smelyansky (place name, Smela)
- Sofer (Hebrew, scribe)
- Soicher (Hebrew, merchant)
- Soifer (Hebrew, scribe)
- Soloveitchik (rabbinic family)
- Sonnenfeld (ornamental)
- Sonnenschein (ornamental)
- Sorkin (matronymic, from Sarah)
- Soroker (place name, Soroca)
- Spector (trade, inspector)
- Sperling (ornamental)
- Speyer (place name)
- Spielman (trade, musician)
S, continued
- Spira (place name, Speyer)
- Springer (nickname, lively)
- Stark (nickname, strong)
- Steinberg (ornamental)
- Steinmetz (trade, stonemason)
- Steinschneider (trade, gem cutter)
- Stelmach (trade, wheelwright)
- Stern (ornamental)
- Sternberg (ornamental)
- Sternlicht (ornamental)
- Stiller (nickname, quiet)
- Stoler (trade, carpenter)
- Susskind (given name)
- Szmulewicz (patronymic, Polish spelling)
T: 14 names
- Tabachnik (trade, tobacco seller)
- Tamarkin (matronymic, from Tamar)
- Tannenbaum (ornamental)
- Tarnopolsky (place name, Tarnopol)
- Taussig (place name, Taus)
- Teitelbaum (ornamental)
- Temkin (matronymic, from Tema)
- Tenenbaum (ornamental)
- Teomim (Hebrew)
- Tiktin (place name, Tykocin)
- Tischler (trade, joiner)
- Tobias (given name)
- Tsipkin (matronymic, from Tsipora)
- Twersky (rabbinic family)
U: 1 name
- Ungar (regional name, Hungary)
V: 4 names
- Vilner (place name, Vilna)
- Vinokur (trade, distiller)
- Volfovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Volynsky (regional name, Volhynia)
W: 20 names
- Warshawsky (place name, Warsaw)
- Wasserman (trade, water carrier)
- Waxman (trade, wax merchant)
- Weber (trade, weaver)
- Weil (place name)
- Weinglass (ornamental)
- Weinstein (ornamental)
- Weintraub (ornamental)
- Weiss (nickname, fair)
- Weisskopf (nickname, white-haired)
W, continued
- Wertheim (place name)
- Wertheimer (place name, Wertheim)
- Wetzlar (place name)
- Wiesenfeld (ornamental)
- Wiesenthal (ornamental)
- Wolf (given name)
- Wolfensohn (patronymic)
- Wolfowitz (patronymic)
- Wolfsohn (patronymic)
- Wolfson (patronymic)
Y: 4 names
- Yakubovich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Yampolsky (place name, Yampol)
- Yankelevich (patronymic, Russian spelling)
- Yavetz (Hebrew acronym)