Israeli Surnames

Cohen (כהן) and its variants (Cohn, Kohn, Kagan, Katz) mark descent from the priestly line, the kohanim, traced back to Aaron. Levi (לוי) and its variants (Levy, Levine, Levitt) mark descent from the tribe of Levi, which served in the Temple alongside the priests. Both are lineage names rather than occupational ones: carrying the surname doesn't depend on ever having done the job, only on descent.

Mizrahi (מזרחי, “eastern”) and similar names mark Jewish communities from the Middle East and North Africa, often naming a family's town or region of origin rather than an occupation. Sephardi surnames, carried by descendants of Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492, often preserve a Spanish or Portuguese place name or word, sometimes centuries after the family last lived there.

Ashkenazi Jews in Central and Eastern Europe were largely required to adopt fixed, inheritable surnames only from the late 18th century onward, under local government decree, and many took a name from their trade: Schneider (tailor), Schuster (shoemaker), Fischer (fisherman). Others came from a location, a patronymic, or a personal characteristic assigned by a registering official rather than chosen by the family.

After the state was founded, adopting a Hebrew surname became common and was actively encouraged, especially for soldiers, diplomats and civil servants. A European surname was often translated by meaning, translated by sound, or replaced outright with an unrelated Hebrew word chosen for what it meant rather than how it sounded. The practice tapered off over the following decades, but many Israeli families today carry a Hebraized surname their grandparents or great-grandparents chose.