The Slate - January 8, 2014
Ashkenazic Jews were among the last Europeans to take family names. Some German-speaking Jews took last names as early as the 17th century, but the overwhelming majority of Jews lived in Eastern Europe and did not take last names until compelled to do so. The process began in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1787 and ended in Czarist Russia in 1844.
In attempting to build modern nation-states, the authorities insisted
that Jews take last names so that they could be taxed, drafted, and
educated (in that order of importance). For centuries, Jewish communal
leaders were responsible for collecting taxes from the Jewish population
on behalf of the government, and in some cases were responsible for
filling draft quotas. Education was traditionally an internal Jewish
affair.
Until this period, Jewish names generally changed with every
generation. For example, if Moses son of Mendel (Moyshe ben Mendel)
married Sarah daughter of Rebecca (Sora bas Rifke), and they had a boy
and named it Samuel (Shmuel), the child would be called Shmuel ben
Moyshe. If they had a girl and named her Feygele, she would be called
Feygele bas Sora.
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