Original Birth Names of Jewish Performers

The following list of Original Birth Names of Jewish Performers can start some amazing "bagelling" conversation. Here's just a few famous names to get you started...

Woody Allen --- Alan Stewart Koenigsberg

June Allyson --- Ella Geisman

Lauren Bacall --- Betty Joan Perske

Jack Benny --- Benjamin Kubelsky

Irving Berlin --- Israel Baline

Milton Berle --- Milton Berlinger

Joey Bishop ---Joseph Gottlieb

Karen Black --- Karen Blanche Ziegler

Victor Borge --- Borge Rosenbaum

Fanny Brice --- Fanny Borach

Mel Brooks --- Melvin Kaminsky

George Burns --- Nathan Birnbaum

Eddie Cantor --- Edward Israel Iskowitz

Jeff Chandler --- Ira Grossel

Lee J. Cobb --- Amos Jacob

Tony Curtis --- Bernard Schwartz

Rodney Dangerfield --- Jacob Cohen

Kirk Douglas --- Issue Danielovich Demsky

Melvyn Douglas --- Melvyn Hesselberg

Bob Dylan --- Bobby Zimmerman

Paulette Goddard --- Marion Levy

Lee Grant --- Lyova Geisman

Elliot Gould --- Elliot Goldstein

Judy Holliday --- Judith Tuvim

Al Jolson --- Asa Yoelson

Danny Kaye --- David Daniel Kaminsky

Michael Landon --- Michael Orowitz

Steve Lawrence --- Sidney Leibowitz

Jerry Lewis --- Joseph Levitch

Peter Lorre --- Lazlo Lowenstein

Elaine May --- Elaine Berlin

Yves Montand --- Ivo Levy

Mike Nichols --- Michael Peschkowsky

Joan Rivers --- Joan Molinsky

Edward G. Robinson -- Emanuel Goldenberg

Jane Seymour --- Joyce Penelope Frankenburg

Simone Signoret --- Simone-Henriette Kaminker

Beverly Sills --- Belle Silverman

Sophie Tucker --- Sophia Kalish

Gene Wilder --- Gerald Silberman

Now, I ask YOU to add some names you know to our list..... Feel free to comment & "bagel" away.

Sharon Blumenthal

"The Present Pro"

http://www.names2u.com/

How some Jews got their names....

Here's some info on how Jews got their names....

Really interesting......................enjoy!
How Jews got their Names....

Other than aristocrats and wealthy people Jews did not get surnames in Eastern Europe until the Napoleon years of the early 19th century. Most of the Jews from countries captured by Napoleon, Russia, Poland,and Germany were ordered to get surnames for tax purposes. After Napoleon's defeat, many Jews dropped these names and returned to 'son of' names such as: MENDELSOHN, JACOBSON, LEVINSON,etc.

During the so called Emancipation, Jews were once more ordered to take surnames. In Austria The Emperor Joseph made Jews take last names in the late 1700s, Poland in 1821 and Russia in 1844. It's probable that some of our families have had last names for 175 years or less. In France and the Anglo Saxon countries surnames went back to the 16th century.

Also Sephardic Jews had surnames stretching back centuries... Spain prior to Ferdinand and Isabella was a golden spot for Jews. They were expelled by Isabella in the same year that Columbus left for America. The earliest American Jews were Sephardic.

In general there were five types of names (people had to pay for their choice of names; the poor had assigned names):

1-- Names that were descriptive of the head of household:Examples:HOCH (tall), KLEIN (small), COHEN (rabbi),BURGER (village dweller),SHEIN (good looking),LEVI (temple singer),GROSS (large), SCHWARTZ (dark or black), WEISS (white), KURTZ (short).

2 -- Names describing occupations:Examples:HOLTZ (wood), HOLTZKOCKER (wood chopper), GELTSCHMIDT (goldsmith), SCHNEIDER (tailor), KREIGSMAN (warrior), MALAMED (teacher), EISEN (iron),FISCHER (fish).

3-- Names from city of residence:Examples:BERLIN, FRANKFURTER, DANZIGER,OPPENHEIMER,DEUTSCH (German): POLLACK , BRESLAU ,MANNHEIM ,CRACOW ,WARSHAW (Polish).

4 -- Bought names:Examples:GLUCK (luck), ROSEN (roses), ROSENBLATT (rose paper or leaf),
ROSENBERG (rose mountain), ROTHMAN (red man), DIAMOND,KOENIG (king), KOENIGSBERG (king's mountain)], SPIELMAN (spiel is to play), LIEBER (lover), BERG (mountain), WASSERMAN (water dweller), KERSHENBLATT (church paper), STEIN (glass).

5-- Assigned names (usually undesirable):Examples:PLOTZ (to die), KLUTZ (clumsy), BILLIG (cheap), or DREK (sh*t).

So where did your name come from? Ask a relative. It opens up great conversations !!!

Sharon Blumenthal

"The Present Pro"

www.Names2u.com