GARFINKLE, GARFINKEL, GARFUNKEL, GORFINKLE, GURFINKLE

 

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from an occupation, profession or trade (also connected with raw material, finished product or implements associated with that trade).

 

Garfinkle is a variant of Garfunkel, the German for "jewel/diamond", as well as "garnet" and "ruby". The family name Garfunkel and its variants are associated with jewelers and diamond dealers, and were also used as nicknames.

 

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish surname Garfinkle include the 20th century American attorney Bernard I. Garfinkle; and the American singer and musician, Art Garfunkel.

 

HESS, HES, HOESS

 

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.

 

Hess is derived from Hessen, a former Duchy in Germany. Jews lived there since the 12th century.  Some experts link Jewish family names which include the syllable Hes(s) to the German 'kinnui' ("secular equivalent") of Naphtali, Hirsch, and others to the Hebrew Jochanan, Hiskiya and Jecheskel.

 

As a German name, Hess means Hessian, "from Hessen". It is documented in 1485 with Solomon Hess in Frankfurt am Main. Hesse, also meaning Hessian, is recorded in 1721 in the French department of Moselle with Heymen Hesse. The diminutives Hesslein and Hessel are found in Bamberg, Germany in 1726 and 1736 respectively.  Hesky is a Slavic form in which the ending "-ky" means "from".  A Hes family tree goes back to 1742.

 

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Hes include the 20th century Dutch-born Israeli psychiatrist and educator Jozef P. Hes.

 

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Hess include the 18th century German author Josef Hess, who was the chief rabbi of Hessen between 1780-1793; the German philosopher, revolutionary socialist and precursor of Zionism, Moses (Moritz) Hess (1812-1875), and the English pianist Myra Hess (1890-1965).

 

 

KLESS, KLESCZ

 

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.

 

The Jewish surname Klescz is associated with Kleck(o)/Kletsk in Belorussia (today Belarus)/Poland, where a Jewish community existed in the early 16th century, Kleszcele/Kleschtscheli in Polesia/Poland, where Jews lived in the 16th century, or Kleczew near Lodz in Poland.  In the 20th century Klescz is recorded as a Jewish family name with Gertrud Klescz of Berlin, Germany, who disappeared in the German death camp at Auschwitz during World War II.

 

SCHNEIDER

 

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from an occupation (also connected with raw material, finished product or implements associated with that trade).

 

Schneider means "tailor" in German, probably a translation of the Hebrew Hayat which first appears as the term for "tailor" in mishnaic and midrashic literature.  Schneider is recorded as a Jewish family names in the 14th century.  Other related family names include the Yiddish Chaitman, Shnaider, the Polish form Sznajder, the English Snyder and Taylor, the Russian Portnoy, Ukrainian Kravitz, Hungarian Szabo, and Romanian Croitor(u).  Schneider is recorded as a Jewish family name in the 17th century with Moses Schneider of Frankfurt am Main who visited the Leipzig fair in 1681.

 

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Schneider include the 20th century Polish-born American violinist , Alexander Schneider, and the Lithuanian Hebrew grammarian and Zionist, Mordecai Bezalel Schneider (1865-1941).

 

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Much of the information on this page was taken from information kindly provided by The Douglas E. Goldman Jewish Genealogy Center, Beit Hatfutsot