The Colorful World of Ashkenazi Jewish Surnames: A Journey Through Colors and Minerals

Ashkenazi Jewish surnames have interesting origins, often relating to colors, professions, or geographical features. This piece explores some major Yiddish surnames derived from colors and minerals.

Table

This table was also uploaded to my Academia.edu page (registration required); the downloaded table contains hyperlinks to relevant Wikipedia pages. This Wikipedia category page contains many of these surnames.

Suffixes

The suffixes added to these color and mineral names provide additional meaning:

• "-stein" means "stone"

• "-mann" means "man"

• "-feld" means "field"

• "-baum" means "tree"

• "-berg" means "mountain"

These suffixes often relate to geographical features or occupations, adding layers of meaning to the surnames.

Colors in Ashkenazi Jewish Surnames

1. Black and White:

   1. "Schwartz" (black) becomes "Schwartzman," meaning "black man."

   2. "Weiss" (white) transforms into "Weissmann," or "white man."

2. Green:

   1. "Green" offers a variety of options: "Greenstein" (green stone), "Greenman," "Greenfeld" (green field), "Greenbaum" or "Grünbaum" (green tree), and "Grünberg" or "Grinberg" (green mountain).

3. Blue:

   1. "Blau" (blue) gives us "Bluvshtein" or "Blaustein," meaning "blue stone."

4. Red:

   1. "Rot" or "Roth" (red) appears in names like "Rothstein" (red stone) and "Roitman," "Rothman," or "Rothmann" (red man).

Minerals and Precious Stones

Minerals and precious stones also play a significant role in Yiddish surname etymology:

1. Gold:

   1. "Gold" is the root for names like "Goldstein," "Goldman" or "Goldmann," "Goldfeld" (gold field), "Goldbaum" (gold tree), and "Goldberg" or "Goldenberg" (gold mountain).

2. Silver:

   1. "Silber" or "Zilber" (silver) appears in "Silberstein" or "Silverstein," and variations of "Silberman," "Zilberman," or "Zylberman."

3. Iron:

   1. "Eisen" (iron) forms names like "Eisenstein" and "Eisenmann."

4. Other Minerals:

   1. "Finkel" (pyrite) becomes "Finkelstein" and "Finkelman."

   2. "Rubin" or "Ruben" (ruby) creates "Rubinstein," "Rubenstein," and "Rubinfeld."

   3. "Perl" (pearl) gives us "Perlstein" and "Perlman."