Where did last names come from? This question raises an interesting topic. In history, there have been many notable figures with important names. Have you ever wondered where did surnames come from?

This piece originally ran on jewishcurrents.org. Ashkenazic Jews were among the last Europeans to take family names. Some German speaking Jews took last names as early as the 17 th century, but the ...

We understand why we have first names and how our surnames tie us to our family heritage, but what's the deal with middle names? What's the purpose of a middle name and when did different cultures ...

In my previous article, I wrote about the mysterious Jews of Italy, who seem to be neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi. So it was natural to turn to a neighboring West European country, France, where the ...