Surname Barber
QUESTION: Hi. I read your column “Names & Numen” in The Jewish Press 2/21/25 [“Jewish Surnames as Acronyms,” Feb. 2025]. My father told my husband once that our surname Barber came from Bar B’Rav. I have not found anything to corroborate this in my research of surnames. Are you familiar with it? My father’s family came from Galicia, Poland. The Barber family was very chashuv, and they were Bobover chassidim. My father was able to trace back only as far as his grandfather, R’ Yitzchok Barber, born about 1860. If you’re able to find about more about Barber, I’d appreciate it.
-Faigie Ziegler (Pomona, N.Y.)
ANSWER: When I read your email, the etymology you provided for the surname Barber sounded very familiar. I thought I might have come across it before, but after checking my books, I couldn’t find any reference to it. I will try to consult with some more knowledgeable people and see if they can help us figure this out.
As you likely know, the Jewish surname Barber originates specifically within the Ashkenazic Jewish community. While this doesn’t entirely rule out possible Hebrew or Aramaic origins, it makes them less likely. It’s also worth noting that Ashkenazic Jews were among the last Europeans to adopt family names. Some German-speaking Jews began taking surnames as early as the 17th century, during a period of surname formalization in Jewish communities. The surname Barber would have probably been adopted during this time. I’m not aware of any evidence suggesting the surname existed before this period, which further supports the idea that it is not of Hebrew origin, but rather derives from German.
The most common explanation I found is that Barber is an occupational surname derived from the Yiddish word sherer, meaning – you guessed it – “barber.” Historically, Jews in many parts of Europe were barred from becoming official doctors for much of the last millennium. Additionally, actual doctors were relatively rare, so barber-surgeons often served as the primary medical practitioners in their communities. This is reflected in surnames like Bader (German for “barber,” derived from Middle High German and Old High German, where it originally referred to the owner of a bathhouse, but later evolved to include professions like barbering and surgery) and Feldscher (German for “surgeon,” or literally “field-cutter,” which became Felsher in Yiddish). In some cases, Barber may also be an Americanized form of the German surname Barbier, which also means “barber.”
In medieval and pre-modern times, barbers had a broader role in society. They not only cut hair and shaved beards but also performed surgeries, pulled teeth, and practiced bloodletting. This multifaceted role contributed to the prevalence of the surname. Other surnames with similar etymologies include Sherer/Sher/Scher (Yiddish for “barber”), Cirulnik/Korolnek (Hungarian for “barber”), and Lanzner (from lanze, meaning “lancet,” used for bloodletting). The name Gelfman, the Russian form of Helfman (German for “assistant,” or more literally “help-man”), also referred to a barber-surgeon in Yiddish.
An interesting historical tidbit comes from Norbert Pearlroth (1893–1983), the research director of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for over 50 years. He wrote that the Eastern European Jewish surname Deifik (borne by such important people as my wife’s parents) derives from the Hebrew word dofek, meaning “pulse.” According to Pearlroth, this surname can be traced to a time before 1848, when Jews were barred from attending Polish or Russian medical schools. As a result, Jews in the medical field were often limited to para-medical occupations, such as barber-surgeons. The patriarch of the Deifik family, Pearlroth surmised, had the habit of feeling his patients’ pulses, leading to the adoption of the Hebrew word for “heartbeat/pulse” as the family name.
Pearlroth also noted that the surname Raefman similarly derives from a trade. The family patriarch who first took this name might have been a barber who practiced medicine on the side. Such barber-physicians were known as a rofei in Hebrew, and it’s possible that Raifman evolved from Roifeman. Alternatively, he also suggests that it was possible that this ancestor was a wine dealer who advertised his trade by displaying a barrel hoop (reifen in German) outside his establishment.
So far, I’ve found only one sources that says something similar to your explanation of Barber, explaining the surname as an acronym for “Ben Rav Baruch”: https://tinyurl.com/anu-barber (the website of ANU Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv).
-RCK
Tisha/Pessy/Pessel
QUESTION: L’chvod Rabbi Klein: My mother and I were wondering if perhaps you knew the origin of the name Tisha. It was my grandmother’s name, ob”m, and we have given this name to our own grandchildren. However, we have no idea what it means. My grandmother was born in Poland, so perhaps it derived from some Polish name. I have never met anyone else with this name. If you can perhaps help us out with this, it would be greatly appreciated. Similarly, my mother-in-law (ob”m) was named Pesel. This name seems to be more widespread either as Pessie or Pesha. Can it be a derivation of the name Batsheva (or Basha)? Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer these questions. May you be safe and healthy.
-Rochelle Brand (Boca Raton, Fla.)
ANSWER: Apologies for the delayed response; I needed to conduct some research to properly address your first question. Regarding your inquiry about the Jewish Polish feminine name Tisha: Needless to say, the name has no connection to its Hebrew homonym tishah, which refers to the masculine form of the number “nine.” The Hebrew word tishah is spelled differently and, thematically, is unsuitable for use as a personal name. It is also not related to the German/Yiddish word tisch (“table”).
In reviewing the halachic sources I typically consult on Jewish names – such as Beis Shmuel and other sefarim on Hilchos Gittin – I did not find any attestation of the name Tisha using the specific spelling you provided. However, I consulted Dr. Alexander Beider’s book on Ashkenazi given names and found what appears to be a relevant etymological connection. Beider discusses a Polish feminine name Dushana (or Dushl), which is linked to the contemporary Polish name Dusana. These names derive from the Slavic root for “soul.” That word has cognates with that meaning in a whole slew of Slavic languages: the Czech duše, the Slovak (and Macedonian, Croatian, Belarusian, and Slovenian) word duša, the Russian (and Ukrainian and Bulgarian) word dusha, and the Polish dusza. Based on phonetic evolution, particularly the consonantal shift from d to t, it is plausible that Tisha emerged as a derivative of Dushana/Dushl.
Beider lists various derivations from this name (including Tushane and Tishle), but he does not explicitly list Tisha. Nevertheless, to me the connection seems reasonable. I reached out to Dr. Beider to confirm this hypothesis and he agreed with my hunch. He actually provided me with archival evidence from Lublin showing that Tisha (spelled Tysza) was used interchangeably with Tishle. For example, a girl named Chaia Tysza (Chaya Tisha) appears in an 1875 birth record, while a marriage record from 1895 lists her name as Chaia Tyszla (Chaya Tishle). This reinforces the idea that Tisha originated as a variant of the Polish name Dusana.
From a semantic perspective, the name Tisha‘s meaning – related to the concept of “soul” – aligns with the modern Hebrew name Neshamah, like the name borne by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s daughter Neshamah.
Regarding your second question, names like Pessel, Pessy, and Pesha were indeed quite common among Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe. Nearly everyone knows someone – or has a relative – with one of these names. For example, my first-grade morah was called Morah Peshy, and my wife’s grandmother is named Peshy. It’s essential to dispel a few commonly-held misunderstandings about these names: Pessel is unrelated to the Hebrew pesel (“idol”), Pessy has no connection to the Hebrew pessi (“fool”), and Pesha is not derived from the Hebrew pesha (“sin”). If any of these names were tied to their Hebrew homonyms, then they would carry negative connotations, which would have precluded their widespread use in Jewish communities.
Once I had Dr. Alexander Beider’s dictionary open, I confirmed that he maintains that Pessel, Pessy, and Pesha are all variations or diminutives derived from the name Bas-Sheva. He also argues that this is the origin of the names Basya and Basha (as I wrote in my article published Jan. 2025). The connection to Bas-Sheva hinges on the phonetic interchangeability of the letters beis and peh, both bilabial consonants. Such substitutions are well-documented in linguistic evolution, and you can find out more about them by looking up “Grimm’s Law.”
Additionally, in certain Eastern European dialects, names ending in -sya/sia were colloquially pronounced -sha. Consequently, Basya became Basha, which evolved into Pasha and, later, Pesha. And that was equated with Pessia/Pessiah/Pessiyah. The common Yiddish practice of appending affectionate diminutive suffixes like -y or -ie led to forms such as Pessy. The form Pessel also seems to be derived from these names with an additional -el element appended as a diminutive.
In general, the name Pessel has two prominent etymological theories: It is widely posited that Pessel derives from the Old French word pucelle, meaning “maiden,” “virgin,” or “young, unmarried woman.” This term is famously associated with the French military leader Joan of Arc, who was often referred to as La Pucelle (“The Maiden”). From what I understand, this is usually understood to be the origins of Pessel (and according to this, Pessy would be a back-formation based on misunderstanding the -el of Pessel as a diminutive suffix). This etymology is both plausible and thematically appropriate for a feminine name, emphasizing both purity and youth.
Another theory connects Pessel to the Yiddish word fessel (“small barrel”), derived from the German fass (“barrel”) with the diminutive suffix -el. While this etymology is linguistically interesting, its thematic appropriateness as a personal name is less clear. The precise cultural or symbolic significance of this association remains speculative.
While I was working on the first question, I thought that maybe the surname Dushinsky was a matronymic family name derived from Dushana, and that led me down a whole rabbit hole, that I won’t elaborate on here.
-RCK
Simcha Bunim
QUESTION: Where does the name Simcha Bunim come from?
-Elie Scherman (Jerusalem, Israel)
ANSWER: First of all, let’s talk about the name Simcha. Needless to say, the personal name Simcha (which literally means “happiness”) is not used in Tanach or in Chazal; it became popular later on. You might not have realized it, but there are two different customs regarding the name Simcha: According to Sefardim, Simcha is a feminine name and is given exclusively to girls. According to Ashkenazim, Simcha is a masculine name, which is given only to boys. Either way, I’ve heard it claimed that the name Bunim is attached to Simcha in order to denote that this Simcha is a boy (ben), as opposed to a girl.
The Beis Shmuel (Shemos Gittin, under male names starting with beis) offers another, original theory as to how the name Simcha Bunim came about: He argues that Bunim originally started out as a nickname for Binyamin, but that since the name Binyamin could have a bad connotation – remember Rachel named her son Ben Oni as she was dying (Gen. 35:18) – people started attaching the name Simcha which has a more cheerful meaning to Bunim. Hence, Simcha Bunim. Nonetheless, the Nachlas Shiva (written in the 1600s) already notes that most people with the middle name Bunim have the first name Simcha, not Binyamin.
Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron (1941–2020), former Chief Rabbi of the Rabbanut, writes (responsa Binyan Av, vol. 1 §55:6) that he “heard” that the custom to give the double-name “Simcha Bunim” is based on the verse from Psalms, “eim ha’banim s’meicha” (Ps. 113:9). Linguists have offered two other theories as to the origins of the Yiddish name Bunim. One theory sees Bunim as deriving from the French name Bonhomme, which means “good man.” To break it down, bon means “good” (like in Bon Voyage, Bon Appetite, or Bonjour) and “homme” is cognate with the English words human or homo sapien. The other theory is that Bunim comes from the French Bonnom or the Italian Bonnome, which both mean “good name.”
The enduring popularity of the name Simcha Bunim may well stem from the renown of earlier bearers – such as Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765–1827), whose spiritual legacy inspired many to adopt his name. Later figures with that name include Rabbi Simcha Bunim Sofer (1842–1906), the grandson of the Chasam Sofer and author of Daas Sofer, and the Gerrer Rebbe Lev Simcha, whose full name was Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter (1898–1992).
In a previous article (“Same Name – No Wedding,” Aug. 2025), we talked about Rav Yehuda HaChassid’s ban on marriage where the father-in-law and son-in-law have the same name, or the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have the same name. In light of what we’ve learned, if there’s a “mixed marriage” between Ashkenazim and Sefardim, we could even have cases where the Ashkenazi father-in-law and the Sefardi daughter-in-law (or Sefardi mother-in-law and Ashkenazi father-in-law) might both have the name Simcha. The poskim say that if one wants to be extra careful in such cases, one should either add a name (like “Bunim” to the man) or receive a special heter from three rabbis (Viyakre Shemo B’Yisroel, Levi, p. 290). Similarly, there’s a long-standing custom that a father should not give the same name to two of his sons – even if they were born from different mothers. In discussing that custom, the poskim point out that the same restriction ought to apply to naming both one’s son and daughter Simcha (see responsa Divrei Malkiel vol. 3 §75).
-RCK
Rashba’s Surname – Aderet/Adret
QUESTION: Hello Rabbi Klein. I’ve always been fascinated by Jewish names and the Hebrew language. I have also read two of your books. In your article this week [“Jewish Surnames as Acronyms,” Feb. 2025], I want to add a bit of information. The name Aderet originated as an acronym of the RASHBA, R. Shlomo ben Aderet. There was a well-known actress decades ago named Bea Benaderet (George Burns Show, et al). Thank you for your explorations in Lashon Hakodesh.
-Michael Miller (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
ANSWER: Thanks for the feedback. Always great to hear from my readers. You’re raising an interesting point. But I just want to clarify that the Rashba’s father was actually Avraham and apparently Ibn Aderet/Adret was the name of the family. I’m not sure where that family name comes from. I know in yeshivas we say Ibn Aderet, but in scholarly circles they write Adret. So I’m not sure which one is more accurate. But I’m pretty sure that “Aderet” from the Rashba’s family name was not an acronym for anything.
-RCK
Surname Bikel
I saw your recent Jewish Press column about acronyms as surnames [“Jewish Surnames as Acronyms,” Feb. 2025], and wanted to tell you about Theodore Bikel, the actor famous for his rendition of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Many years ago, I was at the summer International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, and he was the keynote speaker. Aside from a wonderful performance of “If I Were a Rich Man,” he told the story of his surname. When the order came to take surnames, his ancestor opened a Chumash to a random page, closed his eyes, and pointed to a phrase in the Chumash. The phrase was “Beit Yisrael Kodesh L’Hashem.” The acronym became their surname.
-Robert Heyman
COMMENT: Fascinating story! The only problem is that I’m not aware of a pasuk anywhere in Chumash or Tanach that says those words.
-RCK