Romaniote Last Names

Avna’im: Hebrew Afnaim, “truly agreeable.” [link] Possibly Sephardic. Başçı: Transliterated in Hebrew as Bashaytzi or Bashaychi. Turkish, “teacher, scribe.” Beni: Possibly a nickname for Benjamin. Benveneste: Spanish “Benveniste,” indicating marriage into a Sephardic family. Finzi: An Italian Jewish family name dating to at least the 12th century. From the Italian pinchas via the Latin finca.…

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