[in progress]
Family Names
Although not all Romaniote Jews had family names, the practice was well established by the 15th century. There were several types of family names:
Patronymics. These were originally the bearer’s father’s real name, but by the time the names entered the records in the 15th and 16th centuries, many of them were true family names.
- Ye’udah ben Ya‘aqov Gibor
- Menahem ben Mikhael Yefet
- Ya‘aqov, son of Yitzhaq Polikhrono
Place of origin. These family names could change when people moved.
- Eliya, son of Shelomoh Istamati, “from Samatia”
- Mordekhai Komitiano, “from Komotini”
- Tzadiq, son of Mordekhai Greki, “Greek”
Occupation (or the family’s former occupation), stated in Turkish:
- Eliyah ben Mosheh Başçı, “teacher, scribe”
- Eliyah Rabitçı, “bookbinder”
Naming Patterns
The sources make it difficult to determine which naming patterns Romaniote Jews used in everyday life. Official government scribes tried to squash every name into the Turkish [personal name] bin/bint [father’s personal name] pattern, whether or not it fit. Gravestones expanded on people’s names, listing information like a woman’s husband’s name that was probably not part of the woman’s ordinary name.
To make it more confusing, the sources I used rarely give names in the original language, adding a layer
Certain patterns can be deduced.
The simplest is the standard Turkish form, [personal name] son/daughter of [father’s personal name]:
- Mordehay, son of Süleyman (Mordekhai son of Shelomoh)
- Sabbetay (Shabetai), son of Avraham
- Sha‘aban, son of Ishaq
Most of these examples appear in Turkish records, which preferred this format.
Inscriptions on gravestones sometimes added more generations of ancestors:
- Afedra, daughter of Avraham Ibn Shemaryah Ibn Hayim
The form that’s most common in the sources is a workaround that fits the family name into Turkish format: [personal name] son/daughter of [father’s personal name] [family name]. Most of these examples appeared on gravestones, which were focused on recording as much of the deceased’s name and family as possible.
- Pustira, daughter of Avraham Tzadiq
- Ye’udah ben Ya‘aqov Gibor
- Arkhondopoula bat Yosef Hilel
- Tzadiq, son of Mordekhai Greki
Women’s gravestones often listed their husband’s name after their father’s name, but some inscriptions listed a husband and no father:
- Khursi, honourable and chaste woman, widow of the illustrious venerable Shelomoh Benveneste
- Parthi, widow of Shelomoh Istamati
A shortened form of the [personal name] son/daughter of [father’s personal name] [family name] pattern was simply [personal name] [family name]:
- Eliyah Rabitçı
- Barukh Yefet
- Mordekhai Komitiano
In the sources, most of these shortened examples come from sources like scholarly discussions and business transactions. However, at least one gravestone uses the format: that belonging to “the honourable and esteemed David Istamati,” who died in the early 17th century.