Sephardim

[LeoLoS]

Still some links from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_surnames includes both jewish and spanish surnames; go to Sephardic Names, from where again can be choosen a link to Sephardic Names

The name da Costa from the first link has interesting info: Da Costa is from the Portuguese word for coast (Costa). It is originally a Christian family name and was adopted by many of the Sephardic Portuguese Jews when they were forced to convert or be expelled after 1497 and particularly after the establishment of the Portuguese Inquisition in 1536.

The family of Da Costa is probably identical with that of the Mendez da Costa. It has even been suggested that an early Mendez called himself Mendez da Costa ("Mendes of the Coast"). The coats of arms of the two families both in England and in Holland are practically identical.

Their wide connections with so many Marano families (note that these names are not exclusively Jewish) — Bravo, Bueno, Dias, Fernandez, Gradis, Jachia, Lopez, Silva, Suasso, Pinto, Mesquita, Ricardo, Belmonte, Capadose, Henriques, Aguilar, Osorio, Villa-Real, Franco, Quiro, Paiba — the large families resulting from these alliances, coupled with the wide extent of their migrations — make the Mendez da Costa pedigree the key to Sephardic genealogies.

[robe3b]

Josh, the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_(Jewish) has a list of Sephardic Coats of Arms with following info: When a Jew became converted in Spain, he was generally adopted by some noble family, and thereby obtained the right to bear the family arms. In this way many Jewish families gained the right to shields, which they carried with them to Holland, and had carved on their tombstones, even after they had repudiated Christianity, which had given them the right to such shields.

There is some equal info in Jewish Encyclopaedia: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/vi...0Families#1930. Both lists should give some Spanish Catholic names, although not of quite ordinary people.

Another link, http://www.genealoj.org/ENtexte/page15.html, says: Many readers are asking whether such or such surname is Jewish or not. From a general point of view, this question has no answer since the same name can be shared by Jews and by non-jews as well. Nevertheless, some surnames are often borne by Jews and other ones rarely. At the other end of the spectrum, one finds surnames which are very common among non-Jews but nevertheless exist among Jews. Examples are numerous.
In Spain and Portugal, names such as RODRIGUEZ (Spain) or RODRIGUES (Portugal) or LOPEZ and LOPES are extremely common. When in the XVth century, the Jews of those countries had to choose between emigration and baptism, those who decided to convert took Spanish or Portuguese surnames, maybe even those of their godfather. Those who emigrated to countries where they could practice their religion, sometimes after decades of Crypto-judaism (Marranism), often kept their Spanish or Portuguese names.

The Chuetas from Mallorca, descendandts from Majorcan Jews have been Catholics for a long time, but were "not allowed" until recently to have intermarriages with Spanish people. Their Catholic names are: Aguiló, Bonnín, Cortès, Fortesa, Fuster, Martí, Miró, Picó, Pinya, Pomar, Segura, Tarongí, Valentí, Valleriola, Valls. All of them are Catalan names, unrelated with jewishness. There have been some DNA researches of the Chuetas, see the links below:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...&dopt=Abstract
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...06/ai_n8957119

This circumstance has been quoted as an additional factor which influenced the irregularity of the Spanish surname system before and after the expulsion of the Sephardic Jews. As an example of this complex system, scholars mention the particular situation of the Mendoza family.

The illustrious Marqués de Santillana, Íñigo López de Mendoza, had ten children with his wife, doña Catalina Suárez de Figueroa. Their names were:
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
Íñigo López de Mendoza
Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa
Pedro González de Mendoza
Pedro Hurtado de Mendoza
Juan Hurtado de Mendoza
Pedro Lasso de la Vega
Mencía de Mendoza
María de Mendoza
Leonor de la Vega

This complexity grew bigger especially after 1492, when it became customary to give to the converted Jews and Muslims when baptizing them, the name and surname of their godparents and witnesses. Thus, a member of the Mendoza family was often surrounded by many conversos whose surname was also Mendoza (his secretary, his doctor, his tax collector, etc).

This explains why many descendants of converted Jews have nobleman’s surnames (hidalgo’s surnames), such as Ávila, Calderón; Correa, Guzmán, Mendoza, Pereira, Toledo, Torres y Vargas.

[josh w.]

Leo, Robe3b, Victor, greatly appreciate your efforts and input. My question was not personal but stemmed from the question of whether converso haplogroups could be identified. This in turn depends on whether converso families can be identified. Your informed posts all suggest that this is a very iffy possibility in addition to the ethical concerns. Just have to accept that there will be a gap in Sephardic genealogy.

[robe3b]

Leo, Robe3b, Victor, greatly appreciate your efforts and input. My question was not personal but stemmed from the question of whether converso haplogroups could be identified. This in turn depends on whether converso families can be identified. Your informed posts all suggest that this is a very iffy possibility in addition to the ethical concerns. Just have to accept that there will be a gap in Sephardic genealogy.

Which is the significance of Sephardic Jews in the world today?

According to Professor Joseph Pérez, WW II entailed structural changes in Jewry, globally considered. The ancient Jewish communities of Northern Africa, the Balkans and the disintegrated Ottoman Empire, are on the path to extinction.

Some illustrative figures:
About 80,000 Sephardic Jews lived in Greece at the beginning of the war; approximately 50,000 of them were exterminated in the nazi camps; only 1,000 still live there at present.

Of the 70,000 living in the former Yugoslavia on the eve of WW II, 55,000 have died.

In Bulgaria, the amount of members of the Sephardic community is less than 10,000; in Turkey, less than 15,000.-

The decolonisation process in Northern Africa caused the massive emigration of the Sephardic Jews which had lived in these territories for centuries.
There were around 150,000 Jews in Algeria when the country became an independent state (1962). The overwhelming majority of them moved to France (135,000); the rest went to Israel.
Since Morocco was a country strongly influenced by French culture, its Jews left for the Quebec and Israel.
I think these are important clues for our quest, Josh.

[Victor]

Leo, Robe3b, Victor, greatly appreciate your efforts and input. My question was not personal but stemmed from the question of whether converso haplogroups could be identified. This in turn depends on whether converso families can be identified. Your informed posts all suggest that this is a very iffy possibility in addition to the ethical concerns. Just have to accept that there will be a gap in Sephardic genealogy.

Josh and all,

As previously mentioned, there's a study to be published by Dr. Behar on Sephardic Y-DNA genetics, although the date is uncertain. That will surely shed some light on this interesting topic.

IMO, there must be some pattern or genetic signatures that could help identify a possible Sephardic genealogy. But in this particular topic I always tend to be skeptical about the abundant and unfounded claims that today are so easily spread. I know that practically everyone that participates in this forum tends to be knowledgable and very well informed and you are an excellent example of that.

When I express my doubts and reservations I mostly direct them toward the casual reader or lurker who may be browsing by for a flashy statement. I've coined the phrase: "A genealogy tree can take years to grow; but genealore takes only a instant." What I mean is that it is so easy to create a rumor but, once created, it is virtually impossible to destroy it.

Genetic genealogy in general and genetic anthropology in particular is a highly speculative endeavor and there will always be a temptation for many to see in the numbers what they previously imagined they would see. As exciting as this hobby is, it doesn't come without its downsides.

Regards,

Victor

p.s although not directly related to the question, I thought many of you would find interesting the following e-book:
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/levy/toc.html

[robe3b]

Josh and all,

As previously mentioned, there's a study to be published by Dr. Behar on Sephardic Y-DNA genetics, although the date is uncertain. That will surely shed some light on this interesting topic.

IMO, there must be some pattern or genetic signatures that could help identify a possible Sephardic genealogy. But in this particular topic I always tend to be skeptical about the abundant and unfounded claims that today are so easily spread. I know that practically everyone that participates in this forum tends to be knowledgable and very well informed and you are an excellent example of that.

When I express my doubts and reservations I mostly direct them toward the casual reader or lurker who may be browsing by for a flashy statement. I've coined the phrase: "A genealogy tree can take years to grow; but genealore takes only a instant." What I mean is that it is so easy to create a rumor but, once created, it is virtually impossible to destroy it.

Genetic genealogy in general and genetic anthropology in particular is a highly speculative endeavor and there will always be a temptation for many to see in the numbers what they previously imagined they would see. As exciting as this hobby is, it doesn't come without its downsides.

Regards,

Victor

p.s although not directly related to the question, I thought many of you would find interesting the following e-book:
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/epub/books/levy/toc.html

A very interesting work, Victor. We surely need some nazarlik, to protect us from ayin arah in our speculations about Sepahardim’s genetic genealogy.

[josh w.]

Victor, thanks for your generous comments as well as your input on another thread involving an E3b project. I also look forward to Behar's study since he has done some very interesting research.

[Villicus]

Anybody know a general time frame of when Behar's study might be published?

[juan carlos]

I just found this info. It states Family Tree already has the results of the study, but, so far, no word on when Bennett Greenspan will discuss the preliminary findings:

Removing the Sephardic veil

of secrecy with DNA

Bennett Greenspan, Family Tree DNA



In 2004 and upon completion of a robust Ashkenazi database for Eastern European Jewish populations, Dr. Doron Behar began assembling a Sephardic database for both male and female lineages to investigate genetic diversity among the Sephardic populations and to examine if the finding in previous studies, that of great genetic similarity among Ashkenazi Jewish males contrasting with great diversity among females, would also be found within Spanish Jewish populations.

The implications of this new study are significant for estimating the effective Jewish populations' size 1000 years ago, the possible connection between Sephardic families who many have moved to eastern Europe after 1492 as well as to Hispanic non Jews who have wondered for years if they have Jewish ancestry and haven’t been able to make that determination based upon poor genealogies and hidden agenda’s on the part of people fleeing the Inquisition.

This paper on this has not been published but the data findings are back and Bennett Greenspan will discuss these preliminary findings.

[efgen]

If this is the page that you found that extract on, it clearly says when he'll be presenting the findings (see the top of the page)

http://www.cryptojews.com/abstracts_elpaso.htm

[Villicus]

Early August is not that far away. I hope more light is shed on this subject after the presentation.

[juan carlos]

You are right, but I did not read the date heading the page. I went to check the individual headings. Let's see what they report back. Just out of curiosity.

[Sali]

Jewish-Portuguese surnames before conversion 1497

Jewish-Portuguese surnames before conversion 1497

A - Abam, Abaya, Abaz, Abeaçar/Abeaça, Abençall, Abraçar, Abenzamorro, Abenazo, Abete, Abez, Abife, Aboa/a Boa, Abraão/Abraham , Abravanel, Abroz, Abudente, Açaral, Adaroque, Adereos/Aderes, Adida, Aidara, Alarbom Albarrux, Albogalim, Albotene, Alcabaz, Alcale, Alegria, Alfaquy/Alfaquem/Alfaquim, Alfeice/Alferce, Almalle/Almalee, Almusas Alzagal, Alravel, Alroz, Alvargo/Allvargii/Allvargy, Alvo, Am/Ham, Amalho, Amanilho, Amigo, Amyz, Anyneu, Arary/Arari, Arrobas, Arte, Azeerim/Azecrim, Azenha;

B - Bacoa, Bagally, Barnabé, Barrocas, Barrobe, Bari, Baru/Barru, de Barbova, Baquis, Beacar/Beaçar/Beatar, Bega, Beiçudo/Beyçudo, Beiro, Belacide, Belhamym, Benafull, Benafaçom, Benazo, Benjamim, Bemzamerro Benziza, Beuafaçom, Bichacho, Bieudo, Bixorda, Brafanez, Bono, Boym;

C - Caçez, Cachado, Çaçom/Saçom/Sacam, Cadaley, Çadiz, Caldeirão, Calimy, Çalleicaa, Calvo, Camacas, Camarinha, Canana, Canfi, Capam, Capaya/Capayo, Catarribas, Catelaão/Catalão, Cardinel, Carilho, Carraf, Caruchel, Castelão/Castelhão, Catam, Catiell, Cefim, Cerasady, Chaveirol, Cide/Cid, Codilho, Cofeiro, de Colhar, Çoleima, Colem, Colodro, Conciel, Cordilha, Coser, Cosfem, Cosim, do Crasto/de Castro, Crespim, Crescente, Crudo, Cudello, Curuto;

D - Dano, Danom, Delhescas, Donhas, Douo;

E - Eide, de Elhifes, Escalona, Espanom, Espantão, Erguas, Erudo;

F - Falaz, Famiz, Famta, Faquom, Faquim, Faracho, Faravom, Fayham/Fayam, Focem, Folega, Frances, Franco/Franquo;

G - Gabay, Gabril, Gadim, Gaguim/Gaguy, Gaim, Galiote/Galite, Galaje, Galante, Garçom, Gayos, Gedelha (sobretudo nomo próprio), Golete, Gota, Guaryto, Gualite, Graço;

H - Husque;

L - de Labymda, Latam/Latão, Lavanca, Lázaro, de Llescas, de Lestes, Levi, Liam, Lias, de Liscas, de Lixeas, Loquem, Lozora;

M - Maalom, Macaz, Machosso, Maçon, Maconde, Martelo, Marracoxy, Mataro, Matrotel, Mayll, de Medina, Menafem, Mocatel, Mocato, Mofejo, Mosejo, Mollaão, Montam, Motaal, Motal, Muça;

N - Nafas, Nanyas, Naniras, Natam;

P - Papo, Palaçano, Palacho, Patteiro, Peço, Pello, Pernica, Pexeiro, Picorro, Piecho, Picho, Prateiro;

R - Ribaro, Ricomem, Rodriga, de Rogos, Romano, Romão, Romdyem, Romeiro, Rondim, Rosall;

S - Samaia/Çamaya, Sanamel, Saraya, Savarigo, Solega;

T - Tarraz, Tavy/Tovy, Toby, Tolledam/Toledano, Tony, Torigo, Tristam;

V - Vaca, Vallency, Varmar, Vascos, Venyste, Viarcis, Vivas/Vivaz, Vidas, Vidos, Vivallaquero;

Z - Zaaboca, Zabocas, Zaquim, Zaquem, Zarco.

[Villicus]

Early August has come and gone. Any news on the Sephardic study?

[juan carlos]

I was wondering about the same thing yesterday, no news yet, as far as I know.