How can a surname like Stertzer be cohamim? My deceased father, born in the US, and grandfather born in Austria were both certain of their priestly lineage.How can this be when we are told today that Cohen, Khan Kaplan etc. are the names more logically associated with the lineage?
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1Maybe someone changed their name? Why is this so surprising to you? – Double AA Jun 25 '17 at 01:56
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1I've heard of Kohanim named Quinn, Crane. Then there's Mühlgay, which is a Kohen family, despite the anglicisation sounding fairly Irish. Never forget the old Litvak, Sean Ferguson! – Noach MiFrankfurt Jun 25 '17 at 02:04
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The family names do not have anything to do with lineage. In many cases, they were assigned by the (nonJewish) government in order to keep their records. In some cases, the names were assigned in order to officially recognize a family nickname, such as Rothschild for the red shield in front of the house. In other cases, they were arbitrarily assigned by a government clerk in revenge for an inadequate bribe, such as Goldwater (Goldvasser). The Austro-Hungarian empire arbitrarily divided an area into four quarters and named everyone Schwartz, Weiss, Klein, and Gross depending on where they lived.
While many people registered with names associated with being a kohen, others were given names based on profession, place of origin, or even personal nicknames.
For example Stertz
German: from Middle High German sterz ‘tail’, possibly a nickname for a short, stocky, and clever man.
We had three families in our shul named Cohen. One was a Kohen, one a Levi, and one a Yisrael.
sabbahillel
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My father and brother are Cohanim. Last name is Schorr. My Rabbi Cohen is not a Kohen.
Phyllis Shapiro
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This does not really answer the question. If you have a different question, you can ask it by clicking Ask Question. You can also add a bounty to draw more attention to this question once you have enough reputation. - From Review – Danny Schoemann Jun 25 '17 at 12:16
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1@DannySchoemann How so? The question was how those can be Kohanim names and the answer is it doesn't matter. – DonielF Jun 25 '17 at 14:52
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@DonielF - What you say is true, but this answer is just a statement of facts with no explanation. – Danny Schoemann Jun 27 '17 at 11:28