German and/or Jewish?

[Inese]

What i learned from German surnames is that Jews never have -er endings at their name , my German grandfather told me that!!

Example: Silberstein ----- could be jewish , not typical German
Silbersteiner ----- German name , never Jewish

[Loyalist]

What i learned from German surnames is that Jews never have -er endings at their name , my German grandfather told me that!!

Example: Silberstein ----- could be jewish , not typical German
Silbersteiner ----- German name , never Jewish

I don't know where he got that idea, but, while more common Jewish surnames are indeed the standard Goldman, Silverstein, Levy and so on, there are plenty of Jews from German-speaking lands with names ending in -er.

[Inese]

I don't know where he got that idea, but, while more common Jewish surnames are indeed the standard Goldman, Silverstein, Levy and so on, there are plenty of Jews from German-speaking lands with names ending in -er.

Hm give some examples??? The thing is that -er means that iz refer to a location. " Eppenmüller " mean that the person family comes from location Eppenmühl!! Jews dont name themselfes after location more like special or expensive things ---- Gold Silver or other thing. Location names at Jews are very seldom!?? I can only say what my German grandfather told me. May be mixed jews have adopted names of normal Germans. Scarlett Johannson is jewish and has nordish skandivanian surname because father is non jewish but he mother is jewish.

[Æmeric]

I knew a Jew named Hollander. Casper Weinberger was Jewish. And Henry Kissinger.

[Lyfing]

Sigmund Leibstein stold my name and did about the worse thing imaginable with it..

In 1913, anguished by the anti-Semitism of his time, Sigmund Livingston founded ADL in a small Chicago office. More than eight decades later, ADL has grown beyond all expectations. . . beyond all aspirations. . . into 30 Regional and Satellite Offices. . . into a leading force in human relations. . . into the nation's foremost champion in the struggle against anti-Semitism.

Founded on one man's iron will to achieve social justice and to eradicate hatred, ADL has invested nearly a century in influencing, educating and effecting reform. As the face of America continues to change on the brink of the 21st century, ADL will pursue its ever-challenging quest for equality, freedom and justice for all people. . . our legacy from Sigmund Livingston.

http://www.adl.org/ADLHistory/1913_2000.asp

...

Later,
-Lyfing

[Loyalist]

I knew a Jew named Hollander. Casper Weinberger was Jewish. And Henry Kissinger.

...John Schlesinger, Simon Bamberger, Emile Berliner...

[Brynhild]

It's a good question. For some reason I have a better knack with surnames than I do with taxonomy in discerning a person's heritage. However, the German names have stumped me as well.

I was wondering about this only two days ago, as I have a client whose surname is Lindberg. It's none of my business to pry into his background so I'm still wondering about his actual heritage.

It's just ironic the timing of the question for me.

[Jamt]

Lindberg is Swedish.

[Jamt]

Next to son endings on surnames, endings and starts like Berg, Sjö, Skog, Man and other aspects of nature are traditional Swedish. I guess almost all Swedes have them. In the case Lindberg, Lind is a tree and berg is mountain.

[Brynhild]

Next to son endings on surnames, endings and starts like Berg, Sjö, Skog, Man and other aspects of nature are traditional Swedish. I guess almost all Swedes have them. In the case Lindberg, Lind is a tree and berg is mountain.

Thanks for clearing that up. For some reason, I thought Germans had such names as well.