Language:
English
Year of publication:
2023
Titel der Quelle:
Revue des Etudes Juives
Angaben zur Quelle:
182, 1-2 (2023) 195-216
Keywords:
Bechar family
;
Names, Personal Jewish
;
Sephardim Social life and customs
;
Sephardim Genealogy
Abstract:
In several major sources for the history of Ottoman Jews of the turn of the 20th century, Behar appears, along with Levi and Cohen, one of the three most used surnames. Today, it is still commonly used by Sephardic Jews of multiple countries. Yet, contrary to other common surnames, with simple etymology allowing to explain their high frequency of use, Behar represents an onomastic enigma. The paper provides a critical analysis of fifteen etymologies proposed by various authors to explain this name. Combining historical, linguistic, and genealogical data, it shows that only one of them is tenable. The surname reveals the fact that at the turn of the 20th century, the paternal ancestor, in contrast to numerous other Ottoman Jews of his time, still had no fixed surname. The history of this name directly points to a mass cultural phenomenon. Indirectly, it reveals traces of the history of the formation of the Turkish Jewry going several centuries before the inception of the surname.
DOI:
10.2143/REJ.182.1.3291732
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink