Login
Login

Cohen

{{other uses}}

{{For|a list of persons with the surname Cohen|List of people with surname Cohen}}

Cohen ({{langx|he|כֹּהֵן|kōhēn|priest}}) is a surname of Jewish, Samaritan{{cite book |first=Mordecai |last=Schreiber |title=The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia |publisher=Taylor Trade Publications |date=2011 |page= }} and Biblical origins (see: Kohen). It is a very common Jewish surname (the most common in Israel).{{cite news |title=למ"ס: אלה שמות המשפחה הנפוצים בישראל |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-5457942,00.html |website=ynet |language=he |date=4 February 2019|last1=אלון |first1=אמיר }} Cohen is one of the four Samaritan last names that exist in the modern day.{{cn|date=November 2024}} Many Jewish immigrants entering the United States or United Kingdom changed their name from Cohen to Cowan (sometimes spelled "Cowen"), as Cowan was a Scottish name.{{Cite journal |last=Krupnick |first=Mark |date=1993 |title=Assimilation in Recent American Jewish Autobiographies |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1208683 |journal=Contemporary American Jewish Literature |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |volume=34 |issue=3|pages=451–474 |doi=10.2307/1208683 |jstor=1208683 |url-access=subscription }} The name "Cohen" is also used as a given name.{{cite web|url=https://www.kveller.com/whats-the-deal-with-people-using-cohen-as-a-first-name/|title=What's the Deal With People Using Cohen as a First Name?|date=November 22, 2019}}

Origin

Bearing the surname often (although not always) indicates that one's patrilineal ancestors were priests in the Temple of Jerusalem. Although not all Kohenic lines stem from Aaron, the brother of Moses, he is generally regarded as the patriarch of the lineage and the first Kohen. A single such priest was known as a Kohen, and the hereditary caste descending from these priests is collectively known as the Kohanim.{{cite book |last=Donin |first=Rabbi Haim Halevy |title=To Be A Jew. A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life |url=https://archive.org/details/tobejewguidetoj00doni |url-access=registration |publisher=Basic Books |date=1972 |page=[https://archive.org/details/tobejewguidetoj00doni/page/198 198]|isbn=9780465086245 }} As multiple languages were acquired through the Jewish diaspora, the surname acquired dozens of variants. Not all persons with related surnames are kohanim, and not all kohanim have related surnames.

Some Kohanim have added a secondary appellation to their surname, so as to distinguish themselves from other Kohanim—such as Cohen-Scali of Morocco, who trace their lineage to Zadok,Shlomo bar Yosef ha-Cohen Atzvan, Ma'alot Shlomo, Jerusalem 1985, [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=21257&st=&pgnum=56&hilite= p. 56] in PDF (Hebrew) and Cohen-Maghari (Meguri) of Yemen, who trace their lineage to Jehoiarib, one of the priestly divisions.

Being a Kohen imposes some limitations: by Jewish law a Kohen may not marry a divorced woman and may not marry a proselyte (someone who converted to Judaism).Donin p. 291 Nor should an observant Kohen come into contact with the deadDonin p. 304 or enter a cemetery unless for the death of a close relative.

An effort to test whether people named "Cohen" have a common genetic origin has been undertaken, using a genealogical DNA test associated with the Cohen Modal Haplotype (see Y-chromosomal Aaron).

Variants and derivations

File:Suleiman_ben_Pinhas_Cohen_family,_Sana'a_ca._1944.jpg, circa 1944]]

  • Cahn
  • Coen{{cite journal |last1=Nissim |first1=Daniele |date=2001 |title=FAMIGLIE RAPA E RAPAPORT NELL'ITALIA SETTENTRIONALE (SEC. XV-XVI). CON UN'APPENDICE SULL'ORIGINE DELLA MISCELLANEA ROTHSCHILD |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41263551 |journal=La Rassegna Mensile di Israel |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=177–192 |doi= |jstor=41263551 |access-date=2023-10-31}}
  • Cohan
  • Cohn
  • Kahane (Aramaic for kohen[https://www.sefaria.org/Jastrow%2C_כָּהֵן.1 כָּהֵן, כָּהֵין, כַּהֲנָא])
  • Kahanow/Kahanov/{{ill|Kakhanov|ru|Каханов}}/Kokhanov
  • Kahn
  • For some bearers, the surname Katz may stem from "Kohen Tzedek", meaning "righteous or authentic priest."{{cite news |newspaper=The NY Daily News

|title=Counting the Cohens, and some of them could be named Katz |author=Charles W. Bell |date=October 4, 1997

|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/counting-cohens-named-katz-article-1.774370}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{surname|Cohen}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen}}

Category:Hebrew-language surnames

Category:Kohenitic surnames

Category:Occupational surnames

Category:Modern names of Hebrew origin