H.L. Mencken (1880–1956). The American Language. 1921.
Page 335
making it unnecessarily noticeable.29 To this end they modify the spelling of the more familiar Jewish surnames, turning Levy into Lewy, Lewyt, Levitt, Levin, Levine, Levey, Levie30 and even Lever; Cohen into Cohn, Cahn, Kahn, Kann, Coyne and Conn; Aarons into Arens and Ahrens, and Solomon into Salmon, Salomon and Solmson.31 In the same way they shorten their long names, changing Wolfsheimer to Wolf, Goldschmidt to Gold, and Rosenblatt, Rosenthal, Rosenbaum, Rosenau, Rosenberg, Rosenbusch, Rosenblum, Rosenstein, Rosengarten, Rosenheim and Rosenfeldt to Rose or Ross.32 Like the Germans, they also seek refuge in translations more or less literal. Thus, on the East Side of New York, Blumenthal is often changed to Bloomingdale, Schneider to Taylor, Reichman to Richman, and Schlachtfeld to Warfield. One Lobenstine (i. e., Lobenstein) had his name changed to Preston during the war, and announced that this was “the English version” of his patronymic. A Wolfsohn similarly became a Wilson, though without attempting any such fantastic philological justification for the change.33Fiedler, a common Jewish name, often becomes Harper in New York; so does Pikler, which is Yiddish for drummer. Stolar, which is a Yiddish word borrowed from the Russian, signifying carpenter, is changed to Carpenter. Lichtman and Lichtenstein become Chandler. Meilach, which is Hebrew for king, becomes King, and so does Meilachson. The strong tendency to seek English-sounding equivalents for names of noticeably foreign origin changes Sher into Sherman, Michel into
Note 29.Cf. The Jews, by Maurice Fishberg; New York, 1911, ch. xxii, and especially p. 485 ff. [back]
Note 30. The English Jews usually change Levy to Lewis, a substitution almost unknown in America. They also change Abraham to Braham and Moses to Moss. Vide Surnames, Their Origin and Nationality, by L. B. McKenna; Quincy (Ill.), 1913, pp. 13–14. Taylor is another common name among them. [back]
Note 31. I lately encountered Openhym in New York, Dalsemer (for Dalsheimer) in Philadelphia, and Thalhimer in Richmond, Va. Slessinger and Slazenger are common variants of Schlesinger in New York. [back]
Note 32. See A Cycle of Manhattan, by Thyra Samter Winslow, Smart Set, March, 1919. In New York I have encountered Schönes transformed into Shainess. [back]
Note 33. I take the following from Dr. Pepys’ Diary in the Journal of the American Medical Association: “Today in ye clinic a tale told of Dr. Levy who hath had his name changed to Sullivan. A month after he cometh again to ye court, this time wishing to become Kilpatrick. On request for ye reason, he telleth ye court that ye patients continually ask of him, ‘What was your name before?’ If granted ye change he shall then tell them ‘Sullivan.’ ” [back]
