3 ms·
Jews traditionally didn't have last names, but instead referred to as the son/daughter of their father, e.g. "Moshe ben David" or "Sarah bat David". In the pas
by cwzwarich 9y ago
Jews traditionally didn't have last names, but instead referred to as the son/daughter of their father, e.g. "Moshe ben David" or "Sarah bat David".
In the past few hundred years, European Jews were generally forced to take fixed surnames. It's unlikely that Nissan was used as an actual surname at that point without any explicit patronymic. It's more likely that it was a father's first name, converted into a surname upon moving to Israel.
- walrus01 9y agoThe vast majority of Afghans traditionally didn't have last names either. If you look at the Tazkira (Farsi/Dari language government identity document, it's an A4 sized single piece of paper that serves as combination birth certificate and primary government ID), it has the person's name, name of father, name of grandfather on it. Legally people are known as something like Showaib, son of Ahmed. A lot of Afghans who have emigrated to foreign countries have created their own last names from something related to their family, geographical area/tribal affiliation, etc. There are also people who have not done this and their name printed on their passport is a double of their first name, so you have people named "Jawad Jawad".