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The Bukharan Jewish community traces its roots to antiquity and represents one of the most historically isolated Jewish groups. Living under the Emirate of Bukhara, the Jews maintained a distinctive linguistic and cultural identity, preserving an archaic Judeo-Tajik dialect (often referred to as Bukhori), traditional communal governance, and religious autonomy. Under Islamic rule, they often faced legal and social restrictions but were permitted internal communal organization, including their own religious courts and leadership.
The arrival of the Russian Empire in Central Asia in the second half of the 19th century initiated processes of modernization, legal restructuring, and population documentation. Russian officials required the systematic registration of all residents, including Jews, which led to the formal assignment of surnames.[1]
Surnames among Bukharan Jews emerged relatively late—primarily following the annexation of Central Asian territories by the Russian Empire in 1868. Before this political transition, Jews residing in cities such as Bukhara, Samarkand, Kokand, and Tashkent did not use fixed hereditary surnames. Instead, they adhered to traditional Jewish naming conventions based on given names and patronymics. The imposition of Russian administrative, tax, and military structures necessitated the formal registration of Jewish families and thus prompted the widespread adoption of surnames.
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Structure of Bukharan Jewish Surnames
The assignment of surnames to Bukharan Jews was not immediate but occurred over several decades, from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. Russian officials, often unfamiliar with the phonetics of Judeo-Tajik or Hebrew names, transcribed them as they were heard, leading to Russified versions influenced by Sephardic-style pronunciation. Thus, surnames like Gulkarov, Naviev, Levaev, and Gavriilov reflect this linguistic mediation.
The vast majority of Bukharan Jewish surnames were patronymic in origin, typically derived from the father’s given name rather than the grandfather’s (a custom more common among Mountain Jews). These surnames were then affixed with Russian suffixes such as -ov or -ev, consistent with the grammatical and administrative standards of the Russian Empire. Examples include:
- Yakubov (from Yakub)
- Pinhasov (from Pinhas)
- Abramov (from Avraham)
- Moshaev (from Moshe)
- Binyaminov(from Binyamin)
Because of the shared Islamic and Jewish naming spheres in Central Asia, some of these surnames also appear among Mountain Jews and even among the local Muslim population. Names such as Yusupov and Musaev derive from Arabic names (Yusuf, Musa) and exist across ethnic and religious lines. In some cases, the same name could appear in both a Jewish and a Muslim version, leading to parallel forms like Moshiev / Musaev.
Distinctive features of Bukharan Jewish surnames
Bukharan Jews, unlike their Mountain Jewish counterparts, include families with priestly (Kohanic) and Levite lineage, resulting in surnames that reflect this status, such as:
- Levaev – derived from Levi, denoting Levite descent.
In addition to patronymics, Bukharan Jewish surnames also formed from nicknames (lakabs), known in the community as lakomkho. These could reflect physical traits, personality, or geographic origin:
- Kusayev – from a nickname meaning “beardless”.
- Khojandiev – indicating origin from the city of Khojand.
- Katayev - From the Uzbek word "Kata" meaning tall.[2]
Some surnames were occupational:
- Kimyagarov – derived from the Persian kimyagar (“dyer” or “alchemist”).
A notable surname is Kalantarov, stemming from the Tajik word kalontar, meaning “head of the Jewish quarter” in cities of the Bukhara Khanate. Members of this prominent family migrated to other parts of the Russian Empire by the early 20th century, where the surname sometimes transformed into Kalendaryov due to clerical misinterpretation.
It is important to avoid erroneous folk etymologies. For example, Khafizov/Hafizov is sometimes mistakenly linked to the Hebrew word ḥazzan (“cantor”), while in reality, it derives from the Arabic ḥāfiẓ, meaning “one who has memorized the Qur'an”—a widely distributed Muslim surname.
The surnames of Bukharan Jews encapsulate a unique synthesis of Jewish, Tajik, Arabic, and Russian naming practices. Their formation was shaped by imperial administration, traditional Jewish genealogy, and local cultural influences. Today, these surnames endure as living remnants of the Bukharan Jewish diaspora, found among communities in Israel, the United States, Russia, and beyond.
Celebrities with Bukharan Jewish surnames
- Malika Kalontarova, Tajik-American dancer, People's Artist of USSR in 1984
- Avi Issacharoff, Israeli journalist, one of the creators of the TV-series Fauda
- Jacob Arabo, born Yakov Arabov, Uzbek-American Jeweller, founder of Jacob & Co
- Idan Yaniv, Israeli singer
- Dorrit Mousaieff, First Lady of Iceland between 2003 and 2016
- Boris Namatiev, Tajik-Israeli actor and musician
- Yvonne Green, born Yvonne Tamara Mammon, British poet, translator, writer and barrister.
- Zablon Simintov, Afghan businessman, known as the last Jew in Afghanistan
See also
- Jewish surnames
- Patronymic
- Slavic surnames
- Turkish surnames
- Sephardic Jewish surnames
- Serbian Jewish surnames
- Sephardic Jewish surnames
- Bene Israel surnames
- Hebrew surnames
- Ashkenazi Jewish surnames
- Russian Jewish surnames
- Ukrainian Jewish surnames
- Moroccan Jewish surnames
- Macedonian Jewish surnames
- Bulgarian Jewish surnames
- Hungarian Jewish surnames
- Armenian surnames
- Persian surnames
- Caucasian surnames
- Chechen surnames
- Mountain Jewish surnames
Explore more about Bukharan Jewish surnames
- Search Your Last Name at MyHeritage
- Alexander Bayder. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire: Revised Edition. at Avotaynu
- Jewish Encyclopedia of Russian Surnames at JewishGen
References
- ↑ Бухарские евреи
- ↑ Bukharian Jewish Surnames Project Dashboard on Geni