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    • Main contributor: Alina Borisov-Rebel
    Black and white image of Caucasus Jews by J.X.Raoult
    Caucasus Jews - J.X.Raoult.

    Mountain Jews, also known as Kavkazim, are a unique Jewish community originating from the eastern Caucasus — particularly Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and parts of Chechnya and Ingushetia. Their native language is Juhuri, a Jewish dialect of Persian. Their surnames reflect a centuries-long blending of Hebrew, Persian, Turkic, Arabic, Russian, and Caucasian influences, making them a rich subject for onomastic (name-based) study.

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    Derivations of Mountain Jewish surnames

    Image of the sinagogue of Mountain Jews in Baku
    Sinagogue of Mountain Jews in Baku, Azerbaijan.

    Notably, in the Juhuri language — the native language of Mountain Jews — there were no written surnames, nor even a concept of hereditary family names. Naming remained fluid and contextual. Before the 18th century, Mountain Jews did not use fixed surnames. In pre-surname times, during marriage registration, rabbis would refer to individuals using Hebrew-style patronymics:

    • Ammal ben Binyamin
    • Rosa bat Simkha

    They used “ben” or “bin” ("son of") with the father's name. In Azerbaijani regions, local forms like "oglu" (son of) or "kyzy" (daughter of) were used. Permanent surnames were adopted under pressure from Russian imperial law in the 18th–19th centuries. Women’s surnames were historically based on male family members, not formed independently. Many Mountain Jewish surnames end in “-ov” or “-ev”, which are Slavic patronymic suffixes meaning "son of." While these are commonly associated with Russians, they appear in surnames across many ethnic groups of the former Soviet Union — including Azerbaijanis, Dagestani peoples, Central Asians, and both Mountain and Ashkenazi Jews.

    Most Mountain Jewish surnames are patronymic, meaning they derive from male first names — usually of biblical or Talmudic origin in Hebrew or, less frequently, Aramaic. It is crucial to remember that Mountain Jewish given names derive from the following origins:

    • Biblical figures: Avraham, Eliyahu, Mordechai, Binyamin
    • Talmudic or Aramaic names: Hizkiyahu, Hananya
    • Modern Hebrew (post-biblical): Zevulun, Ariel
    • Persian influence: especially among women – Zulfiya, Malika, Bibikhanum

    Mountain Jewish surnames are most commonly formed from the name of the grandfather, a tradition shared with many peoples of Dagestan. For example:

    At the same time, large extended families sometimes merged into entire clan-based quarters (called taype, and more rarely tire, from the Karachay-Balkar word tıyre, meaning "district" or "quarter"). These kin groups often retained the name of a shared ancestor. For example, in Karachay:

    Bogatyryov and Myrzakhanov families represent such extended lineages. In Azerbaijan, Mountain Jewish surnames were often written in Turkified forms — for instance: Nisim-oğlu ("son of Nisim")

    In Kabardino-Balkaria, Mountain Jews preserved the Dagestani pattern of naming based on a grandfather’s name, unlike some of their kin in Karachay. This naming system often used the grandfather’s name as the root of the surname:

    Examples:

    Influence of surrounding cultures

    Some surnames are based on non-Jewish personal names, reflecting linguistic and cultural contact with local Muslim or Turkic communities. These often use Arabic or Persian roots.

    Examples:

    Emigration and name changes

    With emigration to Israel, the United States, and elsewhere, Mountain Jewish surnames often underwent changes:

    In the U.S., “-ov” and “-ev” became “-off” (e.g., Yusupov → Yusupoff)

    In Israel, families often dropped Russian suffixes and adopted shorter Hebrew-style surnames.

    Examples:

    Sometimes new names were formed by blending the given name and a shortened family name, with the Hebrew connector “bar” ("son of"): Bar-Shalom.[1]

    Jewish Settlements and local toponyms

    Mountain Jews established distinct settlements in only a few places — notably in Karachay and Dagestan. Some of these place names reflect a fascinating blend of Jewish, Turkic, and Arabic influences:

    Image of the Dagestan map
    Dagestan map

    Dzhegonas (Ust-Dzhegutinsky District, Karachay) – possibly derived from the Hebrew word kenesa (synagogue, from Beit Knesset), blended with the Karachay word dze (meaning "type of tree"), literally: “Wooden temple.”

    Madzhalis (Kaytagsky District, Dagestan) – from Arabic majlis, meaning “assembly” or “council.”

    Mamrach (Magaramkentsky District, Dagestan) – likely from Old Turkic-Bulgar and Karachay Mamurach, meaning “little bear.”

    Zhanjal-Kala (also in Magaramkentsky District) – from zhan (Turkified Persian jan, “soul”) and jal (“mane”), both used poetically in local languages.

    These place names, like the surnames themselves, reflect a unique multicultural synthesis — where Jewish identity merged with regional linguistic traditions.[2]


    Most common Mountain Jewish surnames

    • Abramov  -- son of Avraham (Abraham)
    • Shaulov -- son of Shaul (Saul)
    • Rafailov -- from the name Raphael
    • Isayev -- from Isaiah (Yeshayahu)
    • Pinkhasov -- from Pinchas
    • Khanukaev -- possibly from the name Hanukkah or Khanuk
    • Agaev -- from the honorific Ottoman/Persian title "Ağa", meaning "lord"
    • Aliev -- from the Persian/Arabic name Ali
    • Dadashov -- from Turkic/Persian name Dadash
    • Yusupov -- from Yusuf (Joseph)
    • Mirzoev -- from Persian Mirza (nobleman or scribe)

    Celebrities with Mountain Jewish surnames

    Image of Israeli singer Sarit Hadad
    Sarit Hadad

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ Фамилии горских евреев в прошлом и настоящем. STMEGI Media Group
    2. ↑ Горские евреи. Jewish.ru
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