How can you tell if a last name is German-Jewish and not just German?

Answer by  wrestler88 (192)

Berger is Jewish. Burger is not. Typically.

Answer by  Anonymous

Really hard to tell. Before the early 19th century, many German Jews did not have surnames, as those were not a feature in ancient Jewish culture. The Jews were then made to pick a name, or were simply assigned one - often rather strange ones, or made-up ones.

Answer by  patti (29325)

Most likely you cannot. There were a lot of Jews in Germany. Today, with varied spellings and changes over the generations, there's no way to tell.

Answer by  altos (224)

I heard that a last name that ends in mann, with two n's is German, and man, one n, is German-Jewish.

Answer by  shalom (271)

Usually, -ski is Polish or Russian, and -sky is Jewish.

Answer by  Anonymous

how about surname Bettin ? Jewish or not?