Few Jews live today in the same place their ancestors did five generations back in the family tree. The Holocaust and Jewish migration have rewritten the map of Jewish settlement, causing many Jews to believe it is impossible to trace their Jewish roots back to the old country. This is a misconception, however. Clues to your Jewish ancestry can be found in a wide variety of records, as well as in an understanding of Jewish naming conventions, surname adoption, migration patterns and other resources specific to Jewish culture.

Where Did They Come From?

While most of the early Jewish settlers in America were Sephardic, many coming from Spain and other areas around the Mediterranean, most Jews living in America today are Ashkenazic, descended from Jews who emigrated from Germany and Eastern Europe between 1880 and the early 1920s. The majority of these Jewish immigrants were from Russia and Russian-held portions of Poland, escaping discrimination and pogroms (extreme persecutions). Nearly two million Jews had arrived in America by 1924, when the National Origins Quota went into effect, severely restricting further Jewish immigration to America until it was lifted in 1948.

The immigration restrictions of the late 1920s prevented many Jews from coming to the United States, but smaller waves of Ashkenazic Jews (Yiddish speaking) continued to arrive from Eastern Europe (mainly the areas of the old German and Russian Empires) throughout the 20th century, many of them fleeing the Holocaust and other effects of World War II.

A second group of Ashkenazim migrated to North and South America from Western European nations such as France and Germany, beginning as early as 1840.

A second major group of Jewish immigrants to North America are the Sepharadim (Ladin speaking). These Sephardic Jews left Spain and Portugal to settle in a variety of nations, including the Amsterdam, Western Europe (especially Great Britain) and the Balkans. Often categorized with the Sephardic Jews, Oriental Jews are primarily from Africa and the Arab nations, such as Iraq and Iran.

Jewish Naming Patterns

Historically, the idea of permanent family surnames among Jewish families began among Sephardic Jews in Spain, Italy and Portugal as early as the 10th century, but was not common practice among the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe and Germany until much later.

Orthodox Jews often still favor traditional naming patterns, in which family names are passed down from generation to generation. It is traditional in Ashkenazi Jewish families to name a baby after a relative who has died, to honor his or her memory. The name may not always be identical, but will often be a variation or possibly sound similar to the ancestor's give name. In contrast, Sephardic have called their children after living relatives.

If your Jewish family surname is very unusual consult Alexander Beider's dictionaries of Jewish surnames from the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Poland, and Galicia. You might get lucky! Some surnames are found only in a particular locality in Eastern Europe.

Begin at Home

Jewish genealogy is best begun by interviewing the eldest members of your family. Ask them about family names, where they lived, where they came from (town name, if possible), the approximate date of arrival, and the synagogues they attended. After gathering as much as you can from your living relatives, clues to your Jewish origins can be found in the following records:

• Census Records - Many census records around the world include details on an individual's country or place of birth. Census records are also helpful for the information they provide on neighbors and relatives. Often a set of Jewish immigrants from the same ancestral town will be found as a cluster. In the U.S., 1900 and later censuses include a column for year of immigration, which can lead to passenger arrival records, as well as a column for naturalization.
• Passenger Lists - In the United States, passenger lists after 1893 contain a column for "Last Residence," which might be town, province, or country, depending upon the ship. Lists after 1906 always contain a "Birthplace" column, city and country.
• Naturalization Records - Naturalization records in the United States can provide info on the country of origin. After 1906, these records are especially helpful, often include such details as the date and exact place of birth; residence before immigration; the date, port, and ship of arrival in the US; and often the immigrant's name as listed on the passenger manifest (many Jewish immigrants changed their name soon after arrival, so this is a very important clue for records in the old country).

Additional clues to your Jewish ancestor's origin in the old country can be found in marriage registers, old letters and diaries, photographs, obituaries and probate records.

I've Located a Town Name, Now What?

Finally locating your immigrant's town of origin on a naturalization record or marriage document is such a thrill. But actually translating that town name to a location on the map can sometimes be quite challenging, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. Place names have changed frequently over the past 200 years. The current town name may not even be similar to the one you found on the record, so it is necessary to use specialty dictionaries and historical gazetteers to learn the current name of your ancestor's town or village.

One of the best ways to locate an ancestral town of origin in Eastern Europe is ShtetlSeeker, a searchable gazetteer of Central and Eastern European localities that are known to have had Jewish inhabitants. This free search tool from JewishGen offers multiple ways to search for a place name, including variant spellings and a partial name.