Correction, Jan. 29, 2014: Some of the sources used in the reporting of this piece were unreliable and resulted in a number of untruths and inaccuracies. The original post remains below, but a follow-up post outlining the errors, as well as further explanation, can be found here. Ashkenazic Jews were among the last Europeans to take family names. Some German-speaking Jews took last names as early
![[CORRECTED] Jewish Surnames Explained](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/d8f11ac94a101da911d4eb3ba32c4ec6a5ca2216/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fcompote.slate.com%2Fimages%2Fff3f6c4b-5e9b-4c77-a53e-991c4f58d063.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1560)