Historically, surnames were little encountered in Europe until the middle ages. Only then did the practice of adopting a family name become prevalent. Jews began to use surnames much later, towards the end of the 18th century.
A German act of 1787 required all Jews to register a permanent family surname of Germanic origin by 1808. Often families adopted names to suit religious occupations. Kahn, and its many variations, for example, means ‘priest.’ Other European nations introduced similar laws.
Kahn, along with many other names, is a derivation of Cohen, a name coming from Kohein, the Hebrew word for priest. Jews from Germany are known as Ashkenazic.
For more information on customs relating to Jewish names, the following website is recommended:
“A German act of 1787 required all Jews to register a permanent family surname of Germanic origin by 1808”. The actual act was the napoleonic decree of july 20th 1808, known as “Décret de Bayonne”, and the name change dates october 12th 1808 in Rhineland Palatinate (at that time “département de la Sarre”) http://www.genami.org/culture/fr_decret-bayonne.php
Hi! I have read that Kahn could be of the priestly class, but I have also read that Kahn is also mistaken as the priestly class when it is really the term for “small boat” in German; thus denoting a ship building and seafaring people. I have seen family crests with small boats to prove this further. Does anyone have any information on this? I truthfully don’t see why they couldn’t both be of the priestly class as well as be a ship making and seafaring people. I would be very interested in what anyone has to say on the matter though.