possible Hebrew meaning of Spanish surname

[JRCohen]

Hi, a colleague of mine in northwestern has been told his surname is
among converso names for the area and he asked me whether it means
anything in Hebrew. In Castilian it's spelled Jambrina, but the j (kh)
in today's Castilian was pronounced "sh" or "zh" earlier on. Does anyone
have any idea? Thanks, Judith (Cohen)

[Shemuel]

Judith,

I did a short research...

Jambrina is a small village in the county of Zamora (Castilla y Leon, Spain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamora_%28province%29) not too far from Salamanca, a flourishing Jewish community once and Portugal. Zamora is the Moorish transformation of Visigoth Semure, Az/s z/samur. Where moors were, there were also Jews, usually, but Zamora is not specially known for its Jewish past. Or at least I don't know of it.

While taking origin/place names was common for Jewish/Arab/Muslim cultures as there was no concept of "last name", Jambrina seems to have a local etymology:

Janus, a Roman god (who also gave the name for January) and brina from the Celtic briga - village. so the village of Janus.
source: http://www.torguvi.com/localidad.asp?id=37&l=v

While it is known, as you said, that j was once pronounced sh (at least in some dialects) here J would came from the simple latin "I"  - Ianus, if the etymology is, of course, correct. Which I somehow doubt, given that some old documents have Xanbrina (think of Mexico) Sambrina and Samboina. http://www.calzadadevaldunciel.es/web_anterior/etnologia/toponizam.htm If you (or your friend) read Spanish, do read this study.

-ina is a diminutive particle, making the name something like little sambra. or shambra. or little Gema (once Sema), the neighbouring village.

Yet another source states that would come from Amberina (on the mill stream/creek) - not sure how to understand this.

All this being said, the name of a village does not make a good candidate for a Jewish name, as Jews were rarely found outside towns. However, you say that there are some conversos with this name, so I might be wrong. In any case, I found no proof that it might conme from some hebrew word; I really doubt it, as it has a "root" s/sh-m-b-r which I cannot find in neither Hebrew nor Arabic.

Here is a guy which seems to have something to say: http://www.tarbutsefarad.com/en/noticias-zamora/5156-jesus-jambrina-asume-la-representacion-de-tarbut-sefarad-en-zamora.html


hope it helps...

Shemuel

[Centro Isaac Campantón]

Hello Judith, here is an interesting entry from the Dictionary of Sephardic Surnames (New Jersey, 2009, p. 280) by Anna Rosa Campagnano, Paulo Valadares, and Guilherme Faiguenboim:

Hambran; Jerusalem, Livorno; FIL, JPF; v. Hambrum

Hambrum; Maroc, Rio de Janeiro, SIEF; v. Hambram

On page 281 there are other transliterations like Hamran,Hamra, Hamron, Benbamron.

Although it is rare, there are references to Jam (Agur in Hebrew, see Proverb 30) as a Jewish name among them North Africa R. Samuel ben Jacob ibn Jam (12th century), who had contacts with sages from Spain, being Abraham ibn Ezra, one of them.

Greetings.

[Alexandre Beider]

1. There is no need searching for a Hebrew meaning of a surname borne by a Converso. 

At the end of the 15th century, during the conversion, former Jews were necessarily replacing their surnames by the new ones, purely Christian.

At the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century, a few cases are known when Iberian Jews were keeping their previous surnames even after the conversion. Yet, one-two generations later these families were also changing their surnames.

Also note that even before the conversions, only a few surnames borne by Jews were based on Hebrew. A large majority of surnames were based on various Iberian idioms or Arabic.

2. Jambrina in Spain and Ham(b)ran/Hambron  are totally independent surnames.

---

De : Centro Isaac Campantón <centroc...@gmail.com>
À : Jewish Languages <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>
Envoyé le : Dimanche 20 novembre 2016 17h59
Objet : [Jewish Languages] Re: possible Hebrew meaning of Spanish surname

[manast...@yahoo.com]

My friend Sasha just does not understand the basic point.  EVERY name and every word is from Hembrew.

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[Sabar, Yona]

… Or Shembrew 

[Jules Levin]

If one believes that human language has a single origin (held by some
Russian linguists, who try to reconstruct "proto-world"), just as
genetically H. sapiens has a single male and single female progenitor
[living millennia apart], one can call this language proto-anything,
e.g., proto-Hebrew, or antediluvial Hebrew, or as Roman Jakobson said in
another context "Ivan Ivanovich".

Jules Levin

On 11/20/2016 11:55 AM, Sabar, Yona wrote:
> … Or Shembrew
>
> From: manasterramer via Jewish Languages
> <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>>
> Reply-To: "manast...@yahoo.com <mailto:manast...@yahoo.com>"
> <manast...@yahoo.com <mailto:manast...@yahoo.com>>
> Date: Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 11:37 AM

> To: "albe...@yahoo.fr <mailto:albe...@yahoo.fr>" <albe...@yahoo.fr
> <mailto:albe...@yahoo.fr>>
> Cc: "centroc...@gmail.com <mailto:centroc...@gmail.com>"
> <centroc...@gmail.com <mailto:centroc...@gmail.com>>, Jewish
> Languages <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>>

> Subject: Re: [Jewish Languages] Re: possible Hebrew meaning of Spanish
> surname
>
> My friend Sasha just does not understand the basic point. EVERY name
> and every word is from Hembrew.
>
> On Nov 20, 2016, at 7:31 PM, 'Alexandre Beider' via Jewish Languages
> <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>> wrote:
>
>> 1. There is no need searching for a Hebrew meaning of a surname borne
>> by a Converso.
>>
>> At the end of the 15th century, during the conversion, former Jews
>> were necessarily replacing their surnames by the new ones, purely
>> Christian.
>> At the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century,
>> a few cases are known when Iberian Jews were keeping their previous
>> surnames even after the conversion. Yet, one-two generations later
>> these families were also changing their surnames.
>>
>> Also note that even before the conversions, only a few surnames borne
>> by Jews were based on Hebrew. A large majority of surnames were based
>> on various Iberian idioms or Arabic.
>>
>> 2. Jambrina in Spain and Ham(b)ran/Hambron are totally independent
>> surnames.
>>
>>

>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *De :* Centro Isaac Campantón <centroc...@gmail.com
>> <mailto:centroc...@gmail.com>>
>> *À :* Jewish Languages <jewish-l...@googlegroups.com
>> <mailto:jewish-l...@googlegroups.com>>
>> *Envoyé le :* Dimanche 20 novembre 2016 17h59
>> *Objet :* [Jewish Languages] Re: possible Hebrew meaning of Spanish

>> <mailto:jewish-languag...@googlegroups.com>.

>> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/jewish-languages.
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