Karenin, Levin, (Oblonsky, Vronsky) -- Jewish surnames ?

[henh...@gmail.com]

I just watched the recent [ Anna Karenina ] movie.


Karenin, Levin, (Oblonsky, Vronsky) ........
to me, these surnames sound Jewish,

but I guess
none of the main characters are Jewish, right?

HH

[Oleg Smirnov]

henh...@gmail.com,
<news:6cb7fa46-7d2b-4909...@googlegroups.com>

> I just watched the recent [ Anna Karenina ] movie.

It's not cool, better read the book.

> Karenin, Levin, (Oblonsky, Vronsky) ........
> to me, these surnames sound Jewish,
>
> but I guess
> none of the main characters are Jewish, right?

No they are not so. Rather most of the Ashkenazi Jews'
surnames sound Slavic (or Germanic). That's because they
came to you from those places.

The suffixes "-in" and "-sky" are among typical ones for
the Russian surnames. "-In" is more typical for central
Russia. "-Sky" usually implies a surname originated in
Poland, or in other western areas of the Russian empire
(including the present day Ukraine and Belarus). The
Jewishness may be sometimes manifested by a Yiddish root
of a surname. But here that's not the case.

"Levin" is 'whose one' from the Russian name Lev (it'd be
Leo in Western manner). Most of the modern Levin's are
Russian Jewish originated from Levi[te], but Tolstoy did
not mean that. "Karena" in archaic Russian language could
be a nick of someone with hazel eyes / red hair etc.

"Oblonsky" means someone from Obolon (an area that is in
the present day Ukraine) and "Vronsky" means crow-like or
raven-like (from Polish "wron" / Russian "voron").

[henh...@gmail.com]

Hello... Thank you for the commentary.

I later realized that [Karenin] sounds Jewish to me, largely
because of Julius Karekin -- a charming character (rich capitalist) in a TV show.

In the show, I think this Jewish character was also an atheist.



--------- Upstairs, Downstairs: Season 2: Episode 11

.......... luckily for the Bellamy household they were saved from their fate by a Jewish gentleman who was seeing their daughter lady Elizabeth Bellamy. they at first were horrified at the thought of their daughter being associated with a Jewish man but when that man saved them from being evicted they were surprised but very grateful. i think it was a very moving episode.



Wikipedia >>> Julius Karekin

Portrayed by Donald Burton, Julius Karekin (born 1875) is a wealthy social climber and a very knowledgeable and talented stockbroker of Armenian descent, who has an affair with the recently separated Elizabeth Kirbridge.

He saves Elisabeth from imprisonment by mentioning her family and connections to the police after she takes part in a suffragist attack on a government minister's London home. He uses her to further his career and contacts, and gives Elisabeth a hat shop in Mayfair's Brook Street and successfully manages the stocks she inherited from a recently deceased great-aunt.

To further his influence, Karekin buys the lease on 165 Eaton Place when it is put up for sale upon Lord Southwold's death, subsequently giving the deed to Elizabeth to help save her parents from eviction. Owing to Richard Bellamy's connections, he becomes a good friend of Arthur Balfour, a financial adviser to the Tory Party, and a candidate for membership in the exclusive Pall Mall men's club, the Athenaeum.




On Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 6:15:28 AM UTC-7, Oleg Smirnov wrote:
> henh..........

[henh...@gmail.com]

Here's a related tidbit I found.


Levin == This surname became very popular as a Jewish name thanks to its use in "Anna Karenina" by Tolstoy about the time Jews in Russia were taking surnames. The name looks Jewish to us and now so many Russian Jews are named Levin, Levinskiy, etc. that Russians think it's a Jewish name.


------- I think the above text is a direct, exact quote from this book:

"The Origin of Jewish Surnames" by Benzion Kaganoff


Kaganoff was American, so
[The name looks Jewish to us ]
means... The name looks Jewish to us (Americans).


HH