Clan GORDON Litvaks
IAN BELLANY
Re-correspondence on the Lithuanian surname GORDON and possible Scottish
derivation. From THE CLAN ALMANAC by Charles Maclean ...leading Gordons
include Patrick GORDON (1635-1699) who was made a general in Tsar Peter
the Great's army. Is there any way of finding out if he had a Jewish
wife?
Wendy Bellany
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mailto:i.be...@lancaster.ac.uk
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JewishGen InfoFiles: <http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles>.
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Jonas Kuschner
There are different explanations for the _Jewish_ name GORDON.
G. Kessler (Die Familiennamen der Juden in Deutschland, Leipzig 1935)
explains it (p. 16f) as deriving from the name Jordan, or possibly as
a "verderbte Form" of the Roman emperor's name Gordianus. Kaganoff
mentions the possible derivation from Grodno - which does not seem
unlikely in a Lithuanian context - but prefers the explanation that
it comes from Russian "gorodin", townsman (from "gorod", town) (B. C.
Kaganoff, A Dictionary of Jewish Names and their History, New York
1977, p. 157f.)
Any connection to the Scottish name Gordon seems highly unlikely.
Jonas Kuschner
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mailto:jkus...@aleph.hjs.uni-heidelberg.de
Michael Tobias
IAN BELLANY writes
>Re-correspondence on the Lithuanian surname GORDON and possible Scottish
>derivation. From THE CLAN ALMANAC by Charles Maclean ...leading Gordons
>include Patrick GORDON (1635-1699) who was made a general in Tsar Peter
>the Great's army. Is there any way of finding out if he had a Jewish
>wife?
Over the past few years I think I have now posted this message at least
twice.
It is always a good idea to check the JewishGen Archives which are
searchable from our web site. You never know, your questions might have
been answered some time ago and you are not aware of it!
The surname GORDON appears in north-eastern Poland as well as Lithuania.
Michael Gordon explains the origin of his surname as follows (of course
this does not necessarily explain the origin of ALL GORDON families from
the area):
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From: Michael Gordon <m.go...@utoronto.ca>
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 01:59:57 -0500
Subject: Re: GORDON name in Lomza
I am aware that Gordon is a Jewish name taken by Jews in at least one if
not two Shtetles in Lithuiania, near Vilna (Vilna gebernia). The town of
my grandfather is Eshashok which has its whole Jewish population
exhiliated in I believe 1942. The name was taken during emancipation
because the land on which the shtetle existed had been given to a
general Patrick Dennis Gordon (I believe that is his name or something
like that) who had fought as a mercenary for the Czar and had been given
land in the Balkans as part of payment for battles won. He probably did
not live on the land but owned it.
When names for identification were required, many chose the name of the
father (all the names that end in ...ov or off), others of their trade,
and the Gordons of the owner of the land or landlord. My grandfather
told me that his grandfather was named Gordon. Some of these Gordon's
moved to Russia sometime later ( I had a great aunt who moved to Minsk
and then later on was sent back to marry my father's eldest brother- she
was originally from Eshashok as well and was surnamed Gordon). All the
confirmations that I have been able to come by have been accurate within
this framework which I have also read about in a book on the History of
Russia which I read in medical school in Scotland, but the name of the
book and author are long forgotten.
I hope this is of assistance to all those interested in Jewish
Geneology.
Michael Gordon
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Michael Tobias mic...@mtobias.demon.co.uk
mto...@mail.jewishgen.prg
Researching :
TOBIASZ, DORFMAN in Ostrolenka, Lomza, Nowogrod, Kolno, Myszyniec
MAJERKIEWICZ, CYTRON, RUDOWSKI in Checiny, Malogoszcz, Rembiechowa
BANKS in Taurage
ZELDEN in Odessa
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mailto:Mic...@mtobias.demon.co.uk