What is the etiology of the surname "Dann"

[William Sher]

My mother's maiden name was "Dann" I am wondering what its etiology
may have been. I have found virtually no Jews with that name, either in
the U.S. or appearing in any of the Galician records I have searched.

I did find, however, what may have been one of my grandfather's
relatives. Among the business records in Yavorov, Poland in the 1920s,
I found a listing for the name "A Dann." After the name was a
designation of the kind of business -- there appeared the word "obuwie"
in Polish. Can anyone confirm whether this indicates the business was a
retail shoe store? Or does it mean something else?

William Sher
Silver Spring, Maryland
ws...@erols.com

Also searching for SHER/SCHER from Galicia, perhaps in the vicinity of
Kolomyya (now Ukraine); and in Philadelphia, PA.

mailto:ws...@erols.com
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[HALMAR9999]

Have you checked "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland"
or "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire"? Both are by
Alexander Beider. The Call Number if these books are at your local library is
929.42. I have found these dictionaries to be very helpful lately.

Harold Asner
Overland Park, KS
HALMA...@AOL.COM

mailto:

[A.Sharon]

William Sher wrote:
>
> My mother's maiden name was "Dann" I am wondering what its etiology
> may have been. I have found virtually no Jews with that name, either in
> the U.S. or appearing in any of the Galician records I have searched.
>
> I did find, however, what may have been one of my grandfather's
> relatives. Among the business records in Yavorov, Poland in the 1920s,
> I found a listing for the name "A Dann." After the name was a
> designation of the kind of business -- there appeared the word "obuwie"
> in Polish. Can anyone confirm whether this indicates the business was a
> retail shoe store? Or does it mean something else?
>
> William Sher
> Silver Spring, Maryland
> ws...@erols.com

Just to confirm your correct observation.
"Obuwie" in Polish means literally: shoes or boots. Retail shoe store is
known as "sklep obuwia" or "obuwniczy sklep".
But in records, listed alphabetically in Polish and French in pre W.W.II
business directories, shoe stores are listed under Polish "obuwie" (and
French "chaussures"). This is to distinguish from shoemakers and shoe
repairs businesses listed under "szewc" (French "cordonniers").

As to the ethymology of "Dann". One can speculate that this name has
something in common with biblical Dan, but since majority of
Galicyaners' names sound mostly German and less Slavic and seldom
Hebraic/Aramaic, my educated guess is that this name is just a plain
German "dann" (next, afterwards), like in "dann und wann" (sometimes).

Alexandder Sharon
Calgary, Alberta

[A.Sharon]

JPLo...@aol.com wrote:
>
> Have you checked "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of
> Poland" or "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire"?
> Both are by Alexander Beider. The Call Number if these books are at
> your local library is 929.42. I have found these dictionaries to be
> very helpful lately.

Those books a great source of information, indeed.
Town Jaworow, where Dann family is from, has nothing in common with the
Kingdom of Poland or Russian Empire.
Galicia was a bit different planet in a Jewish world.

Alexander Sharon