What is VEL?
David Goldman
originating in Poland. Does anyone know what this means?
Thanks,
David Goldman
da...@erols.com
mailto:da...@POP.EROLS.COM
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Visit the JewishGen website: http://www.jewishgen.org
Warren Blatt
> On a couple of occasions I have seen the word VEL between two names
> originating in Poland. Does anyone know what this means?
"vel" is the Latin word meaning 'also known as'. It was used
between alternate surnames in Polish civil records.
See Chapter 1 of Beider's "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from
the Kingdom of Poland", or see Lauren Davis' article "Alternate
Surnames in Russian Poland" in "Avotaynu", Summer 1996.
Warren
Warren Blatt
Boston, MA
<wbl...@jewishgen.org>
mailto:wbl...@jewishgen.org
Lauren B. Davis DDL OMNI
David Goldman wrote:
>On a couple of occasions I have seen the word VEL between two names
>originating in Poland. Does anyone know what this means?
>Thanks,
This is my favorite question 8-)
"vel" is the latin word for "also known as" and indicates that
the person(s) in the record was known by more than one name.
It was more common in certain areas of Poland than others.
You must look at records for BOTH surnames. If the name you
are seeing is SMITH vel GREEN, you may also find records for
GREEN vel SMITH, just SMITH, and/or just GREEN. Not all branches
of the family may have used both surnames.
Look at the JewishGen infofile "Alternate Surnames in Russian
Poland." There was also an extensive article by the same name
in the summer 1996 issue of Avotaynu.
Lauren
Lauren B. Eisenberg Davis
mer...@access.digex.net
mailto: