As Jews moved from their homeland to other lands, they often changed their given and surnames, either out of necessity (to match the paperwork used to cross borders or avoid Soviet army subscription), or to adopt a name that would sound less foreign in their new home.

The following index of names may be useful when trying to untangle the names found on various documents and in family histories as you try to reconstruct individuals and affiliations. The initial information in this index comes from gleaning information off of posts in various forums. If you have any names to contribute, please send them to me for inclusion on this site.

 

Given Name	Permutations, Evolutions, and Possible Equivalents
Anschel Yid	Alfred Eng
Beile Yid	Bessie, Elizabeth Eng
Chaya Yid	Ida, Irene Eng
Chone Yid/Heb	Elchonon (Elchanan) Heb /Yid
Fana Rus	Feige Yid; Fancy, Fane, Fanny, Fay Eng; Fana Rus
Feige Yid	Fancy, Fane, Fanny, Fay Eng; Fana Rus
Fema, Fima Yid	Froim Yid, Efriam Heb
Hirsch Yid	Harry, Henry Eng
Israel Heb	Isidor/Isadore
Mordechai Yid	Matthew Eng; Motti, Matei Heb
Moshe Yid	Morris, Max Eng
Rayna Yid	Rina Heb
Wolf Yid	William Eng

Eng = English; Heb = Hebrew; Rus = Russian; Yid = Yiddish;
? = Unknown - may be adopted in different countries