I'm 'Catholic' though i prefer the term religiously flexible. My mother's family has a tradition of being Jewish by way of Curacao. Work hard and improve constantly. names. We came from canary islands, too.But our last name is not on the list of sephardic last names. Medieval Spanish Jewish Surnames - Sephardic gen The second influx came in the 1950s, when thousands of Cuban Jews (most of Eastern-European descent) fled after Fidel Castro came to power. and my father was from Bayamon P.R.. Would love more info. We are conducting a massive research with our team of historians using primary source documents, archives and scripts, which means well track your surname centuries back to any document, transactions or any legal act from that era. Jewish Community Center of Puerto Rico/Shaare Zedeck Synagogue. And her last name was Lafontaine and I do not know who my father is but I know he was from Bayamon P.R.. Lists of surnames allegedly accepted by the Spanish government for their former citizenship scheme are hoax. I would love to get tested for the research. While they have somewhat backtracked over recent years, I suspect that many or most of their followers were originally drawn in from researching their surname online and reading that it is Jewish. Sometimes, a surname can be traced to a converso with so much frequency that one should not overlook the probability of that surname stemming from Jewish lineage. Puerto Rico Virtual Jewish History Tour (~), From ETSI, attempted to provide the ports of departure of these immigrants. She had dark skin and hair and my fathers family didn't welcome her nor her children because of her skin. Hello my grandfather was lopez hernandez and my grandmother gonzalez rivera we are from san sebastian Itoo feel a great love to Israel my name is ana, My great great grandparents were from spain my grandfather was lopez hernandez and my grandmother was gonzalez rivera my mother was born in san sebastian my grandfather had a farm in mago. We are from Maunabo, PR, surnames: Rosario, Delgado, Collazo, Lebron, Baez, de Jesus, Beltran. It would be ridiculous for someone to carry a surname that might draw negative attention. Cagigas. If you have Sephardic/Portuguese This book provides genealogy Apparently Catholics using the same surname didnt count! : : 03-3724722 055-9781688 office@lawoffice.org.il From the book, Contact us for legal assistance with your application process. Sephardic surnames were popularized by a well-meaning, if confused, Ashkenazi amateur genealogist in the early days of the Internet in the late 1990s. What are common Puerto Rican last names? - TipsFolder.com I love the fact that I m not the only puertorrican searching for answers, who knows this can be inspired for Jehovah himself, I love Jesus and I always going to be Christian but I also love Israel and I will love to know if my greatgrampa is a Jewish decendant. (there may be variations between c and z, v and b; occurrence of which can be converted to C or Z, etc.). Nowhere in this blog did it state one is Jewish TODAY if results are XYZ. My family on my mom's side is Chacon, Acevedo, and Olaverra from aricebo too. In Puerto Rico, many people already by the 1800s were being documented by the church and I have never seen synagogue records or any other type of church/temple, etc. Thank you. Jose Maria Abecassis. At least 70 percent cent of the people in Puerto Rico are Hebrews.We are not Jews from Europe. Our last names are: From Aguas Buenas:Santiago Neriz and from Comerio: Vazquez Colon. You will be able to see for yourself when I get this posting problem on the website resolved tomorrow.Nancy Cuevas Guzmangenesischapter32@yahoo.com, Nancy,If your brother is Gilbert Cuevas, then he is also a match to me - 2nd-3rd cousin.Carmen Gonzalez. from the book, A Origem Judaica dos Brasileiros, by Jose Geraldo Rodrigues de [3] The majority settled in the island's capital, San Juan, where in 1942 they established the first Jewish Community Center of Puerto Rico.[13]. Even though my mother's family carries the Levi surname from Curacao I was never accepted as a Jew, in fact, I was not ALLOWED to go to Orthodox Conversion nor receive a "Right of Return" even in 2009. Most of us have Biblical names.My parents taught us to respect the Jews and never speak ill of them..My Dad used to wear white shirts and black hats..he ran errands for them. This historians team, along with our immigration lawyers in Madrid, can help you obtain this certificate of origin, proving the sephardic offspring of your surname. are in alphabetical order. I'm a Sephardic Jew. century. The Sephardic Que me aconseja? Also it is interesting to note, many believe as much as 40% of Puerto Rico is Sephardic Jewish descent from Converso/Crypto Jews who fled the Inquisition. The first large group of Jews to settle in Puerto Rico were refugees fleeing Germanoccupied Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. Contact Us Our law offices specialize in immigration law. I am glad that I found someone like you to do these discoveries..I would like more info. Be prepared My family last names are Rodriguez, Ayala, Rivera, Alvarado, Ramos, Soto,Ramos, Medina, and Jiminez. History of the Jews in Latin America and the Caribbean, "Crypto Jews in Puerto Rico Welcomed by Reform Community", "Archivo General de Puerto Rico: Documentos", "Puerto Rico y Curazao: The Brugman Family", "Carlism's Defense of the Church in Spain, 1833-1936", The Virtual Jewish History Tour Puerto Rico, "Puerto Rico's Jews planting roots on an island with little Jewish history", "H. Toppel, 84, supermarket mogul, philanthropist". into Sephardic families are listed here. Sephardic Jewish Genealogy Family History of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish diaspora. Here is a list of common Sephardic Jewish last names. interchangeably. Soy Roser Pars Fuster, xueta y estoy interesada en el proyecto. Raizes Judaicas I remember been mad at him while he was telling me, because he did not wanted my Palestinian future stepdad to call me at his house.My mother hid from me the Jewish ancestry, because as she said she wanted me to be raised catholic. at a personal level. My name is Sharissa Jimenez. I'm glad I wasn't the only one searching for my roots :). I am Carlos Morales from Puerto Rico. The Jeff Malka Sephardic Collection Sephardim.com Namelist. So much so, that now a days Christians dont even know they have Jewish traditions within their family due to these dark times. By the way our last name is Torres-Alvarado, my mom is Rodriguez, and yes its has Jewish descent..I have my ancestry.com family tree project done and I was very surprised to see that my tribe is Benjamin and part Judah. The Sotomayors in Puerto Rico People with the surnames Sotomayor and Coln have been in Puerto Rico since the conquest and early colonization in the 1500s. My grandparents are original from Lares. (Includes Holland, St. Thomas, St. Croix and Nevis, Curacao, St Eustatia, St Maarten, Jamaica, Argentina, Brazil, etc.). Searching for the Sephardic hi - Genealogy.com Context is important in workout out whether an ancestor was Jewish. I rememver as a child killing her chickens kosher style and praying over them and when asked she said thats how God wanted us to do it. It started making sense why we did things that I thought was Puerto Rican culture which in reality is Jewish Culture. My e-mail is Yovannakis@aol.comThank you. Nothing is just black and white in genealogy and when it comes to Sephardic Jews it can definitely be hard to tell. Only those names that were identified as Sephardic Jews or names of the Sephardim (and their residences) mentioned were, sometimes, One of the consequences of these disturbances was the mass forced conversion of Jews. We are seven in this immediate family and to convert by a Rabbi cost thousands of dollars according to some I have spoken to online. In my family the male names David and Daniel, Jewish heros, tend to repeat down the generations. Contact us for legal assistance with your application process. Rich in names and and history I was born in Aguadilla and my husband is from Utuado. My last name is David.There are a couple of hundred families in the Coamo area withthat last name. of the Sephardic Jews) from the site Comunidad Israelita Pincipado de The majority of them fled to Miami, Florida; however, Puerto Rico also received a large influx of Jewish emigres from Cuba. I no longer recall the last name, most likely his widow will remember, but it sounded Ashkenazi in origin. of many Sephardic families in Spain, England and The Netherlands. Which is which for the Mallorcan-Jewish? My husband is Puerto Rican and his ancestors are Spanish from Spain..Our Teenagers don't look hispanic, they look Jewish, blue eyes, green eyes, Ivory skin, blonde hair and very tall kids. Austurias. Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of theCrypto-Jews, by David Gitlitz. Having met with Dr. Ricardo Allegria personally in his home anad discussing the theme the question remains: Why did these people flee Europe ? He did the dna test and sure enough found out he was Jewish. From the book, In order to provide additional evidences (as the law dictates), interested person must supply probe of membership of belonging to the Sephardic community, and more specific, descendants of those expelled in 1492. Shalom. Therefore you will find that many people by that last name in New York actually have Puerto Rican family ties. On Sephardic Surnames - Hollander-Waas Jewish Heritage Services am I Jewish.? These characteristics could be physical addressing a persons hair color, height, complexion, weight such as: - someone fierce, severe; flail, a weapon , - person who makes or drives cars or wagons (Carter), - likely from fraguado; the process of concrete setting or hardening, - row perpendicular to front in army formation, from the given name; 'of Nazareth' , one who made pilgrimage to Holy Land and brought back a palm leaf . I would like to volunteer. I a have been very interested and done much research also on this topic concerning that we may have sephardic ancestry. Hola me he mirado el tema, que es muy interesante, pero el planteamiento me parece catico.Hasta finales del siglo XVIII los mallorquines no emigran, significativamente, a America y para entonces la Inquisicin ya no pintaba nada.Efectivamente en Mallorca habia un grupo converso bien conocido, los xuetas que solo portan 15 apellidos distintos, el resto de descendientes de judios, que seguro que los hay, hace siglos que no tienen ni idea de ese origen, as que dificilmente se fueron a ningn lugar para huir de la persecucin, y si lo hubieran hecho habrian practicado libremente su religin oculta, no? 1679-89 (40b), and births of daughters 1679-99(40c) (~), Conversos on My ancestors were from Barcelona. If you have found this page on Sephardic surnames useful, then please consider making a small donation to support this site and my work. Recently, while doing DNA testing and using family finder services. A list of 3,500 names used by Jews, or We are at your disposal to provide certificates of those surnames or any additional information. 3. Puerto Rico has the largest and richest Jewish community in the Caribbean, with over 3,000 Jewish inhabitants. To my, surprise, it came back J2a1b, wich is a marker for Ashkenazi, Sephardic Jews. The names have been provided by the author. [7] They practiced Crypto-Judaism which meant that they secretly practiced Judaism while publicly professing to be Roman Catholic. Now this one is tough! (~), From the book, I am a blond, blue-eyed, fair-skinned woman and even I found Israel to be the most racist place on Earth. Apellidos judios en listas de penitenciados por el Santo Oficio, de los censos de las juderias y de My mom dad come from Canary island. We are Hebrews who originally lived in the city of Jerusalem. Hi Nancy, You are also shown on my FTDNA FF, as a 3rd cousin. Spain gained control of Islas Canarias in the 16th Century, so its possible the Batista family in Puerto Rico is descendant of jews.