Cohen

For other uses, see Cohen (disambiguation).
For a list of persons with the surname Cohen, see List of people with surname Cohen.

Cohen (Hebrew: כֹּהֵן, romanized: kōhēn, lit. 'priest') is a surname of Jewish, Samaritan[1] and Biblical origins (see: Kohen). It is a very common Jewish surname (the most common in Israel).[2] Cohen is one of the four Samaritan last names that exist in the modern day.[citation needed] Many Jewish immigrants entering the United States or United Kingdom changed their name from Cohen to Cowan (sometimes spelled "Cowen"), as Cowan was a Scottish name.[3] The name "Cohen" is also used as a given name.[4]

  1. ^ Schreiber, Mordecai (2011). The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia. Taylor Trade Publications.
  2. ^ אלון, אמיר (4 February 2019). "למ"ס: אלה שמות המשפחה הנפוצים בישראל". ynet (in Hebrew).
  3. ^ Krupnick, Mark (1993). "Assimilation in Recent American Jewish Autobiographies". Contemporary American Jewish Literature. 34 (3). University of Wisconsin Press: 451–474. doi:10.2307/1208683. JSTOR 1208683.
  4. ^ "What's the Deal With People Using Cohen as a First Name?". November 22, 2019.