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'), also spelled Cohn, Kohn, or Kahn, 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] and the following information discusses only that origin. Cohen is one of the four Samaritan last names that exist in the modern day. 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.