The Story of Sephardic Surnames: Fruit Trees, Catholic Themes and ‘Expert Lists’

Spain and Portugal's 2015 “Right of Return" citizenship laws for descendants of expelled Jews caused an explosion of interest in Sephardic genealogy. The laws addressed the descendants of those expelled from Spain in 1492 and/or forcibly baptized in Portugal in 1496/1497.

Many people interested in the possibility of an EU passport started to ask if they were eligible or not, and began to think about their family histories. Along came a list that purported to be an authoritative register of all Sephardic surnames, claiming that anyone with a name on this list would be automatically eligible for Spanish citizenship.

Another tale emerged that, in order to ‘hide’, converted Jews had taken the names of fruit trees, plants, and Catholic themes.

In this presentation, Michael discusses the story and history of Sephardic Surnames and separate fact from fiction. Michael Waas, M.A., is the co-founder of Hollander-Waas Jewish Heritage Services, a Jewish heritage and genealogy research firm. He also volunteers his time as the anthropologist and historian of the Avotaynu Genetic Census of the Jewish People Project. He is an Admin of The Sephardic Diaspora group on Facebook.

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