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Last name Confusion "Judah"


Hussar27Threads: 1
Posts: 1
Joined: May 28, 09 		Edited by: Moderator   May 28, 09, 04:17 /  #
Hello, I was just wondering lately, the last name of the Polish Side of my family is Judah and the average look to them is normal peach colored skin, brown hair, and quite tall. Im confused though because I could trace my family back to the WW1 Era and their all Roman Catholic, I was just wondering If you guys could explain why my family has a jewish last name but are catholics and maybe if you smart enough what genetics might be part of my blood with tall brown haired people in my family, like are they more closely related to Hungarians or something or just your average day Pole, thanks in advance, Hussar27.
plk123Threads: 30
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Joined: Aug 29, 07 		  May 28, 09, 06:11 /  #
you were switched at birth.
IronsideThreads: 56
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Joined: Feb 26, 09 		  May 28, 09, 17:55 /  #
Hussar27:


Is your name is spelled properly ?Judah ?
As for tall brown haired people - what about it?
TorqThreads: 65
Posts: 4,023
Joined: Apr 10, 09 Gold Member MEMBER 		  May 28, 09, 18:03 /  #
Hussar27:
what genetics might be part of my blood with tall brown haired people in my family

If you're of Polish descent then it's really no way of figuring out your genetics.
Our country was an arena of countless wars throughout history and there were
Russian, Tatar, Swedish, German, Ukrainian, Turk and many other armies rolling
through our territory and adding to the gene pool. We've also had Scottish,
Italian, Jewish (and probably about a dozen of other ethnic groups) people
living here and mixing with the local population :)

Being a Pole has nothing to do with genetics, skin or hair colour. It's about
your language, culture, heart and sould - nothing else.
Polonius3Threads: 963
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Joined: Apr 11, 08 		  May 28, 09, 19:38 /  #
There was many a przechrzta in Old Poland. Many Jews converetd to Catholicism for various reasons and often they assumed a Polish-sounding name. Your case seems just the opposite -- Jewish name and Polish physical features. But so many different things went on in a country oft-invaded, partitioned, de-Polonised and re-Polonised, decimated, insurected, resurrected and shifted to the west... Without more facts and details your enigma will be impossible to unravel.
PlasticPoleThreads: 10
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Joined: May 28, 09 		  May 28, 09, 19:47 /  #
Perhaps you are related to King David.
IronsideThreads: 56
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Joined: Feb 26, 09 		  May 28, 09, 20:41 /  #
PlasticPole:
Perhaps you are related to King David.

and you to Hearst
aphrodisiacThreads: 19
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Joined: Apr 15, 09 		  May 28, 09, 20:42 /  #
Hussar27:
Judah

is this the original spelling or Americanized one. When did you family immigrated to the USA?
Hussar27Threads: 1
Posts: 1
Joined: May 28, 09 		Edited by: Hussar27   May 28, 09, 20:42 /  #
Thanks, I was just confused alittle why a catholic would keep their old jewish name when converted lol, thanks for the help. My family came here in the very early 1900's to very late 1800's and from what I know the name was kept the same, it wasnt americanized.
lesserThreads: 7
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Joined: Oct 19, 07 		  May 28, 09, 21:26 /  #
Hussar27:
Thanks, I was just confused alittle why a catholic would keep their old jewish name when converted lol,

There is no such thing like Catholic surname. If Jews changed their names, this is not because they converted to Catholicism.
aphrodisiacThreads: 19
Posts: 3,907
Joined: Apr 15, 09 		Edited by: aphrodisiac   May 28, 09, 21:46 /  #
lesser:
If Jews changed their names, this is not because they converted to Catholicism.

not true. Some Jewish people who converted to Catholic religion changed their names to Polish names often representing the time of their conversion eg. Kwiecien, marzec and so on. It looks like OP's family kept the original name (if not original then Jewish for sure). It is possible that the name Judah is not the original one, but sounds generic to me, but I guess there is no way to find out. Many Jewish people were converting to Catholic religion either due to social pressure, or the will to assimilate, but most likely it was the catholic pressure for sure. For some reason your family didn't change the name to a more Polish sounding one, so maybe they converted because it was purely their choice. Who knows?
They might have taken the name Judah as a marker of them having Jewish roots.

As for looks, well, there is no defined Jewish look as far as I know since many generation of Jews lived and mixed with other nationalities. The only way to find out is to have a DNA test, but even then you might fall into some ethnic groups.

An interesting story though:)
lesserThreads: 7
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Joined: Oct 19, 07 		  May 28, 09, 22:07 /  #
Of course some could make such personal decision but the point is that this was not obligatory or to be expected in any way.
yehudiThreads: 1
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Joined: Jul 27, 08 		  Jun 1, 09, 08:42 /  #
A Jew converting to catholicism would be doing so in order to assimilate so he would not be likely to keep such a Jewish sounding name like Judah. Actually, "Judah" is not a common family name among Jews, and is normally a personal name. You probably don't have Jewish ancestors. But don't worry, many people have succeeded in life despite that.
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