Papo - surname
Aviad Ben Izhak
Preface
The source
of the surname Papo (פפו) or Pappo (פאפו) intrigued me since childhood. Nobody in my family was able to
provide a decent explanation for the meaning of the name.
My father
(RIP) carried this surname and Hebraized it upon immigrating to Israel. My
father’s family was considered a Sephardi (originated in Spain) family. I found
hard evidence for my family members attending the Jewish synagogue in Ruse (Русе, Rusçuk),
Bulgaria. Nonetheless, the name doesn’t appear on the list of families who are
“entitled” to a Spanish passport due to their Spanish origins.
Moreover,
the name doesn’t appear on the extensive database holding tens of thousands of
surnames at the Museum of the Jewish People - Beit Hatfutsot website.
So, what
is the source of this surname?
The source
I found
the first documentation for the name at the Spanish institute Sol del Rev.
Catolico. The first mention of the name there appears in 1466 and according
to the documentation, the source is the word Papos – grandpa in Greek. In 1466
it also spelled Papa.
According
to the researcher Rosanès, the name Pappo is typical to Jews that lived in the Balkan area since
the days of the Roman Empire. During the Roman and Byzantine times, the Jews
spoke Greek. I would like to state that those Jews attended synagogues called “Romaniots”,
i.e. the remains of antient communities from the times of the Roman emperors
(Encyclopedia of the Diaspora – Bulgarian Jews – page 29).
If so, I
have a few questions unanswered:
· Why was my
father’s family considered to be a Sephardi family?
· Why did his
family speak Ladino?
· How come all
the man of the family attended a Sephardi synagogue?
The
explanation begins with the Spanish exile, dated back to 1492, when the
banishment of Jews from Spain begun. In the following tens of years, waves of
Sephardi Jews immigrated to the Balkan. As part of this process, the “Romaniots”
Jews became a minority and gradually assimilated in the massive majority of
Jews arriving from Spain. As this process accelerated, the ancient “Romaniot”
communities disappeared.
A few words
about geography – the Jews carrying the surname Pappo were found around
Bulgaria, in the cities Belgrade and Sarajevo, as well as in Turkey.
Summary
The name
Pappo comes from Greek – meaning grandpa or old man and characterizes Jews who
lived in the Balkan since the times of the Second Temple.
The author
– Aviad
Ben Izhak
(Lieutenant-Colonel), former commander of the Academy of Computing and
Information Systems at the IDF (“Mamram”). Expert in building genealogical trees
and family ancestry. Has vast and diverse experience in building family trees
that include thousands of people. Aviad is a Geni curator – among the few in
Israel who are certified to manage the world Geni genealogical tree.
All rights
reserved to the author – names of products and companies are registered
trademarks that stand on their own!
