Message: "Cohen as a first name and not a surname"

[Facts] Cohen as a first name and not a surname

by Getb (guest)

5/17/2015, 10:15 AM

Can Cohen be a normal or at least not one in a million first name? Because it is a usual surname but I wonder if Jewish boths named Cohen are looked odd for using a surname as the first name... Anyone has statistics from any country with great jewish population (like the US, or, even better, Israel) to see if men called Cohen but with a different surname are usual... like, Cohen Lerner Bloomberg.

#surnames

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- LH (guest)

5/23/2015, 3:36 PM

Cohen currently ranks #342 on the US SSA list.

So just to answer your question of whether it would be perceived as a normal first name -- rather than "one in a million" -- it definitely would.

- Sabertooth +3

5/17/2015, 6:52 PM

Is COHEN still heard as "Priest" to native speakers?

This message was edited 5/17/2015, 6:53 PM

- Getb (guest) +2

5/19/2015, 11:56 AM

I do not know.

I do not care.

It is still heard as a surname not as a given name to the Jewish community worldwide and Israelites...

That is why I want a different given name with the same meaning...

I was told "Levi" could work, but it means "attached"...

- Joiya (guest) +1

5/22/2015, 8:47 AM

The reason Levi works is because Jewish priests are decedents of Levites, one of the original twelve tribes of Israel. Levi, of course, being the patriarch of the Levites.

Levites were given this special status because they did not bow to worship the golden calf when Moses ascended Mount Sinai. So... yeah, the actual name has different meaning but the historical meaning of the name Levi outweighs the etymology for your purposes.

- Getb (guest)

5/22/2015, 10:27 PM

thanks

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