Before 1808, many French Jews did not have hereditary family last names. The usual practice for European Jews was to use as their last name the first name of their father or grandfather. For example, in the Cerf line one ancestor's name was Moise Salomon, which actually meant Moise, son of Salomon.
To make things more complicated, many individuals were not consistent with the names they used throughout their lives. A good example of this is the name of Moise Salomon's wife, which was registered differently at the birth of four of her children: Taib Heymann, Dabchie Levy, Taipe Heymann and Daubchen Heymann. She used several variations of her first name of Taib, which is an old Yiddish feminine first name. According to her marriage contract and the three marriage contracts of her father, who was twice widowed, her father's name was Heymann Levy Mehring. Sometimes she used as her last name Heymann and at other times Levy.
In order for the French government to trace an individual through various registrations and efficiently impose taxes, all French Jews were required by law in 1808 to register the selection of a permanent hereditary family name.
The Jews were limited in the types of names they were allowed to select. Christian names or names based on a famous site were not allowed. The most common names chosen were names based on the city or country of origin. Next, names indicating the family was descended from a rabbi, such as Rabinski, were selected. Another common choice was to choose the name that identified the family's business. At one time, signs with pictures or shields with logos hung outside the home or place of business to identify the business for those who were illiterate. These identifications then became the name in the language of the country. Other sources included names based on the first name of a revered parent or ancestor, occupations, personality or physical characteristics, or objects of nature.
Moise (Moise is the French modern style of Moyse) Salomon and his family chose the surname of Cerf. Cerf, which means a stag or male deer with antlers in French, was a common Jewish first name. In the 1779 marriage contract of Moise Salomon, the groom's father was shown as Salomon Cerf, which means Salomon, son of Cerf. Salomon's father had the first name of Cerf, and he is the one for which Moise named his family.
At the time Moise's family changed their last name to Cerf, some of the family members also changed their first names from Yiddish names to modern French names. Here is a list of the old and new names in this Cerf line.
Moyse Salomon to Moyse Salomon Cerf
Gail Heymann to Pierrette Levy (wives often kept their unmarried family name)
Bernard Moyse to Bernard Cerf
Hermann Moyse to Henry Cerf
Salomon Moyse to Salomon Cerf
Sibe Moyse to Sophie Cerf
Barach Moyse to Barach Cerf
Chenel Moyse to Jeanne Cerf
Dina Moyse to Catherine Cerf
Even after 1808, Jews did not change their habits altogether regarding names. For instance, at the death of Moise Cerf in 1822, the death registry indicates him to be the widower of Daubgen Heymann.
The Phalsbourg registry pages officially granting the name change are shown below, though they are difficult to read. Also shown below is the list of Jews in Phalsbourg who changed their names in 1808. Our Cerf ancestors are entries 188-196. The other family names created in Phalsbourg were Lion, Aron, Moyse, Bloch, Loebel, Levy, Dreyfus, Hesse, Romain, Alexandre, Gouguenheim, Coblentz, Dennery, May, Salomon, Heymann, Heitzfeld, Benjamin, Samuel, Marx, Sofer, Jacob, Baehr, Matz, Joseph, Goldmann, Seligmann, Bentilmann, Maas, Kahen, Weill, Klein, Jonas, Lazard, and Meyer.
References:
Archives of Phalsbourg, France, Civil Birth and Death Registers.
Archives of Phalsbourg, France, 1808 Hereditary Name Declaration.
Jean Fleury, Contrats de Mariage Juifs en Moselle Avant 1792, Plappeville, France, 1989.
Octobre-Novembre 1808 Index of Hereditary Name Declarations, Musee de Phalsbourg.
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