----- Original Message -----
From: "Vivian Kahn" <vkahn@...>
To: "JewishGen Discussion Group" Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 10:18 AM
Subject: Hungarian Jewish Surnames

Tom Klein has accurately observed that a Hungarian Jewish name ending in
"y" would be unusual. Robert Neu, one of Hungarian SIG's most erudite
volunteers, says that one way to distinguish Jewish Hungarian >from
non-Jewish Hungarian names is that the former end surnames with the
letter "i" and the latter use the letter "y".

I just wish to add that the surname "i" instead of "y" ending seems to be
true not only for Hungarian Jews but also for Jews living in Prussia and
probably at other places as well.

For example the WASBUTZKI / WAZBUTCKI surname comes >from Seirey, a place of
former Prussia. This ending "i" ending was kept as long as the family lived
in Eastern and Central Europe. It changed to the "y" ending for people who
moved and settled in the States. The "i" ending has been used by my
relatives living in Latvia, Eastern Prussia, Germany proper and my
grandfather born in Suwalki.

Evelyn Waldstein (Latvia, now Israel)
evewa@...