In Amsterdam records, Jonas Jochanan (born 1734) son of Joachim TURFRAGER, appears with a new TRIPLE surname:
MOUWES SCHEILER TURFRAGER.
I am aware that one of them could have been the mother's last name.
His son Isaac kept the triple surname but as of Isaac's son David (born 1807) - only surname MOUWES remains.
I wonder whether MOUWES was added and for what reason.
Could the origin of MOUWES be the Yiddish pronunciation of the Hebrew word מוות - ("Mavet" = death) or it is unlikely, because:
a. Why would someone adopt a surname meaning "Death" (unless it is against the "evil eye" or maybe if they worked in a cemetery?), and
b. Could a Yiddish pronunciation be used in Jewish Amsterdam (which would have been mainly under Sepharadi Jews influence).
I wonder what are your thoughts about the above and if there could be any other possible meaning for "MOUWES" ?
Yohanan LOEFFLER
Melbourne, Australia
Researching (main surnames):
From Austria, Slovakia: LOFFLER / LEFLER, LEDERER, SCHNEIDER, NATHAN, SEELENFRIED, ZAPPERT.
From Bukowina, Galicia: MINSTER / MUNSTER, NAGEL, SCHERL, IWANIR.
From Poland / Belarus: ALTMAN, KAMINSKY, KAMINKIER, LUBETKIN, SZTARK, YOSELEWICZ, KOSLOWSKI, KRAMARZ, RAUCHFELD.