Cohen (surname)

Cohen (surname)

Cohen (Hebrew: כֹּהֵן, kōhēn, "priest") is a Jewish surname of biblical origins (see: Kohen). It is a very common Jewish surname, comparable to 'Smith' in an English-language context.

Bearing the surname indicates that one's patrilineal ancestors were priests in the Temple of Jerusalem. A single such priest was known as a Kohen, and the hereditary caste descending from these priests is collectively known as the Kohanim. As multiple languages were acquired through the Jewish diaspora, the surname acquired dozens of variants.

Being a Kohen imposes some limitations: by Jewish law a Kohen may not marry a divorced woman, and may not marry a proselyte (someone who converted to Judaism). Nor should an observant Kohen come into contact with the dead.

An effort to trace whether or not people named 'Cohen' actually have a common genetic origin has been undertaken in the specific DNA signature associated with the name known as the Cohen Modal Haplotype.

Cohen may refer to:

Read more about Cohen (surname):  People

Famous quotes containing the word cohen:

    Israel, and you who call yourself Israel, the Church that calls itself Israel, and the revolt that calls itself Israel, and every nation chosen to be a nation—none of these lands is yours, all of you are thieves of holiness, all of you at war with Mercy.
    —Leonard Cohen (b. 1934)