In performing genealogical research of one’s Jewish ancestors one often comes across the difficulty that first names used in a Dutch deed (e.g. publication of the banns) do not correspond to the first names in the matching “Hebrew” deed. This observation led to the following questions: is this an incidental or a general phenomenon and what are its implications for genealogical research of Jews?
So far, no systematic study has been made of the first names the Jews of Amsterdam used in their official “Hebrew” deeds and in other registrations. As a result, it was not known which relationship existed between the first names in the above-mentioned deeds and the first names in the matching Dutch ones. In order to get a better understanding of first names of the Amsterdam Jews, a survey was made of first names occurring in certain official “Hebrew” sources. The first names in the matching Dutch deeds were collected as well.