Jewish Meyers

Sharon Doubell this could be interesting. The Meyer PROG known are all from France and are a lot. Quickly guessing I would say +/- 10.
My husbands line have been traced back to 1600 by At Coetzee, who's mother was Jan's father's sister. They originated from Beblenheim in France and were not originally in the Groot Afrikaanse familie naamboek. The PROG was Johann Georg Meyer.
At has done intensive studies on the Meyers before he found this smaller line. I will tag him into the discussion and maybe he can help
Will also look but have visitors from Cape here for a week and want to enjoy every moment with my sister in law.☺

At Coetzee When you have time could you please help here.

Thank you very much, Judi

A quick project search finds 2 Jewish Meyers straight away: Max Meyer Greiffenhagen , Emil Meyer

Oh, I see there a LOT of Meyer PROGS:

Some from France
Pierre Meyer
Johan Georg Meyer SV/PROG

and Some from Germany
Wilhelm Meyer. SV/PROG 3
Carl Heinrich Meyer, SV/PROG
Johann Meyer, SV/PROG
Johann Friedrich Nicolaus Meyer, PROG
Gerrit Heinrich Meyer, SV/PROG 2
Johan Adam Meyer. SV/PROG
Johan Justus Wilhelm Meyer. SV/PROG

Switzerland
Johann Jacob Meyer, SV/PROG

Netherlands
Frederik Meyer, SV/PROG

https://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/namfaq0.htm

Meyer may not be Jewish in origin. Many Jews were forced to change their names during wars, pogroms.

Worth checking Google for additional information available. Also JewishGen.

Link above is only one of many re names.

Thank you, Pam. I hadn't thought of that.

My grandfather was a Meyer. His name was Abraham Leopold (AL) Meyer. His family lived in Yanishok (Joniskis), Lithuania. His father, he and his siblings were born there. There is a variation in the spelling of the surname Meyer. His eldest brother Yehuda Meyer whose surname was spelt Mehr, came to South Africa and died in Graaff Reniet on the 26 October 1899 from tuberculosis. He was buried in the town cemetery. However there is no marked grave. Apparently there were two burials on the day he was buried and the town was shelled during the burials as it was during the Anglo Boer War, resulting in neither of the two graves being marked. In June 1954, a memorial plaque was placed by his brother, AL Meyer and sister, Shora Beinashowitz, in the Joseph Miller Hall, a communal hall which served as the synagogue in Graaff Reinet. The plaque reads as ‘This plaque is to perpetuate the memory of Judel Mehr who died on the 26th October 1899 and is buried in the adjoining cemetery. Mourned by his brother and sister. R.I.P.’ His Hebrew name was Yehuda Zalman ben Eleizer Zeev.
AL Meyer's parents came to South Africa with their daughter Shora Beinsahowitz and her family. Eliezer Wolf Meyer (1843-1910) is buried in the Braamfontein Jewish Cemetery Johannesburg and his wife Roche Ziviah Meyer ( nee Gardner) (1849-1933) is buried in the Brixton Cemetery, Johannesburg. On a visit to Yanishok (Joniskis) by my sister, a number of graves with the surname Meyer were documented.

There are variations of the surname - Meier, Maier, Mayer, Meir, Meyr, Mair, Mayr which is written in Hebrew as מֵאִיר, מאייר This includes Golda Meir ( 1898-1978), the former prime minister of Israel. In 1958 when she was Foreign Minister Golda Myerson changed her last name to Meir, in keeping with the established practice that foreign service personnel Hebraize their names. The meaning of the new name in Hebrew is “light up.”

That is very useful info -thank you :-)

cf Abraham Leopold Meyer

Dr Naomi Rapeport, thank you for sharing this information and explaining about surname variations.
There was a large Lithuanian community in South Africa. My paternal ancestors originated either in Vieksniai or Grinkiskis, Lithuania.

Some Meyers are Jewish; some not. There is a family legend that my branch of the family who went to Natal, South Africa in the 1840s was originally Jewish but I haven’t been able to confirm that.

PS in South Africa Myer and Myers are usually Jewish; Meyer usually not.

Most of the Jewish immigrants did not speak English or Afrikaans. Those from Eastern Europe spoke Yiddish which was written with Hebrew letter, and not the Latin alphabet, which both English and Dutch are based on . Therefore the spelling of their surnames depended on the shipping or immigration clerk as to the spelling in English or Dutch. Therefore within one family you have both the surname of Mehr and Meyer.

An illustration that demonstrates that immigrants did not know how to speak or write in English or Dutch is given below.
AL Meyer was interviewed in March 1952 by Dora Sowden of the South African. Jewish Sociological and Historical Society, AL Meyer who came to South Africa in 1899 wrote that 'he remained in Pretoria until the outbreak of the Boer War. He had not yet settled down by then and could not speak either English or Dutch with any fluency".... 'When war broke out he decided to leave and he went to Port Elizabeth. In the period 1901-2 AL Meyer lived in the Grahamstown and Aliwal North area where there were few Jews and it was then that he learned English.'

This has been such / is such an interesting Discusiion - thank you people :-)

Hi
I am to trace my great grandparents and further back. My mother said that we are from Jewish decent and I would really like to find proof of that. Her grandmother was Sarah Ellen Abrahamse, married twice, first marriage to Henry and second marriage to Edward Graham. Her mother was Sarah Petronella Kocks married to Christiaan Jacobus Abrahamse they seem to all be from Simonstown in Cape Town in the 1840s. I am stuck now as I cannot find proof on family tree to if they were Jews or not. Abrahamse sounds Jewish but then also coloureds. I hope someone can help me. I dont know if Kocks could also be Jewish

Thank you
Esther

Hi Esther
There are four family trees listed in Geni belonging to your grandmother. There are two done by you and one done by Maria Magdalena Elizabeth Mouton Sarah Ellen Graham I suggest that you merge all three. On your tree, you go back to Sarah Petronella Abrahamse b. circa 1850. Maria Mouton goes back further to the Frieselaar family and the Frieselaar family has also been done by Derk Jan Andre Vrieselaar, Winston Edward Bastick, Andy Hamilton and June Barnes.
They should be able to give you the answer that you are looking for.

This is a intriquing surname. Pierre Meyer, is my direct GGGGGGGG Grandfather, came to SA from France. But his mother and Father, Gerd Meyer, and Gretchen Niemann-Vulrie, are from Germany. I have wondered the same thing, if maybe they were jews, living in Germany, and why would they go to France, Wyborg, Dauphine to where Pierre were born? if not running away from Germany? and maybe being Jewish? I have stopped looking, after Gerd and Gretchen. The biggest mystery, is that the " MEYERS" BECAME " de Meyer", and we assume this is from the Dutch writing of that time, the word " de" was put in front of a lot of words , ?

I could find no DN for Piere's parents, not in Germany, neither in France, and that is also a mysterie to me.