Expert: Gaddy Yaari - 5/4/2009

Question
Hi Gaddy, I was hoping you could tell me if my last name, Mogiliver is of Jewish
origin and what it means. I was originally born in Ukraine and my dad's side of
the family are Jewish. The name Mogiliver really isn't similar to other slavic type
last names and no one seems to know what it means so I was hoping you could
help me out. Thanks!

Answer
Well, Gennady, you are descended from the nobility of Lithuanian Jews, and you would have known it had your family maintained the original spelling of the family name.

Since 'h' is not in the cyrillic alphabet, it is always replaced with 'g'. The original spelling of your name is Mohliver, transliterated as  Mogiliver in Russian. Rabbi Samuel Mohliver (1824 - 1898) was one of the earliest Zionist leaders, and practically every Israeli city has a street named after him. Google 'Mohliver' and you'll see who else is part of the same family.

If you ever visit Israel, once people find out what your name is, you'd be treated as royalty.

All the best,


Gaddy