# Family name origins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887 "2003-10-06T16:54:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/1 "2003-10-06T16:54:08Z")
Does anyone know the origins of the family names – Maraniss and Margolis/Margulies ? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/2 "2003-10-06T18:03:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*Does anyone know the origins of the family names – > > Maraniss > > and > > Margolis/Margulies ? \*\* [This site](http://www.cyndislist.com/) has extensive links to genealogy sites. There’s a good chance you will find what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/3 "2003-10-06T18:03:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*Does anyone know the origins of the family names – > > Maraniss > > and > > Margolis/Margulies ? \*\* [This site](http://www.cyndislist.com/) has extensive links to genealogy sites. There’s a good chance you will find what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/4 "2003-10-06T18:44:31Z")
Thanks for the link, but that is a genealogy site and I’m looking for etymological information. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/5 "2003-10-06T19:28:08Z")
There is an apparent similarity between the name first name “Margaret” and the surnames “Margolis” and “Margulies”. “Margaret” derives from the Greek word for “pearl”, Sure enough, here’s a [genealogy site](http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/5955/Etymology.htm) that makes the same connection for “Margolis” and “Margulies”, except that the author connects the surnames to the Hebrew _margalit_, also meaning approximately “pearl”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/6 "2003-10-06T19:47:18Z")
“Maraniss” is a much harder one to figure out … at least through Googling. There are a few possible hints: - The feminine name “Mara” is Hebrew for “bitter”. So the root _mara-_ may be the first part of the name “Maraniss”. - This name has a fair similarity to names like the Italian “Marinaro”, which means IIRC “sailor, seaman”. “Maraniss” could perhaps be an Ellis-Island version of such a name (not necesarily “Marinaro”). - Kind of a WAG: the _maran-_ in “Maraniss” may derive from the French _maron_, meaning “brown”. Again, a generations-old respelling at the immigration office may have yielded the name’s current form. - If the name were spelled “Maranis”, it would look much like a Greek surname. I don’t know what that might mean in Greek. “Maranis” would also look much like “Moranis”, as in “Rick Moranis”, which I don’t know the origin of. Is Rick Moranis of Greek descent? … Do you know what country the Maraniss folks came from originally? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/7 "2003-10-06T20:16:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*Thanks for the link, but that is a genealogy site and I’m looking for etymological information. \*\* Part and parcel, my fellow Doper. Genealogy research will tell you any and all things about your family name. A brief search on [rootsweb.com](http://rootsweb.com) showed me that many people with the last name of Margolis were from Poland and that the name is probably Jewish in origin. I had no luck with your spelling of ‘Marannis’, but it’s probably been bastardized from something else, like so many immigrant names. ---
**Author:** ![curly\_chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@curly\_chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curly_chick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/8 "2003-10-07T08:03:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by acsenray \* > \*\*Thanks for the link, but that is a genealogy site and I’m looking for etymological information. \*\* These fine people might be able to help you: [WordOrigins](http://pub122.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm1) ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/9 "2003-10-07T09:09:05Z")
For Maraniss: [from this page:](http://www.everything2.org/index.pl?node=David%20Maraniss) > [@](#): > > An interesting trivia note: Maraniss believes he and his immediate family are the only Maranisses in the country. The name is apparently unique – a derivation of “marrano,” a word given to Spanish Jews during the Inquisition. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/10 "2003-10-07T09:12:40Z")
For Margolis: [this page](http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/infofiles/surnames.htm) says it’s a Rabbinical name, meaning “pearls” or the feminine name “Pearl”, from the 15th century. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-name-origins/205887/11 "2003-10-07T14:37:27Z")
Thanks, guys! Is there any indication that Maraniss and Moranis are the same name, as they seem to be?