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I need some help on an eastern European name. I think it's spelled Krepkin, but I don't know. First, how is it spelled, and second, what does it mean?
Thanks. :)
Thanks. :)
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Replies
Thanks, y'all. I contacted the gent with the "unusual" name and, well, it's Krepkoi. Turns out he's a cousin, I think. My Ukrainian is non-existant, and his English is just as bad.:P
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Phyllis! It's Not Dumplings...
Phyllis,
Looking for another name entirely on a Russian site, I came across the 17th century first name "Krepkoi", meaning "strong". In perusing other names on the list, it appears there were many patronymic ("son of...") forms at the time, not just "-ovich".
One such common construction would result in "Krepkin", meaning "son of Krepkoi". Since a third name, or surname, was not common among the peasants of the day, it wasn't unreasonable that the patronymic would itself evolve into use as a surname.
So I'm gonna hazard that's the origin of Krepkin as a surname, derived from a first name (Krepkoi), and that it's Russian rather than Yiddish.
Phyllis,
Looking for another name entirely on a Russian site, I came across the 17th century first name "Krepkoi", meaning "strong". In perusing other names on the list, it appears there were many patronymic ("son of...") forms at the time, not just "-ovich".
One such common construction would result in "Krepkin", meaning "son of Krepkoi". Since a third name, or surname, was not common among the peasants of the day, it wasn't unreasonable that the patronymic would itself evolve into use as a surname.
So I'm gonna hazard that's the origin of Krepkin as a surname, derived from a first name (Krepkoi), and that it's Russian rather than Yiddish.
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My Jewish compatriots are mostly speakers on Landino, a dialect related to medieval Spanish. Yiddish is all Greek (..err, Chinese) to them. Cant help much here :p
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The Krepkin-Kreplach Connection
This morning I turned to my favorite source for surname meanings (*A Dictionary of Surnames* by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges), and I believe I made have found the connection between your "Krepkin" and our "kreplach". :)
The entry under the surname "Krapf" explains that the similar-sounding Jewish surname of "Krep(p)el" is a diminutive of Krapf. Meanings given are: "nickname for someone with a hooked nose or a hunched back, from the Middle High German "krap(f)e" hook... The word was also applied to a type of crescent-shaped pastry, and the surname may thus also have been a metonymic occupation name for a baker."
Furthermore, the article mentions that the Yiddish word "krepl" is the source of the Jewish surname "Krep(p)el, and explains that "krepl" means merely "a kind of boiled dumpling."
So, "kreplach" literally means just what they are -- dumplings -- despite all the bubbe meisehs the old folks used to tell us kids for their amusement. :)
-- Nanaea
This morning I turned to my favorite source for surname meanings (*A Dictionary of Surnames* by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges), and I believe I made have found the connection between your "Krepkin" and our "kreplach". :)
The entry under the surname "Krapf" explains that the similar-sounding Jewish surname of "Krep(p)el" is a diminutive of Krapf. Meanings given are: "nickname for someone with a hooked nose or a hunched back, from the Middle High German "krap(f)e" hook... The word was also applied to a type of crescent-shaped pastry, and the surname may thus also have been a metonymic occupation name for a baker."
Furthermore, the article mentions that the Yiddish word "krepl" is the source of the Jewish surname "Krep(p)el, and explains that "krepl" means merely "a kind of boiled dumpling."
So, "kreplach" literally means just what they are -- dumplings -- despite all the bubbe meisehs the old folks used to tell us kids for their amusement. :)
-- Nanaea
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As we say here in the South, "Leben ahf dein kop!"
Incidentally, the most comprehensive listing I've found of Yiddish words and expressions on the Web is Michael Fein's at www.pass.to/glossary/gloz2.htm It's many pages long, but sheds no further light on the "krep-" question. What you've done here is probably as good as it gets.
And judging by the tone of Fein's list, these were not an "up", bubbly group of people, were they? Guess life in the shtetl does that. (Reminds me of my Scottish, blue-collar grandfather, whose favorite expression was "what they don't give ye, ye don't have ta thank 'em for".)
Incidentally, the most comprehensive listing I've found of Yiddish words and expressions on the Web is Michael Fein's at www.pass.to/glossary/gloz2.htm It's many pages long, but sheds no further light on the "krep-" question. What you've done here is probably as good as it gets.
And judging by the tone of Fein's list, these were not an "up", bubbly group of people, were they? Guess life in the shtetl does that. (Reminds me of my Scottish, blue-collar grandfather, whose favorite expression was "what they don't give ye, ye don't have ta thank 'em for".)
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As we say here in the South, "Leben ahf dein kop!"
@@@@ As we say here in the North, "Aw, shucks! T'weren't nuthin'!"
And judging by the tone of Fein's list, these were not an "up", bubbly group of people, were they? Guess life in the shtetl does that.
@@@@ You need to try Leo Rosten's book, *The Joys of Yiddish*. Sadly, Leo Rosten is no longer with us, having passed away a few years ago. But his wonderful wit and sense of humor live on in his writing. His lexicon of Yiddish words not only provides English definitions, but also includes humorous little anecdotes associated with each word. For example, here's the entry from *The Joys of Yiddish* for the expression, "shlock-house":
Shlock-house: A store that sells cheap, distressed, defective, "fire sale" articles. A gyp joint.
The customer asked the tobacconist to recommend a good cigar.
"Here's the best cigar in the place. Fifty cents."
The customer paid, lighted up and began to cough and choke. "I asked for a good cigar and you give me *this*?" he cried.
The owner sighed, "What a lucky man you are."
"*Lucky*?" cried the customer. "Are you mad?"
"You own only one of those shlock-house cigars; I must have twenty dozen!"
-- Nanaea
Thought you'd especially like that one, Che. ;)
@@@@ As we say here in the North, "Aw, shucks! T'weren't nuthin'!"
And judging by the tone of Fein's list, these were not an "up", bubbly group of people, were they? Guess life in the shtetl does that.
@@@@ You need to try Leo Rosten's book, *The Joys of Yiddish*. Sadly, Leo Rosten is no longer with us, having passed away a few years ago. But his wonderful wit and sense of humor live on in his writing. His lexicon of Yiddish words not only provides English definitions, but also includes humorous little anecdotes associated with each word. For example, here's the entry from *The Joys of Yiddish* for the expression, "shlock-house":
Shlock-house: A store that sells cheap, distressed, defective, "fire sale" articles. A gyp joint.
The customer asked the tobacconist to recommend a good cigar.
"Here's the best cigar in the place. Fifty cents."
The customer paid, lighted up and began to cough and choke. "I asked for a good cigar and you give me *this*?" he cried.
The owner sighed, "What a lucky man you are."
"*Lucky*?" cried the customer. "Are you mad?"
"You own only one of those shlock-house cigars; I must have twenty dozen!"
-- Nanaea
Thought you'd especially like that one, Che. ;)
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The Presidential Cigar
Oy, I hope your trans-iberian curse worked :)
And now for more cigar fun: anagram's of "The Presidential Cigar":
* A cheap girl inserted it
* Airhead lips get cretin.
* Her special: eating dirt.
* Sad erect liar in the pig.
* Eager trained lips itch.
* Cheater raids in piglet.
* Dire cheating pest liar.
Oy, I hope your trans-iberian curse worked :)
And now for more cigar fun: anagram's of "The Presidential Cigar":
* A cheap girl inserted it
* Airhead lips get cretin.
* Her special: eating dirt.
* Sad erect liar in the pig.
* Eager trained lips itch.
* Cheater raids in piglet.
* Dire cheating pest liar.
1
Yes, it's spelled "Krepkin". No, I don't know what it means. It's a Yiddish surname, so it may derive from Middle High German with possible elements of Galician, Polish, Russian, etc. Nothing in Modern High German provides an easy equivalent to either krep or -kin.
There appear to be no good Yiddish dictionaries on the Web, but I tried to check out "kreplach", a Yiddish-named meat dumpling that goes in Kosher chicken soup, for the meaning of "krep-".
No luck, but I found some great recipes! Maybe someone else out there can help. Nanaea? You're more, uh, geographically advantaged to get an answer to this one.
There appear to be no good Yiddish dictionaries on the Web, but I tried to check out "kreplach", a Yiddish-named meat dumpling that goes in Kosher chicken soup, for the meaning of "krep-".
No luck, but I found some great recipes! Maybe someone else out there can help. Nanaea? You're more, uh, geographically advantaged to get an answer to this one.
1
Kreplach
Oy, and he turns to meeeeee for the meaning of "kreplach"? Nu? :)
Growing up in Noo Yawk, I have always been told by my wise elders that "kreplach" means "little hats" -- and these dumplings are indeed shaped like little, three-cornered hats. But I think that etymology is just a bubbe meiseh -- an old wive's tale -- and that the Yiddish word "kreplach" is probably derived from a German word meaning "pastry".
Another bubbe meiseh surrounding the origin of the word "kreplach" is that it is actually a made-up word taken from three letters of the three Hebrew holidays on which kreplach is traditionally served: Yom Kippur (K), Rosh Hashanah (R), and Purim (P)=KR'P(lach)
And while you're searching the 'net for tasty holiday recipes, Daividh, don't forget to look for latkes. This is, after all, the sixth night of Hanukkah. :)
-- Nanaea
Oy, and he turns to meeeeee for the meaning of "kreplach"? Nu? :)
Growing up in Noo Yawk, I have always been told by my wise elders that "kreplach" means "little hats" -- and these dumplings are indeed shaped like little, three-cornered hats. But I think that etymology is just a bubbe meiseh -- an old wive's tale -- and that the Yiddish word "kreplach" is probably derived from a German word meaning "pastry".
Another bubbe meiseh surrounding the origin of the word "kreplach" is that it is actually a made-up word taken from three letters of the three Hebrew holidays on which kreplach is traditionally served: Yom Kippur (K), Rosh Hashanah (R), and Purim (P)=KR'P(lach)
And while you're searching the 'net for tasty holiday recipes, Daividh, don't forget to look for latkes. This is, after all, the sixth night of Hanukkah. :)
-- Nanaea
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