Sunday, May 02, 2021
Cohen, My Most Common Surname by DNA, but Have No Cohen Cousins That I Know Of
Nadene Goldfoot
I have more DNA relatives with the surname of Cohen than any other surname. I match 132 people with Cohen according to my Family Tree DNA company. That's a mixture of men and women with that surname so some of the women could be married to Cohen men who have not tested with me. However, Cohen is the most popular surname. That isn't even counting people like Herb Hochfeld who is a Cohen yet wouldn't be in the count because of his different surname. Interesting.
I note on my brother's page with FTDNA, that 5,659 people have tested on our father's side but only 242 on my mother's side.
As for Cohens on our genealogy tree, let's take a look: I have 31,200 people in my tree including both sides of my family. It includes everyone's extended family that they don't even know about as long as I could keep finding people, so none of these Cohens are known to me. Some are even 3rd cousins, but mostly they would be 5th or more remote cousins.
For instance, I have an Anne Guterson b: 1904, surname attached to L. Slifman Goldfoot, and Anne was married to a Cohen. I can't say that I have found any Cohen on our immediate tree that we would be related.
Now to see information on my 132 person Cohen matches. FTDNA gives us a page of matches that can hold 20 on one page. I have 8 pages. The first male 3rd to 5th cousin to come up was G. Cohen sharing 79cMs with the longest segment of 14cMs. The big surprise is that we have an X (23rd chromosome) match of 10.92cMs. that means we share a female match of origin, no doubt. Our biggest match was on chromosome #1 with 14.18cMs. No wonder we might be 3rd cousins. This shows that our genealogy is so lacking. It's just skimming the surface. I must realize, also, that this is just testing people who thought of being tested. Thank goodness they did or I wouldn't have the information I do have to get a better picture of our ancestor's life. This Cohen was already designated as being from my father's side with the blue icon. Some are not.
The interesting thing about Cohens is that they are direct descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses, a part of the tribe of Levi since both Moses and Aaron were known to be from Levi, one of the 12 tribes of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham. They have a pretty distinctive Y haplotype. G. Cohen is a J-M267. The basic name for a Cohen has been J1, so this is one of them.
Cohens have different customs in Jewish cemeteries. Their tombstone may display 2 hands with the hands turned so as the fingers are pointing at each other.
That this surname came up more often than others scientifically connected to me tells me more than even my own genealogy. Miller was the next surname most often connected, and that could be from either side of my family. Smith was the 3rd and last most common surname, and that is from my mother's side.
All this is true of my brother, David, as well. His 3 most common surname matches are also Cohen, Miller and Smith. Is it true for our children? My son most common surnames are the same only Cohen s amount to only 79 matches. That means from one generation we went from 132 to 79, a loss of 53 matches. Think how many more my father would have matched! if this number holds true for my grandson, he might only match 26, etc and eventually the match to that surname is forever lost. Also, the loss each generation need not be 53, either.
Traditionally, only a man can be a kohen, and the status is transmitted from a father to his son. The daughter of a kohen traditionally has special obligations and privileges, but these last only until she marries – and she does not pass these down to her own children. In some egalitarian congregations, the daughters of a kohen continue to be called for special honors even after she marries. Few Reform congregations observe the kohen traditions, and not all Conservative ones do. (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kohanim-jewish-priests/)
According to Jewish law (Leviticus 21:7), a kohen is restricted from marrying a woman who has converted to Judaism, or a woman who has been divorced. Different communities have different levels of adherence to this law. It is still practiced by Orthodox communities, and some Conservative communities, but rabbinic authorities sometimes make exceptions.
Jewish law (Leviticus 21:1) also forbids a kohen from having contact with corpses, other than those of close family members. This means that a kohen might avoid entering a cemetery, or attending a funeral unless it is for a close relative (mother/father, sister/brother, son/daughter, spouse). Some kohanim are especially careful about this rule, and may even avoid entering a museum that contains mummies.
Since kohen status cannot be proven (although widespread DNA testing may eventually change that), synagogues giving special honors to kohanim rely on individuals to identify themselves.
These facts are especially helpful to geneticists, as it helps in the tracing of family.
If families have been able to remain intact enough the line is known by each father handing down the information of being a Cohen to his sons, orally. Being a Cohen gives that person the responsibility to be the first of the readers of the Torah on Shabbat.
Labels: Cohen, dna, genealogy., J-M267
