Fingerman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Israel

Etymology of Fingerman

Surnames were reserved for exceptional individuals, people who were scholars and poets. Therefore, families began to use their surnames as a sign of prominence because of their established family name.

Although, Jews in Central and Eastern Europe went on without family names until the 13th century. 1

The name Fingerman comes from the Yiddish "finger" meaning "finger." The surname Fingerhut itself probably means "thimble" and was originally applied to someone who was a tailor. Most early European surnames were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, though the process had started somewhat earlier and continued in some regions into the 19th century. Generallly, in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name.

An early notable bearing this name was Godfrey or Gottfried Finger, (1685-1717), the composer born in Olomuc, Czechoslovakia. He emigrated to England probably about 1685. This date is fixed by the preface to his first composition, 'Sonatæ XII,' in which he says that it was the fame of James II which led him to bid farewell to his native land. The work was published in 1688, but from his calling the king 'tutissimum contra æmulos et invidos zoilos patrocinium' it may be inferred that he had at that time been long enough in England to make enemies, who no doubt resented the intrusion of a foreigner. 3

Fingerman Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Finger, Fingerman, Fingherman and many more.