The clan of Sagalovich
- Last name translations Sagalovich
- Related articles Происхождение фамилии Сагалович
About the family coat-of-arms
Origin of Sagalovich name
The name Sagalovich is a reason to be either proud of one's roots, or very proud of them.
The first and the simpest version of the origin of this name is that it is a Belorussian derivative of the name Segal.
The name Segal was known among European Jews already in the 11-th century. The first person to have this (then not yet) family name was rabbi Isaac Ben Eliezer - teacher of the famous Torah commentator Rashi and the head of the Worms yeshiva. He died in 1070. In his commentaries Rashi when referring to his teacher always added to his name this abbreviation calling him a Levit.
Literally SEGAL (סגל) – is an abbreviation from "sgan Levi" that means "a person substituting Levi" in Hebrew. At first sight this may raise suspicions. If Rashi wanted to stress his respect for his teacher why so strangely by calling him a "substituting person"?
The researchers of the Jewish names onomastics referred to by Alkalai dictionary suggest the following explanation of this story.
During the Temple times "sgan" was not the name of people substituting Levits but substituting the High Priest.
This interpretation explains logically the history of rabbi Isaac. He himself and all his environment knew that he belonged to a famous clan of the Levi tribe to which helpers of the High Priest belonged.
The second version of the origin of this name will lead you to Spain of the 13-th century. In 1244 Isaac ben Solomon ibn Abni was born in Gvadalahara - a poet, kabbalist and scientist who was known under the name Sagulla. "Segula" means "vurtue" in Hebrew. Possibly descendants of this famous Jew preserved his memory during centuries in the clan name that, when they already lived in Belorussia, became a name having acquired the Belorussian ending "-ovich".
Full article pageDear representatives of the Sagalovich clan
We would like to invite you to help us ressurect the history of your family, to link up the branches of your family tree and to find relatives abroad. Among Jews, due to the manner in which family names were acquired and passed down, there are relatively few people who, although unrelated, bear the same surname as one another. The majority of Jewish people who bear a certain family name can usually trace their roots back to a common ancestor about 5-6 generations back. Further, when two Jewish people bear the same surname, they are usually members of the same broader 'clan', descended of the same extended family.Resurrect your History - for he, who owns the Past also owns the Future.
Let your family be entered into the Book of Generations!
