Origin of the name Safro

The name Safro belongs to the type of "professional" names, formed from a kind of human activity and connected with religion and social life. More often than not, Jewish "professional" names are just a name of a profession, independently of the language from which the corresponding word, forming the name, is taken.

The name Safro is a purely Jewish name derived from "Sofer" or, in Yiddish, "Soifer". The corresponding profession was called "Sofer" or "Sofer stam" (S. T. M.). "Sofer" means a person rewriting something, while S. T. M. is an abbreviation of Sefer Torah, Tefilin, Mezuzot. Thus a person who was at the origin of this name was rewriting sacred texts or Torah scrolls.

Among the Jews of Syria the name "Safra" is wide spread that was formed from the aramaic form of the word "Sofer".

One of the sages who took part in the creation of the Talmud was rav Safra who lived in the fourth century in Babylonia.

Rewriting sacred texts is one the most ancient and most respected Jewish professions.

To be a person rewriting the Torah texts is a profession demanding high concentration and knowledge of the sacred texts.

A person who rewrited sacred texts had no right to write the Torah by memory. He must always have had in front of him another, kosher scroll with which he should constantly compare the text.

And if a mistake was found in the Scroll, then it was not fit for public readings and it was to be buried in the ground.

Such family names as Safronchik, Safris, Safrin, Safrus, Safraev also came from the word "Sofer".

In the beginning of the 19 century the name Safro was spread in the towns of Riga, Dvinsk, Rezhitza, Polotzk, Drissa, Klimovichi.