Shapiro

Shapiro, and its variations such as Shapira, Schapiro, Schapira, Sapira, Spira, Sapiro, Szapiro (in Polish) and Chapiro (in French), is a Jewish surname which can be either Ashkenazi or Sephardi.[1]

Etymology

One theory suggests that it derives from Shpira, the Hebrew/Yiddish name for Spira (Hebrew: שפירא‎‎, pronounced Shpira), the medieval name of Speyer, Germany.[2][3] The Jewish community of Speyer, one of the ShUM-cities in the Rhineland, was a leading centre in the development of Ashkenazi culture. Other name variants are Sapiro, Spira, Spire, Spiro, Spero, Chapiro, Sprai, Szpir, Szpiro, Saphir, Sapir and Spear. The name "Speyer" has also become a well-known surname that was spread by Jews from Frankfurt to England, the United States and Canada in the late 19th and early 20th century. Another theory suggests that the name has sephardic origin - it derives from San Pedro, one of the Jewish settlements in Spain. The Jewish community of Spain was a leading centre in the development of Sephardic culture.

Notable people surnamed Shapiro

Other uses

See also

References

  1. ↑ Alkana, V. Surnames from a 3000 name family-tree of Jews from the Island of Rhodes and Turkey.
  2. ↑ ancestry.com search for Shapiro
  3. ↑ (Kaganoff, 1977) Source: Saul Zeichner,27 November 2000, Revised 10 April 2009 http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Kolomea/nameorigin.htm
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