Siegel

Siegel, is a German and Jewish surname. it can be traced to 11th century Bavaria and was used by people who made wax seals for or sealed official documents (each such male being described as a Siegelbeamter). Alternate spellings include Sigel, Sigl, Siegl, and others. "Siegel" is also the modern German word for seal. The name ultimately derives from the Latin sigillum, meaning "seal" as in the "Seal of the City of New York": "Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci." The Germanicized derivative of the name was given to professional seal makers and engravers. Some researchers have attributed the surname to Sigel, referring to Sól (Sun), the goddess of the sun in Germanic mythology (Siȝel or sigel in Old English / Anglo-Saxon), but that is highly speculative.

Variants, and false cognates

Variants may routinely include Siegel, Siegle, Sigl and Sigel (and presumably some bearers of these names are lineal descendants of ethnic Jews who changed the spellings of their surnames in the course of assimilating among other cultures: "Segal" and "Segel" are false cognates to Siegel, usually having deriving from a quite different root.) Most sources indicate that it derives from a Hebrew acronym the abbreviated form of Sagan Gadol ha-Leviya, which means Great assistant to the Levites, and is an honorific title bestowed upon a member of the tribe of Levi who performs synagogue duties faithfully. (Some Rabbis aver that Segal/Segall derives from the Hebrew s'gula, meaning "treasure." However, this would not explain the association of the name only with the tribe of Levi.) Further, the double-L in Segall seems to be a specifically Rumanian (language) spelling variant.

Siegel

Siegal

Sigl

See also
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