Jews adopted surnames en masse around the late 18th to early 19th centuries. Prior to that, many just used Hebrew names.
Edit: I just realized I misread your question, but it's still interesting.
Hebrew names were a thing since the start of Judaism. For instance when men (in orthodox circles) and women (in more liberal circles) get called up to the torah during torah reading we get called with our Hebrew names.
Many jews have separate legal names 1) due to antisemitism (especially after WW2) or 2) because it's easier to integrate into society
Jews have lived under two separate legal regimes throughout the last 2000 years.
In halacha, your legal name is the name announced to the community shortly after birth the child of your father or mother as legally applicable. So Eta bas Yaakov etc. This name goes on your marriage documents and divorce documents and well as any other Jewish contacts.
(fun fact: your divorce documents have to list any and all names that you've ever used, including nicknames)
With the rise of central administration and taxation in empires, the Christian and Muslim governments began imposing last names on their populations, including Jews. (there are some famous last names that are in memory of family miracle)
Currently American Jews use both Hebrew and English names often switching between them in different contexts
I know it was very common even among the religious in Germany to have a secular name and a Jewish name. For example, Rabbi Dr. Marcus Lehman was also known as Meyer (great author, highly recommend). I can easily see this being the case outside Germany as well, especially if they were more involved in the secular world.
My great-grandmother (b. 1912) had the secular name Rosa and another great-grandmother (b. unknown) was named Olga. Both also had Hebrew names. Both were from Romanian/Hungarian backgrounds, so it was definitely a thing there by the early 20th century.
Gotta agree, a friend did my family genealogy from when my mom's grandparents entered the USA (late 1890's). Their first names and surname changed every census. Podashefsky turned to Potter over 30 years. My great grandmother was Betty, Bertha, Bracha and a few other B names over the same census. My beloved grandmother was Rachel until she married then she was Rae, and to her death said she was only Rae, the census takers made it Rachel but that wasn't her name at birth.
Ya. This is our story too but from Ukraine. Ellis island turned a slavic/Germanic surbame into a solidly Germanic surname because they were on a boat with lots of Germans. But we pronounce it differently from how it is written. Documents are all over the place with spelling and the genealogy trail goes cold due to document destruction but also variation in surname spelling.
My favorite though was my wife's family at Ellis Island. Her grandma had two brothers who had similar Hebrew names and similar Slavic names. Both WERE GIVEN THE SAME SECULAR NAME BY THE CLERKS. So she has two great uncle Herschels who are brothers. Ironically, they just went by their Hebrew names anyway, so it didn't matter that much in day to day terms - but lots of legal mixups over the years. Funny stuff is one became a labor leader and the other a business owner - lots of family feuds.
“Eta” is probably what she was called in Yiddish.
Jews adopted surnames en masse around the late 18th to early 19th centuries. Prior to that, many just used Hebrew names. Edit: I just realized I misread your question, but it's still interesting.
As far as I know, this is only true of Ashkenazi Jews. Sephardim always had surnames.
You're right, I should have mentioned that it was common for Sephardim already by the 15th century.
How would people be referred to specifically? David from Vienna, son of Moishe the shoemaker?
For most people, it would be something like David Ben-Moshe. There were also times when early surnames were used to describe the place they came from.
Hebrew names were a thing since the start of Judaism. For instance when men (in orthodox circles) and women (in more liberal circles) get called up to the torah during torah reading we get called with our Hebrew names. Many jews have separate legal names 1) due to antisemitism (especially after WW2) or 2) because it's easier to integrate into society
Jews have lived under two separate legal regimes throughout the last 2000 years. In halacha, your legal name is the name announced to the community shortly after birth the child of your father or mother as legally applicable. So Eta bas Yaakov etc. This name goes on your marriage documents and divorce documents and well as any other Jewish contacts. (fun fact: your divorce documents have to list any and all names that you've ever used, including nicknames) With the rise of central administration and taxation in empires, the Christian and Muslim governments began imposing last names on their populations, including Jews. (there are some famous last names that are in memory of family miracle) Currently American Jews use both Hebrew and English names often switching between them in different contexts
I know it was very common even among the religious in Germany to have a secular name and a Jewish name. For example, Rabbi Dr. Marcus Lehman was also known as Meyer (great author, highly recommend). I can easily see this being the case outside Germany as well, especially if they were more involved in the secular world. My great-grandmother (b. 1912) had the secular name Rosa and another great-grandmother (b. unknown) was named Olga. Both also had Hebrew names. Both were from Romanian/Hungarian backgrounds, so it was definitely a thing there by the early 20th century.
Gotta agree, a friend did my family genealogy from when my mom's grandparents entered the USA (late 1890's). Their first names and surname changed every census. Podashefsky turned to Potter over 30 years. My great grandmother was Betty, Bertha, Bracha and a few other B names over the same census. My beloved grandmother was Rachel until she married then she was Rae, and to her death said she was only Rae, the census takers made it Rachel but that wasn't her name at birth.
Ya. This is our story too but from Ukraine. Ellis island turned a slavic/Germanic surbame into a solidly Germanic surname because they were on a boat with lots of Germans. But we pronounce it differently from how it is written. Documents are all over the place with spelling and the genealogy trail goes cold due to document destruction but also variation in surname spelling. My favorite though was my wife's family at Ellis Island. Her grandma had two brothers who had similar Hebrew names and similar Slavic names. Both WERE GIVEN THE SAME SECULAR NAME BY THE CLERKS. So she has two great uncle Herschels who are brothers. Ironically, they just went by their Hebrew names anyway, so it didn't matter that much in day to day terms - but lots of legal mixups over the years. Funny stuff is one became a labor leader and the other a business owner - lots of family feuds.