zucker@sunybcs.uucp (Jeffery I. Zucker) (11/20/86)
There have had two responses to my query: Can anyone enlighten me as to the origin of the Jewish (Yiddish?) personal name "Kalman"? (1) From Lambert Meertens (lambert@mcvax.UUCP): I don't know of a Jewish name "Kalman", but I know it is a common last name in Hungary, except that Hungarians put their last name first (as in Kalman Emmerich, the light opera composer). Maybe there is some connection, maybe not. There was a king Kalman of Hungary in the Middle Ages, I think the twelfth century, who abolished witch trials, something that happened only six centuries later in most other countries. (2) From Adam Reed (mtund!adam): According to Alfred J. Kolatch, Dictionary of First Names, 1980, Kalman is a short form of Kalonymos, a variant of the Latin name Clement, meaning "merciful" or "gracious". The name originated in 8th century Italy, and was popular among eminent Jewish families in Germany from the 9th to the 13th centuries. My comment: If the Hungarian name "Kalman" comes from the Latin "Clement", then these two explanations are connected.
aeb@mcvax.UUCP (11/22/86)
In article <1470@sunybcs.UUCP> zucker@sunybcs.UUCP (Jeffery I. Zucker) writes: >There have been two responses to my query: > > Can anyone enlighten me as to the origin of > the Jewish (Yiddish?) personal name "Kalman"? > >(1) From Lambert Meertens (lambert@mcvax.UUCP): > > I don't know of a Jewish name "Kalman", but I know it is a common last name > in Hungary, except that Hungarians put their last name first (as in Kalman > Emmerich, the light opera composer). Maybe there is some connection, maybe > not. There was a king Kalman of Hungary in the Middle Ages, I think the > twelfth century, who abolished witch trials, something that happened only > six centuries later in most other countries. > >(2) From Adam Reed (mtund!adam): > > According to Alfred J. Kolatch, Dictionary of First Names, 1980, Kalman > is a short form of Kalonymos, a variant of the Latin name Clement, > meaning "merciful" or "gracious". The name originated in 8th century > Italy, and was popular among eminent Jewish families in Germany from the > 9th to the 13th centuries. > >My comment: If the Hungarian name "Kalman" comes from the >Latin "Clement", then these two explanations are connected. I agree with (1), but not with (2). Kalman / Koloman / Coloman occurs in the 7th Century as the name of an abbot of Lindisfarna (died 676). He became a saint (nameday Febr. 18). The Hungarian king of this name reigned 1095-1114. The name is probably of Irish origin. I can see no connection between Kalonymos `well-named', Clemens `merciful' (name of a pope, 88-97) and Koloman `hermit?'.