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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Jewish (Ashkenazic) : variant of Kotzen.
  • Jewish (Ashkenazic) : shortened form of Katzenellenbogen, a habitational name from Katzenelnbogen in Hesse-Nassau. The place name is probably derived from a Celtic tribal name, Chattimelibochi, but was altered by folk etymology as if it meant ‘cat’s elbow’. The earliest known bearer of this name is Meir Ben Yitschak (c.1480–1565), Chief Rabbi of the Venetian Republic, who was born in Katzenellenbogen.

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