The meaning of names among Mediterranean Jews

Marc Eliany ?

ARDOUTIEL
ARDITI
among other possible variations depending on the country and language of the person.

Arditi and Ardouati are rare names in our inventory of Mediterranean names adopted by Jews. The names are in all likelihood an indication of origin, refering to an unknown location.

Prefixes attached to the root name such as (aben, iben, abi, avi, am, ben, bin, abou, a, aj, al, bel, i, la, lel, me, m, o, wi, vi, ) denotes usually a relation to a person, i.e., the father of or the son of X, a place, i.e., a person from X, an occupation, i.e., a person who practices a specific occupation, a characteristic of a person, i.e., beautiful… The prefixes al, el are equivalent to ‘the’ in English or the article ‘le’ in French. In the Moroccan Berbers tradition, prefixes such as ‘wi’ ‘vi’ ‘i’ means usually a family relationship to X, the equivalent of Abu in Arabic, i.e., ‘the father of’, ‘son of’ a man, a tribal affiliation and so forth.In the Hebrew tradition, the prefix ‘M ‘ is an abbreviation of the word ‘from.’

Suffixes such as ‘i’ or ‘ri’ ‘ti’ refer to an association with a person or a location, for example: arditi= from ardou or ard.
Suffixes such as ‘illo’ ‘ano’ ‘ino’ ‘nino’ are used in Spain and Italy to indicate descendence or association with an attribute.

ARDOUTIEL Chem Tov (Santob ou Don Santo de Carrion) (XIIIe-XIVes.?). Spain. Poet. Author of Proverbios morales o Consejos y documentos al rey don Pedro (Proverbs and advice to King Pierre of Castilia).
ARDITI Albert Judah (1891-1942). Greece. Politician. Vice mayor of Salonica. Deported and perished in Auschwitz.
ARDITI Benjamin (XXes.). Bulgaria. Zionist leader in Sofia, affiliated with the revisionists. Member of the Israeli Parliament. Authored publications on Bulgarian Jews.
ARDITI Rodolphe (1872-?). Bulgaria (Sofia). Lived in Tunisia. Rabbi in the French army. Author of publication relating to Tunisian Jewry.

References:

Azoulay, Hayim Yossef Shem Hagdolim (the names of the great)

AZOULAY Ha?m Yossef David (Hida) (1724-1807) Ch?m hagu?dolim va?ad lahakhamim (The names of the Great Council of Sages).

Levi, J et. al. 2000        Dictionnaire biographique du monde Juif Sepharade et Mediteranean, Editions Elysee, Montreal.

Toledano, J. 1983        La saga des familles, Les juifs du Maroc et leurs noms, Editions Stavit, Tel Aviv

Laredo A. 1978           Les noms des juifs au Maroc (Madrid, 1978)