The meaning of names among Mediterranean Jews

Marc Eliany ?

ACHRIQUI(Ashriki, Sheriki, Sherki, Sharki, Sharkey…)
CHIRQUI
CHRIQUI
CHOURAQUI

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

Chriqui is ‘oriental’ in Arabic. It refers to an origin. The name is widespread in North Africa. Its spelling varies due to French influence i.e., Chouraqui… It appears with the prefix ‘a’ from time to time.

Prefixes attached to the root name such as (aben, iben, abe, abi, abou, aboul, avi, am, ben, bin, abou, a, aj, al, bel, even, ha, 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.’

Complex prefixes such as ‘Ab e’ in the name Ab E Rgel consist of two elements Ab=father and E=the.
Complex prefixes such as ‘BarHa’ in the name BarHaNess consist of two elements Bar=son and Ha=the.

Suffixes such as ‘an’ or ‘in’ denote affiliation or a characteristic in Aramaec.
Suffixes such as ‘a’ characterize ancient Hebrew names, i.e., AviHatsir’a’
Suffixes such as oulah, oulay, ilah, ily, el, eli are used in Hebrew and Arabic to associate a name with God’ blessing.
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.
Suffixes such as ‘yah’, ‘yahu’ ‘hu’ are used in Hebrew to denote God’s benediction, for example: aviyah, aviyahu, avihu…
Suffixes such as ‘oun’ ‘on’ ‘yout’ ‘out’ characterize adjectives in Hebrew, for example: Hayoun, hayout…

ACHRIQUI Mord?kha? (XVIIIes.). Morocco. Advisor to Sidi Moulay Abdallah, the king of Morocco.
CHIRQUI Chim?on (1860-1930). Morocco (Safi). Rabbi of Jaffa and J?rusalem. Emissary to India, Irak and North Africa.
CHRIQUI Claude (XXes.). Morocco (Casablanca). Professor of computer sciences at l??cole des Hautes ?tudes Commerciales at Montr?al University. Community leader. Chair of the Sepharadi community of Qu?bec (1977-1978).
CHRIQUI David (XIXes.). Morocco (Tanger). Journalist. Author of Ceuta Antigua y Moderna (Ceuta, Old and New).
CHIRQUI Yossef (XIXes.). Morocco. Merchant in Tanger. Interpret of the Swedish and French Consulats. Fulfilled diplomatic duties. The Ch??rit Yossef synagogue was inaugurated during the historical visit of Sir Moses Montefiore to Tangier.

CHOURAQUI ?lie (1950-). Algeria. Film and theatre director. Director of Mon premier amour; Qu?est ce qui fait courir David?; Paroles et musique; Man and fire.
CHOURAQUI Andr? Nathan (1917-). Algeria (A?n T?mouchent). Lawyer. Historian. Poet. Playright. Biographer. Translator. Author of L?amour fort comme la mort; Les hommes de la Bible; L??tat d?Isra?l; L?histoire des Juifs en Afrique du Nord; L?histoire du juda?s-me; L?Alliance Isra?lite Universelle et la renaissance juive contemporaine (1860-1960); translations of Bahya Ibn Pakoudah as well as the Bible and the Koran; as well as essays such as La pens?e juive; Ce que je crois; Vivre pour J?rusalem; Lettre ? un ami chr?tien; Lettre ? un ami arabe; J?rusalem : une m?tropole spirituelle; Proc?s ? J?rusalem; La reconnaissance : Le Saint-Si?ge et l??tat d?Isra?l; biographies on Ren? Cassin : fantassin des droits and Un visionnaire nomm? Herzl.
CHOURAQUI Bernard (1943-). Algeria (Oran). Poet. Author of Le dernier jugement, Qui est Goy? ou de Pharaon ? Hitler; Le scandale juif ou la subversion de la mort; Le complexe d?Adam ou l?inconscient proph?tique; Les ?vangiles du XXe si?cle : anthologie du monde sans mort; J?sus, le Rabbi de Nazareth.
CHOURAQUI Saadia (1604-1704). Algeria (Tlemcen). Rabbi. Poet. Mathematician. Author of Mon? mispar (Counting numbers).

References:

ABEHSSERA Chalom S?f?r youhassin (Genealogy Registers).

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)