Kohnstamm page 5 / Back to page 1
In the United States three spellings are found in the family of Maro Raphael Kohnstamm (KB.443), whoe migrated from Bamberg early in the nineteenth century. The descendants of the eldest son use Konstam, those of the second son Kohnstam, while those of the youngest son preserve the original Kohnstamm.
Another variation is the spelling, of the name in Hebrew characters by the family of Jacob Kohnstamm (KB.411.741), who emigrated to Palestine (now Israel) during the 1930s. Transcribing the Hebrew spelling back into Roman characters the name appears as Kohenshtamm.
The first member of the family known to have emigrated abroad from Niederwerrn was Menachen Hayurn Ha-Kohen (KA.2), who settled in Brighton, England, in 1782. He anglicized his forenames to Emanuel Hyarn and adopted the surname Cohen, long, before the family he left behind in Germany took up the name Kohnstamm. All his descendants remaining in England are through the female line, but the name Cohen continues in the numerous progeny of his son Abraham (KA.25), who emigrated to Australia. Another son, George Moses Cohen (KA.22) emigrated to Canada and abandoned his surname in favour of Benjamin, the maiden name of his mother. His descendants today do not include any in the male line, so that this name no longer continues in the family.