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What is the source of the name Isser? On what Yiddish, Hebrew or Jewish term - if any - is it based?

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  • איסור איטלקי... – sam Jan 22 '17 at 2:34
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This book explains that Isser is a variant of the name Yisrael, citing a tradition of dropping God's name from the name itself - like Eliyahu becoming Elya, for example.

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  • Elya is often spelled Aleph-lamed-Yud with an apostrophe to avoid the Yud-Hei conjunction (as appears also in the last letters of Eliyahu). Don't shoot the messenger; I didn't say I agreed with it, only that that's the rationale presented. – Shmuel Brown Feb 10 '17 at 0:41
  • This is supported by such names as Yisrael Isserlin (the Terumas HaDeshen), see he.wikipedia.org/wiki/… – wfb Feb 10 '17 at 16:25
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As per the sefer Zocher Ha'bris (24-17) and Sefer Ha'bris (page 318-22) it appears that the name Isser is actually not a variant of Yisroel but it is pshuto ki'mashma'o and it means "prohibition." Apparently whenever an unmarried girl gave birth to a boy, the newborn was named Issur. Maybe later on, in order to whitewash the family history, the idea of it being a variant of Yisroel was created.

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    Very interesting, and thanks for the source. I will look it up later. – Shmuel Brown Feb 12 '17 at 15:26

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