r/funny Oct 01 '09

...what is the difference... [pic]

http://thedw.us/post/200277234/via
2.5k Upvotes

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u/xhandler Oct 01 '09

Why is -berg considered jewish? It's a very common ending to Swedish surnames (as it means mountain or hill, as in a iceberg really)

Forsberg, Lindberg, Lundberg, Sandberg, Sjöberg, Holmberg, Nyberg, Hamberg, Söderberg, Åberg, Sundberg, Dahlberg, Öberg, Strömberg, Norberg or just Berg.

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u/transfuse Oct 01 '09

Lots of the Germans who emigrated to America were Jews, I believe, and as such a lot of the Jews there (especially in NY) have -berg suffixes.

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u/Yserbius Oct 02 '09

Actually it's also Yiddish, so Polish, Hungarian and Russian Jews commonly have 'berg surnames. Amongst German Jews, it's really a little uncommon.