Cohen (surname)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

Cohen (Hebrew: כֹּהֵןkōhēn', means: "A Priest") is a Jewish surname of biblical origins (see: Kohen). It is the most common Jewish surname, comparable to "Smith" in English-speaking societies.

Bearing the name in theory indicates that the ancestors of a person so named were priests in the Temple of Jerusalem. It is likely, however, that over the generations people claimed such a decent - which in some ways gives a privileged position in a traditional Jewish society - without a sufficient factual base.

Being a Cohen also imposes some disadvantages, however; specifically, by Jewish religious law a Cohen may not marry a divorced woman (since in principle a Priest should only marry a virgin).

An effort to trace whether or not people named "Cohen" actually have a common genetic origin is involved in the specific DNA signature associated with the name known as the Cohen Modal Haplotype.

Cohen may refer to:

[edit] People

Cohen, the surname of many people:

[edit] Scientists

[edit] Educators

[edit] Writers

[edit] Musicians

[edit] Artists

[edit] Technologists

  • Bram Cohen, an American computer programmer, best known as the author of the peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing program and protocol BitTorrent

[edit] Entertainment industry people

[edit] Sports and Athletics

[edit] Spies

  • Eli Cohen, a celebrated Israeli spy who is recognized as one of the most successful spies of modern times
  • Lona Cohen, an American member of the Communist Party USA who was recruited into Soviet espionage in 1939 by her husband
  • Morris Cohen (Soviet spy) (1910-1995, also known as Peter Kroger), was a Soviet spy who helped pass Manhattan Project secrets to the USSR

[edit] Politicians

  • Andrew Cohen (statesman), former Governor of Uganda
  • Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a European politician who was a leader of the student protesters during the May 1968 riots in France
  • David Cohen, an American politician, noted for his service in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
  • Erminie Cohen, a retired Canadian senator
  • Harry Cohen, a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom
  • Jay M. Cohen, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology, USA
  • Job Cohen, the mayor of Amsterdam
  • Leon Cohen, a Serbian activist; current adviser of President of Serbia and one of the chief negotiators of Serbia in the Kosovo dispute
  • Ran Cohen, an Israeli politician and Knesset member of the Meretz-Yachad party
  • Shaughnessy Cohen, a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Windsor—St. Clair for the Liberal Party from 1993 to 1998
  • Stanley Cohen (politician) (1927-2004), a British Labour politician
  • Steve Cohen, a member of the Tennessee State Senate from Memphis, recently elected to the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's Ninth District
  • William Cohen, an author and American politician from the U.S. state of Maine

[edit] Businesspeople

  • Albert D. Cohen, a Canadian businessman who is the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Gendis Incorporated
  • Ben Cohen (ice cream), a co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream
  • Benjamin Cohen, a British internet entrepreneur and journalist
  • Ben Cohen (television), one-time owner of Baltimore's WJZ-TV
  • Evan Montvel Cohen, a co-founder and the first chairman of Air America Radio
  • Henry Cohen, the director of Föhrenwald, the third largest Displaced Persons camp in the American sector of post-WWII Germany
  • Jack Cohen (Tesco) (1898-1979), British businessman
  • Jay Cohen, the former CEO of World Sports Exchange (WSEX), an online gambling company
  • Stephen M. Cohen, owner of the Internet domain name Sex.com
  • Steven A. Cohen, a billionaire hedge fund investor and founder of SAC Capital Partners

[edit] Lawyers

[edit] Fictional people

  • Aina Cohen, a fictional character, xueta, Majorcan converse Jew woman, and poet, of "Mort de dama” (The death of a lady) 1931, novel of Llorenç Villalonga.
  • Brian Cohen, the main character in Monty Python's "Life of Brian", son of "Naughtius Maximus"
  • Cohen the Barbarian, a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
  • Jenna Cohen, a fictional character in the Aliens universe.
  • Kirsten Cohen, a fictional character on the FOX television series The OC
  • Mark Cohen, a fictional character in the play Rent.
  • Maximillian Cohen, a fictional character in Pi (film).
  • Sandy Cohen, a fictional character on the FOX television series The O.C.
  • Seth Cohen, a fictional character on FOX television series The O.C.
  • Sander Cohen, a fictional character from the video game BioShock

[edit] People needing to be sorted

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

cs:Cohen

de:Cohen fr:Cohen he:כהן hu:Cohen nl:Cohen ja:コーヘン pl:Cohen ru:Коэн

Views
Personal tools

Toolbox