The surnames Chajes (Ashkenazic Hebrew), Chayes, Hayyot, Hayyut, and Hiyyut are written in Hebrew characters as Hebrew: חיות. The family name originated in the Jewish community of sixteenth-century Prague, one of many such matronymic names adopted by the community in the period.[1] It means "Chaya's [child/children]." The use of the Hebrew, rather than a Yiddish spelling, thus produced a double entendre seemingly intended to suggest "vitality".

Hebrew: חיוֹת means animals; Hebrew: חיוּת means vitality.

People with this surname

See also

References

  1. "See Erika Timm, Matronymika im aschkenasischen Kulturbereich". Retrieved 2023-09-06.
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