Siegel (also

Segal Segal, and its variants including Sagal, Segel, Sigal or Siegel, is a family name which is primarily Ashkenazi Jewish. The name is said to be derived from Hebrew ''segan leviyyah'' (assistant to the Levites) although a minority of sources cla ...

or Segel), is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and Ashkenazi Jewish surname. it can be traced to 11th century

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and was used by people who made wax seals for or sealed official documents (each such male being described as a ''Siegelbeamter''). Alternate spellings include Sigel, Sigl, Siegl, and others. "Siegel" is also the modern German word for

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

. The name ultimately derives from the Latin ''sigillum,'' meaning "seal" as in the Seal of the City of New York: ''Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci''. The Germanicized derivative of the name was given to professional seal makers and engravers. Some researchers have attributed the surname to Sigel, referring to

Sól (Sun) Sól may refer to: * Sól (Germanic mythology), a goddess who personifies the sun in Germanic mythology *Sól, Lublin Voivodeship, east Poland *Sól, Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland *Sól, Silesian Voivodeship, south Poland * Sowilo rune o ...

, the goddess of the sun in Germanic mythology (Siȝel or sigel in Old English / Anglo-Saxon), but that is highly speculative.

Variants, and false cognates

Other variants may routinely include Siegelman, Siegle, Sigl, and Sigel. Presumably, some bearers of these names are lineal descendants of ethnic Jews who changed the spellings of their surnames in the course of assimilating among other cultures: "

" and " Segel" are

false cognate False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family. For example, the Engl ...

s to Siegel, usually having derived from Latin America, where the double vowel did not translate into pronunciation. Most sources indicate that it derives from the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

acronym סגל the abbreviated form of either ''Sagan Gadol ha-Leviya'', which means "great assistant to the

Levites Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew de ...

", or ''Sagan Gadol L'-Cohen'' which means "great assistant to the Cohanim" (special group of Levites who tended to more holy tasks within the Jewish Temple), and was an honorific title bestowed upon a member of the tribe of Levi who performed temple duties faithfully. (Some Rabbis aver that Segal/Segall derives from the Hebrew s'gula, meaning "treasure." However, this would not explain the association of the name only with the tribe of Levi.) Further, the double-L in Segall seems to be a specifically

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

spelling variant.

Siegel

* Adam Siegel (born 1969), American guitarist * Bernard Siegel (1868–1940), Austro-Hungarian born American character actor * Bernard Siegel, American attorney * Bernie S. Siegel (born 1932), American writer and retired pediatric surgeon *

Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish Mob, but along with his childhood fri ...

(1906–1947), American mobster *

Carl Ludwig Siegel Carl Ludwig Siegel (31 December 1896 – 4 April 1981) was a German mathematician specialising in analytic number theory. He is known for, amongst other things, his contributions to the Thue–Siegel–Roth theorem in Diophantine approximation, ...

(1896–1981), German mathematician *

Corky Siegel Mark Paul "Corky" Siegel (born October 24, 1943) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He plays harmonica and piano. He plays and writes blues and blues-rock music, and has also worked extensively on combining blues and c ...

(born 1943), American harmonica player in the Siegel–Schwall Band *

David Siegel (disambiguation) David Siegel may refer to: * David A. Siegel (born 1935), American businessman and founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts * David Siegel (musician) (born 1973), American musician * David Siegel (screenwriter), American film director and screenwriter ...

, several people *

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...

, American film and television director and producer * Dora Siegel (1912-2003), birth name of

Dora Gad Dora Gad (Hebrew דורה גד; b. 1912, d. 31 December 2003) was an Israeli interior designer, whose work had significant influence on the development of modern Israeli architecture. Biography Dora Siegel (later Gad) was born in Câmpulung, Ro ...

, Israeli interior designer *

Eli Siegel Eli Siegel (August 16, 1902 – November 8, 1978) was a poet, critic, and educator. He founded Aesthetic Realism, a philosophical movement based in New York City. An idea central to Aesthetic Realism—that every person, place or thing in reality ...

(1902–1978), Latvian-American poet and critic who founded philosophy of aesthetic realism * George L. Siegel (1885-1963), American lawyer and politician *

James Siegel James Siegel (born 1954) is an American thriller novelist. He holds a B.A. from the York College 1977, City University of New York, and lives in Manhattan and Sag Harbor, NY. Siegel worked for many years as an advertising executive in New Yo ...

(born 1954), American thriller novelist *

Jeremy Siegel Jeremy James Siegel (born November 14, 1945) is the Russell E. Palmer Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Siegel comments extensively on the economy and financial markets. He ...

(born 1945), American Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, author and commentator *

Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, i ...

(1914–1996), American, one of the creators of Superman *

Joel Siegel Joel Steven Siegel (July 7, 1943 – June 29, 2007) was an American film critic for the ABC morning news show ''Good Morning America'' for over 25 years. The winner of multiple Emmy Awards, Siegel also worked as a radio disc jockey and an adverti ...

(1943–2007), American film critic and television journalist * Karola Siegel, birthname of

Ruth Westheimer Karola Ruth Westheimer ( Siegel; born June 4, 1928), better known as Dr. Ruth, is a German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. Westheimer was born in Germany to a Jewish fam ...

(born 1928; known as "Dr. Ruth"), German-American sex therapist, talk show host, author, professor, Holocaust survivor, and former Haganah sniper. *

Kate Siegel Kate Gordon Siegelbaum, known professionally as Kate Siegel ( , born 9 August 1982), is an American actress and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaborations with her husband, filmmaker Mike Flanagan, appearing in his films ''Oculus'' ...

(born 1982), American actress and screenwriter * Larry Siegel (1925-2019), American comedy writer * Mark Siegel (born 1967), American graphic novel author and publisher *

Max Siegel Max Siegel (born December 31, 1964) is an American corporate CEO, president, entertainer executive, multicultural activist and attorney. He is the current Chief Executive Officer of USA Track & Field (USATF), the National Governing Body of track a ...

, American corporate CEO * Mona L. Siegel, American scholar, author, and historian *

Ralph Siegel Ralph Siegel (born 30 September 1945) is a German record producer and songwriter. Siegel is one of the most notable figures at the Eurovision Song Contest, in which he has participated with 24 songs so far, among them the 1982 winner song Ein bi ...

(born 1945), German record producer and songwriter * Ralph Siegel (scientist) (1958–2011), American neuroscientist * Rick Siegel, American comedian, talent agent and inventor *

Robert Siegel Robert Charles Siegel (born June 26, 1947) is an American retired radio journalist. He was one of the co-hosts of the National Public Radio evening news broadcast ''All Things Considered'' from 1987 until his retirement in January 2018. Early ...

, American radio journalist, host of NPR's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'' * Shepard Siegel, Canadian psychologist * Sol C. Siegel (1903–1982), American reporter and film producer * Stephen Siegel (born 1944), American real estate executive, chairman of CB Richard Ellis * Steven Siegel (born 1953), American sculptor *

Warren Siegel Warren Siegel ( ) is a theoretical physicist specializing in supersymmetric quantum field theory and string theory. He is a professor at the C. N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics at Stony Brook University in New York. Background Siegel did ...

, American physicist * Wayne Siegel (born 1953), American composer living in Århus, Denmark *

William Siegel William Siegel (1905–1990; born Wilhelm Tsiegelnitsky, later William Sanderson) was an American painter and illustrator. Early in his career, he worked as a contributing editor publishing illustrations in '' New Masses'' magazine. During the G ...

(1905–1990), American graphic artist

Seigel

Andrea Seigel Andrea Seigel (born October 28, 1979) is an American novelist and screenwriter. To date, she has published four novels. Seigel was born in Anaheim, California, and grew up in Irvine, California. She graduated from Woodbridge High School. She ...

(born 1979), American novelist and screenwriter * Jerrold Seigel, American historian * Kalman Seigel (1917–1998), an American journalist

Siegal

Ian Siegal Ian Siegal (born 1971) is a British blues singer and guitarist. Biography Ian Siegal is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader and recording artist whose music encompasses Blues and Americana. Born near Portsmouth in England, he dropped ...

(born 1971), British blues singer and guitarist * Justine Siegal (born 1975), American baseball coach and sports educator

Seigal

Anna Seigal Anna Seigal is a British mathematician who conducts research in Algebraic geometry, applied algebraic geometry at Harvard University and the University of Oxford. She was awarded the 2020 Richard C. DiPrima Prize, SIAM Richard C. DiPrima Prize an ...

, British mathematician *

Bernard Seigal Bernard R. "Buddy Blue" Seigal (December 30, 1957 – April 2, 2006) was an American musician, music critic and writer, who performed and often wrote under his stage name Buddy Blue. He was a founding member of The Beat Farmers, a Southern Calif ...

(1957–2006), American musician

Sigl

* Georg Sigl (1811–1887), Austrian mechanical engineer and entrepreneur * Robert Sigl (born 1962), German filmmaker *Rudi Sigl (born 1937), German sport shooter *Wolfgang Sigl (born 1972), Austrian rower

Mathematical concepts

*Brauer–Siegel theorem *Gelfand–Naimark–Segal construction *Siegel modular form *Segal space *Newell–Whitehead–Segel equation *Siegel zero

External links

Origins of the name from segal.org

{{surname Jewish surnames Levite surnames Germanic-language surnames German-language surnames Yiddish-language surnames