Dayan () is a Hebrew surname. It means a Jewish religious judge in a

Beth din A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...

—a position conferring social prestige in a traditional Jewish community, and therefore one whose memory is likely to be retained as a family's surname even after the passage of many generations. Notable persons with the

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

include: *

Shmuel Dayan Shmuel Dayan ( he, שמואל דיין; 8 August 1891 – 11 August 1968) was a Zionist activist during the British Mandate of Palestine and an Israeli politician who served in the first three Knessets. Biography Born in the town of Zhashkiv in th ...

(1891–1968), Zionist activist and Israeli politician (father of Moshe) **

Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...

(1915–1981), Israeli military leader and politician **

Ruth Dayan Ruth Dayan ( he, רות דיין; 6 March 1917 – 5 February 2021) was an Israeli social activist who was the founder of the Maskit fashion house. She was also the first wife of Israeli Foreign Minister and General, Moshe Dayan (1915–1981). A ...

(1917-2021), widow of Moshe ***

Assi Dayan Assaf "Assi" Dayan ( he, אסף "אסי" דיין; 23 November 1945 – 1 May 2014) was an Israeli film director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. Life Dayan was the youngest son of Israeli general and defense minister Moshe Dayan and peace a ...

(1945–2014), Israeli film director, actor (son of Moshe) ***

Yael Dayan Yaël Dayan ( he, יעל דיין, born 12 February 1939) is an Israeli politician and author. She served as a member of the Knesset between 1992 and 2003, and from 2008 to 2013 was the chair of Tel Aviv city council. Her service on the city cou ...

(born 1939), Israeli politician and author (daughter of Moshe) ***

Uzi Dayan Aluf (Major General, res.) Uzi Dayan (, born January 4, 1948) is a former general in the Israel Defense Forces and an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Likud from 2020 to 2021. Biography Uzi Dayan is a nephew of Mosh ...

(born 1948), Israeli general and politician (nephew of Moshe) ***

Dani Dayan Dani Dayan ( he, דני דיין; born 29 November 1955) is an Argentine-Israeli entrepreneur and Consul General of Israel in New York since August 2016 and Yad Vashem chairman since August 2021. Dayan is an advocate for the establishment and mai ...

(born 1955), Chairman of

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

(relative) ***

Ilana Dayan Ilana Dayan-Orbach ( he, אילנה דיין-אורבך; born 8 May 1964) is an Israeli investigative journalist, anchorwoman, and attorney. She is best known as host of the investigative television program ("Fact") on the Israeli Channel 12. B ...

(born 1964), Israeli investigative journalist, jurist and anchorwoman (relative) *

Charles Dayan Charles Dayan (July 8, 1792 – December 25, 1877) was an American lawyer and politician. From 1831 to 1833, he served one term in the United States House of Representatives , U.S. House of Representatives from the state of New York (State), N ...

(1792–1877), American lawyer and politician * Charles Dayan (real estate developer) (born 1941), American real estate developer * Colin Dayan, American professor *

Daniel Dayan Daniel Dayan is a French social scientist Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field ...

(born 1943), social scientist * David Ben Dayan (born 1978), Israeli football player *

Haim Dayan Haim Dayan (, born 24 March 1960) is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Tzomet between 1992 and 1999. Biography Born in Migdal HaEmek, Dayan served as a commander in the Israel Police at Yokneam Illit, and w ...

(born 1960), Israeli politician *

Peter Dayan Peter Dayan is director at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany. He is co-author of ''Theoretical Neuroscience'', an influential textbook on computational neuroscience. He is known for applying Bayesian metho ...

, neuroscience scholar *

Rebecca Dayan Rebecca Dayan (; born 1984) is a French actress, model, artist, and activist. After training in fine arts, Dayan began her career in fashion and theatre in Paris. She then moved to New York City where she took up screen acting. Following several ...

, French-American actress and model *

Roei Dayan Roei Dayan ( he, רועי דיין, pronounced Rō'ī Dayan; born September 19, 1984) is a retired Israeli professional footballer who is mostly known for his time playing in Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Acre. Playing career Club career A product ...

(born 1984), Israeli football player * Yosef Dayan (born 1945), Israeli political activist Notable persons with the

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

Dayan (not always linguistically related) include: *

Dayán Viciedo Dayán Viciedo Pérez (born March 10, 1989) is a Cuban professional baseball infielder for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox. Early life Viciedo ent ...

(born 1989), Cuban baseball player *

David Dayan Fisher David Dayan Fisher is an English actor from London, England. He is known for his frequent portrayal of antagonistic characters, as well as his deep voice. He played Michael Sowerby/Raz in ''The Bill'', he has also appeared in ''The Last Post'', ...

, British actor *

Dayan Jayatilleka Dayan Jayatilleka ( si, දයාන් ජයතිලක; born 1956) is a leftist Sri Lankan academic, diplomat, writer and politician. Early life and family Jayatilleka was born in 1956. He is the son of Mervyn de Silva and Lakshmi Sylvia Fe ...

, Sri Lankan

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

academic, diplomat, politician, writer; he was named after Moshe Dayan

See also