Mitrani Explained

Mitrani is a surname which is used by Jewish people.^[1] It is a combination of the Hebrew preposition mi and Trani meaning "from Trani".

It was first adopted by the Italian-origin Sephardic Jews who settled in Wallachia, Romania, coming from Trani, Italy, in the 1700s.^{[2] [3]} In a 1961 study the same view is also emphasized adding that it is a well-established way for Jewish people to formulate names based on the places where their ancestors resided.^[4] It has a variant, Mitrany.^[3] Notable people with the surname are as follows:

• David Mitrany (1888–1975), Romanian-born British scholar and historian
• David Mitrani Arenal (born 1966), Cuban writer
• Luke Mitrani (born 1990), American snowboarder and musician
• Michel Mitrani (1930–1996), French film director and screenwriter
• Noël Mitrani (born 1969), Canadian-born French film director
• Nora Mitrani (1921–1961), Bulgarian writer
• Rachel Mitrani, birth name of Shelley Morrison (1936–2019), American actress

Notes and References

1. David M. Bunis. The earliest Judezmo newspapers: Sociolinguistic reflections. Mediterranean Language Review. 1993. 6-7. 41.
2. Book: Patrick Hanks. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. 2003. 978-0-19-977169-1. Oxford; New York. 1-PA599.
3. Mihai Alexandrescu. David Mitrany during the First World War. Some ambiguities in his biography. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai - Historia. 62. 2. 2017. 50.
4. Max Markreich. Notes on Transformation of Place Names by European Jews. Jewish Social Studies. 23. 4. 1961. 4465885. 278,280.