The surname מענדעלסאן (original yiddish: '׳מענדעלזאן) is transliterated to English as Mendelssohn, Mendelsson, Mendelson, or Mandelson. It is a common Polish/German Jewish surname. The variant spellings are used interchangeably, often even within a single family.
The name means son of Mendel ("Mendel's son"), or son of Menachem, as Mendel is a Yiddish diminutive of the Hebrew given name Menahem. Menachem itself means "consoling" or "one who consoles".
People Mendelssohn the Mendelssohn family starting with Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), a significant figure in the Age of Enlightenment in Germany, and his descendants: Joseph Mendelssohn (1770–1848), German Jewish banker, son of Moses, founder of Mendelssohn & Co. Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1776–1835), German Jewish banker, son of Moses, father of Fanny and Felix Brendel Mendelssohn (1763–1839), daughter of Moses, married (i) Simon Veit, (ii) Friedrich Schlegel Fanny Mendelssohn (1805–1847), noted early Romantic composer and pianist, daughter of Abraham Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847), noted early Romantic composer, son of Abraham Rebecka Mendelssohn (1811–1858), daughter of Abraham, married Lejeune Dirichlet, German mathematician Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1841–1880), German chemist, son of Felix Arnold Mendelssohn (1855–1933), great-grandson of Moses, composer and music teacher Others Anna Mendelssohn (1948–2009), British political activist and poet Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn (1911–1952), British band leader George Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, founder of Vox Records label in 1945 Heinrich Mendelssohn (1881–1959), German building tycoon Kurt Mendelssohn (1906–1980), German-born British medical physicist Vladimir Mendelssohn (1949–2021), Dutch-Romanian composer, violist, and professor
Mendelsohn Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn (born 1969), Australian actor and musician Carol Mendelsohn (born 1951), Canadian-Am. TV writer Carolyn Mendelsohn, English portrait photographer Daniel Mendelsohn (born 1960), American author and classics scholar Erich Mendelsohn (1887–1953), Am./British-Prussian architect Everett Mendelsohn (1931–2023), American historian Fred Mendelsohn (1917–2000), US promoter of black gospel music, president of Savoy Records Jonathan Mendelsohn, Baron (born 1966), British lobbyist and Labour political organiser Matthew Mendelsohn (birthdate unknown), Canadian civil servant Nathan Mendelsohn (1917–2006), Canadian mathematician Nicola Mendelsohn (born 1971), British advertising executive Robert Mendelsohn (disambiguation), multiple people
Mendelson Curtis Lester Mendelson (1913–2002), American cardiologist who first described pneumonia called Mendelson's syndrome Elliott Mendelson (1931–2020), American logician, known for the Mendelson axiom schemata for propositional Logic Mira Mendelson (1914–1968), Russian poet, second wife of Sergei Prokofiev Paul Mendelson, British scriptwriter for television, film and radio Phil Mendelson (born 1952), Washington, D.C., politician Shari Mendelson (born 1961), American sculptor
Other spellings Ben Mandelson (born 1953), English world musician Peter Mandelson (born 1953), British Labour politician Nathan Menderson (1820–1904), German-born American business/baseball executive
See also Mandel, surname list Mandelson (surname) Menderson Menachem Mendel, name list Mendelssohn (disambiguation)