During the 19th century, Botbol was one of the twenty most common surnames within

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...

community. The origin of this surname (and its variants: Abitbol and Boutboul) is likely derived 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 ...

shoresh Shoresh ( he, שורש, שֹׁרֶשׁ, ''lit.'' Root) is a moshav shitufi in central Israel. Located five kilometres from Sha'ar HaGai in the Jerusalem corridor, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a pop ...

ט.ב.ל (ṭ.b.l) meaning "purification in a

ritual bath Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may ...

". The name means "father of the bath", ''i.e.'', the one in charge of this ritual bath. In

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

(), it means "father of the

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

" which indicates a profession, ''i.e.'', the maker or salesman of this popular Moroccan musical instrument, and is the name of a musical family from Fes. The Botbol name is now found in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and in the

Moroccan diaspora The Moroccan diaspora (), part of the wider Arab diaspora, consists of emigrants from Morocco and their descendants. An estimated five million Moroccans live abroad, with the majority of the diaspora being located in Europe, and especially France ...

. Many of the Botbol families in

arrived between 1478, persecuted by the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

, and 1492 when the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

signed the Alhambra Decree, the edict ordering the expulsion of all Jews from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and its possessions. Some of the Botbols may have gone to Antwerp at this time, and become the Botbijl families found there today. Botbols were known in early 16th century

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

of that era, and were referred to as

Maghrebi Jews :''See Mashriqi Jews for more information about Jews in the rest of North Africa and Western Asia.'' Maghrebi Jews ( or , ''Maghrebim'') or North African Jews ( ''Yehudei Tzfon Africa'') are ethnic Jews who had traditionally lived in the Maghre ...

References

{{Reflist Maghrebi Jewish surnames Surnames of Moroccan origin Jews and Judaism in Morocco

See also

References