The meaning of names among Mediterranean Jews

Marc Eliany ©

AYOUN (a'youn)
HAYOUN (BenHayoun)
HAY
HAYYOUT (BenHayout)
among other possible variations depending on the country and language of the person.

A'youn means 'eyes' in Arabic.
Hayoun, Hay and Hayout refer to 'life' in Hebrew.

Prefixes attached to the root name such as (aben, iben, abi, avi, am, ben, bin, abou, a, aj, al, bel, ha, i, la, lel, me, m, o, wi, vi, ) denotes usually a relation to a person, i.e., the father of or the son of X, a place, i.e., a person from X, an occupation, i.e., a person who practices a specific occupation, a characteristic of a person, i.e., beautiful... The prefixes al, el are equivalent to 'the' in English or the article 'le' in French. In the Moroccan Berbers tradition, prefixes such as 'wi' 'vi' 'i' means usually a family relationship to X, the equivalent of Abu in Arabic, i.e., 'the father of', 'son of' a man, a tribal affiliation and so forth.In the Hebrew tradition, the prefix ‘M ‘ is an abbreviation of the word 'from.'

Suffixes such as 'i' or 'ri' 'ti' refer to an association with a person or a location, for example: arditi= from ardou or ard.
Suffixes such as 'illo' 'ano' 'ino' 'nino' are used in Spain and Italy to indicate descendence or association with an attribute.
Suffixes such as 'yah', 'yahu' 'hu' are used in Hebrew to denote God's benediction, for example: aviyah, aviyahu, avihu...
Suffixws such as 'oun' 'on' 'yout' 'out' characterize adjectives in Hebrew, for example: Hayoun, hayout...

AYOUN Monique (1954-). Algeria (Algiers). Poet. Author of Le radeau du désir et de Mon Algérie (The dock of desire and my Algeria with Jean-Pierre Stora).
AYOUN Maurice (XXes.). Algeria (Algiers). Lawyer. Assisted the American forces to take over Algeria's governor general and command headquarter in 1942 (Operation Torch).
AYOUN Richard (XXes.). Algeria (Oran). History professor at the Institut of Oriental Langues and Oriental Civilizations in Paris. Specialised in North African Jewry. Author of Les Juifs d’Algérie : deux mille ans d’histoire (The Jews of Algeria: 2000 years of history).

HAYOUN Maurice (XXes.). Morocco. Painter. Painted scenes of exile, uprooting, holaucost.
HAYOUN Maurice-Ruben (XXes.). Algeria. Author of La haine de soi : le refus d’être Juif de Théodor Lessing (Self hate: Theodor Lessings rejection of Judaism) as well as: Dix-neuf épîtres sur le judaïsme de Samson Raphaël Hirsch; L’essence du judaïsme de Léo Baeck; L’éthique du judaïsme de Herman Cohen; des études sur le judaïsme dont : La littérature rabbinique; La philosophie médiévale juive; Le judaïsme moderne; La liturgie juive; La science du judaïsme ainsi que des biographies dont : Maïmonide; Averroès et l’averroïsme; Maïmonide ou l’autre Moïse.
HAY RICCHI Emmanuel (1688-1743). Netherlands. Rabbi. Author of Yotsér lévav (Heart creator) as well as Michnat hassidim.
HAYOUN Néhémiah Hia (1650-1730). Bosnia (Sarajevo). Rabbi. Excommunicated due to his support for Chabbétaï Tsvi. Author of Divré Néhémyah (Nehemiah's message) as well as Hatsad Tsévi and Rah’ya dyhouda. Found refuge in North Africa.
HAYYOUT Ménahem (?-1636). Moravia. Chief rabbi of Vilna. Author of Zémirot lé-chabbat (Sabbath Lithurgy)

References:

Azoulay, Hayim Yossef Shem Hagdolim (the names of the great)

AZOULAY Haïm Yossef David (Hida) (1724-1807) Chém haguédolim va’ad lahakhamim (The names of the Great Council of Sages).

Levi, J et. al. 2000        Dictionnaire biographique du monde Juif Sepharade et Mediteranean, Editions Elysee, Montreal.

Toledano, J. 1983        La saga des familles, Les juifs du Maroc et leurs noms, Editions Stavit, Tel Aviv

Laredo A. 1978           Les noms des juifs au Maroc (Madrid, 1978)