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The German/Jewish surname of AST was a topographic name for someone who lived in a thickly wooded area, or a metonymic occupational name for a wood-cutter, originally derived from the Old German word AST meaning 'a branch'. Occupational surnames originally denoted the actual occupation followed by the individual. At what period they became hereditary is a difficult problem. Many of the occupation names were descriptive and could be varied. In the Middle Ages, at least among the Christian population, people did not usually pursue specialized occupations exclusively to the extent that we do today, and they would, in fact, turn their hand to any form of work that needed to be done, particularly in a large house or mansion, or on farms and smallholdings. In early documents, surnames often refer to the actual holder of an office, whether the church or state. When traditional Jews were forced to take family names by the local bureaucracy, it was an obligation imposed from outside traditional society, and people often took the names playfully and let their imaginations run wild by choosing names which corresponded to nothing real in their world. No one alive today can remember the times when Jews took or were given family names (for most Ashkenazim this was the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th) although many remember names being changed after emigration to other countries, such as the United States and Israel in recent years. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.
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Page Last Updated: August 9th, 2009
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Note: A Coat of Arms is also sometimes reffered to as: Family Shield, Code of Arms, Family Crest, Family Seal, Cote of Arms, Heraldry, Family Sheild, Family Symbol, Shields, Wappen, Escudo, Mark, Seals, Arms as well as several other common terms.
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