Returning to the example at the beginning of this lecture, we can now begin to understand why "Lejbka Gerszkiewicz" (the Yiddish name of a Polish Jew written in Russian) and "Mordechai Yehudah ben Tzvi" (Hebrew) are the same person. This is an excellent example of some of the challenges of Jewish genealogical research, where names are written in many languages and alphabets. In this one example we have five languages in three alphabets. This is the reality of Jewish genealogical research. Here we see the use of:

• Unrelated Double Names: Mordechai and Yehudah.   Both names were used on the tombstone, in other sources only one name was used.
• Related Names, Biblical Association: Yehudah and Leib.   The Hebrew name was used on the tombstone; its Yiddish kinnui Leib was used in the civil record.
• Related Names, Hebrew/Yiddish Calque: His father's name is given in Hebrew on the tombstone, Tzvi; its Yiddish calque Hersh was used in the civil record.
• Patronymics, in Russian and Hebrew.   "Gerszkiewicz" = son of Gershka; "ben Tzvi" = son of Tzvi.
• The Russian H: The Yiddish H in "Hersh" becomes a G in Russian.
• Diminutives: The Slavic suffix "-ka" turns Leib into Leibka, and Gersh into Gershka.

The English given name which he used in America, Max, was based upon the initial letter of one of his Hebrew given names, Mordechai.