What is "mendelssohn"

The Yiddish-language surname '''מענדעלסאן is transliterated to English '''as Mendelssohn, Mendelsson, Mandelson (surname), or Mendelson. 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."