What is "yagoda"

Yagoda is Russian surname meaning "berry". However, there is a change in stress and thus pronunciation—surname is stressed Яго́да, and the berry is Я́года. It also may be a Russian version of the name Yehuda ( Judah).

Notable people with the surname include:

• Genrikh Yagoda (1891–1938), Soviet state security official
• Ben Yagoda (born 1954), American professor of journalism