FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Fun Trivia
Home: Questions and Answers Forum
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


Is there an etymological relationship between the words "Cohen" (Jewish priest) and "Khan" (Turkish or Mongolian ruler)?

Question #105558. Asked by gentlegiant17.
Last updated Jun 27 2021.

Related Trivia Topics: Linguistics  
Arpeggionist star
Answer has 1 vote
Arpeggionist star
21 year member
2173 replies

Answer has 1 vote.
Maybe way, way back (as in the time of the development of the Hebrew and Indo-European languages). But in the Semitic alphabets, the spellings of the two words are based on completely different roots (Cohen is K H N, Khan is H A N).

May 14 2009, 11:27 AM
avatar
star_gazer star
Answer has 4 votes
Currently Best Answer
star_gazer star
23 year member
5236 replies avatar

Answer has 4 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
Khan is a popular surname among Pathan Muslims, but has nothing in particular to do with the Mongols.
As for the German 'Kahn', it is of Jewish origin and means 'priest' in Hebrew. It is also often spelled as Kohn or Cohen.

Khan is not a Mongol surname. It is a title used by the ruler, like 'king' in England. The difference is that in England and elsewhere, there are many people with the surname 'king', even though they are not descended from kings.

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahn

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_(surname)

Response last updated by satguru on Jun 27 2021.
May 14 2009, 11:29 AM
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion

Related FunTrivia Quizzes

play quiz Mongolian Manly Mania
(Asia)
play quiz Etymological Tidbits
(Etymology)
play quiz An Etymological Smorgasbord
(Etymology)

Return to FunTrivia
"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.