As owners of somewhat long, somewhat Jewy last names, we've often wondered, how exactly one picks a less Jewy replacement. Not that we would ever do it ourselves, of course.

One can shorten it (our favorite example is Max Faktorowicz becoming Max Factor). One can make his middle name his last (Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz -> Jon Stewart). One can do it as a tribute (Gene Simmons, born Chaim Witz, named himself after rockabilly singer Jumpin' Gene Simmons). Or one can choose a name from an advertisement (we're looking at you, Larry Zeiger, make that Larry King's Wholesale Liquor... err Larry King).

Or, one can translate it. Andrew Citroen was a French entrepreneur and pioneering car manufacturer. His father was a Jewish diamond merchant, with the last name of Limoenman ("lime man" in Dutch). The father strangely changed it to "lemon man" (Citroen), added a diaeresis (Citroën!), and committed suicide soon after (probably not related to the name change. We hope).

So if you ever visit Paris, and see all those Citroens zipping along its streets, think that these Frenchmen could have easily be riding in Limoeanmans. Some name changes make a lot more sense than others, don't they?