Does it sound or look like I have Jewish ancestry?

[california dreamin]

I can't afford a DNA test right now (I'm in debt from college) 
And, I tried looking up my grandfather's family history but I cannot trace beyond him. No matter where I go it's a dead end. I can't ask him because he's gone.

So really this is a guessing game, I'm just wondering how likely it is based on what my mother said and the pictures.

My other relatives look 100% English but some of those traits in the pictures pop up here and there on my mother's side of the family. Those traits are most noticeable in the pictures of the relatives I posted photos of.

My mother and one of my uncles are dark skinned all year round, and had what they called a 'beak' nose. Sort of like a Syrid nose, that was 'large'. I'm also darker skinned even in the winter. My mother was actually brown, though my grandfather looked light skinned. When I look at myself I almost see some kind of Semitic features there.

The problem with tracing is that there is also families of 100% English and Irish origin with the surname, unrelated to each other, and they live in England also. Though according to a person who researched the surname, he said the Bloom families near Manchester were crypto-Jewish, and my family lives very close to there and there were people with Hebrew names like Esau and Hezekiah with my surname living in the same town my family lives. I also met a man with my surname in my town and he had the black hair, short head, and brown skin also.

My mother implied she was well implied that Jewish was an ethnicity, rather than a religion.

Hi Debra -
If you are suggesting that the Bloom family may have come from Manchester please do read the information here.

 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/448/archives_and_local_history/506/multicultural_manchester/19

You may find your research is coming to a dead end because the name Bloom was anglicised or changed.   Many of the Jewish community just changed their names (alot around WW1) so there will be no paperwork.

You do need to stop guessing and build up a profile of facts.   Some good 'how to ' suggestions have been made.

[Erin2012]

Deborah... I say start saving for a genealogy test.

I have been told my whole life how I tan so well because my father had native american blood on both sides of the family.  His sister (my Aunt) said yes there was on both sides and even which family members, on a site people who I share that same common ancestor also had heard the same thing....Between them immigrating to Boston in 1635 and having another side French Canadian I thought it was possible.

My brother did the DNA test.... 0% Native American!

[Rena]

I agree that the quickest and cheapest way to resolving your query is to assemble together b.m.d. documentation showing all the names and dates.  The documentation is important in that witnesses could be relations.

Having a peculiar accent might not indicate he was a Jew or migrated from Germany, as I see from the National Archives that people with that surname (Bloom) also originated in Russia for example.

Searching for "Bloom" on the National Archive website brings up over 4,500 results.  To search for migrants who had enough money to pay for naturalisation, these records are in the "Home Office Section".  To search solely for those records type in "Bloom AND HO"

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/immigrants.htm

[Hackstaple]

There are a great many people with the surname Bloom in England who are not from immigrant stock at all but who had forefathers who were iron smelters.

A variant on that is Blome and a Richard Blome was a famous 17th century English map maker.

The succession of the Hanoverian monarchs to the throne also brought many Hanoverians to England, some soldiers, and Blum/Blume was a fairly common name from that state. Certainly the Hanoverian regiments in India in 1789 both had private solders with those surnames.

Blum, Bloom, Bloem is not an ancient Jewish surname but a convenient adoption of a name similar to or shorter than Yiddish surnames.

[DavidG02]

There are a great many people with the surname Bloom in England who are not from immigrant stock at all but who had forefathers who were iron smelters.

A variant on that is Blome and a Richard Blome was a famous 17th century English map maker.

The succession of the Hanoverian monarchs to the throne also brought many Hanoverians to England, some soldiers, and Blum/Blume was a fairly common name from that state. Certainly the Hanoverian regiments in India in 1789 both had private solders with those surnames.

Blum, Bloom, Bloem is not an ancient Jewish surname but a convenient adoption of a name similar to or shorter than Yiddish surnames.

To promote Hackstaples point is the following link

http://oldgermantranslations.com/translations/page4/page4.html

If your family is Christian by religion, but you suspect that your ancestors are Jewish, and/or that your surname sounds Jewish and you would like to research the matter, you should begin by finding your ancestor’s district or town of origin in Germany. Based on this information we can search for your ancestor’s birth record, his or her parents records, and other family records, and step by step and carefully trace your family tree, and in the process answer your questions.

And this

In other words: a “Jewish sounding German surname” does not necessarily mean that ones ancestors were Jewish if one’s parents and grandparents were Christians! The same applies to German surnames mentioned in Jewish surname databases. When entering those same names into a regular database, one will very likely come across the same names among Christian families.

[Ruskie]

Some excellent advice as usual by the rootschatters.

I would just like to reiterate that interesting though the origin of surnames is, unless you have traced your Blooms back to England then just searching for the surname in Manchester will be a bit of a stab in the dark. You need to make sure you have all the usual details of your ancestor such as name, date and place of birth etc etc, to ensure that the Bloom line you trace is definitely your Bloom line.

Family stories often get mixed up as they are passed down the generations and sometimes they are found to be completely untrue. Tell us what you know (for definite) about your family and I'm sure people will be keen to try to help you.

[DebraBloom]

I'll just summarize:

My mother said my surname means flower. There's multiple families with the name Bloom but some are of Irish or English origin with different meanings.
In a conversation about my surname I said 'sounds like it'd be hebrew or something, isn't it?' my mother said 'yes, actually there's people living in Germany with the surname Bloom, it's pronounced the same but it is spelled with a u instead of two o's.'
I looked up my last name on houseofnames and one of the origins was ashkenazic from Germany. I messaged my mother asking her if she knew what ashkenazic meant since my internet was slow. She said she didn't know. I said the family may have ashkenazic roots or origins and she quickly replied; 'is it Jewish'. Now I can't trace my grandfather's roots, and I don't want to go through the trouble of DNA testing for something trivial as ethnicity but this got me curious so I'm wondering how likely it is. I always got confused when people asked if I was a Jew. I take after my mom and once a rabbi came up to me to ask if I was. He then spoke about my eyes and nose. They say that about my cousins and one of my uncles also. It isn't a local thing either since some people with the surname who I know came from the Jewish variant share that kind of look.

[Erato]

The way to [possibly] find out is to use standard methods to trace your family back, generation by generation.  Speculating about names and noses won't get you anywhere.

[Ruskie]

I agree with Erato. Because your mother told you a story and a couple of websites give you vague information does not mean it is true or it applies to you.

You need to research your specific Blooms through the usual methods as has already been advised by several people. You have received a number of answers to your original question, and plenty of advice, but you continue to talk about possible origin of your surname and a 'Jewish look' - things which you have been advised to ignore. You are at the same stage as when you first asked this question.

If you don't know how to go about researching your family, help has been offered. It is up to you if you wish to take up the offer.