Azarias = Sephardic last name?

Question

Does anybody know if the last name Azarias is of Sephardic origin? Also, why has it changed from Azaria to Azarias in some countries, like Brazil?

Thank you!!!

Answer 1

I think it is.

There's an actor named Hank Azaria and he is of jewish(Sephardic) heritage.

Answer 2

You may want to check out the Family Finder at: http://www.jewishgen.org

Although nobody is researching the AZARIAS spelling at this time, there are 2 people researching folks who originated in Greece and Turkey.  

One person is researching AZARIAS in Bournaba and Izmir, Turkey (Ottoman Empire).  Izmir had a Jewish population of 25,000 in 1900.

Also, one person is researching folks from Thessaloniki, Greece - Jewish population of 60,000 in 1900.

One of the researchers lives in France and the other lives in Thessaloniki, Greece. You may want to try and contact them.

Also, a good place to submit your query on this would be to JewishGen's "Sephardic SIG".  It is a forum for researchers of Sephardic genealogies. English is the preferred language.

You would have to join JewishGen, but it is free.