CARMEL Origin of surname
Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name may be a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country) derived for some unknown reason from Mount Carmel. Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.
However it is thought more likely that it is derived from the word 'caramel', that is "burnt sugar", perhaps being connected with the production of caramel. In this case the name would derive from an occupation (also connected with raw material, finished product or implements associated with that trade). In the Bible, the word Carmel is used to designate an area of vineyards and fields of grain, and a city in Judea. It is also the name of the beautiful mountain range west of the valley of Zebulun (1 Kings 18), immortalized in the Song of Songs, in which the singer compares the head of his beloved to Carmel.
In the 20th century, Jewish family names based on Carmel comprise Carmely, Carmeli, Carmel, Carmell and Karmell.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Carmel include the 20th century Polish-born Israeli politician and member of Knesset, Moshe Carmel, and the 20th century Polish-born judge and diplomat, Israel Carmel.
Shaul Carmel
(Personality)Shaul Carmel (born Saul Croitoru) (1937-2011), poet, writer and publicist, born in Ștefănești, Romania. He attended the August Treboniu Laurian high school in Botosani, then studied at the Mihai Eminescu School of Literature and Literary Criticism in Bucharest. He started publishing in the local press in Botosani and then in 1956 he published Raze de soare ("Sunbeams"), his first collection of poems.
He immigrated to Israel 1965. In Israel he continued his literary activities in Romanian language. Carmel was one of the founders and president of the Romanian-language Association of Israeli Writers. In addition, he served for 12 years as vice-president of the Union of Israeli Writers' Association. In 1985 he wrote a play published in Hebrew under the title Koho shel arafel (“The Power of the Mist”). Carmel co-authored the 1996 Peace Killed His Soldier interview, dedicated to the memory of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He published 12 volumes of poetry and prose, among them Jurnal de front (“Front Journal “, 1967), Florile nisipului (“Sand flowers “, 1970), Răspântii (“Crossroads”, 1970), Cu mâna pe inimă (“With the hand on the heart “, 1981), Războiul sărmanilor (“The war of the poor “, 1981), Târziu (“Late”, 1984), Poezii de nerostit (“Unspeakable Poems”, 1988), Fuga din rai (“Escape from Heaven “, 1993). His poems have been translated into English, Hungarian, Dutch, Serbian, and Yiddish. Three volumes of anthology have been translated into Hebrew, Russian, and Arabic.
In October 2008, Shaul Carmel sent back to the Romanian President Traian Basescu the decoration he had granted him in March 2008, after the Romanian head of state, returning from a visit to Syria, omitted the name of Israel erroneously referring to “Palestine” as one of Syria’s neighbors.