was the name of my father's father, who died the year before I was born.  It is an Old Testament name, meaning the Lord is my judge.

is a masculine form of Anna invented by my parents.  I was given this name in memory of my great-grandmother Anna.  Anno is also a form of the Latin word for year, as in anno domini.

is my mother's last name.  It was shortened from Pitashnick:  my grandpa Nat changed his last name in the early 1960s, when he went into business as an ad writer.  My family believes pitashnick was related to the Polish word ptash, for bird.

is my father's last name, which he got from his father.  It is an Austrian name, and I believe it means carpenter.