When I was born, coming up with a middle name for me wasn’t too difficult for my parents. Us being Ashkenazi Jews, naming someone after relatives who've passed on is traditionally seen as a way to keep their memory alive and to inspire the namesake to live up to their predecessor's better qualities. Knowing this information and the long list of relative names my parents had to choose from, they decided to make my middle name Simon.
 Simon Javinsky was a Polish man who immigrated to the United States in 1920 looking for new opportunities in the US. He started off as a carpenter in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Eventually, he had enough money to start buying land and then he used that land to build houses and a grocery store that he would work in. Simon was a businessman but also a family man. He married my great grandmother, Mollie Javinsky, in 1933 and they had seven children together. Simon and Mollie loved their children and raised them in a Jewish home teaching them Jewish laws and values.
 My parents heard of this hardworking Polish immigrant from my mom’s side of the family and decided that that was the middle name that would be given to me. I believe it is a way to honor him and keep his legacy alive. They also wished for me to be a hard worker and a family man just like my grandfather. The name Simon will continue to be passed down throughout my family to honor him. 

– JM

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more