Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

How Do You Pronounce Mnuchin?

Steven Mnuchin, a longtime Trump acquaintance, Goldman Sachs executive, and Hollywood producer with no political experience, is expected to be tapped as Treasury Secretary by Donald Trump as early as Nov 30.

But the pronunciation of his name has been befuddling many in the media:

So, how exactly do you pronounce Mnuchin?

According to the nice lady who answered Goldman Sachs’s media line, it’s pretty simple: Men-oo-chin.

But how did a Jewish family get a last name like Mnuchin?

As reported in Haaretz, Mnuchin is actually a fairly common Russian-Jewish name and is probably derived from either Menachem (מנחם), a common name among many famous Jews both ancient and modern, or Menucha (מנוחה), meaning rest.

Laura E. Adkins is the Forward’s contributing network editor. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @Laura_E_Adkins.

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.