There is almost an innumerable variety of spellings of the name. Below is list of nearly 60 different variations of the name for which records exist (according to the Consolidated Jewish Surname Index at Avotaynu).

GABRELIOVICH, GABRELOVICH, GABRIALEVICH
GABRIALOVICH, GABRIELEVICH, GABRIELEWICZ
GABRIELEWITZ, GABRIELIEVICH, GABRIELIOVICH
GABRIELOVICH, GABRIELOVITZ, GABRIELOWICZ
GABRIELOWITZ, GABRIELYOVICH, GABRILEVICH
GABRILIAWITZ, GABRILIOVICH, GABRILOVICH
GABRILOVICZ, GABRILOVITCH, GABRILOVITZ
GABRILOWICZ, GABRILOWITCH, GABRILOWITSCH
GABRILOWITZ, GABRIOLOVICH, GABRIOLOWITCH
GABROLEVICH, GABRYELEWICZ, GABRYELIOWICZ
GABRYELOWICZ, GABRYJELEWICZ, GABRYJELOWICZ
GABRYLEWICZ, GABRYLOWICZ, GAVRIELOVICH
GAVRIELOWITZ, GAVRILEVICH, GAVRILEVITCH
GAVRILOVIC, GAVRILOVICH, GAVRILOVITZ
GAVRILOWITCH, GAVRILOWITZ, GAWRALOWICZ
GAWRILIOWICZ, GAWRILOWICZ, GAWRILOWITZ
GAWRYELOWICZ, GAWRYLEWICZ, GAWRYLOWICZ
GEBRIELOWITZ, GEBRILOWICZ, GHABRILOVITSH
GHABRIYELOVITSH, GOBRIOLOVICH, GOVRILOVICH

Additionally, various members of the family also altered the name to better fit new cultures which they entered.

Variations of the name include:

D'Gabriel (Latin)
Gabriel (American)
Gabrielove (French)

ARE ALL GABRILOWITZS RELATED?

Well-the obviously answer is most likely not ALL Gabrilowitzs are related. However, as I mentioned on the home page, a Russian born researcher who has written extensively on Dr. Nikolai Gabrilovich, surmises that most "Russian Empire" Gabrilovichs are related.

I have researched my Gabrilowitz family as well as ALL INSTANCES of the name appearing in domestic and international telephone directories, online directories, genealogical directories, various books on Jewish/ Russian history, etc., and amazingly, I have found probably less than 350 occurrences of the name (in all its variations) across all of those resources. And that includes about two centuries of information!

The earliest ancestor in my branch of the family, Pheitl Gabrilowitz has hundreds of descendants. Thus making the case, that just one or two early 19th century ancestors can make for a lot of Gabrilovichs.

Now, I do see that there are folks with the name who appear not to be Jewish. These "Gabrilowitzs" typically use the Polish-style variation Gabrylewicz or Gabrilowicz. There are also many Serbians with a variation of the name, typically with a V as the second consonant, such as Gavrilovich, who certainly appear to be Christians.

Although, with that said, one of my great sources of information over the years, Andrew Gabrilovitch, who I believe is the U.S.-based Gabrilowitz most closely related to the pianist Ossip Gabrilowitsch, was not raised Jewish.

In fact, he had no idea that his family had Jewish origins. His mother told him that the Gabrilowitzs were descended from a family of musicians named Gabrielli who were brought into Russia by Peter the Great!

The Gabrielli story is most likely apocryphal. But, it is true that the pianist, Ossip Gabrilowitsch, had a grandfather (also named Ossip), who converted his sons to Russian Orthodoxy.

So, quite simply, non-Jews who have the name Gabrilowitz, -wicz, etc. should not be discounted as family members, and are potentially descended from Jewish Gabrilowitzs.