According to old German Jewish customs, our first known EBERSTADT ancestor Löb "Zum roten Löwen" choose his family name to show: "I lived in Eberstadt before I came to Worms". Not known is the answer to the question, had he been born there, or had he been a native Worms Jew before and thus been of "another" Worms family? We have reason to believe the family originated in the Mainz or Frankfurt area. The announcement of the death of an unnamed son of "Leib EBERSTAT" on Nov 12, 1687 in the Green Book of Worms is the first time we find that name. In these years Löb had lived in the house "Zum Rad", together with his father Joseph.

In any case, EBERSTADT belongs to the eldest known Jewish family names in Germany! There may have been not more than 30-50 of such names in the 17th century.

In old Hebrew inscriptions, we do not find the whole word "EBERSTADT" as shown below. They did not make use of consonants in the beginning of the 18th century, and they did not use a uniform way to write the name neither. In early times, we find different spells, like "ESCH", "EBSCHT", "EBRSCHT" on the headstones in Worms. And we have to read from right to left.

This is the earliest preserved inscription:

(headstone Mela CANNSTATT, 2nd wife of Löb EBERSTADT, 1737)

This is an example of an early 19th cent. version:

(headstone Amschel Löb EBERSTADT, 1839)

This is an example of a 19th cent. "complete" version in a very good condition:

(headstone Abraham EBERSTADT, 1859)

This is an example of a 19th cent. "complete" version:

(headstone Leopold EBERSTADT, 1860)

This is a late 19th cent. inscription:

(headstone Rosine SULZBACHER, wife of Abraham EBERSTADT, 1888)