欧洲犹太人可分为Ashkenazim, "Germanics"以及Sephardim, "Hispanics"。

Historically, European Jews have been classified as belonging to two major groups: the Ashkenazim, or "Germanics" (Ashkenaz meaning "Germany" in Medieval Hebrew), denoting their Central European base, and the Sephardim, or "Hispanics" (Sefarad meaning "Hispania" or "Iberia" in Hebrew), denoting their Spanish, Portuguese or North African base. A third historic term Mizrahim, or "Easterners" (Mizrach being "east" in Hebrew) has been used to describe other non-European Jewish communities which have bases which are located further to the east, but its usage has changed both over time and relative to the location where it was used.