The Sephardim of North Africa are the offspring of the Jews who were also expelled from Spain in 1492. This branch established itself throughout Africa (except Egypt, see Eastern Sephardim above). They mainly settled in Morocco and Algeria, where they used a dialect of Judaeo-Spanish called Haketia. In most cases, they also spoke Judeo-Arabic. They made their homes in North African regions where there were previously established Jewish communities speaking Arabic, and gradually they mingled with them to create new settlements with only Sephardic traditions.
The majority of the Gibraltar Jews are descended from Moroccan Jews who returned to the Iberian Peninsula.
The majority of Moroccan Sephardim and other North African Sephardim spoke modern Spanish, French, and Italian as their mother tongues in the 19th century, rapidly replacing Haketia and Judeo-Arabic.
Most North African Sephardim have moved to Israel (population estimated at 1,400,000 in 2015) in recent years due to the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim nations, primarily after Israel’s creation in 1948, while the majority of the remaining Sephardim have moved to France (361,000) and the US (300,000), among other nations. There was still a sizable group in Morocco as of 2015. (10,000).
Common Spanish surnames and other specifically Sephardic surnames from the 15th century Spain with Arabic or Hebrew language origins (such as Azoulay, Abulafia, and Abravanel) are still frequently used by North African Sephardim. These names have since vanished from Spain as conversos took on surnames that were exclusively Spanish in origin. Since then, several North African Sephardim have likewise changed their Hispanic surnames to sound more local or have translated them into local languages.
