My Great Ancestor was 

Abraham ben Samuel Zacuto

My name in Hebrew is yehuda, Hebrew  יהודה , Yehuda was one the 12 tribes that descended from our forefather Yaakov. The word Yehuda comes from the Hebrew word lehodot, which means to thank.

Julius/Yehuda Jewish name.

We are a nation of many names: Israel, Jacob, Ephraim, to name a few. Why does it seem that the name "Jew" sticks the most? What does the name mean?

The words Jew (Yehudi in Hebrew) and Judaism (Yahadut) come from the name Judah, or Yehuda as it is pronounced in Hebrew. Yehuda was one the 12 tribes that descended from our forefather Yaakov. Understanding who Yehuda was and what he represented provides us with the key to comprehending the name Jew and understanding who we really are.

The word Yehuda comes from the Hebrew word lehodot, which means to thank. Indeed, upon his birth, Leah, Yehuda's mother, exclaimed "hapaam odeh et Hashem," this time I thank God. Feelings of gratitude characterized Yehuda's birth. The commonly used word todah, meaning "thank you," stems from the same root.

My great ancestor Abraham Zacuto (Hebrew: אברהם זכות, Zacuto, Sacuto, Wolfson, Volf

Jewish (Ashkenazic): patronymic from Wolf .

Americanized form of the Low German cognate Wolfsen.

Wolf is the root of the Ashkenazic last names Wolfson, Wouk and Volkovich. The wolf was the symbol of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ref)

The Origins and Meanings of Ashkenazic Last Names by Bennett Muraskin November 13, 2012

The name Zacuto is held by more people in Israel than any other country/territory. 

Some common variations of Zacuto are Zacutto, Zaccuto, Zacutti, Zacouto, Sacuto, Sacouto.

Our family name was Zacuto or Sacuto from as far back as my research was able to follow, that is from 1265, it changed to Wolfson by Velvel Hersh born in 1836. Now this could have happened when he immigrated to the US, all his children had the name Zacuto. 

Wolfson, Volf

Jewish (Ashkenazic): patronymic from Wolf .

Americanized form of the Low German cognate Wolfsen.

Wolf is the root of the Ashkenazic last names Wolfson, Wouk and Volkovich. The wolf was the symbol of the tribe of Benjamin. (Ref)

The Origins and Meanings of Ashkenazic Last Names by Bennett Muraskin November 13, 2012.

Benjamin is hungry, hungry for the Divine sparks in all of existence. So, like a ‘ravenous wolf’ Benjamin recognizes that his mission is to passionately seek out the Divine energy embedded in matter, devour it, consume and elevate it.

Although the Tribe of Benjamin was a fairly small tribe, it was renowned for the warriors it produced, which was symbolized by the wolf. Saul, who is the first king of the United Kingdom of Israel, was from the tribe of Benjamin.

The family of the author of The Book of Yohassin is known under names of Zacut or Zacuto, Zakuto, Zakudo in various spellings. At first Zacut family resided in France. When in the year AM 5066 (Jewish calendar which is 1306 by the Gregorian calendar) the Jews were expelled from France (by Philip IV in 1306), they moved their tents to Spain. The Rabbi Abraham Zacuto the Elder was the descendant of those refugees, and he left his good name to his grandson R. Abraham Zacuto the Second. The latter’s son R. Samuel Zacuto was the father and teacher of the author of the Book of Yohassin.

Abraham Zacuto (Hebrew: אברהם זכות, Portuguese: Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto) (c. 1450 – c. 1510) Spanish astronomer mathematician, and historian; born at Salamanca about 1450; died in Turkey after 1510. 

An astronomer of wide-spread reputation, he was appointed professor at the university of his native city, and later at that of Saragossa. After the Spanish exile, Zacuto settled at Lisbon, where he was soon appointed court astronomer and historiographer to John II. He retained his office under D. Manuel, and in this capacity he was consulted by the king regarding the practicability of the projected expedition of Vasco da Gama, which he approved and encouraged. 

The great services rendered by Zacuto did not protect him, however, from the persecutions inaugurated by Manuel at the instigation of Ferdinand and Isabella; and he and his son Samuel were forced to seek safety in flight. After an eventful voyage in which he was twice taken prisoner, Zacuto reached Tunis, where he lived until the Spanish invasion, when he fled to Turkey, residing there for the remainder of his life.

In 1504, during his sojourn at Tunis, he wrote a chronological history of the Jews from the Creation to 1500, making constant reference to Jewish literature, and entitling his book "Sefer ha-Yuḥasin." In this work Zacuto gives an account of the oral law as transmitted from Moses through the elders, prophets, sages, and the like, and also records the acts and monuments of the kings of Israel, as well as of some of the surrounding nations. In like manner space is given to the Babylonian captivity, the events which occurred during the period of the Second Temple, the characteristics of that period, the princes of the Captivity, and the rectors of the academies of Sura and Pumbedita. Although the author was far from discriminating as to his sources, and thus fell into many errors, his work is of great value to the student of Jewish literary history.

The "Sefer ha-Yuḥasin" was edited by Samuel Shalom with many omissions and additions of his own (Constantinople, 1566), and was reprinted at Cracow in 1581, at Amsterdam in 1717, and at Königsberg in 1857, while a complete edition was published by Filipowski in London in 1857. In 1473, while still at Salamanca, Zacuto wrote his "Bi'ur Luḥot," which was published in a Latin translation under the title "Almanach Perpetuum" by Joseph Vecinho (Leiria, 1496), who also rendered it into Spanish and appended it to his "She'erit Yosef." Zacuto was likewise the author of three other works: "Sefer Tekunat Zakkut," an astronomical work which is believed to be still extant in manuscript (see "Ha-Shaḥar," i., No. 12); "Arba'im la-Binah," a treatise on astrology; and "Hosafot le-Sefer ha-'Aruk," a rabbinic Aramaic lexicon, of which an account is given by A. Geiger in "Z. D. M. G." xii. 144.

My great grandfather Samuel ben Zacuto immigrated to the US in 1896 from Belarus to escape the Russian Pogroms

Our grandmother Florence "Fanny" D Canovsky Wolfson came over from Belarus Russia when she was 9yr old.

Rabbi Abraham Ben Samuel Zacuto

SEFER YOHASSIN or BOOK OF LINEAGE

I have this book in pdf form on my computer.

R. ABRAHAM ZACUT CALLED ZACUTO OF BLESSED MEMORY

My great Grand Father Samuel Wolfson Zacuto Came to the United States through Elis Island from Belarus to escape the Russian Pogroms in 1896 and a year later he sent for his fiancée Rebecca Samuelson and they were married in Chicago Illinois, and settled down in New Orleans Louisiana where my grandfather and father were born.

See photo below