Dworkis (and other anglicized variations) is a unique surname in several ways. First, it's a matronymic (sometimes spelled metronymic) surname, a surname derived from a feminine given name. Matronymic names are rare in Western cultures (there are no known matronymic surnames in Christian cultures, for example). Among Ashkenazi Jews, they emerged only in limited regions of the Russian Empire and all but never in Germany and Poland.

Dworkis (pronounced "dvorkis" in Yiddish, the primary language of Dworkis ancestors in 19th century Russia) is derived from the biblical name D'vorah, which itself is derived from the Hebrew word for "bee." (D'vorah, of course, is anglicized as Deborah.) The Dworkis families that chose the surname in the early 19th century commemorated a D'vorah in their families, possibly the same D'vorah, if the families, as theorized, were related.

In most regions of Russia where matronymic surnames occurred the suffix "kin" was applied, as in the surname Malkin. The suffix indicates "kin of"; in the case of Malkin, "the kin of Malka." In only one region of the Russian Empire, the area comprised of the adjacent gubernias (provinces) Podolia and Volhynia, the suffix "kis" was applied instead of "kin."

While the name Dworkin emerged in other parts of the Russian Empire, the surname Dworkis, "kin of D'vorah," was unique to the limited area that included the Vinnytsia district where the seven Dworkis families that inspired this project lived.  The towns of Tulchyn, Illintsi, Khmil'nyk and Tomashpil all lie in the old Podolia gubernia.