From 1941 to 1948, Kolatch served as the rabbi of congregations in Columbia, South Carolina,[2] and Kew Gardens, New York.
It was serving as the rabbi in Columbia, South Carolina where Kolatch developed his interest in Jewish names,[3] the subject of many of his later publications.
This series alone sold more than 1.5 million copies in English, French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese.
In 1989 an article profiling Kolatch noted his expertise in baby naming as "Newspapers across the country have called Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch the nation's foremost expert on naming babies.
), published in 2007, he was described as "Recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on Hebrew and English nomenclature".