Origin
Baker : 1: English: occupational name from Middle English bakere Old English bæcere a derivative of bacan ‘to bake’. It may have been used for someone whose special task in the kitchen of a great house or castle was the baking of bread but since most humbler households did their own baking in the Middle Ages it may also have referred to the owner of a communal oven used by the whole village. The right to be in charge of this and exact money or loaves in return for its use was in many parts of the country a hereditary feudal privilege. Compare Miller. Less often the surname may have been acquired by someone noted for baking particularly fine bread or by a baker of pottery or bricks.2: Americanized form (translation into English) of surnames meaning ‘baker’ for example Dutch Bakker German Becker and Beck French Boulanger and Bélanger (see Belanger) Czech Pekař Slovak Pekár and Croatian Pekar.
Backman : 1: Swedish: ornamental name composed of the elements back(e) ‘hill’ + man ‘man’.2: Swedish (Bäckman): ornamental name composed of the elements bäck ‘stream’ + man ‘man’. Compare Beckman.3: Americanized form of German Backmann: occupational name for a baker or employee of a master baker from backen ‘to bake’ + man(n) ‘man’.4: Americanized form of German and Swiss German Bachmann.5: English (Essex and Middlesex): from Middle English bak-man ‘maker or seller of pastries tarts or pies’ (Old English gebæc ‘baked goods bakemeats’ + mann ‘man’). Compare Baker.
Bakker : 1: Dutch and North German: occupational name for a baker Dutch and Low German bakker. Compare Backer and Baker.2: Norwegian: habitational name from any of the farmsteads so named in southeastern Norway; it is the indefinite plural form of Bakke.
Bank : 1: German Dutch and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German or Middle Low German banc or Yiddish bank ‘bench table counter’ in any of various senses e.g. a metonymic occupational name for anyone whose work required a bench or counter for example a butcher baker court official or money changer. The surname of German is also found in Poland and in Czechia.2: Danish and Swedish: topographic name from bank ‘(sand)bank’ or a habitational name from a farm named with this word.3: Danish and Swedish: from bank ‘noise’ hence a nickname for a loud or noisy person. Compare Bang.4: Danish: habitational name from the German placename Bänkau.5: English: topographic name from Middle English banke (Old Norse banke) ‘bank hillside’ or a habitational name from any of the many places so called.6: Irish: adopted for Ó Bruacháin ‘descendant of Bruachán’ a byname apparently meaning ‘large-bellied’. This name has also been Anglicized as Banks as if from Irish bruach ‘bank’.7: Dutch: from the personal name Bank recorded in North Holland province a vernacular of Bancras from Pancratius (see Pankratz).8: Hungarian (Bánk): from a diminutive of Bán (see Ban).
Beck : 1: English: topographic name for someone who lived beside a stream from northern Middle English bekke ‘stream’ (Old Norse bekkr).2: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of various places in northern France named Bec for example Bec Hellouin in Eure named with Old Norman French bec ‘stream’ from the same Old Norse root as in 1 above.3: English: from the Middle English personal name Becke (Old English Becca or Beocca) of uncertain origin.4: English: probably a nickname for someone with a prominent nose from Middle English bek bekke ‘beak (of a bird)’ (Old French bec).5: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker a cognate of Becker from (older) South German beck West Yiddish bek ‘baker’. Some Jewish bearers of the name claim that it is an acronym of Hebrew ben-kedoshim ‘son of martyrs’ i.e. a name taken by one whose parents had been martyred for being Jews. The German surname is also found in France (mainly Alsace and Lorraine) Hungary Czechia Slovakia and Croatia. Compare Bek 1.6: North German and Dutch: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream from Low German beke Dutch beck ‘stream’. Compare the High German form Bach 1 and Dutch Bek 6.7: Danish and Norwegian: habitational name from a farmstead named Bekk Bæk or Bäck from Old Norse bekkr ‘stream brook’ denoting a farm by a stream.8: Swedish: variant of Bäck (see Back). This surname may also be of German origin (see above).9: Americanized or Germanized form of Polish Rusyn Czech Croatian or Slovenian Bek in the last two languages a cognate of the German name in 5 above.
Becker : 1: German and Dutch: occupational name for a baker of bread or brick and tiles derived from Middle High German and Middle Dutch backen ‘to bake’. The German surname is also found in France (mainly Lorraine and Alsace).2: Danish: occupational name for a baker from bechere ‘baker’.3: Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker from German Bäcker (compare 1 and Backer) or Yiddish beker ‘baker’.4: English: possibly an occupational name derived from an unrecorded Middle English bekker ‘maker or user of mattocks’ (a derivative of Middle English bek(ke) ‘mattock pick’).
Beckmann : 2: North German: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream a variant of Beck 6 from Low German Beke ‘stream’ + -mann ‘man’. Compare Bachmann.1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name denoting a baker from older South German beck West Yiddish bek + Middle High German Yiddish man (German Mann) ‘man’ (compare Beck 5).
Beigel : 1: Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a baker of bagels from Yiddish beygl ‘bagel’.2: German (Franconia): metonymic occupational name for someone who works with hatchets from Middle High German bīhel ‘hatchet’.
Bek : 1: Jewish (Ashkenazic) and South German: variant of Beck ‘baker’.2: Croatian and Slovenian: occupational name for a baker from old South German beck ‘baker’ (see Beck compare Pek 1).3: Czech: from a pet form of a personal name beginning with Be- such as Benedikt (see Benedict) or a surname of German origin (see 1 above).4: Polish: nickname derived from bekać ‘to burp’ beczeć ‘to bleat to sing sharp to cry loudly’ or an adaptation of German Beck. This surname is also found among Rusyns (Lemkos).5: Dutch: nickname for someone with a particular bek ‘mouth jaw’.6: Dutch: topographic name for someone living near a beek ‘stream’. Compare Beck 6 and Beek.7: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surnames 白 (see Bai 1) and 麥 (see Mai 1) based on their Hokkien or Teochew pronunciations.
Bekker : 1: Dutch: variant of Bakker or Becker an occupational name for a baker. This surname is also established in South Africa.2: Danish: occupational name for a baker from Dutch Bakker.3: Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Becker.
Bise : 1: Americanized form of Dutch and Flemish Buys or Dutch Buis.2: French and Swiss French: metonymic occupational name for a baker from Old French bise ‘large round loaf’.3: French: possibly also a nickname from Old French bise a term denoting an icy northeastern wind.4: English (Cornwall): rare variant of Bice itself a variant of Boyce.
Blampey : reduced form of Blampin from Old French blanc pain ‘white bread’ which was a luxury product in medieval times so the name may have been given to a high class baker. In modern times the surname may sometimes have been confused with Blampied.
Blanchflower : from Old French and Middle English blanche ‘white’ + Old French flur flour Middle English flour flower denoting both ‘flower’ and ‘flour white powder’. The 1300 example cited below seems to imply a comparison with a white flower as a symbol of beauty but so was white flour which was a traditional epithet in medieval romances for someone whose skin was perfectly smooth and white. Alternatively Blancheflour might have been given to a flour miller or to a baker of white bread (Old French and Middle English blanc pain) either of whom will have had their hair and body covered in flour dust.
Blatz : South German:: 1: habitational name from any of various farms so named from Middle High German plaz blaz ‘place’.2: metonymic occupational name for a baker from Blatz a type of flat sweet loaf. Compare Platz 3.
Bochenek : Polish: from bochenek a diminutive of bochen ‘loaf (of bread)’; presumably a metonymic occupational name for a baker.
Bockoven : 1: Americanized form of German Backofen a metonymic occupational name for a baker or topographic name for someone living near the village bake oven from back(en) ‘to bake’ + ofen ‘oven’.2: Alternatively perhaps an Americanized form of Dutch Bokhoven: habitational name from the village of Bokhoven in North Brabant. Compare Bockover.
Boeck : 1: South German (Böck): occupational name for a baker a variant of Beck.2: North German (Böck): topographic name from Middle Low German boke böke ‘beech tree’ or a habitational name from a place so named in Pomerania. Compare Bock.
Bolle : 1: German and Dutch: from the ancient Germanic personal name Baldo a short form of various compound names with the first element bald ‘bold’.4: French: from the ancient Germanic personal name Bolo Bollo a short form of various compound names with the first element bolo ‘friend’ ‘brother’.2: German: nickname in the south for a short fat man or a topographic name in the north from Middle Low German bolle ‘knoll rounded hill’.3: Dutch: from Middle Dutch bolle ‘ball bread bun’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker or a nickname for a ball player.5: Norwegian: habitational name from a farm in northern Norway so named with bolle ‘rounded hill’.6: Swedish and English (Middlesex): variant of Boll.7: Italianized or Germanized form of Slovenian Bole.
Boulanger : French and Walloon: occupational name for a baker originally the man responsible for dividing the dough into boules ‘balls’. The name is comparatively late in origin (12th century) and partly replaced the older Fournier only in northern France and in Wallonia (Belgium). Compare Baker.
Breadman : from Middle English bred ‘bread’ + man ‘man’ probably for a baker or bread-seller.
Brobeck : 1: Swedish: topographic or ornamental name composed of the elements bro ‘bridge’ + beck a variant of bäck ‘stream’. In North America this surname may also be an altered form of the variant Brobäck.2: German: variant of Brotbeck an occupational name for a baker from Middle High German brōt ‘bread’ + beck ‘bake(r)’. This surname is rare in Germany. It is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine).
Brodbeck : German: occupational name for a baker from Middle High German brōt ‘bread’ + becke ‘baker’.
Brotemarkle : Altered form of German Brotmerkel a distinguishing nickname for a baker from Brot ‘bread’ + a pet form of the personal name Mark a short form of names such as Markwardt.
Brotman : 1: Americanized form of German Brotmann: occupational name for a baker and peddler of breads and pastries from Middle High German brōt ‘bread’ + man ‘man’.2: Jewish Ashkenazic: cognate of 1 above from German Brot ‘bread’ + Mann ‘man’.
Brott : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Brot ‘bread’ (Middle High German brōt) hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker.2: German: from an ancient Germanic personal name related to Old High German proz ‘budding growth point’.
Buccellato : Italian (Sicily): from buccellato ‘ring-shaped loaf long-keeping bread’ (from Latin buccellatum ‘biscuit’) applied as metonymic occupational name for a baker or as a nickname for someone who was well preserved or long lived.
Buchta : 1: German: habitational name from a place near the Czech border named Buchbach from a dissimilated form of its local (dialect) name Buchba.2: German: habitational name from a place called Buchte in Brandenburg.3: Czech Slovak Polish and East German (of Slavic origin): from buchta ‘oven-baked yeast dumpling’ used as a metonymic occupational name for a baker of these or as a nickname for a clumsy awkward person. Compare Czech Buchtel 1.4: Czech: possibly also from a derivative of the personal name Buch 3.
Bunyan : English (southeastern): nickname for someone disfigured by a lump or hump from a diminutive of Old French bugne ‘swelling protuberance’. The term bugnon was also applied to a kind of puffed-up fruit tart and so the surname may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a baker of these.
Buonopane : Italian: from buono ‘good’ + pane ‘bread’ a nickname for a person ‘as good as bread’ or possibly a metonymic occupational name for a baker.
Butterwick : 1: English (mainly Yorkshire): habitational name from any of several places in northern England called Butterwick for example in County Durham Lincolnshire North Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire named in Old English as ‘the outlying farm where butter was made’ (from butere ‘butter’ + wīc ‘farmstead’). Compare Butterick and Buttrick.2: Americanized form of German Butterweck: metonymic occupational name for a baker of fine (white) breads etc. from Middle High German buter ‘butter’ + wecke ‘roll biscuit’.
Cake : English (Dorset): nickname or metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle English kake cake ‘cake loaf’ (Old Norse kaka) a comparatively small flattish loaf originally round or oval that was usually baked hard on both sides by being turned in the process.
Carvelli : Italian (Naples):: 1: patronymic or plural form of a shortened form of the personal name Carobello Carubello (from Latin carus ‘dear’ + bellus ‘beautiful’).2: occupational name for a baker from medieval Greek karbellion denoting a type of bread.
Chlebek : Polish: metonymic occupational name for a baker from a diminutive of chleb ‘bread’.
Collura : Italian (southern): metonymic occupational name for a baker from late Greek kolloura denoting a type of bread. Pronounced Collurà it is from medieval Greek kollouras ‘baker’.
Daigle : 1: Altered form of French Daigre. Compare Deagle.2: French: habitational name with fused preposition d(e) ‘from’ for someone from L'Aigle in Orne.3: Altered form of an unidentified German surname most probably Deim or Deym which are related to Daum. The surname Deim is more common in Austria than in Germany while the surname Deym is very rare in both Germany and Austria.4: At least in some cases also an altered form of South German Daigl or Daigel: metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle High German teic taig ‘dough’. The surnames Daigl and Daigel are very rare in Germany.
Daigler : 1: South German: occupational name for a baker from an agent derivative of Middle High German teic ‘dough’.2: South German: variant of Daichler an occupational name for a maker or user of wooden waterpipes or ducts from an agent derivative of Middle High German tiuchel ‘waterpipe duct’.
Debates : Altered form of Flemish Debaets or De Baets: occupational name for a baker from a romanized form of Old High German beccho with article de ‘the’.
Deeg : German: either from Middle Low German dēch ‘dough’ used as a nickname for a baker or from dege ‘efficient capable competent’. This surname was in the past also found in France (mainly Lorraine). Compare Dague.
Dower : 1: English (Cornwall): occupational name for a baker from Middle English dougher dower ‘dough maker; baker’ a derivative of Old English dāh (genitive dāges) ‘dough’.2: Irish (Waterford): variant of Dore 3.3: Probably an Americanized form of German Dauer.
Dufour : French:: 1: nickname for a baker from du four ‘of the oven’.2: habitational name with fused preposition and definite article du ‘from the’ for someone from Le Four the name of several places in various parts of France. Compare Defer Dufer and Dufur.
Fansler : German: nickname for a rogue or joker entertainer (at medieval fairs) from Middle High German vanz of the above meaning (possibly cognate with Latin (in)fans) or alternatively from an altered form of Austrian Pfanzler an occupational name for a baker of Pfan(n)zelten a kind of (yeast)donut.
Feaster : Americanized form of German Pfister an occupational name for a baker. Compare Fister.
Fessenbecker : South German: nickname for a baker who used mainly spelt or who sold bread full of husks from Middle High German vese ‘chaff husk spelt’ + becker ‘baker’. Compare Fazenbaker.
Fister : 1: South German: variant of Pfister an occupational name for a baker. This form of the surname is also common in Slovenia (see also below) and is also found elsewhere in central Europe.2: Slovenian and Croatian (Fišter): from fišter ‘baker’ an archaic or dialect loanword from German (see Pfister and above).
Flad : German:: 1: from Middle High German vlade ‘thin (sheet) cake’; probably a metonymic occupational name for a baker.2: in southern Germany a topographic name from Flad(e) ‘reed sedge’.3: variant of Flath 2.
Fleck : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German vlec(ke) German Fleck ‘patch spot’ or Yiddish flek of varied application. Bahlow suggests that this may be a metonymic occupational name for a user of patches in repairing shoes clothes or utensils or a habitational name from a place called with this word. In some parts of Germany this was the term for a type of round flat loaf; the surname could therefore have arisen as a metonymic occupational name for a baker. In some cases the Jewish name was probably ornamental.2: English (Northumberland) and Scottish: nickname derived from flecked ‘pied spotted’ which is on record since 1377; the noun fleck ‘skin blemish: freckle’ is not recorded till 1596 but may well have existed earlier. Alternatively a metonymic occupational name from Middle English flek(e) ‘hurdle’ (Old Norse fleki) for a maker of hurdles.3: English: perhaps a shortened variant of Flecknoe from the place so named in Wolfhampcote Warwickshire.
Fornaro : Italian: occupational name for a baker from Late Latin furnarius a derivative of furnus ‘oven’.
Forner : 1: Italian (Veneto): variant of Fornaro.2: Catalan: occupational name for a baker Catalan forner (from Late Latin furnarius a derivative of furnus ‘oven’) cognate with 1 above.3: German (Saxony Thuringia): topographic name for someone who lived at the beginning or front of a village from Middle High German vorn(e). See Farner.
Forni : Italian: from forno ‘oven’ Late Latin furnus hence an occupational name for a baker a topographic name for someone who lived near a bread oven or a habitational name from any of numerous minor places called with this word.
Fournet : 2: Altered form of French Fournier ‘baker’.1: French: from a diminutive of Old French forn ‘oven’ applied as a metonymic occupational name for a baker.
Fournier : French and Walloon: occupational name for a baker Old French fo(u)rnier (from Latin furnarius). This surname is also found in England in part as a surname of Huguenot origin. Compare Forney Fournet and Fuller.
Fugazzi : Italian: perhaps a variant of Fogazza itself a variant of Focaccia from focaccia ‘flat bread’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker of such bread.
Furnari : Italian (southern):: 1: habitational name from Furnari in Messina province Sicily.2: occupational name for a baker from Late Latin furnarius a derivative of furnus ‘oven’.
Furno : Italian: metonymic occupational name for a baker or smith from furno ‘oven’ (from Latin furnus).
Goodbread : Americanized form (translation into English) of German Gutbrod a metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle High German guot ‘good’ + brōt ‘bread’.
Grewel : 1: from Middle English gruel(le) gruwel grouel(le) ‘meal flour’ Old French gruel possibly applied to a miller or a baker. 2: see Grewal.
Grewell : 1: English: metonymic occupational name for a miller or baker from Middle English gruel(le) gruwel grouel(le) ‘meal flour’ Old French gruel. It is very rare in Britain.2: Variant (or perhaps the original form; see 1 above) of Gruwell a surname which could be of German English or French origin.3: Americanized form of German Greuel (this one is in part a cognate of Grüwell; see Gruwell and compare 2 above) or perhaps of some other similar (like-sounding) German surname e.g. Grewohl which is very rare and unexplained.
Griepentrog : North German: from a sentence meaning ‘reach in(to) the vat’; a late medieval nickname for a journeyman baker or perhaps for a greedy person.
Gruel : 1: German: from an ancient Germanic personal name formed with an element reflected in Gothic hrōtheigs ‘victorious’.2: French: metonymic occupational name for a miller or baker from Old French gruel ‘fine flour meal’.
Guastella : Italian (southern): possibly from Sicilian guastedda ‘focaccia’ (flat loaf) (from Old French gastel or rather Norman French guastel wastel) presumably a metonymic occupational name for a baker or perhaps a nickname for a thin person. Alternatively it may be derived from some minor placename.
Halbleib : German: metonymic occupational name for a baker meaning ‘half-loaf’ from a tax levy of this amount.
Harder : 1: English: occupational name from an agent noun derived from Middle English hardenen ‘to make hard’ (Old English heardian) denoting a hardener of metals (used by Chaucer) and elsewhere a baker who hardened dough with heat.2: North German and Danish: from the ancient Germanic personal name Harther composed of the elements hard ‘strong hard’+ heri ‘army’.3: South German: topographic name from Middle High German hart ‘woodland used as pasture’ or a habitational name for someone from any of the places called with this word.4: Dutch: vowel variant of Herder an occupational name for a shepherd.
Hebel : 1: German: metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle High German hebel ‘yeast’. This surname is also found in France (Lorraine).2: In some cases possibly also Breton (mainly Le Hébel): nickname from dialect ebeul ‘colt foal’ (from Old Breton ebol).
Hebeler : South German: occupational name for a baker from Middle High German hebel ‘yeast’ + agent suffix -er.
Hertweck : 2: German: variant of Hartwig.1: South German: metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle High German hert ‘hard’ + wecke ‘roll biscuit’.
Hipp : 1: South German: metonymic occupational name for a baker of waffles from Middle High German hippe ‘waffle’.2: South German: from a short form of Hubert also spelled Hüpp (see Hupp).3: German: from a short form of an ancient Germanic name with the first element hild ‘strife battle’ and a second element beginning with b- (for example Hildibald Hildibrand).
Hippler : German: occupational name for a baker of waffles (see Hipp 1).
Hollowbread : from Middle English holi bred ‘holy bread’ perhaps used for the baker who made the host or for the cleric who carried it at Mass. Compare Richard le Halywaterclerc 1285 in Assize Rolls (Essex).
Houska : Czech: metonymic occupational name for a baker from houska ‘bread roll’ (literally ‘gosling’).
Kauk : German: probably a variant of Kauke from Middle Low German kōke ‘cake’ (dialect Kauke) hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker or confectioner or a nickname for a cake lover.
Kerner : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a farmer or a nickname for a physically small person from an agent derivative of Middle High German kerne ‘kernel seed pip’ German Kern or Yiddish kern ‘grain’.2: German: occupational name for a carter from Karren ‘cart’ (see Karner).3: German: Alemannic occupational name for a baker using spelt (a type of wheat) or for a spelt dealer.4: German: variant of Körner (see Korner).5: English (Surrey): occupational name from Middle English kerner a side-form of cherner churner ‘churner one who churns butter’. Compare Churn and Kern.
Kichler : German: occupational name for a baker of cookies and small cakes an agent derivative of Middle High German küechel(in) ‘small cake’ (see Kuchler).
Kipfer : 1: Swiss German: topographic name for someone living on or near a peak or summit from Kipf ‘edge verge point’.2: German: from a derivative of the personal name Giebfried from Old High German geba ‘gift’ + fridu ‘protection peace’.3: South German: from the dialect word Kipf or Kipferl ‘croissant crescent-shaped roll’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker or pâtissier.4: Altered form of Swiss German and South German Küpfer (see Kupfer).
Knetter : German:: 1: probably an occupational name for a baker from an agent noun derived from Middle High German kneten ‘to knead’.2: alternatively a habitational name for someone from Kneten in the Oldenburg area.
Knickerbocker : Americanized form of the Dutch occupational name Knickerbacker ‘marble baker’ i.e. a baker of children's clay marbles. This lowly occupation became synonymous with the patrician class in NYC through Washington Irving's attribution of his History of New York (1809) to a fictitious author named Diedrich Knickerbocker. By the late 1850s the term had also come to denote a type of loose breeches gathered below the knee evidently because of the resemblance of the garment to the breeches of the Dutchmen in Cruikshank's illustrations to Irving's book.
Kollasch : German:: 1: from a Slavic-influenced short form of the personal name Nikolaus (see Nicholas).2: from Czech koláč ‘bread bun cake’ hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker.
Kook : 1: Dutch: occupational name for a baker or cook from a shortened form of koekenbakker ‘pastrycook’.2: Jewish (American): altered form of Kuk.3: Korean: variant of Kuk 5. Compare Cook 6.4: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 鞠 see Ju 1.5: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 谷 see Gu 4.6: Chinese: Cantonese form of the surname 郤 see Xi 4.
Krapf : German: nickname for a small malformed individual from Middle High German krapfe ‘hook’. In southern Germany the word was also applied to a type of crescent-shaped pastry and the surname may thus also have been a metonymic occupational name for a baker or eater of these pastries.
Kring : 1: German: topographic name for someone living by a round village 'square' or a round field; or a metonymic occupational name for a baker of round pastries from Middle High German kring(e) ‘ring circle’.2: German: from the name of Saint Quirin(us) especially in Rhineland.3: Danish: from kring ‘circle (of people)’; also a nickname meaning ‘kind’ or ‘quick’.4: Swedish: probably a soldier's name from Old Swedish or dialect kring ‘quick lively’.
Kuchenbrod : German: metonymic occupational name for a baker probably shortened from Kuchen und Brot ‘cake and bread’.
Lagana : 1: Italian (southern; Laganà): occupational name for a grower or seller of vegetables lagana lacana (from Greek lachanas an occupational name from lachana ‘vegetables’).2: American shortened form (and Greek feminine form denoting ‘the daughter or wife of’) of Greek Laganas: occupational name for a baker from lagana ‘unleavened bread flatbread’.
Laib : German: metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle High German leip ‘loaf’.
Lebar : 1: Slovenian and Croatian: nickname from lebar a dialect word denoting a baker or someone who sells bread. Compare Leber.2: Slovenian: nickname from archaic lebar ‘glutton’.3: French: habitational name with fused masculine definite article le from any of several places called Bar (see Bar).4: Altered form of French Labarre.
Leib : 1: Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Leyb meaning ‘lion’ traditional Yiddish translation equivalent of the Hebrew name Yehuda (Judah) with reference to the Old Testament description of Judah as a ‘lion's whelp’ (Genesis 49: 9).2: German: from the ancient Germanic personal name Liubo from liob ‘dear’. This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine).3: German: nickname from Middle High German līp ‘life body’.4: German: metonymic occupational name from Middle High German leip ‘loaf (of bread)’ for a baker.5: Possibly also an altered form of German Lieb because of the confusion of -ie- and -ei-.
Lickteig : German: apparently a jocular nickname for a greedy person or a baker from Low German licken ‘to lick’ + teig ‘dough’ like Lickefett ‘lick the fat’ a jocular name for a cook.
Matza : Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker of Jewish unleavened bread from Yiddish (of Hebrew origin) matse ‘matzah’ (unleavened bread).
Meek : 1: English: nickname for a self-effacing person or a gentle and compassionate one from Middle English meke ‘humble meek’ (Old Norse mjúkr ‘soft pliant gentle’).2: Norwegian: habitational name from any of several farms so named in Møre og Romsdal in Old Norse a compound of mith ‘in the middle’ and vík ‘bay’.3: Dutch: metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle Dutch micke ‘bread’.
Mischler : Swiss German: occupational name for a baker from Middle High German mutschel a diminutive of mutze ‘bread roll’.
Mitchelle : Perhaps a German occupational name for a baker from Middle High German mutze mutschel ‘roll’.
Mitzel : South German: occupational name for a baker from Middle High German mutze ‘roll’.
Motschenbacher : German: variant of Mutschenbäcker or Mutzenbäcker an occupational name for a baker from Middle High German mutze mutsche(l) ‘bread roll loaf of white bread’ + bäcker (agent noun from backen ‘to bake’).
Muffoletto : Italian (Sicily): from Sicilian muffulettu ‘soft spongy bread’ applied as a nickname for a flabby person or possibly as a metonymic occupational name for a baker.
Mutschler : German: occupational name for a baker who specialized in making white bread Middle High German mutsche mutschel mutze + the agent suffix -er.
Mutz : German:: 1: probably a metonymic occupational name for a baker from Middle High German mutze ‘white bread roll’ (see Mutschler).2: nickname either for a short person from Middle High German mutzen ‘to cut or shorten’ or for a fop or dandy from the same word in the sense ‘to decorate or adorn’. Compare Moots and Mootz.
Nebeker : Americanized form of North German Niebecker: occupational name for a baker who was new in town or a habitational name for someone from Niebeck (near Uelzen).
Neubecker : German:: 1: nickname for a baker who was new in a village or town or perhaps for one who had newly finished his apprenticeship from neu ‘new’ + becker ‘baker’.2: in northern Germany it may sometimes be a habitational name for someone from a place called Niebe(c)k meaning ‘new stream’ or a topographic name for someone who lived by a stream so named.
Offen : 1: German: variant of Off.2: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German oven German Ofen ‘oven’ a metonymic occupational name for a baker or as a German name for someone who had charge of the communal village oven and was empowered to exact payment in kind for its use. It may also be a topographic name for someone who lived near a kiln or in an area or field named with this word.3: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from Buda in Hungary now part of Budapest known in Middle High German as Ofen.4: English (Kent and Sussex): probably a habitational name from Offham Kent which originally denoted ‘Offa's homestead’ (Old English personal name Offa + Old English hām) or from Offham in South Stoke Sussex which either had the same sense or denoted ‘Offa's land in a river bend’ (Old English hamm).
Offner : German: metonymic occupational name for someone who made ovens or used one for example a baker from an agent derivative of Middle High German oven ‘oven stove’ (see Offen).
Pagnotta : Italian (mainly Tuscany): from the feminine form of Pagnotto which is either a diminutive of Compagno or Boncompagno (see Pagni) or in some instances from pagnotta ‘loaf’ used to denote a baker or pantryman.
Pain : 1: English: variant of Paine (see Payne).2: French: from pain ‘bread’ used as a nickname for a baker.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
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