Origin
Bar : 1: Jewish (Ashkenazic; also Bär): from the Yiddish male personal name Ber (see Baer 2).2: German (Bär): variant of Baer 1 ‘bear’ and in North America (also) an altered form of this and of its cognate Bähr (see Bahr 2).3: Germanized form (Bär) of Sorbian Běr: from a short form of the Old Sorbian personal name Běrisław (based on the Old Slavic imperative beri ‘collect’). Compare Baer 3.4: Polish; Czech (mainly Bár): from a vernacular short form of the Latin personal name Bartholomaeus (Polish Bartłomiej Czech Bartoloměj); see Bartholomew.5: Hungarian (Bár): from the old personal name Bár.6: French: habitational name from any of several places so named e.g. in Ardennes and Aube from the Gaulish word barr meaning ‘height peak’. Compare Debar Dubar and Lebar.
Baer : 1: German (also Bär): from Middle High German ber ‘bear’ a nickname for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way a metonymic occupational name for someone who kept a performing bear or a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a bear. In some cases it may derive from a personal name containing this element. Compare Bar 2.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic; also Bär): from the Yiddish male personal name Ber from Yiddish ber ‘bear’. Compare Bar 1.3: Germanized form (also Bär) of Sorbian Běr: see Bar 3.4: Dutch: variant of Baar.
Bare : 1: English: nickname from Middle English bar ‘bare’ (Old English bær) which in medieval times in addition to the sense ‘naked uncovered’ also meant ‘unarmed defenseless unconcealed destitute’.2: English: habitational name from one of the locations or places under Barr.3: Altered form of German Bär (see Baer).4: Croatian: from a short form of the personal name Bartolomej (see Bartholomew) or of its variants Bartol or Bartul.
Barfuss : German: nickname for someone who was in the habit of going unshod from Middle High German bar ‘bare naked’ + vuoz ‘foot’ or perhaps for a member of the monastic order of the Barefoot Monks.
Bargus : from Bargus in Perranarworthal (Cornwall) which derives from Middle Cornish bar ‘top summit’ + cos ‘wood’. The surname has not been found in Oxon where it was most common in 1881 before the late 18th century suggesting migration from Cornwall.
Barkan : Jewish (from Belarus): from an Aramaic patronymic phrase bar Kahana ‘son of a descendant of the high priest’ (see Cohen).
Barlage : German: habitational name from a place near Oldenburg so named from Middle Low German bār ‘bear’ or ‘bare’ + lage ‘open fields between woods wet pasture’.
Barley : 1: English: habitational name from any of various places called Barley. Those in Lancashire and Yorkshire are named with Old English bār ‘wild boar’ or bere ‘barley’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’. A place of the same name in Hertfordshire has as its first element an unattested Old English byname Be(o)ra (from bera ‘bear’).2: English: metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of barley from Middle English barli barlich ‘barley’ (Old English bærlic originally an adjective derivative of bær ‘barley’ a byform of bere).3: Americanized form of South German Behrle or of its Swiss German cognates Beerli Berli or Berly and probably also of some other similar (like-sounding) surname. Compare Berley.
Barlow : English: habitational name from any of several places called Barlow especially those in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The former is named with Old English bere ‘barley’ + hlāw ‘hill’; the latter probably has as its first element the derived adjective beren or the compound bere-ærn ‘barn’. There is also a place of this name in Derbyshire named with Old English bār ‘boar’ or bere ‘barley’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’ and one in Shropshire which is from bere ‘barley’ + lēah.
Barnaby : English:: 1: from the Middle English vernacular form of the Greek and Latin personal name Barnabas which was borne by the companion of St. Paul (Acts 4:36). This is of Aramaic origin from Aramaic bar naḅyā ‘son of the prophet’ although the Greek text of Acts 4:36 explains the name as hyios paraklēseōs ‘son of consolation’ or ‘encouragement’.2: habitational name from any of the four places: Barnaby in North Yorkshire Barnetby le Wold or Barnoldby le Beck (both in Lincolnshire) or Barnby in Suffolk. Barnaby in North Yorkshire is named with the Old English personal name Beornwald (composed of the elements beorn ‘young warrior’ + wald ‘rule’) + Old Norse bȳ ‘settlement farmstead’. Barnby in Suffolk is named with Old Norse barn ‘child offspring’ + bȳ meaning ‘children's farm’ perhaps for an estate divided by heirs.
Barnickel : German: from a compound of Middle High German bar ‘bare naked’ + the personal name Nickel a pet form of Nikolaus.
Barot : 1: Indian (Gujarat and Rajasthan): from Sanskrit bar ‘twelve’ + hoth ‘lips’. This is interpreted as implying an ability to remember and reproduce information as efficiently as if the person concerned had a dozen mouths. Bearers of this name are traditionally engaged as bards genealogists and mythographers maintaining family records and preserving them in the oral tradition.2: French: topographic name from barot a diminutive of bare ‘pole gate barrier; house enclosed by a paling fence’.3: Possibly also Catalan: variant of Barrot ‘iron bar’.
Barr : 1: Scottish (Glasgow) and northern Irish (Ulster): habitational name from any of various places in southwestern Scotland in particular Ayrshire and Renfrewshire named with Gaelic barr ‘height hill’ or a Brittonic cognate of this.2: English and Welsh: habitational name from Great Barr in Staffordshire. This is from Brittonic barro- ‘top summit’ referring to Barr Beacon; there is evidence that this was known as la Bare in the 13th century.3: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Barre-en-Ouche in Eure France or perhaps from Barre-de-Semilly in Manche France.4: English: topographic name for someone who lived by a gateway or barrier from Middle English Old French barre ‘bar obstruction’. In the English Fenland bar could denote an obstruction (for example a weir) in a stream.5: English: from the vocabulary word barr ‘bar pole’ either a metonymic occupational name for a maker of bars or perhaps a nickname for a tall thin man.6: Irish: from Ó Bairr Donegal form of Ó Báire (see Barry 2).
Barrass : 1: variant of Barrows. Redmonds Dictionary of Yorks Surnames records William Barowes 1547 John Barras 1638 in Knaresborough Wills (Knaresborough WR Yorks). 2: perhaps for a large or tall person from Old French barrace ‘large bar bulky obstacle’.possibly from the same word as in (i) in the technical sense ‘the outwork of a fortress’. 3: re-spelling of Barros.
Barrell : English:: 1: from Middle English barel ‘barrel cask’ Old French baril hence a metonymic occupational name for a cooper or possibly to denote someone with a rotund figure or who drank excessively.2: habitational name from Barwell in Leicestershire named with Old English bār ‘wild boar’ + well(a) ‘spring stream’.3: (of Huguenot origin): variant of Beharrell apparently from a variant of French bihoreau ‘(black-crowned) night heron’ (from earlier buhoreau).
Barrese : Italian (Sicily): habitational name for someone from a place called Barra from barra ‘barrier bar obstacle’; there is a large district of Naples so named as well as many minor places in southern Italy.
Barsham : from North East or West Barsham (Norfolk) or from Barsham (Suffolk). The place-names are from the Old English given name Bār ‘boar’ in the genitive case with -es + hām ‘major farming estate’.
Barski : 1: Polish and Jewish (from Ukraine): habitational name for someone from the city of Bar now in Ukraine (see Barsky).2: In some cases this is also a variant transliteration of Ukrainian Barsky a cognate of 1 above.
Barsky : 1: Ukrainian and Jewish (from Ukraine): habitational name for someone from the city of Bar now in Ukraine. In the 16th century this was an important frontier fortress of the Polish Empire against the Turks and the Tartars which in the 18th century became the center of a confederation. Its original name was Rów; it was given its present name in honor of the Italian city of Bari by Bona Sforza Duchess of Bari wife of King Zygmunt Stary (Sigismund the Old).2: Altered form of Polish Barski a cognate of 1 above.
Barsoum : Coptic (Egypt) and Assyrian/Chaldean: from the personal name Barṣūm from Aramaic bar ‘son’ + ṣūm ‘fasting’ thence meaning ‘son of fasting’. Barṣūm was the name of a 13th-century Coptic saint.
Barwell : English: habitational name from Barwell in Leicestershire. The placename is from Old English bār ‘boar’ + wella ‘spring stream’. See also Barrell.
Basham : English (Norfolk Suffolk and Essex): variant of Barsham a habitational name from any of the places in Norfolk and Suffolk called Barsham from the genitive case of the Old English byname Bār ‘wild boar’ + Old English hām ‘homestead’.
Berber : 1: Catalan: probably a variant of Barber. This surname is most common in Mexico.2: Turkish: occupational name from berber ‘barber’.3: Serbian Croatian and Bosniak: occupational name for a barber or in a transferred use a nickname for a quack doctor from Serbian Croatian and Bosnian berber ‘barber’ a loanword from Turkish (see above).4: German: possibly a habitational name from a place called Berber near Kevelaer (Lower Rhine) or from the ancient Germanic personal name Baribert from Old High German bar ‘man’ + berht ‘shining famous’.
Berlin : Jewish (Ashkenazic) and German: habitational name from the city of Berlin capital of Germany. This city takes its name from a West Slavic word meaning ‘river rake’ a scaffold of beams built over a river to prevent logs from jamming; the river in question is the Spree. Folk etymology however has put a bear into the arms of the city as if the name were derived from Bärlin a diminutive of Bär ‘bear’. The German name is also found in the Hamburg area where it may be derived from the village of the same name but of uncertain origin in Holstein. In some cases the Jewish name may be a patronymic from a pet form of the Yiddish personal name Ber (see Berenson) formed with the Slavic possessive suffix -in.
Berwald : 1: German Danish and Swedish: from the ancient Germanic personal name Ber(n)wald composed of the elements ber(n) ‘bear’ + wald ‘ruler’ but altered by folk etymology as if from German Bär ‘bear’ + Wald ‘forest’.2: German: in some cases a habitational name from a place called Bärwalde or Beerwalde of which there are several examples in eastern Germany.
Boor : 1: English: from Middle English bo(o)r bo(o)re ‘boar’ (Old English bār) hence probably a nickname for a keen hunter of wild boar or for someone thought to resemble the animal in some way.2: Dutch: variant of Bor.3: Americanized form of Dutch Boer.
Bore : from Middle English bo(o)r bo(o)re ‘boar’ (Old English bār).
Borshell : from Boarzell in Ticehurst (Sussex). The place-name is from Old English bār ‘boar’ in the genitive case with -es + hyll ‘hill’.
Bosworth : English: habitational name from Husbands Bosworth in Leicestershire (Baresworde in Domesday Book) from an Old English personal name Bār (from bār ‘boar’) + worth ‘enclosure’ and possibly also from Market Bosworth in Leicestershire so named with an Old English personal name Bōsa + Old English worth ‘enclosure’.
Boultwood : of uncertain meaning. It appears to be a compound of Middle English bolt ‘crossbow head arrow; bar bolt (for fastening a door or gate)’ also ‘bolt (of cloth) bundle’ (Old English bolt) + Middle English hod houd ‘hood’ (Old English hōd) but the sense is not obvious. The suggestion in Reaney and Wilson that Bolt- is a spelling of Middle English bult short for bult-cloth ‘a cloth for bulting or sifting flour’ is formally possible but the idea that the name denotes someone who wore a hood made of sieving-cloth is unconvincing.
Debar : French: habitational name with fused preposition de ‘from’ denoting someone from any of several places called Bar (see Bar).
Dubar : French (mainly Nord): habitational name with fused preposition and definite article du ‘from the’ denoting someone from any of several places called Bar (see Bar).
Herrejon : Spanish (Herrejón): probably from a variant of rejón ‘pointed iron bar spike’ derived from reja ‘plowshare’ from Latin regula ‘ruler’ ‘metal bar’.
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.
O'Bar : Irish: variant of O'Barr.
Parshall : 1: Americanized form of South German Parschall a variant of Parschalk a status name for a freeholder (a freeman with few service obligations) from Middle High German bar ‘naked’ ‘free from apparent’ + schalk ‘servant man’. See Pershall.2: English: variant of Pearsall.
Peter : English Scottish German Dutch French (Alsace and Lorraine) Czech (Moravian) Slovak Croatian and Slovenian; Hungarian (Péter): from the personal name Peter (Greek Petros from petra ‘rock’). The personal name was popular throughout Christian Europe in the Middle Ages having been bestowed by Christ as a byname on the apostle Simon bar Jonah the brother of Andrew. The name was chosen by Christ for its symbolic significance (John 1:42 Matt. 16:18); Saint Peter is regarded as the founding head of the Christian Church in view of Christ's saying ‘Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church’. In Christian Germany in the early Middle Ages this was the most frequent personal name of non-ancient Germanic origin until the 14th century. In North America this surname has also absorbed cognates from other languages for example Czech Petr Polish Piotr and Pietr Albanian Pjetri (from the personal name Pjetër definite form Pjetri) and also their derivatives (see examples at Peterson). It has also been adopted as a surname by Ashkenazic Jews.
Rail : 1: English (Cornwall): perhaps a nickname from Middle English raile ‘rail bar barrier stake’ (Old French reille ‘bolt bar rung’) perhaps denoting a tall thin man. Alternatively it may be from Middle English rail ‘garment robe clothing cloth’ (Old English hrægel).2: German: variant of Raile.3: Altered form of Breton (Côtes-d'Armor) Réhel: probably a habitational name from Réhel a minor placename in Brittany.
Stang : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German stang German Stange ‘pole shaft’ hence a nickname for a tall thin person a metonymic occupational name for a maker of wooden shafts for spears and the like or a metonymic occupational name for a soldier.2: Norwegian: habitational name from any of several farms named Stang from Old Norse stǫng ‘pole bar rod’ referring to a long and narrow landscape formation.
Stangeland : Norwegian: habitational name from any of the six farmsteads in Rogaland and Hordaland named in Old Norse as Stangaland from stǫng ‘pole bar rod’ + land ‘(piece of) land farm’; the significance of this is not clear but see Stang.
Staver : English: possibly from Middle English staver ‘upright bar in a rack for hay or fodder’ recorded from County Durham or an occupational term for a stave-maker. This surname is now rare in Britain.
Stavers : originally a variant of Staver with post-medieval excrescent -s. Staver is of unexplained origin but possibly connected with Middle English staver ‘an upright bar in a rack for hay or fodder’ (MED) which is recorded from County Durham or a term for a stave-maker.possibly a variant of the now extinct Staverd arising in SE Scotland and NE England through confusion with (i).
Voyle : 1: from a mutated form of Welsh moel 'bare bald’. Compare pen-foel ‘bald-headed’. 2: occasionally perhaps a variant of Foyle (1) or (2) with voicing of the initial consonant a dialect feature of W England and of SW England as far as W Sussex. The Shrops examples may alternatively belong here.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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