Origin
Bach : 1: German: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream Middle High German bach ‘stream’. This surname is also found in some other European countries most notably in Denmark and France (Alsace and Lorraine) but also in e.g. the Netherlands Czechia (see also 5 below) and Croatia.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German Bach ‘stream creek’.3: English: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream Middle English bach(e) bech(e) ‘stream’ (Old English bæce).4: Welsh: nickname a distinguishing epithet from Welsh bach ‘little small’.5: Polish Czech and Slovak: from the personal name Bach a pet form of Bartholomaeus (Polish Bartłomiej Czech Bartoloměj Slovak Bartolomej; see Bartholomew) or in some cases Baltazar or Sebastian.6: Americanized form of Norwegian Bakk or Bakke.7: Germanized or Americanized form of Slovenian Bah.8: Chinese: variant Romanization of the surnames 白 and 柏 possibly based on their Cantonese pronunciation see Bai 1 and 2.9: Vietnamese (Bạch): from the Chinese surname 白 see Bai 1.
Achenbach : German: habitational name from any of the places in Hesse and Westphalia named Achenbach from the obsolete word Ach or Ache (from Middle High German ahe ‘water stream’) + Bach ‘brook’. Compare Aughenbaugh and Aughinbaugh.
Albach : German: habitational name taken from the name of a stream (Middle High German bach) of which there are several examples. The surname is most probably from one in Hesse. Compare Alpaugh Albaugh and Allbaugh.
Arbaugh : 2: Possibly also an Americanized form of German Arbach: habitational name from any of several places called Arbach for example a village in the Rhineland west of Koblenz which is named from Middle High German ar(n) ‘eagle’ + bach ‘brook’.1: Americanized form of German Erbach. Compare Erbaugh.
Bachar : 1: Jewish (from the Ottoman Empire): variant of Behar 2. Compare Bahar 4.2: Polish: derivative of Bach a pet form of the personal name Bartłomiej (see Bartholomew).3: Polish: nickname from the dialect terms bach ‘child’ or bachorz ‘belly’.4: Americanized form of Slovenian Bačar: habitational name for someone from the ravine of the river Bača in Slovene Littoral.5: Americanized form of Slovenian Bačar: topographic name derived from dialect bač ‘well in the field’.
Bacher : 1: German and Swiss German: topographic name from Middle High German bach ‘stream’ + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant who lived by a stream or a habitational name for someone from any of various places called with this word for example Bach or Bachern.2: Jewish (western Ashkenazic): variant of Bacharach.3: Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): from an agent derivative of Bach 2 one of surnames assigned at random by Austrian clerks.4: Danish: probably of German origin (see 1 above).5: Norwegian: rare variant of Bakker.6: English: variant of Batcher.
Bachman : 2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German Bach ‘stream creek’ + Mann (Yiddish man) ‘man’.1: Americanized form of German and Swiss German Bachmann.
Bachmann : 1: German and Swiss German: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream from Middle High German bach ‘stream’ + man ‘man’. Compare Bachman Backman and Baughman.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): variant of Bachman.
Bachmeier : German: from Middle High German bach ‘stream’ + meier ‘steward tenant farmer’ (see Mayer) denoting a farmer whose farm lay beside a stream.
Baechle : South German (Bächle): Swabian-Alemannic variant of Bach from a diminutive of Middle High German bach ‘stream’. Compare Bachle and Beckley.
Bahar : 1: Muslim (mainly Bangladesh): from a personal name based on Persian bahar ‘spring’ or a metonymic occupational name for a spicer from Arabic bahār ‘spice’.2: Turkish: from bahar ‘spice’ a loanword from Arabic applied as an ornamental name or as a metonymic occupational name for a spicer; or from bahar ‘spring’ a loanword from Persian (compare 1 above) applied as an ornamental name.3: Slovenian: topographic name for someone who lived by a brook or stream a derivative of Middle High German bach or German Bach ‘stream’. Compare German Bacher.4: Jewish (from the Ottoman Empire): variant of Behar 2.
Batcher : 1: North German (Bätcher): dialect variant of Böttcher (see Boettcher) or the North German and North Frisian cognate Bätjer. The surname Bätcher is very rare in Germany.2: English: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream from a derivative of Middle English bach bech(e) ‘stream’. Compare Bach 3 and Bache.
Baugh : 1: Welsh: probably an Anglicized form of Bach from Welsh bach ‘little’.2: Americanized form of German Bach.
Baughan : Welsh: from the adjective bychan ‘little’ a diminutive of bach (see Bach 4) originally in general used to distinguish father and son bearing the same name in genealogies. This word usually appears in Anglicized surnames in the lenited form Vaughan.
Bechler : German:: 1: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream from bechel a southern diminutive of Middle High German bach ‘stream’ + the suffix -er denoting an inhabitant.2: dissimilated form of Becherer.3: variant of Becher 2.
Birnbach : Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German Birn ‘pear’ + Bach ‘stream’.
Breitbach : German: habitational name from a place in Bavaria named Breitbach from Middle High German breit ‘broad’ + bach ‘stream’. Compare Breitenbach.
Coolbaugh : Americanized form of German Kühlbach a topographic name from Middle High German küel ‘cool’ + bach ‘stream creek’ or of German Kuhlbach also a topographic name in which the first element is from Middle Low German kule ‘pit’.
Eberspacher : German: habitational name for someone from any of several southern German places called Ebersbach (from Middle High German eber ‘wild boar’ + bach ‘creek stream’) + -er suffix denoting origin. This surname is very rare in Germany.
Eisenbach : South German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of several places so named from Middle High German īsen ‘iron’ + bach ‘stream’. As a Jewish name it is sometimes artificial.
Fahrbach : German: topographic name in northwestern Germany from an old creek name composed of Middle Low German vor(n) ‘bog swamp’ + Middle High German bach ‘stream’; in southern Germany (Baden) the first element is from Middle High German varch ‘pig(let)’.
Fischbach : 1: German: habitational name from any of the places called Fischbach or a topographic name for someone living by a stream (Middle High German bach) noted for its fish (Middle High German visch).2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German Fisch ‘fish’ + Bach ‘stream’.
Gehlbach : German: topographic name from a stream so named in Saarland named with a compound of Gehl ‘wet lowland’ + Bach ‘stream’ or from Middle High German gēl ‘yellow’ see Gehl.
Goldbach : 1: Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name composed of German Gold ‘gold’ + Bach ‘stream’.2: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of 22 places in German-speaking places called Goldbach.
Griesbach : German: topographic name for someone living near a stream with a sandy bottom from Middle High German griez ‘sand’ + bach ‘brook stream’.
Gronbach : German: probably a habitational name from a place so named the first syllable of which may derive from a North German dialect word for ‘green’ or for ‘crane’ (the bird) + bach ‘stream’.
Halbach : 1: German: topographic name from hal ‘marsh mire’ + bach ‘stream’.2: Dutch and German: habitational name from any of the three places called Halbach near Remscheid (North Rhine-Westphalia).
Hattenbach : German: habitational name from a place so named near Bad Hersfeld or perhaps a topographic name from a stream so named in Württemberg from hatt had ‘bog’ + bach ‘stream’. Compare Hattabaugh.
Heinbach : German: topographic name from Middle High German hagen ‘shrub thorn bush’ + bach ‘small stream’.
Himmelsbach : German: topographic name for someone living by a stream so named from Middle High German himel ‘heaven’ + bach ‘stream’.
Hollerbach : German: habitational name from a place so named near Heilbronn or a topographic name for someone who lived by an elder bush near a stream or by a stream in a hollow a compound of Holler 3 or 4 + Middle High German bach ‘stream’.
Kalbach : German: habitational name from any of various places called for a stream named as ‘the cold stream’ (from kalt) or the ‘bleak stream’ (from kahl ‘bleak’) + Bach ‘stream’.
Kallenbach : German and Dutch (of German origin): habitational name from any of the places in Thuringia and Westphalia probably named with kalle ‘muddy water’ or kalde ‘cold’ + Bach ‘stream’.
Kelbaugh : Americanized form of North German Kelbach: topographic name from kel ‘swamp’ + Bach ‘brook creek’.
Laubach : German (Rhineland and Alsace): habitational name from any of several places so named from Middle High German lō ‘wood grove’ + bach ‘stream’.
Lautenbach : German: habitational name from any of the places called Lautenbach (Upper Rhine) which is named with the ancient Germanic elements hlutra ‘pure clear’ + bach ‘stream’.
Lauterbach : German: habitational name from any of numerous places so named from Lauter a common stream name meaning ‘clear’ (from Middle High German hlūtra) + Middle High German bach ‘stream’. Compare Lauter.
Leimbach : German and Alsatian: habitational name from any of several places called Leimbach from Middle High German leim ‘mud silt clay’ + bach ‘stream’.
Leinbach : German: topographic name from any of several streams called leinbach from Middle High German līn ‘flax’ or Middle Low German leie (genitive leien) ‘rock stone’ + bach ‘stream’.
Limbach : German: habitational name from any of numerous places in Germany so named with ancient Germanic lindo ‘lime tree’ + bach ‘stream’. Several of these places are in areas such as the Palatinate which contributed heavily to early German immigration to America.
Lushbaugh : Americanized form of German Lüschbach a habitational name from a place so called named with Middle Low German lūsch ‘reed’ (Middle High German liesche) + bach ‘creek stream’.
Mohrbacher : German: habitational name for someone from any of various places called Morbach in the Palatinate Rhineland and elsewhere so named from Middle High German muor ‘swamp’ + bach ‘stream brook’.
Mosbacher : German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name for someone from any of numerous places called Mo(o)sbach named with Old High German mos ‘peat bog’ + bach ‘stream’.
Mullenbach : German: variant of Mühlenbach a topographic name for someone living by a mill stream from Middle High German mül(e) ‘mill’ + bach ‘stream’.
Overbaugh : Americanized form of German Oberbach a topographic and perhaps a habitational name from ober ‘upper’ + Bach ‘stream creek’.
Railsback : Altered form of German Railsbach a habitational name probably a shortened form of Raigelsbach from Middle High German reigel ‘heron’ + bach ‘stream creek’; or an altered form of Reulbach a habitational name from a place so named in the Rhön Mountains in Hesse.
Reichenbach : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of various minor places particularly in Baden-Württemberg and Hesse so named from Old High German rīhhi ‘rich powerful’ (i.e. strongly flowing) + bah ‘stream’.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German reich ‘rich’ + Bach ‘stream’ (see 1 above).
Rodenbach : German: habitational name from any of several places in Hesse Bavaria or the Palatinate so named from Old High German rōd ‘clearing’ + bach ‘creek’. Compare Rhodenbaugh and Rodenbaugh.
Sandbach : 1: English (Cheshire): habitational name from Sandbach (Cheshire) from Old English sand ‘sand’ + bece bæce ‘stream valley’.2: German: habitational name from a place called with sand ‘sand’ + bach ‘stream’.
Schlabach : 1: German (Westphalia): topographic name from an unidentified first element + Middle High German bach ‘creek’.2: German: altered form of Swiss German Schlapbach a cognate of 1 above. Compare Schlabaugh Slabach Slabaugh Slaubaugh Slayback and Slaybaugh.
Schwebach : Probably an altered form of German Schwebbach a topographic name denoting a river or stream from Middle High German sweben ‘to move in a winding way meander’ + bach ‘stream’.
Sharbaugh : Americanized form of German Scharbach or Schorbach a habitational name from a place so named from Middle High German schor ‘dirt’ + bach ‘creek’.
Silbaugh : Altered form of German Silbach a habitational name from Silbach in the Sauerland from a dialect word sil sel sal ‘moist dirt’ + Middle High German bach ‘creek’.
Staubach : German: possibly a Swiss German topographic name from Middle High German stouwen ‘to dam’ + bach ‘creek’ or from Bavarian Staub dust' for a ‘waterfall or stream that seems to turn to dust when falling from a high crag’.
Steinbach : 1: German: habitational name from any of the many places called Steinbach named with Middle High German stein ‘stone’ + bach ‘stream creek’.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name composed of German Stein ‘stone’ + Bach ‘stream’ or a habitational name (see 1 above).
Sternbach : Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name composed of German Stern ‘star’ + Bach ‘stream’.
Strausbaugh : Americanized form of Alsatian Strasbach or Strassbach: topographic name from Middle High German strasse ‘street road’ + Middle High German bach ‘creek’. Compare Strasbaugh and Trosper.
Swartzbaugh : Americanized form of German Schwarzbach a habitational name from any of several places so named or a topographic name from Middle High German swarz ‘black’ + bach ‘creek’.
Tombaugh : Americanized form of North German Tombach:: 1: topographic name from to dem bach ‘at the creek’; perhaps a hybrid form as Bach is standard German bek(e) being the Low German form.2: habitational name from any of the places in Hesse Baden and Bavaria called Dombach (earlier Tunbach from tun tan ‘mud’).
Vaughan : Welsh: from fychan a lenited form of bychan a diminutive of bach ‘little’. This was often used to distinguish the younger of two bearers of the same personal name typically the son of a father with the same name.
Weidenbach : German: habitational name from any of numerous places so named from Middle High German wīde ‘willow’ + bach ‘stream’.
Weisbach : 1: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of numerous places called Weisbach or Weissbach.2: Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German weiss ‘white’ + Bach ‘brook’.
Wolbach : German: habitational name from a place called with bach ‘stream’ as the last element possibly an altered form of Walbach Alsace (France) or Walbach Baden-Württemberg.
Zumbach : Swiss German and German: topographic name for someone who lived ‘by the stream’ from Middle High German bach ‘stream’ + the fused preposition and article zum (zu dem) ‘at the’.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
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