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Surname Etymology and Meaning of BAUM

Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

(origin: Germ.) A tree. It may be derived from a town in France by that name.

Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import (1857).

1. German: topographic name for someone who lived by a tree that was particularly noticeable in some way, from Middle High German, Old High German boum ‘tree’, or else a nickname for a particularly tall person.
2. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Baum ‘tree’, or a short form of any of the many ornamental surnames containing this word as the final element, for example Feigenbaum ‘fig tree’ (see Feige) and Mandelbaum ‘almond tree’ (see Mandel).
3. English: probably a variant spelling of Balm, a metonymic occupational name for a seller of spices and perfumes, Middle English, Old French basme, balme, ba(u)me ‘balm’, ‘ointment’ (see Balmer).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)