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Surname Etymology and Meaning of BACH

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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.

1. German: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, Middle High German bach ‘stream’. This surname is established throughout central Europe and in Scandinavia, not just in Germany.
2. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Bach ‘stream’, ‘creek’.
3. English: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, Middle English bache.
4. Welsh: distinguishing epithet from Welsh bach ‘little’, ‘small’.
5. Norwegian: Americanized spelling of the topographic name Bakk(e) ‘hillside’ (see Bakke).
6. Polish, Czech, and Slovak: from the personal name Bach, a pet form of Bartomolaeus (Polish Bartlomiej, Czech Bartolomej, Slovak Bartolomej (see Bartholomew) or possibly in some cases of Baltazar or Sebastian).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)