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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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).

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