BACHMANN
Bachmann is a surname of German origin. It derives from the Middle High German words bach, meaning “stream” or “brook”, and mann, meaning “man”. Consequently the name is generally understood to signify a man who lived near or worked by a stream.
The earliest known use of the name is recorded in England, where a Reiner de Bache is mentioned in the rolls of Lincolnshire in 1212. An earlier English witness, Robert de Basche, is noted at the Assise Court of Stafford in 1199. In Germany the first documented bearer appears as Heinrich Bach, a priest in Villingen in 1447. The surname has been recorded in over fifty different spellings, including Bach, Bache, Batch, Beck, Beckmann, Pach, Pacher, Pachmann, Becker, Bacher and Ubach. Many of these variations arose from regional dialects and historical orthographic practices.
In addition to the geographical interpretation, some scholars argue that the surname could also refer to an occupation. The Middle Ages used the term bach to denote a bakery, so a Bachmann might have been called a “baker man”. This occupational meaning is less widely accepted, and the geographical explanation is most often adopted.
Through significant waves of German emigration the name has spread beyond its homeland. It remains most common in Germany, particularly in the southern state of Bavaria, and is also established in Switzerland, Austria and the United States. In England the surname is relatively uncommon but is found among early hereditary records, as England was the first country to adopt hereditary surnames in the form used today.
Notable individuals bearing the surname include the Swiss writer Ingeborg Bachmann and the American politician Michele Bachmann. Variants of the name, such as Bachman and Baughman, appear in many English-speaking countries and reflect different transliterations of the original German spelling.
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Bachmann in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 122 people named Bachmann in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around two in a million people in Britain are named Bachmann.
Famous people named Bachmann
- Michele Bachmann - American politician
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.