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ArchivesRe: What does this name mean?
in reply to a message by Richard Jenkins
It can be (1) the nickname of someone who lived by a brook, from Middle English bekke, (2) from any of the numerous places in northern France named Bec, (3) from the Middle English personal name *Becke (Old English *Becca or Beocca), or (4) from Middle English bekke ‘beak, bill of a bird’, probably for someone with a very prominent nose.
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It's often German and is more common in Baden-Württemberg than anywhere else in the country. It's probably from the Middle High German (southern German) "becke," the older form of the Alemannic "Beck," both meaning "baker" or "bake." They're ultimately from the Proto-Germanic *bakaną (to bake—the infinitive stem is -aną). This makes it a variant of Becker, which is most common in western Germany. The northern variant is Bäcker.
Behind the Surname traces Beck to the Proto-Germanic *bakiz (brook, stream) through the Middle Low German (northern German) "bēke," the Old Saxon "beki" and the Old Norse *bekkr. This is probable in cases where the family came from the north. *Bakiz became "bah" in Old High German and "bach" in Middle High German, which is the origin of the surname Bach. I don't think that "brook, stream" is the meaning in the case of southern families.
Behind the Surname traces Beck to the Proto-Germanic *bakiz (brook, stream) through the Middle Low German (northern German) "bēke," the Old Saxon "beki" and the Old Norse *bekkr. This is probable in cases where the family came from the north. *Bakiz became "bah" in Old High German and "bach" in Middle High German, which is the origin of the surname Bach. I don't think that "brook, stream" is the meaning in the case of southern families.
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