indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Meaning & History
German and Ashkenazic Jewish: from German Ast ‘knot (in wood)’ hence a nickname for a tough or awkward individual or a metonymic occupational name for a lumberjack.
As a Jewish name it is artificial.
North German: occupational name from Middle Low German arste ‘physician’ a variant of Arzt.
German: habitational name from any of the places so named in Bavaria.
French (southern): from Occitan ast ‘pike’ or ‘lance’ most likely an occupational name for a maker of these weapons. The surname is most common in Alsace and Lorraine where it is undoubtedly German in origins
As a Jewish name it is artificial.
North German: occupational name from Middle Low German arste ‘physician’ a variant of Arzt.
German: habitational name from any of the places so named in Bavaria.
French (southern): from Occitan ast ‘pike’ or ‘lance’ most likely an occupational name for a maker of these weapons. The surname is most common in Alsace and Lorraine where it is undoubtedly German in origins