Baloh

A typical Slovene surname originating from the plant Nardus stricta (slv. domestic name volk, baloh). It is a type of grass that grows on highly acidic and poor soils. Slovene noun pusta means 'poor soil'.

The name balog derives from dial. gerund palog, literary slv. pôlég 'to be lodged'. See the image link.

Since the Balogh and Balog are very common surnames in Hungary, it is considered to be of Hungarian origin, supposedly deriving from balra 'left' + kéz 'hand' > balkezes 'left-handed' > balog. A serious researcher must respect the fact that in the Pannonian Plain lived Slovenes before the Hungarian occupation in the 10th century. Many words and names in the present Hungary reveal the typical Slovene origin (Budapest, Pecs, Revesz, macska, ...), not Slovak or Croatian. The domestic people, with their names and habits lived on until their language was area by area covered with the Magyar language in the following centuries. That development reaches 38% of the population in the Magyar-Orszag by the second-half of the 19th century.

- http://agrozoo.net/jsp/Thesaurus.jsp?p3=Nardus%20stricta
- https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/incredible-long-grass-named-nardus-stricta-2232845413