Surname Bähr - Meaning and Origin
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Unearthing Cultural Weavings with iGENEA Test- A Personal Voyage through the Bähr Lineage
The iGENEA DNA Test navigated me through the fascinating lineage of my family, revealing a complex ancestry closely tied to Central Europe and Scandinavia, with an unexpected linkage to East Europe. This discovery has shaped my understanding of my surname Bähr, enhancing my familial pride, and has deepened my appreciation for genealogy, and history itself.
X. Bähr
read moreBähr: What does the surname Bähr mean?
The last name Bähr originated as a German surname and is derived from the Middle High German word "büeher," meaning "beaver." The surname likely originated as a nickname for a person who was either a tradesman or a craftsman who made, traded, or sold beaver skin. The beaver was also viewed as a symbol of perseverance in the face of difficulties, so the name Bähr may have also been given to someone who was diligent and persistent.
The Bähr surname is found throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and adjacent areas of European countries. Records of the name date back to at least the 13th century. One notable example of the surname is Austrian author Elisabeth Bähr, who wrote the novel "Mein Kampf um das Glück" (My Struggle for Happiness).
For those of Jewish heritage, the surname Bähr is often a variation of the name "Behr," which is derived from the Rabbinical name "Ben-Ha Levi." Similarly, the Bähr surname can be seen in some Spanish Jewish families, derived from the Sephardic term "haber," which means "son of the river" or "river."
The name Bähr can also be found in the United States among the descendants of German immigrants who first arrived in the colonial era. The Bähr surname is fairly common in the US and also appears in records for Canada, Australia, and other countries around the world.
Order DNA origin analysisBähr: Where does the name Bähr come from?
The last name Bähr is most common today in Germany and Austria. It is an occupational name derived from the Middle High German bärre (modern German Bär) meaning “bear”, and would have been used to denote the occupation of one who cared for or tamed bears.
The name can be found in parts of the former East Germany, particularly in the states of Saxony and Brandenburg, but the highest concentration of Bähr families is still in Bavaria, where they make up about 1.4% of the population.
The name is also relatively common in Austria (around 0.36% of the population) where it is most often found in the Tyrol region. There are also small pockets of Bähr families in Switzerland, France, Netherlands, and the United States.
In the United States, around 13,676 people have the last name Bähr, representing 0.003% of the population. Most Bähr families in the US are concentrated in New York and Pennsylvania.
The last name Bähr is likely to have derived from the same root source, however, due to inter-marriages and migrations, variations such as Bair, Behr, Baer, Beer, Behre, and Baehr are also common.
Variations of the surname Bähr
The surname Bähr is an old German name derived from the Middle High German word bähre and the old German word bahar, meaning “bear”. It is also thought that the origin of the surname may have originally been "bar", which is an old German word for “farmer”.
The surname Bähr can be found in various spelling variants, including Behr, Baer, Behre, Bair, Bear, Baire, Bar, Bahr, Bähr, and Pfär. There are a few surnames with the same origin as Bähr that have a bit of a different spelling, such as Baehr, Bähre, Baehre, Bahr, Behrle, Beahr and Beer.
The origin of the surname Bähr is thought to be mostly German, although variants of the name can be found in other countries such as Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Throughout history, the surname Bähr has been popularized by various famous people, including German composer Johann Paul von Bach, German artist Lucas Bach, German-American sculptor Paul Bach, and German footballers Uwe and Florian Bähr.
The name Bähr is not particularly common nowadays, with the name being mostly found in Germany. It is estimated that around 3,000 people bear the surname Bähr worldwide, with the largest concentration of descendants being located in Germany (mainly in the states of Saxony and Brandenburg).
Famous people with the name Bähr
- Matthias Bähr: a German bobsledder who competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.
- Karl Bähr: a German classical composer.
- Gerd Bähr: a German musician and songwriter.
- Horst Bähr: a German biologist and naturalist.
- Horst Bähr: a German artist and sculptor.
- Wolfgang Bähr: a German author, screenwriter, and director.
- Peter Bähr: a German footballer who played in the 1977 FIFA World Cup.
- Eva Bähr: a German politician.
- Karl Bähr: a German Lutheran theologian.
- Erich Bähr: a German physicist and microelectronics researcher.
- Fritz Bähr: a German actor and film director.
- Bernd Bähr: a German professor of medicine.
- Fritz Bähr: a German boxer who competed in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
- Steffen Bähr: a German cyclist who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics.
- Wulf Bähr: a German weightlifter who competed in the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens.
- Robert Bähr: a German painter, printmaker, and draftsman.
- Johannes Bähr: a German physicist and geologist.
- Erich Bähr: a German soccer player who competed in two FIFA World Cups.
- Michael Bähr: a German football coach and former player.
- Habbo Bähr: a German producer and composer.