Last Name/Surname: Kirsch
Surnames are divided into four categories, from occupations, nicknames, baptismal and locational. All the main types of these are found in German speaking areas and names derived from occupations and from nicknames are particularly common. The Kirsch surname appears to be of German origins. The English meaning of Kirsch is cherry.
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Last Name/Surname Kirsch Meaning and History:
The Kirsch surname has two origins
Firstly, German origin:
This surname was a German topographic name for someone who lived near a cherry orchard, or a wild cherry tree. The name could most probably have been derived from the Germanic Kirsh (baum) meaning cherry (tree). It may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a grower or seller of cherries or a nickname for a man with a ruddy complexion.
Secondly, it may be of Hebrew/Jewish (Ashkenazic) origin:
The name was also used by Ashkenazic Jews, one of the many names taken from words for trees and other features of the natural world.
The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Kirsch, christened, which was dated 1786, in St. Stephen Coleman Street, London, during the reign of King George, known as "Farmer George", 1760 - 1820. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as ‘Poll Tax’.
The Last Name/Surname “Kirsch” is found in most English dictionaries:
The Concise Oxford Dictionary: Kirsch - German: topographic name of someone who lived near a cherry orchard or a wild cherry tree, from Ger. Kirsch(baum) cherry (tree)… Kirsch (also kirschwasser) a brandy distilled from fermented juice of cherries.
In conclusion, due to the very limited information with regards to the history of the Last Name/Surname Kirsch it is anyone’s guess as to the 'true' origins.
