BEHRENS Origin of surname
BEHRENS
Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.
The name Behrens is a variant of Baer. This Jewish family name is also derived from animals mentioned in the Bible. One of them, which has produced numerous variants, is Baer, the German for "bear", translated from the Hebrew Dov.
As an Ashkenazi name, it could also have been taken from one of the house-signs that were familiar sights in German towns, particularly Frankfurt am Main, in the Middle Ages, for instance 'Zum Goldenen Baeren' ("to the Golden Bear"). The Jewish surname Baer is documented in the city since the early 16th century. Its closest biblical association is traced to Issachar (Genesis 49.14), whom Jacob compares to a large-boned ass, a symbol of hard work and strength. Because 'donkey' was a derisive term in Europe, the Jews living there replaced it with another animal embodying great strength and endurance, the bear, whose old German name is linked to 'man, hero and prince'. The form Beer is documented in the 15th century in Italy with the scholar Benjamin Ben Elijahu Beer; Baer is recorded in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1530; Bermann in 1548 in Hesse, Germany; Behrmann in the German town of Fuerth in 1708; Behr in Westhoffen, eastern France, in 1720; Baer in Paris in 1756; and Baehr, Berr and Ber in France at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Behrens include the Hannoverian moneylender and minter Leffman Behrens (1684-1714), also known as Behrends.
Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.
The name Behrens is a variant of Baer. This Jewish family name is also derived from animals mentioned in the Bible. One of them, which has produced numerous variants, is Baer, the German for "bear", translated from the Hebrew Dov.
As an Ashkenazi name, it could also have been taken from one of the house-signs that were familiar sights in German towns, particularly Frankfurt am Main, in the Middle Ages, for instance 'Zum Goldenen Baeren' ("to the Golden Bear"). The Jewish surname Baer is documented in the city since the early 16th century. Its closest biblical association is traced to Issachar (Genesis 49.14), whom Jacob compares to a large-boned ass, a symbol of hard work and strength. Because 'donkey' was a derisive term in Europe, the Jews living there replaced it with another animal embodying great strength and endurance, the bear, whose old German name is linked to 'man, hero and prince'. The form Beer is documented in the 15th century in Italy with the scholar Benjamin Ben Elijahu Beer; Baer is recorded in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1530; Bermann in 1548 in Hesse, Germany; Behrmann in the German town of Fuerth in 1708; Behr in Westhoffen, eastern France, in 1720; Baer in Paris in 1756; and Baehr, Berr and Ber in France at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century.
Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Behrens include the Hannoverian moneylender and minter Leffman Behrens (1684-1714), also known as Behrends.