BEHR Origin of surname
BEHR
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.
This Jewish family name is also derived from animals mentioned in the Bible. One of them, which has produced numerous variants, is Behr, the German for "bear", translated from the Hebrew Dov, which is a popular male personal name. In some cases, Behr is derived from a medieval house-sign, as for example in the Jewish quarter (Judengasse) of medieval Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where each house had a sign, usually an animal or a flower. With time, many of the signs became fixed hereditary family names. One of the houses, for instance, was signed 'Zum Goldenen Baeren' ("to the Golden Bear"). The Jewish surname Baer is documented in the city since the early 16th century. The Hebrew male personal name Dov ("bear") is a traditional by-name of of the biblical personal name 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 Behr include the Polish-born German poet Issachar Falkensohn Behr (1746-1817), also known as Baer, and the 20th century German-born English financial adviser Werner Meyer Behr.
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.
This Jewish family name is also derived from animals mentioned in the Bible. One of them, which has produced numerous variants, is Behr, the German for "bear", translated from the Hebrew Dov, which is a popular male personal name. In some cases, Behr is derived from a medieval house-sign, as for example in the Jewish quarter (Judengasse) of medieval Frankfurt am Main, Germany, where each house had a sign, usually an animal or a flower. With time, many of the signs became fixed hereditary family names. One of the houses, for instance, was signed 'Zum Goldenen Baeren' ("to the Golden Bear"). The Jewish surname Baer is documented in the city since the early 16th century. The Hebrew male personal name Dov ("bear") is a traditional by-name of of the biblical personal name 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 Behr include the Polish-born German poet Issachar Falkensohn Behr (1746-1817), also known as Baer, and the 20th century German-born English financial adviser Werner Meyer Behr.
Issachar Behr Falkensohn
(Personality)Issachar Behr Falkensohn (1746-1817), poet, born in Salantai and tried to work in retail trade but when his entire stock was stolen from him he made his way to Berlin where he was introduced to Moses Mendelssohn. and came under the patronage of Daniel Itzig. He now received a broad secular education and as soon as he mastered German began to write poetry. His book, Gedichte von einem pohlnischen Juden made an immediate impression and was reviewed by Goethe. Behr then moved to Halle where he graduated in medicine. He practiced as a physician in Hasenpoth in Courland (now Aizpute, Latvia) and Mohilev and little is known of his later life.