Auerbach History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Germany

The Auerbach family name first began to be used in the German state of Bavaria. After the 12th century, as hereditary surnames began to be adopted, names that were derived from locations became particularly common. The family name Auerbach is a local surname. Originally denoting the proprietorship of an estate or influence within a village, the German preposition von, which means from or of, used with local names, was taken as a mark of aristocracy. The surname Auerbach was given to someone who lived in several places in Southern Germany having derived from the Old German words Aurochs, a kind of wild bull that is now extinct, and bach, which means stream. The word auerbach can also mean a marshy brook.

Early Origins of the Auerbach family

The surname Auerbach was first found in Bavaria, where the name came from humble beginnings but gained a significant reputation for its contribution to the emerging mediaeval society. It later became more prominent as many branches of the same house acquired distant estates and branches, some in foreign countries, always elevating their social status by their great contributions to society.

Early History of the Auerbach family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Auerbach research. Another 114 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1530, 1654, 1812 and 1882 are included under the topic Early Auerbach History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Auerbach Spelling Variations

Many cultural groups lived in the German states in medieval times. Each had its own dialect and traditions, and unique variations of popular names. Low German, which is similar to contemporary Dutch, was spoken in Westphalia. German names are characterized by additions such as regional suffixes and phrases that tell something about the origin or background of its original bearer. Further contributing to the variation in German names was the fact that there were no spelling rules in medieval times: scribes recorded names according to their sound. The recorded spelling variations of Auerbach include Auerbach, Auerback, Auerbacke, Auerbache, Aurbach, Urbach and many more.

Early Notables of the Auerbach family

Prominent among members of the name Auerbach in this period include

Berthold Auerbach (1812-1882), German writer of village life in the Black Forest...
Auerbach's Keller was a famous tavern in Leipzig, dating from 1530, which became associated with the Faust legend in the 17th century...
Its name derives from its first owner, Heinrich Auerbach...

Auerbach Ranking

In the United States, the name Auerbach is the 12,484^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Auerbach migration to the United States +

The great European flow of migration to North America, which began in the middle of the 17th century and continued into the 20th century, was particularly attractive to those from Bavaria who wished to escape either poverty or religious persecution. For many Bavarian tenant farmers, the chance to own their own land was a major incentive. So the widespread colonization of the United States began in 1650, when many immigrants from Germany settled in pockets in Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Illinois, and California. In Canada, German settlement centered in Ontario and the prairie provinces. Among those of this surname listed in various historical records were:

Auerbach Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Louis Auerbach, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1852
Heinr Auerbach, who arrived in America in 1863 2
Emile Auerbach, who landed in Mississippi in 1871 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Auerbach (post 1700) +

Paul Stuart Auerbach (1951-2021), American physician, author, founder and past president of the Wilderness Medical Society, editor for the Journal of Wilderness Medicine (1990-1995)
Larry Auerbach (1923-2014), American Daytime Emmy Award winning television director, awarded DGA Honorary Life Member in 2004
Stanley Irving Auerbach (b. 1921), American ecologist
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (1917-2006), American basketball coach and executive
Junius T. Auerbach, American politician, Representative from Massachusetts 9th District, 1908 3
Gary Auerbach, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Arizona 5th District, 1994 3
F. P. Auerbach, American politician, Mayor of Great Falls, Montana, 1909 3
Bob S. Auerbach, American politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Maryland 5th District, 2002, 2004 3
Charlotte Auerbach (1899-1994), German geneticist awarded the Darwin Medal in 1976
Frank Auerbach (b. 1931), German-born, British artist and winner of the Golden Lion Award in 1986
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html