Erasmus Family History
Erasmus Name Meaning
North German Dutch and West Indian (Dutch Caribbean): from the personal name Erasmus Latin form of Greek Erasmos a derivative of erān ‘to love’. Saint Erasmus (died 303) was a bishop of Formiae (modern Formia) in Campania who was martyred under Diocletian; he is numbered among the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is a patron of sailors. However in northern Europe from the 16th century onward the name was more often selected in honor of the great Renaissance Dutch humanist scholar and teacher Erasmus Roterodamus (1469–1536). This surname is also established in South Africa.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022