Bas Family History

Catalan: habitational name from a place so named in the district of La Garrotxa, Catalonia. Basque: topographic name for someone who lived by a wood from baso ‘wood, forest’. Polish Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) and Ukrainian: metonymic occupational name for a musician from Polish, Yiddish, and Ukrainian (respectively) bas ‘bass viol, violoncello’. For Jews, the surname can come from any of the three languages in question as well as from German Baß.

French: from Old French bas(se) ‘short, of low stature’ (from Latin bassus ‘thickset’, i.e., wide as opposed to tall), a descriptive nickname for a short person. Compare Lebas. Dutch: from a short form of the personal name Sebastiaan (see Sebastian).

Slovenian (Baš): from an old short form of the personal name Sebastjan (see Sebastian). Compare Bash.

Turkish (Baş): ornamental name, nickname, or status name from baş ‘head’, also ‘chief’. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) and Ukrainian: nickname for someone with a deep voice from Ukrainian bas ‘deep voice’. For Jews, the surname can also come from the Yiddish word with the identical meaning.