Hersh
A surname usually traced to a Yiddish or German form related to a deer or stag, and sometimes used as a short form of longer names like Herschel.
The #9,104 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 86,026 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hersh is generally understood as a Jewish surname from Yiddish Hersh, meaning “deer” or “stag,” ultimately from German Hirsch, “deer.” In Ashkenazic naming practice, such animal words were often used as personal names and later became hereditary surnames. In some families, Hersh may also reflect a shortened form of a longer Hebrew or Yiddish given name such as Herschel.
History
The surname is most closely associated with Ashkenazic Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe and later appears in immigrant populations in North America. In English-speaking countries it was often fixed in the 19th and early 20th centuries as surnames became hereditary and standardized. It can appear independently or as part of compound family names.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same word family behind Hersh also produced the common German surname Hirsch, all tied to the image of a deer.