Baum Family History

German: topographic name for someone who lived by a tree that was particularly noticeable in some way from Middle High German Old High German boum ‘tree’ or else a nickname for a particularly tall person.

Jewish (Ashkenazic): artificial name from German Baum ‘tree’ or a short form of any of the many artificial surnames containing this word as the final element for example Feigenbaum ‘fig tree’ (see Feige) and Mandelbaum ‘almond tree’ (see Mandel).

English (Leicestershire): variant of Balme, a habitational name from Balne in Yorkshire, so named with Middle English balne ‘bath, bathing place’ (from Latin balneum ‘bathing place’).

There is no early evidence suggesting possible derivation from Middle English balme, baume ‘balm, balsam’, though this word has probably influenced the name.