Hirsch Family History

German: from Middle High German hir(t)z ‘deer stag’; a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of deer, a nickname for someone thought to resemble a deer or stag, or a topographic or habitational name referring to a house distinguished by the sign of a stag.

It is also found in some central European countries, for example in Czechia and Slovenia, often as a translation into German of corresponding Slavic surnames, e.g. Jelen.

In some cases, this is also a standardized form of the Gottscheerish (i.e. Gottschee German) surname Hiris.

Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Hirsh ‘deer’, which is common because of the association of the deer with the Hebrew personal name Naphtali, deriving from the blessing by Jacob of his sons (Genesis 49: 21) in which Naphtali is referred to as a ‘hind let loose’.

Compare Deer, Jelen, Jelinek and Jelonek.