Baugh
An English surname that may be local in origin, though in some cases it may also reflect a dialect word meaning “bad” or “indifferent.”
The #2,873 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,615 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is not fully certain. One 19th-century source says Baugh was an old Scottish word meaning “bad” or “indifferent,” but it also suggests the surname is probably local in origin. Other scholarship treats Baugh as a spelling found in names of place-derived families and, in some cases, as an Anglicized or altered form linked to German names in -bach.
History
Baugh appears in medieval and later English records, and it was especially noted in Shropshire, where it was considered an old local surname. The name also turns up in studies of Norman and Germanic family names, showing that its spelling and origin history may vary by branch. In the United States, it has been carried by families of British and German-American background.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A late-19th-century county study described Baugh as one of the old Shropshire surnames that had become relatively rare there.
From the historical record
“BAUERMAN. Germ, lauer-mann. BAUGH. An old Scottisli word signi- fying bad or inditierent; but the name is probably local. BAVEXT. The lords B., who gave ihe suffix to Eston-Bavent, co. Suffolk, were a Norm, family, and came from a i>lace still so called, four leagues N.E. of Caen. BAVERSTOCK. A parish in Wilts.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom