Bach

See also: bach, bách, Bách, bạch, Bạch, and bac̱h

English

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-der.

Proto-Germanic *bakiz

Proto-West Germanic *baki

German Bachbor.

English Bach

From German Bach. The surname was brought to the Anglo-Saxon world by immigrants from other Germanic countries. Doublet of Beach.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɑːx/, /bɑːk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːx, -ɑːk

Proper noun

Bach

1. A surname from German.
2. (music) Johann Sebastian Bach, a German organist and composer.

Derived terms

• BACH motif
• Bach flower remedy
• Bach flower therapy
• Bach trumpet

Translations

German composer

• Arabic: بَاخ (bāḵ)
• Armenian: Բախ (Bax)
• Azerbaijani: Bax
• Belarusian: Бах (Bax)
• Bulgarian: Бах m (Bah)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 巴赫 (zh) (Bāhè)

• Dutch: Bach (nl)
• Esperanto: Baĥo
• Finnish: Bach (fi)
• French: Bach (fr)
• Georgian: ბახი (baxi)
• German: Bach (de)
• Greek: Μπαχ (el) (Bach)
• Hebrew: באך
• Hindi: बाख़ (bāx)
• Hungarian: Bach (hu)
• Japanese: バッハ (Bahha)
• Korean: 바흐 (Baheu)
• Latvian: Bahs
• Macedonian: Бах (Bah)
• Marathi: बाख m (bākh)
• Persian: باخ (fa) (bâx)
• Portuguese: Bach (pt)
• Russian: Бах (ru) (Bax)
• Spanish: Bach
• Swedish: Bach (sv)
• Tamil: பாக் (pāk)
• Thai: บาค (bàak)
• Ukrainian: Бах (Bax)
• Urdu: باخ (bāx)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Vietnamese Bạch. Doublet of Bai.

Proper noun

Bach

1. A surname from Vietnamese.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Bach is the 2,986^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 11,999 individuals. Bach is most common among White (84.82%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.70%) individuals.

Anagrams

• BHCA

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbax]

Proper noun

Bach m anim (female equivalent Bachová)

1. a male surname

Declension

Declension of Bach (velar masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Bach	Bachové
genitive	Bacha	Bachů
dative	Bachovi	Bachům
accusative	Bacha	Bachy
vocative	Bachu	Bachové
locative	Bachovi	Baších
instrumental	Bachem	Bachy

Further reading

• “Bach”, in Příjmení.cz (in Czech)

Danish

Etymology

From German Bach, also as a Germanisation/Germanization of the Danish surname Bak (“hill”).

Proper noun

Bach

1. a surname of Danish-speakers
2. (music) Bach

German

Etymology

From Middle High German bach m or f, from Old High German bah, from Proto-West Germanic *baki. Cognate with Dutch beek, English beach and beck.

The Middle High German gender was chiefly masculine in Upper German, chiefly feminine in Central German. This is one of the rarer cases in which northern gender usage did not establish itself; perhaps because the masculine agrees with the semantically related Fluss and Strom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bax/, [baχ], (southern also) [b̥ɑx]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ax

Noun

Bach m (strong, genitive Baches or Bachs, plural Bäche, diminutive Bächlein n or Bächelchen n) or
(obsolete) Bach f (genitive Bach, plural Bäche)

1. brook, stream

   Der Fluss speist sich aus vielen Bächen.

   The river is fed by many brooks.

Declension

Declension of Bach [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Bach	die	Bäche
genitive	eines	des	Baches, Bachs	der	Bäche
dative	einem	dem	Bach, Bache1	den	Bächen
accusative	einen	den	Bach	die	Bäche

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

• Bachforelle
• Bachufer
• Bergbach
• den Bach runtergehen
• Sturzbach
• Wildbach

Proper noun

Bach n (proper noun, genitive Bachs or (optionally with an article) Bach)

1. any of a great number of locations, including
   1. a municipality of Tyrol, Austria

Derived terms

• Bacher

Proper noun

Bach m or f (proper noun, strong, genitive Bachs or (with an article) Bach, plural Bachs or Bach)

1. a topographic surname, notably borne by Johann Sebastian Bach (German composer)

Related terms

• Bacher, Bachmann, Bachmüller, Achenbach, Auerbach, Breitbach, Burbach, Ebersbach
• Heisterbach, Lauterbach, Lehrbach, Limbach, Merkelbach, Reichenbach, Rohrbach, Roßbach, Schönbach, Seebach

Further reading

• “Bach” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Bach, Wasserlauf” in Duden online
• “Bach, Komponist” in Duden online

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɒxː]
• Hyphenation: Bach
• Rhymes: -ɒxː

Proper noun

Bach

1. (music) Johann Sebastian Bach, a German organist and composer

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	Bach	Bachok
accusative	Bachot	Bachokat
dative	Bachnak	Bachoknak
instrumental	Bachhal	Bachokkal
causal-final	Bachért	Bachokért
translative	Bachhá	Bachokká
terminative	Bachig	Bachokig
essive-formal	Bachként	Bachokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Bachban	Bachokban
superessive	Bachon	Bachokon
adessive	Bachnál	Bachoknál
illative	Bachba	Bachokba
sublative	Bachra	Bachokra
allative	Bachhoz	Bachokhoz
elative	Bachból	Bachokból
delative	Bachról	Bachokról
ablative	Bachtól	Bachoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	Baché	Bachoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	Bachéi	Bachokéi

Possessive forms of Bach

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Bachom	Bachjaim
2nd person sing.	Bachod	Bachjaid
3rd person sing.	Bachja	Bachjai
1st person plural	Bachunk	Bachjaink
2nd person plural	Bachotok	Bachjaitok
3rd person plural	Bachjuk	Bachjaik

Derived terms

• bachi

Plautdietsch

Etymology

The plural is inherited from Middle Low German bēke, from Old Saxon beki, from Proto-West Germanic *baki (“brook”). Cognate with Dutch beek, German Bach, English beach, Swedish bäck.

The singular may be inherited from the Middle Low German variant bach if this form had /x/, it then being a borrowing from Middle High German bach. If, however, Middle Low German bach were a spelling for *bak, inherited from a hypothetical Old Saxon *bak, the Plautdietsch form must be a borrowing from Modern German Bach.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [baːχ]

Noun

Bach m (plural Bäakja)

1. stream, creek, brook

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbax/
• Rhymes: -ax
• Syllabification: Bach

Proper noun

Bach m pers

1. a male surname

Declension

Declension of Bach

	singular	plural
nominative	Bach	Bachowie
genitive	Bacha	Bachów
dative	Bachowi	Bachom
accusative	Bacha	Bachów
instrumental	Bachem	Bachami
locative	Bachu	Bachach
vocative	Bachu	Bachowie

Proper noun

Bach f (indeclinable)

1. a female surname

Further reading

• “Bach”, in Internetowy słownik nazwisk w Polsce [Internet dictionary of surnames in Poland], 2025–2030

Portuguese

Etymology

From German Bach.

Proper noun

Bach m

1. a surname from German
2. (music) Bach (German composer)