English: occupational name for a fisherman, Middle English
fischer. The name has also been used in Ireland as a loose
equivalent of Braden. As an American family name, this has
absorbed cognates and names of similar meaning from many other
European languages, including German Fischer, Dutch
Visser, Hungarian Halász, Italian Pescatore,
Polish Rybarz, etc.
In a few cases, the English name may in
fact be a topographic name for someone who lived near a fish weir on a
river, from the Old English term fisc-gear ‘fish weir’.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a fisherman, Yiddish
fisher, German Fischer.
Irish: translation of
Gaelic Ó Bradáin ‘descendant of Bradán’, a
personal name meaning ‘salmon’. See Braden.
Mistranslation
of French Poissant, meaning ‘powerful’, but understood as
poisson ‘fish’ (see Poisson), and assimilated to the
more frequent English name.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
Member Connections
Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the fisher last name.