Explore the Family Name Basa

The meaning of Basa

1. Catalan: variant of Bassa, a topographic name from bassa ‘pool, pond’. 2. Basque: topographic name for someone who lived by a wood, a derivative of baso ‘wood, forest’. 3. Hungarian: from the old personal name Basa, or from Bazsa, a pet form of Bazsil, from Greek Basileios (see Basil). In some cases the Hungarian surname could be a derivative of basa ‘pasha’ (see Pasha), probably as a nickname for a self-important person or someone who had dealings with the Turkish authorities or occupying forces. 4. Polish: metonymic occupational name for a musician, from basa, dialect form of bas ‘bass viol, violoncello’. 5. Slovenian and Croatian (Baša): from an old short form of the personal name Sebast(i)jan (see Sebastian). The Slovenian surname may be in part also of different Croatian origin (see below). 6. Croatian and Serbian (Baša): status name or honorific title from baša ‘senior, chief, distinguished person’, a loanword from Turkish baş (see Bas 7, and compare Turkish name in 8 below). 7. Croatian: nickname or metonymic occupational name from basa ‘kind of sheep’s milk cheese’. 8. Turkish (Başa): ornamental or status name from başa, a regional variant of baş ‘head’, also ‘chief’ (see Bas 7), denoting someone who is senior, e.g. ‘senior colleague’ (compare Croatian and Serbian name in 6 above). 9. Filipino: from basa ‘to read’, a loanword in various languages of the Philippines from Malay baca which originates from Sanskrit vac ‘to speak’; probably a nickname for a learned person. 10. Indian (Himachal Pradesh and other parts of northern India): ethnic name from the name of a scheduled tribe claiming descent from Asa and Basa, two mythological brothers. Some characteristic forenames: Spanish Jose, Rogelio, Amelita, Arturo, Elena, Elpidio, Juanito, Nenita, Adoracion, Angelina, Basilio, Bernabe.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.