Origin of the name Basmath

The Jewish surname Basmath (Bachmat), in contrast to the similarly sounding name of Turkic origin, according to a conjecture, originates from a female name Basmath (aroma). This is the name of the daughter of King Solomon who was the wife of Ahimaatz (see I Kings, 4, 15).

One of the first mentionings of the Jewish name Basmath in available sources refers to Emma Basmath who was born in England in 1844 (England, Worcestershire). Her parents came to the Great Britain out of the Russian empire in the beginning of the 19th century. In the middle of the 19th century the Jewish name Basmath is encountered most often in Poland and Galicia. In the beginning of the 20th century many members of the Basmath family emmigrated to the USA. So, for example, Hanna Basmath with her daughter Miriam came to the US in 1911 from the shtetl Lanovetz (Poland) to unite with her husband who left to the US before to earn money. Besides there is information on the branch of this family who resided in the Eretz Israel in the end of the 19 century. (Mendel Leib Basmath was born in 1886 and lived in Jaffa.)