Last name origin & meaning: Jewish; also Welsh and English: from the Biblical name borne by the
Israelite leader who led the Israelites out of Egypt, as related in
the Book of Exodus. The Hebrew form of the name, Moshe, is
probably of Egyptian origin, from a short form of any of various
ancient Egyptian personal names, such as Rameses and
Tutmosis, meaning ‘conceived by (a certain god)’. However, very
early in its history it acquired a folk etymology, being taken as a
derivative of the Hebrew root verb mšh ‘draw (something from
the water)’, and was associated with a story of the infant Moses being
discovered among the bullrushes by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:
1–10). This name appears in the following lists:
Biblical Names,
Lakes and Rivers,
Artists
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