'''Baruch''' ({{Hebrew Name|בָּרוּךְ|Barūḵ|Bārūḵ|"Blessed"}}, [[Polish language|Polish]]: [[Berek (disambiguation)|Berek]]) is a masculine name among [[Jew]]s used from [[Biblical times]] to the present, which is sometimes used as surname.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hanks |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vG7MZ9J6dAgC |title=Dictionary of American Family Names: 3-Volume Set |date=2003-05-08 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-508137-4 |pages=110 |language=en}}</ref> It is also found, though more rarely, among Christians—particularly among [[Protestant]]s who use [[Old Testament]] names.
Except for its use as a name, this is also related to ''[[berakhah]]'' or ''bracha'' (Hebrew: '''ברכה'''; plural ברכות, ''berakhot''), which is a Jewish [[blessing]]. See also: ''[[Barakah |Baraka]]'' and ''[[Barakah]]''.
The root [[B-R-K]] meaning "blessing" is also present in other [[Semitic languages]]. The most common [[Arabic language|Arabic]] form is the passive form [[Mubarak (name)|Mubarak]], but the form [[Barak (name)|Barak]] ([[Barack (name) |Barack]]) is also used. In Polish it is [[Berek (disambiguation)|Berek]].
[[Benedictus (given name) |Benedictus]] is a [[Latin]] name with similar meaning; cf. [[Baruch Spinoza]] or Benedictus de Spinoza.
==People with the given name Baruch== ===Bible=== * [[Baruch ben Neriah]], aide to the prophet [[Jeremiah]] * Baruch, son of Zabbai; one of [[Nehemiah]]'s helpers in repairing the walls of Jerusalem * Baruch, son of Col-Hozeh; a member of the [[Tribe of Judah]] who settled in Jerusalem
===Later times=== * [[Baruch Agadati]] (1895–1976), Israeli painter, dancer, and film director * [[Baruch Ben Haim]] (1921–2005), assistant chief rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York * [[Baruch Blumberg]] (1925–2011), American Nobel Prize-winning physician, developed Hepatitis B vaccine * [[Baruch Feinberg]] (1933–2007), Israeli Olympic javelin thrower * Baruch Ben Horowitz (born 1956), American-Israeli Attorney and Philanthropist * [[Baruch Goldstein]] (1956–1994), American-Israeli settler physician who murdered 29 Muslim worshipers in 1994 * [[Baruch Kurzweil]] (1907–1972), Israeli literary critic * [[Baruch Levine]] (born 1977), American Orthodox Jewish singer-composer * [[Baruch Ostrovsky]] (1890–1960), first mayor of Ra'anana, Israel * [[Baruch Shemtov]] (born 1987), American journalist, television host, fashion designer, and entrepreneur * [[Baruch Shmailov]] (born 1994), Israeli Olympic judoka * [[Baruch Spinoza]] (1632–1677), Dutch rationalist philosopher * [[Baruch Schleisinger Weil]] (1802–1893) American businessman and politician * [[Baruch Steinberg]] (1897–1940), chief Rabbi of the Polish Army, victim of the Katyn massacre * [[Baruch Tenembaum]] (1933–2025), Argentine interfaith activist * [[Baruch Zuckerman]] (1887–1970), American-Israeli and leading proponent of [[Yad Vashem]]
===Fictional characters=== * The Baruch of [[Baghdad]], the king of the [[Saracen]]s in [[Wolfram von Eschenbach]]'s ''[[Parzival]]'' * [[Baruch (His Dark Materials)|Baruch]], a fictional [[angel]] in the ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' series * The real name of Billy Joe Cobra, of the television show [[Dude, That's My Ghost]]
== See also == * [[Katarina Barruk]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{given name}} {{Blessed-name}}
[[Category:Given names]]