Family name origins & meanings
- German : partly standardized form of North German Pottböhm(er). The first part was misinterpreted as ‘pot’ (see Pott 4): In fact, it derives from dialect pōt ‘puddle’ + Middle Low German bōm ‘tree’ (standard German Baum) and was probably a distinguishing name or a topographic name for someone who grew trees on a low-lying plot of land, from Middle Low German bōm (standard German Baum) ‘tree’.