Asher is an English and Germanic occupational surname for an ash maker, derived from the Midd English surname "Aschere" or from German " Äscher"(Ashman).[1] It could also be a form of the Old English surname "Æsċer"(Æsċe +ere), meaning someone who lived by an ash tree or ash grove, suffix denoting an inhabitant. It is also a common Jewish and Christian first name, as well as a Jewish surname, and is the name of Asher the son of Israel in the Hebrew Bible[2][3][4]—therefore unrelated to the Old English or Germanic occupational root. Jacob said that the land of Asher would have rich food and delicacies fit for kings. Moses also gave a blessing to each of the twelve tribes. Moses' blessing said that Asher would be blessed with sons, pleasing to his brothers, and have his foot immersed in oil.
People with the surname
- Alec Asher (born 1991), baseball player
- Alexander Asher (1835–1905), Scottish politician
- Allan Asher (born 1951), Australian public affairs official and activist
- Barry Asher (born 1946), American bowler
- Bud Asher (1925–2013), American politician, football coach and lawyer
- Gerald Asher (born 1932), wine writer, ex-wine merchant
- Hank Asher (c. 1951–2013), businessman
- Helen Asher (1927–c. 2004), German-born Australian novelist and short story writer
- Herb Asher (born 1944), university professor
- Iraena Asher (1979–disappeared 2004), New Zealand trainee teacher and model, disappeared
- Irving Asher (1903–1985), motion picture producer
- Jack Asher (1916–1991), British cinematographer
- Jana Asher, American statistician and human rights activist
- Jane Asher (1946), English actress and novelist
- Jane Asher (swimmer) (1931), British swimmer
- Japhet Asher (1961), English filmmaker
- Jeremy Asher (1958), English businessman
- John Mallory Asher (1971), American actor and director
- Joseph Mayor Asher (1872–1909), English-American rabbi and professor
- Lee Asher (1976), magician
- Levi Asher, New York, U.S.-based writer and web designer
- Max Asher, drummer of the band Warrant
- Maxine Asher (1930–2015), researcher and businesswoman
- Michael Asher (artist) (1943–2012), an American conceptual artist
- Michael Asher (explorer) (1953), a British explorer and author
- Neal Asher (1961), English science fiction writer
- Peter Asher (1944), artist and record producer
- Richard Asher (1912–1969), British endocrinologist and hematologist
- Robert Asher (director) (1915–1979), a British film and television director
- Roderick Asher (1931–1997), American geologist
- Tommy Asher (1936–2017), English footballer
- Tony Asher (1939), American lyricist
- William Asher (1921–2012), American producer, director and writer
- Zev Asher (1963–2013), Canadian musician and film director
People with the given name
- Asher, character in the Hebrew Bible
- Asher Angel (2002), American child actor
- Asher Allen (1988), University of Georgia cornerback
- Ralph Asher Alpher (1921–2007), American cosmologist
- Asher Asher (1837–1889), Scottish physician
- Asher ben Jehiel (1250 or 1259–1328), rabbi and Talmudist
- Asher Benjamin (1773–1845), American architect
- Asher Blinkoff (2008), American child actor
- Asher Book (1988), American actor
- Asher Brown Durand (1796–1886), American painter
- Asher Cohen, psychologist and President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Asher D (disambiguation)
- Asher Goodson (2014), video game designer
- Asher Hirsch Ginsberg (1856–1927), pseudonym Ahad Ha'am, essayist
- Asher Hong (2004), American artistic gymnast
- Asher Hucklesby (1844–1908), mayor of Luton, Bedfordshire, UK and hat manufacturer
- Asher Karni (1954), businessman known for involvement of Pakistani and Israeli nuclear programs
- Asher Keddie (1974), Australian actress
- Asher Lämmlein (c. 1500), German who proclaimed himself a forerunner of the Jewish Messiah in 1502
- Simon A. (Asher) Levin (1941), American ecologist
- Asher Levy (d. 1682), butcher who left Recife, Brazil for New Amsterdam, U.S. in 1654
- Arthur (Asher) Miller (1915–2005), American playwright and essayist
- Judd Asher Nelson (1959), American actor
- Asher Peres (1934–2005), Israeli physicist
- Asher Robbins (1757–1845), United States Senator
- Asher Roth, American rapper, (1985)
- Neil Asher Silberman (1950), American archaeologist and historian
- Asher Tishler (born 1947), Israeli economist; president of the College of Management Academic Studies
- Shallum Asher Xavier (1978), guitarist of the band Fuzön
Fictional characters named Asher
- Asher, one of Jonas' best friends in The Giver
- Asher Lev, the main character in the 1972 novel by Chaim Potok, My Name is Asher Lev.
- Asher Siegel, one of the protagonists in the 2023 television show The Curse
See also
- Ascher, an alternative spelling of Asher
- Asha (disambiguation)
- Ben Asher (surname)