Sachs

Sachs is a German surname, meaning "man from Saxony" or "man from Saxon extract". The Saxons (Old English: Seaxan) derived their name from seax, a kind of knife for which they were known. The seax has a lasting symbolic impact in the English counties of Essex and Middlesex, both of which feature three seaxes in their ceremonial emblem. Their names, along with those of Sussex and Wessex, contain a remnant of the word "Saxon" (Old English: Seaxa). Sachs is also a common surname among Ashkenazi Jews, including many of whom resided outside of both Saxony and German lands in general. It is possible that the surname was chosen due to its similarity to the acronym for Zera Kadesh Shemo (ZaKS), a Hebrew phrase honoring the memory of martyrs.

Notable people with the surname Sachs include:

• Albie Sachs (born 1935), South African Constitutional Court Justice
• Andrew Sachs (1930–2016), German-British actor
• Bernard Sachs (1858–1944), American neurologist
• Curt Sachs (also Kurth Sachs, 1881–1959), German music historian
• Ed Sachs (1918–1996), American professional basketball player
• Eddie Sachs (1927–1964), American racecar driver
• Edwin Sachs (1870–1919), British architect
• Ernest Sachs (1879–1958), American neurosurgeon
• Ernest Sachs, Jr. (1916–2001), American neurosurgeon
• Gunter Sachs (1932–2011), German photographer, researcher (mathematics and astrology), and playboy
• George Sachs (1896–1961), Russia-born German and US metallurgist
• Hans Sachs (disambiguation)
  • Hans Sachs (1494–1576), German poet
  • Hans Sachs (serologist) (1877–1945), German serologist
• Harvey Sachs (born 1946), American-Canadian conductor and writer
• Heinrich Sachs (1863–1928), German neuroanatomist
• Hilda Sachs (1857–1935), Swedish journalist and women's rights activist
• Horst Sachs, German mathematician, expert in graph theory
• Hugh Sachs, British actor in the TV series Benidorm
• Ignacy Sachs (born 1927), Polish, naturalized French economist and ecosocioeconomist
• James D. Sachs, retired U.S. Air Force veteran, game artist, and game programmer
• Jeffrey Sachs (born 1954), American economist
• Johann Sachs (born 1843), German composer
• Jonathan Sachs (born 1947), American computer programmer
• Julius von Sachs (1832–1897), German botanist
• Lenny Sachs (1897–1942), American football player and basketball coach
• Lessie Sachs (1897–1942), German-born poet and artist
• Leonard Sachs (1909–1990), British actor
• Prof Marcus Sachs (1812-1869) Professor of Hebrew in Aberdeen
• Margaret Michaelis-Sachs (1902–1985), art photographer
• Margaret Sachs, an American lawyer and the Robert Cotten Alston Professor at University of Georgia
• Maria Sachs, American politician
• Mary Sachs (1882–1973), American playwright and poet.
• Maurice Sachs (1906–1945), French author
• Mavro Sachs (1817–1888), Croatian physician
• Mendel Sachs (born 1927), American physicist
• Michael Sachs (born 1808), German rabbi
• Milan Sachs (1884–1968), Czech-Croatian opera conductor and composer
• Moses Sachs (1800–1870), German Meshulach
• Nelly Sachs (1891–1970), German poet
• Paul J. Sachs (1878–1965), American museum director
• Philip Sachs (1902–1973), American professional basketball coach
• Rainer K. Sachs (born 1932), German-born American scientist known for his work in astrophysics and biophysics
• Robin Sachs (1951–2013), British actor
• Stephen Sachs (born 1959), American stage director and playwright
• Stephen H. Sachs (1934–2022), American politician and Attorney General of Maryland
• Wolfgang Sachs, German researcher and author of books

Fictional characters:

• Andrea Sachs, created by Lauren Weisberger
• Daniel Sachs, from an online graphic novel Demonology 101
• Amelia Sachs, an NYPD police officer in the Lincoln Rhyme series of crime/mystery novels by Jeffery Deaver.
• Benjamin Sachs, protagonist in the novel Leviathan (Auster novel) by Paul Auster