Nussbaum is a surname of German origin. Variant spellings include Nußbaum and Nusbaum. The word means “one who dwells near trees”, likely referring to hazelnut trees or walnut trees. People surnamed Nussbaum A. Edward Nussbaum (1925–2009), theoretical mathematician Adam Nussbaum (born 1955), American jazz drummer Alan Nussbaum (born 1947), American linguist Albert Frederick Nussbaum (1934–1996), bank robber and novelist Alex Nussbaum, comedian, actor and writer Arthur Nussbaum (1877–1964), German legal scholar Barry D. Nussbaum, American statistician Bernard Nussbaum (1937–2022), former White House Counsel under Bill Clinton Emily Nussbaum, American television critic Eugenie Nussbaum (1872–1940), Galician-Austrian philanthropist, writer and pedagogue developing and supporting Austrian girl education Felicity Nussbaum, American professor of English Felix Nussbaum (1904–1944), a Jewish German painter Hedda Nussbaum, American masochist and child abuser, author of a memoir, Surviving Intimate Terrorism Howard Nusbaum (born 1954), American psychologist Joe Nussbaum, American film director Johann Nepomuk von Nussbaum (1829–1890), German surgeon Lowell Nussbaum (1901–1987), journalist Martha Nussbaum (born 1947), American philosopher Mike Nussbaum (born 1923), American actor and director Myer Nussbaum (1855–1952), New York lawyer and politician Paul Joseph Nussbaum (1870–1935), American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church Roger Nussbaum, American mathematician Ronald Archie Nussbaum, American herpetologist Theo Nussbaum (1885–1956), German architect Tsvi C. Nussbaum (born 1935), Holocaust survivor See also Nußbaum, a village in the Bad Kreuznach district in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Nusbaum is a municipality in the district Bitburg-Prüm in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany German-language surnames Jewish surnames