ehrlich

Ehrlich is a German adjective meaning honest, sincere, or fair. It derives from Ehre, meaning honor, and has given rise to a surname used by many German-speaking and Ashkenazi families. In everyday German, phrases such as ehrlich gesagt illustrate its usage.

As a surname, Ehrlich is found throughout German-speaking areas. One of its most prominent bearers is Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), a German physician and scientist who laid foundational work in immunology and chemotherapy. Ehrlich helped develop Salvarsan (arsphenamine), the first effective drug therapy for syphilis, and shared the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Ilya Mechnikov.

In biology, the genus Ehrlichia is named in his honor; it comprises tick-borne bacteria that can infect humans and animals. The surname continues to be carried by contemporary researchers, artists, and public figures.