The linguist Sorin Paliga suggests that - despite many opposite hypotheses - his name may be one of the Thracian anthroponomical relics in Romanian, since the root bas-, bes- is well attested in Thracian (cf. Albanian besë ‘creed, faith’).
The first part of the name is derived from a personal name, Polh or Povh; the name therefore means 'Polh's (little) castle'.