The Name of the Day...

...belongs to Michael Tree, a violist who died at age 84.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Tree" isn't so unusual for a last name. But consider this from his obit in the Times:

Mr. Tree was born Michael Applebaum on Feb. 19, 1934, in Newark. His wife said he adopted the last name Tree at the suggestion of Efrem Zimbalist, his principal teacher at Curtis.

And that's it. Why "Tree"? It doesn't say. How about his Wikipedia entry?

Zimbalist insisted that Tree change his name from Applebaum to advance his career.

How would changing his name to "Tree" advance his career? It doesn't say.

Of all the names in the world, why did he change his to "Tree"? Why not Smith or Jones? Well, for one thing, "Baum" means "tree" in German. Is that why he changed it, to Anglicize it? I still don't get why that would "advance his career."