Hass
A surname that usually points back to the German regional name for a person from Hesse.
The #5,101 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 44,987 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is most commonly treated as a short form of a German regional name meaning “Hessian,” that is, someone from Hesse. The historical sources also connect it with older Germanic personal names such as Hasso and Hessi, which likely developed from the same regional designation. In some cases, Hass may simply be a reduced or altered form of these older names rather than a direct place-name label.
History
The name appears in medieval and later German forms such as Hasso, Hessi, Hass, and Hess, and it spread into English and French surname forms as well. Because the same-looking surname can arise from related but slightly different forms, not every family named Hass necessarily shares one single origin. In English-speaking countries it is often found alongside variants like Hesse, Hess, and Hessey.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century writers treated Hass as a clipped form of a much older Germanic name, not just a simple modern surname.
From the historical record
“hat, ähnlich den Hasen, die, wie man sagt, mit offenen Augen schlafen. HASS I. zum Volksnamen der „Hessen'^ FN. (Hassomar): Hessemer. Einstämmige Kürzung Hass-. Hasso (noch Vorname), Hesse: Hasse; Hafs — Hesse. Gen. Hessen. Patr. A. Hessifig. Vklf. (1): Hassel — Hessel. Gen. Hesseis. Patr. A. Hefsling, (1 + n)…”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen