Krantz
A German surname that can mean either “garland/wreath” or point to a place-name origin.
The #5,408 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,972 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In German, Krantz is a spelling related to Kranz, meaning a wreath, garland, or crown. Some historical writers also treated it as a place-based surname, pointing to a locality in the Duchy of Bremen as a possible source for some families. The name therefore may have started either as a descriptive nickname or as a habitational surname, depending on the family line.
History
19th- and early-20th-century surname writers often connected Krantz with German Kranz and with nicknames or sign names referring to a garland. Other references also note a local origin from a place called Krantz, showing that the surname has more than one possible pathway. In English-speaking countries, it appears as an immigrant German surname and remains relatively uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some surname writers linked Krantz to the same image behind the English surname Garland.
From the historical record
“CROUNSE. Dutch, Jcruin, the top or crown ; -krans, a wreath or garland ; Krantz, local, a town in the Duchy of Bremen from which the family may have come. CROWELL. Local. From a town in England by that name. CUDNEY. (Br.) From Cud or Coit, a wood, and ey, water”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names