Mentzer
A German surname meaning “someone from Mainz” or, in some cases, a regional form related to Menz.
The #9,531 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 90,541 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as a German form meaning “from Mainz,” the old city name appearing in dialectal forms such as Mentz. In that sense, Mentzer would originally have identified a person from Mainz or from the surrounding Mainz region. Some older scholarship also notes a possible link with shorter forms like Menz, so a few bearers may reflect a related place-name or regional variant rather than the full Mainz form.
History
The name is documented in older German surname scholarship as a variant connected with Mainz, and the writer Fischart is mentioned as having used the form Mentzer for himself. In English-speaking countries, Mentzer appears largely through German immigration and later surname preservation. The spelling with -er is consistent with German locational surnames that mean an inhabitant or native of a place.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older German sources explicitly gloss Mentzer as “Mainzer,” i.e. a person from Mainz.
From the historical record
“Mens- s. 1) Magan (einst K.) 2) Mand. Mentzer III. „Mainzer'', Mainz alt ^Mentz^ vgl. Fischart, der sich „Mentzer* nannte. Aber auch 0. Menz in Sachsen. Menz- 8. 1) Magan (einst. K.) 2) Mand.”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen