Schwarz
A German surname meaning “black,” usually first applied as a nickname for someone with dark hair, complexion, or clothing.
The #2,295 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,438 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Schwarz comes from German schwarz, meaning “black.” The older forms recorded in historical German include Middle High German swarz and Old High German swarz, all pointing to the same basic sense. As a surname, it was typically a nickname for a dark-haired or dark-complexioned person, or sometimes someone associated with black clothing.
History
The name is common in the German-speaking world and is one of a large family of color-based surnames. Historical surname writers also note related forms such as Swart and Schwarte, and similar nicknames appear across other Germanic languages. In English records, the name often shows up through immigration or as a German-language equivalent of Swart.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname scholars often grouped Schwarz with other straightforward nickname surnames like Weiss (“white”), Roth (“red”), and Klein (“small”).
From the historical record
“SCHWARTZ \ (Ger.) Black [Ger. schwarz SCHWARZ J (z as te), M.H.Ger. O.H.Ger. swarz] Eng. Swart. SCHWEITZER j (Ger.) Switzer, Swiss SCHWEIZER y [Ger. Schweizer (z as te) : see Switzer in Diet.] SELIGMAN(N (Ger.) Blessed or Happy”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)