Thies
A German surname that usually comes from a short form of Matthias or Thies, meaning it began as a personal name rather than a place name.
The #7,807 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 72,817 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Thies is generally explained as a German short form of Matthias, ultimately from the Hebrew name Mattityahu, meaning "gift of God." In older German dialects, full biblical names were often shortened into familiar nickname forms that later became hereditary surnames. Some 19th-century sources also show related spellings such as Theis and Thiess.
History
The name is especially found in German-speaking regions, and older surname dictionaries treat it as one of several dialect forms built from Matthias. Related forms spread into neighboring languages and regions, so spellings vary a good deal in historical records. In some cases it may have been influenced by local pronunciation rather than a single fixed spelling.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A few historical surname dictionaries group Thies with a whole family of Matthias nicknames, showing how one given name could generate many different surnames.
From the historical record
“Two or three similar names may here be disposed of. Sm.ithett looks like a neat diminutive; but Smyth)/ and Smi/thies have decidedly the smcJl of the blacksniith'.s shop. Smecth, on the other hand, is a local surname from a parish in Kent.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom