Find out how popular the last name Foltz is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Foltz.

Foltz, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Foltz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Foltz in America

Foltz is the 4075th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Foltz surname appeared 8,714 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Foltz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Foltz to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Foltz

The surname Foltz has its origins in Germany, where it first appeared in the 12th century. It is believed to derive from the German word "Volk," meaning "people" or "folk." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who was considered a leader or representative of a particular group or community.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the region of Saxony, where a certain Henricus Foltz is mentioned in a charter from the year 1185. This indicates that the name was already well-established in that part of Germany by the late 12th century.

In the 13th century, the name appears in various forms in different regions of Germany, such as Voltz, Voltze, and Foltze. These variations likely arose due to regional differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions at the time.

The surname Foltz is also found in some of the earliest German-language records from the city of Nuremberg, which was a major center of trade and commerce during the Middle Ages. In a document from 1349, a certain Hans Foltz is listed as a merchant operating in the city.

As the centuries passed, the name continued to spread throughout Germany and beyond. In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name was Martin Foltz, a Protestant theologian and reformer who lived from 1515 to 1588. He was a prominent figure in the early years of the Reformation and authored several works on theological subjects.

Another individual of note was Johann Foltz, a German composer and organist who lived from 1673 to 1741. He is best known for his contributions to the development of the organ chorale, a musical form that became popular in the Baroque era.

In the 19th century, the name Foltz gained further recognition through the work of Karl Foltz, a German writer and journalist who lived from 1818 to 1877. He was a vocal advocate for democratic reforms and played an active role in the revolutionary movements of 1848.

Finally, one of the most recent notable figures with the surname Foltz was Hans Foltz, a German-American architect who lived from 1892 to 1977. He was responsible for designing numerous notable buildings in the United States, including the original campus of the University of Miami and several structures in New York City.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Foltz

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Foltz.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Foltz was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Foltz has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Foltz was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Foltz, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!