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

Jentz, 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 Jentz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jentz in America

Jentz is the 45569th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jentz surname appeared 469 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Jentz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jentz 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 Jentz

The surname Jentz originated in Germany, with its earliest known records dating back to the late 15th century. It is believed to have derived from the Germanic personal name Johannes, which itself comes from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious."

One of the earliest known bearers of the Jentz surname was Hans Jentz, a farmer who lived in the village of Oberndorf, near Nuremberg, in the late 1400s. Records from this time show variations in the spelling, including Jentz, Jentzsch, and Jentsch.

The Jentz name can also be traced to the town of Jenzat in the Franconian region of Bavaria, where it may have originated as a locational surname for someone who hailed from that area. Jenzat itself is thought to derive from the Old High German word "ginisa," meaning "healing" or "recovery."

In the 16th century, the Jentz surname appeared in various church records and tax rolls across German-speaking regions, indicating its gradual spread beyond its original locales. Notable early bearers include Matthias Jentz, a blacksmith from Bamberg who was born in 1537, and Johann Jentz, a merchant from Augsburg who lived from 1562 to 1621.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, several Jentz families emigrated from Germany to other parts of Europe and beyond. For instance, Jacob Jentz, born in Hesse in 1673, was among the early German settlers in Pennsylvania, arriving in 1738.

Other prominent individuals with the Jentz surname throughout history include:

1. Christian Jentz (1799-1867), a German painter and lithographer known for his landscapes and architectural studies.
2. August Jentz (1856-1925), a German-American businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1904 to 1908.
3. Eilert Jentz (1884-1962), a Norwegian sailor and Antarctic explorer who participated in several expeditions to the South Pole regions in the early 20th century.
4. Gabriele Jentz (born 1944), a German actress and voice artist, best known for her work in dubbing foreign films and television shows into German.
5. Hans-Georg Jentz (born 1956), a German chess player and International Master who has represented Germany in several Chess Olympiads.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jentz

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

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 Jentz 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 Jentz 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 Jentz was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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