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

Kunze, 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 Kunze surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kunze in America

Kunze is the 9686th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kunze surname appeared 3,351 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Kunze.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kunze 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 Kunze

The surname Kunze originated in Germany, likely in the 13th or 14th century. It is derived from the medieval German personal name Kuonrat or Konrad, which means "bold counsel" or "brave advisor." The name Kunze is a diminutive form of this name, indicating a nickname or shortened version.

Kunze was initially found in various regions of Germany, particularly in the areas of Saxony, Silesia, and Brandenburg. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the late Middle Ages, appearing in historical documents and records from these regions.

One notable early reference to the name Kunze is in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from the Margraviate of Brandenburg, where the name is mentioned in the 14th century.

In the 15th century, a man named Hans Kunze was recorded as a citizen of Leipzig, a city in the German state of Saxony. Another historical figure with this surname was Johann Kunze, a Protestant theologian and university lecturer who lived in the 16th century (1518-1600).

During the 17th century, a prominent individual with the surname Kunze was Johann Gottlob Kunze (1688-1770), a German jurist and legal scholar from Saxony. He held influential positions in the judiciary and authored several works on legal theory and practice.

In the 18th century, the name Kunze was associated with Johann Christoph Kunze (1744-1807), a German botanist and naturalist from Saxony. He made significant contributions to the study of plants and their classification.

Another notable Kunze from the 19th century was Gustav Kunze (1793-1851), a German painter and lithographer known for his landscape and architectural works. He was born in Saxony and spent much of his career in Dresden.

As the surname Kunze evolved over time, various spelling variations emerged, such as Kunz, Kuntz, and Kunzmann, which may have been influenced by regional dialects or scribal errors in historical records.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kunze

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

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

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

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