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

Lanz, 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 Lanz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lanz in America

Lanz is the 13344th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lanz surname appeared 2,285 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 Lanz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lanz 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 Lanz

The surname Lanz has its origins in Germany, where it first appeared in the early 13th century. The name is derived from the Old German word "lanz", meaning "lance" or "spear", suggesting that the original bearer may have been a skilled spearman or soldier.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lanz can be found in the "Codex Diplomaticus Anhaltinus", a collection of historical documents from the Anhalt region of Germany, dating back to 1230. This document mentions a certain "Henricus Lanz" as a landowner in the area.

In the late 13th century, the name Lanz was also found in the "Urkundenbuch der Stadt Lübeck", a collection of charters and records from the city of Lübeck in northern Germany. This suggests that the name had spread to other parts of the country by that time.

The first known person of note bearing the surname Lanz was Johann Lanz, a German theologian and reformer who lived from 1492 to 1564. He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and served as a preacher in several German cities.

Another notable Lanz was Johann Lanz von Liebenfels, an Austrian-German occultist and racial theorist who lived from 1874 to 1954. He was a controversial figure known for his promotion of racist and anti-Semitic ideologies.

In the 19th century, the Lanz family became well-known in the agricultural machinery industry. John Lanz (1836-1921) founded the Lanz company in Mannheim, Germany, which produced steam-powered tractors and engines. His son, Heinrich Lanz (1873-1938), later took over the company and continued its success.

Another notable figure with the surname Lanz was Max Lanz (1896-1982), a German actor and film director who appeared in numerous silent films and early talkies during the 1920s and 1930s.

The Lanz surname has also been found in Switzerland, where it may have originated from a similar root word or been adopted by Germans who settled in the country. One example is the Swiss artist and architect Jakob Lanz (1788-1857), who was known for his work on the Münster Cathedral in Bern.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lanz

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

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

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

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