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

Merz, 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 Merz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Merz in America

Merz is the 7684th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Merz surname appeared 4,321 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 Merz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Merz 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 Merz

The surname MERZ is believed to have originated in Germany, specifically in the southern regions near the Swiss border. It likely dates back to the 12th or 13th century. The name is thought to derive from the Middle High German word "merze," which means a boundary or border marker, suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name may have lived near a territorial boundary.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name MERZ can be found in the Hirsau Codex, a medieval manuscript dating from around 1300. This document mentions a "Heinrich Merze" from the town of Nagold in the Black Forest region of present-day Baden-Württemberg.

In the 15th century, there are records of a MERZ family residing in the town of Überlingen on the shores of Lake Constance. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Mertz" and "März," reflecting the regional dialects and spelling variations of the time.

A prominent figure bearing the name MERZ was Johann Baptist Merz (1783-1858), a German Catholic theologian and philosopher from Giessen. He was a notable figure in the Catholic Enlightenment movement and authored several works on theology and philosophy.

Another notable individual was Kurt Merz (1904-1983), a German-born American artist and sculptor who was part of the Abstract Expressionist movement. He is known for his innovative use of materials and his contributions to modernist sculpture.

In the 19th century, the name MERZ appeared in several place names, such as Merzenich, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, and Merzenhausen, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate. These place names likely derived from the surname MERZ, reflecting the influence and presence of families bearing this name in those regions.

While the name MERZ is most commonly associated with Germany, it has also been found in other parts of Europe, including Switzerland and Austria, due to migration and cultural exchanges over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Merz

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Merz, 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!