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

Schmitz, 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 Schmitz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Schmitz in America

Schmitz is the 1496th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Schmitz surname appeared 23,931 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Schmitz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Schmitz 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 Schmitz

The surname Schmitz originated in Germany, specifically in the Rhineland region. It first appeared around the 12th century and is derived from the Old German word "smit," meaning a blacksmith or metalworker. Over time, the spelling evolved to Schmitz, Schmidtz, Schmidts, and other variations.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Schmitz can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. The name is also mentioned in the Nibelungenlied, a famous German epic poem from around 1200 AD.

In the 14th century, the name Schmitz appeared in the records of the town of Köln (Cologne), where a family of metalworkers bore this surname. This suggests that the name was closely associated with the metalworking trade in its early days.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Schmitz was Johannes Schmitz, a blacksmith from the town of Trier who lived in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Peter Schmitz, a German monk and theologian who lived from 1512 to 1579 and was influential in the Counter-Reformation.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Schmitz surname spread across Germany and into neighboring regions, such as the Netherlands and Belgium. The name was also associated with several place names, such as Schmitzhausen and Schmitzberg, which were likely derived from the surname itself.

In the 18th century, Johann Schmitz (1711-1779) was a prominent German philosopher and educator who wrote extensively on ethics and moral philosophy. Another notable figure was Johann Jakob Schmitz (1742-1826), a German historian and author who wrote about the history of the Rhineland region.

As the Schmitz family spread across Europe and beyond, the name became associated with various professions and achievements. For example, Eduard Schmitz (1837-1898) was a German-American philologist and educator who taught at various universities in the United States.

Overall, the surname Schmitz has a rich history that can be traced back to medieval Germany, where it was closely associated with the metalworking trade. Over the centuries, the name has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including philosophers, historians, educators, and more.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Schmitz

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

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

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