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

Walz, 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 Walz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Walz in America

Walz is the 4879th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Walz surname appeared 7,220 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Walz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Walz 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 Walz

The surname WALZ is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "walz" meaning "to wander" or "to roam". It likely originated in the 12th or 13th century as a descriptive name for someone who traveled frequently or was a wandering tradesman or merchant.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name WALZ dates back to the 14th century in the region of Württemberg, Germany. An entry in a local parish record from 1386 mentions a "Hans Walz" residing in the town of Esslingen.

The WALZ surname is also found in historical records from the neighboring regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, suggesting that it was relatively widespread in southern Germany during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.

In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the WALZ name was Bartholomew Walz, a German poet and humanist born in Strasbourg in 1527. His works, published in the 1560s, provide valuable insights into the literary culture of the era.

During the 17th century, the WALZ surname appears in various town chronicles and tax records from villages in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany, such as Triberg, Furtwangen, and Villingen.

An influential figure from the 18th century was Johann Jakob Walz (1721-1793), a German theologian and philosopher from Württemberg who wrote extensively on moral philosophy and ethics.

In the 19th century, a prominent WALZ was Karl Friedrich Walz (1800-1887), a German classical scholar and philologist known for his editions of ancient Greek texts and his work on the history of Greek literature.

Another notable figure was Ernst Walz (1864-1943), a German painter and illustrator born in Stuttgart, whose works often depicted scenes from rural life and landscapes of southern Germany.

While the WALZ surname is predominantly found in Germany, it has also spread to other parts of Europe and the Americas through emigration, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Walz

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

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

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

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