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

Wertz, 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 Wertz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wertz in America

Wertz is the 4331st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wertz surname appeared 8,198 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Wertz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wertz 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 Wertz

The surname Wertz originates from Germany and is believed to have derived from the Middle High German word "werz," which means "root" or "bulb." This suggests that the name may have initially been an occupational surname given to someone who worked with roots or bulbs, such as a gardener or farmer.

Wertz is a variation of the German surname Wurtz, which has similar origins. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 16th century in various regions of Germany, including Bavaria and Saxony.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Wertz was Johannes Wertz, a German farmer who lived in the village of Mühlhausen in the late 16th century. Records from the 1580s mention his name in connection with land disputes in the area.

In the 17th century, the Wertz surname appeared in various church records and municipal documents throughout Germany. For instance, Christoph Wertz, a blacksmith from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, was mentioned in a tax record from 1632.

As German immigrants began to arrive in North America in the 18th and 19th centuries, the surname Wertz was carried over to the New World. One notable individual was Johann Michael Wertz, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century and became a successful farmer and landowner.

Another notable figure with the surname Wertz was Carl Wertz, a German-American artist born in 1900 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He gained recognition for his illustrations in magazines and books, including works by authors such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

In the 20th century, George Wertz, an American baseball player, played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the New York Giants in the 1920s and 1930s. He was known for his defensive skills as an outfielder and his powerful throwing arm.

While the surname Wertz is more commonly found in Germany and the United States, it has also been carried to other parts of the world through immigration and migration. For example, Hans Wertz, a German-born artist and sculptor, lived and worked in Australia in the late 20th century, gaining recognition for his public art installations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wertz

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

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

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

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