SCHOLZ

Scholz is a surname of German origin. It is derived from the Middle High German word schulze or schultheize, which denotes a village headman or mayor in medieval times. The term originally referred to a collector of dues and taxes on behalf of the lord of the manor, but by the thirteenth century it had the more specific meaning of head man, alderman or reeve of a village.

In the Middle Ages the name was recorded in a wide variety of spellings across German‑speaking and neighbouring regions. Early authentic entries include Godescalus Sculte, a burger of Hamburg in 1249; Cuonradus Scultus of Zurich, Switzerland, in 1258; Nicolas Schultetus, the Burgermeister of Chemnitz in 1357; and Klaus Schultz of the Ratsherren near Stolp in 1476. These entries show the name was used in both Saxon and Swiss contexts and that it was associated with official positions within local governance.

Scholz is an occupational surname, originally applied to those who held a public office in a village or small town. It may also have a toponymic sense in cases where the bearer was associated with a particular place named Schultz or a related form. The name has therefore been classed as both occupational and topographical in the literature.

The surname appears in more than forty spellings, some of which are: Schult, Schulter, Schulz, Schultz, Schultze, Schulthe, Schulthiss, Scholtis, Schulte, Schout, Soltys, Sule, Sole, Scholzel, Schuling, Schouteden, Szulczewski, Scholze, Scholtz, Scholtes, Scholttes, Scholtens, Schulze, and Soltz. These variants are found in Switzerland, Germany, Flanders, Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech and Slovak republics, and elsewhere in Europe.

Today Scholz is one of the top 100 surnames in Germany and is widely distributed across Western and Northern Europe. It is also common in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Romania, and the former states of the Yugoslav federation. Outside of Europe the name has spread through emigration. In the United States it is most frequent in states with large German‑American communities such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and Pennsylvania, where there are now more than 11 000 families with the name. The surname is also found in Brazil, Australia – particularly in New South Wales and Queensland – and in other parts of the Americas and Oceania as a direct result of German migration during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Over the centuries the surname has been passed down through generations and no longer indicates an occupational role. Nevertheless, its historical significance as a marker of local authority and its broad geographical spread illustrate the mobility and endurance of German family names.

Typical given names associated with the Scholz surname

Male

• Alexander
• Andrew
• Anthony
• Bernd
• Daniel
• David
• Gary
• Klaus
• Michael
• Patrick
• Paul
• Peter
• Ryan
• Wolfgang

Female

• Anna
• Claire
• Claudia
• Cornelia
• Johanna
• Karen
• Kathryn
• Katja
• Laura
• Louise
• Sabine
• Sigrid
• Ulrike

Similar and related surnames

Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.

How to communicate the surname Scholz in...

Braille

⠎⠉⠓⠕⠇⠵

Morse

...-.-.....---.-..--..

Semaphore

Region of origin: Europe

Country of origin: Germany

Language of origin: German

Your comments on the Scholz surname