Katz (surname)

Katz is a common German surname. It is also one of the oldest Ashkenazi Jewish surnames.

Germans with the last name Katz may originate in the Rhine River region of Germany, where the Katz Castle is located. (The name of the castle does not derive from Katze, cat, but from Katzenelnbogen, going back to Latin Cattimelibocus, consisting of the ancient Germanic tribal names of the Chatti and Melibokus.)

As a Jewish surname, Katz is an abbreviation formed from the Hebrew initials of the term Kohen Tzedeq (Hebrew: כּ״ץ‎), meaning "priest of justice"/"authentic priest" or Kohen Tzadok meaning the name-bearer is of patrilineal descent of the Kohanim sons of Zadok. It has been used since the seventeenth century, or perhaps somewhat earlier, as an epithet of the descendants of Aaron. The collocation is most likely derived from Melchizedek ("king of righteousness"), who is called the priest ("kohen") of the most high God (Genesis xiv. 18), or perhaps from Psalm cxxxii. 9: Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness ("tzedeq"). The use of the abbreviated and Germanicized "Katz" likely coincided with the imposition of German names on Jews in Germany in the 18th or 19th centuries.

If the reading is correct, this abbreviation occurs on a tombstone, dated 1536, in the cemetery of Prague (Hock, Die Familien Prag's, p. 175); it is found also on a tombstone of the year 1618 in Frankfurt (M. Horowitz (Moses Horowitz?), Die Inschriften des Alten Friedhofes der Israelitischen Gemeinde zu Frankfurt-am-Main 1901, p. 63), in the books of the Soncino family of Prague of the seventeenth century (Zunz, Z.G. p. 262), and in one of the prefaces to Shabbethai ben Meïr ha-Kohen's notes on the Choshen Mishpat (Amsterdam, 1663).

The name Katz has a website devoted to All Things Katz.

People surnamed Katz include:

• Ada Katz, American artist's model
• Alex Katz, American artist
• Allan Katz, American comedy writer
• Amir Katz, Israeli born musician
• Andy Katz, American college basketball journalist
• Sir Bernard Katz, British biophysicist (born in Germany)
• Boris Katz, computer scientist
• Daniel Katz (psychologist), American psychologist (1903–1998)
• Daniel Katz (politician), Mayor of Mar del Plata, Argentina
• Danny Katz (columnist), Australian columnist and author
• Daryl Katz, Canadian drug store owner, owner of Edmonton Oilers
• David Katz (author), British music historian and journalist
• Dovid Katz, Lithuanian-American Yiddishist and academic
• Elias Katz, Finnish 3,000-meter team steeplechase Olympic champion
• Elihu Katz, American sociologist
• Emmanuel Mané-Katz, Ukraine-born Israeli artist
• Erich Katz (1900–1973), a German-born musicologist and Jewish refugee
• Harold Katz, American entrepreneur
• Ian Katz, British journalist (born in South Africa)
• Jacob Katz, Israeli historian
• Jane Katz, competitive swimmer and author of successful swimming books
• Jay Katz (disambiguation), name/pseudonym for several people
• Jeffrey Katz, American music producer
• Jerrold Katz, American philosopher and linguist
• Jon Katz (born 1947), American journalist and writer
• Jonathan Katz (born 1946), American comedian, actor, and voice actor
• Jonathan David Katz (born 1958), American professor
• Jonathan Ned Katz (born 1938), historian of LGBT American history
• Joseph Katz, Comintern member, CPUSA and Soviet spy
• Leo Katz, jurist
• Leo Katz (1914–1976), American statistician
• de (1892-1954), Austrian writer
• Leon Katz (born 1919), professor emeritus of drama at Yale University
• Leon Katz (1909–2004), Canadian physicist
• Martin Katz, American collaborative pianist
• Mickey Katz, American comedian and musician
• Mike Katz, American bodybuilder
• Mikhail Katz, Israeli mathematician and professor
• Nathan Katz (professor), American professor
• Nathan Katz (poet), Alsatian poet
• Nets Katz, mathematician
• Nicholas Katz, an American mathematician
• Omri Katz, an American-Israeli actor
• Paul Katz, American cellist
• Phil Katz, American computer programmer
• Phoebe Cates (born Phoebe Belle Katz), American actress
• Ralph Katz, American bridge player
• Randy H. Katz, UC Berkeley professor
• Raphael Katz, American politician
• Richard H. Katz, American bridge player
• Ronald A. Katz, inventor
• Robert Katz (1933–2010), American novelist, screenwriter, and non-fiction author
• Ryan Katz, professional wrestler billed as "GQ Money"
• Sam Katz, mayor of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Samuel Katz (disambiguation)
• Sandor Katz, American DIY writer and food activist
• Sheldon Katz (born 1956), American mathematician
• Shemuel Katz (1926–2010), Israeli artist
• Sidney A. Katz, mayor of the City of Gaithersburg, Maryland
• Simon Katz, English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
• Stu Katz, jazz pianist and vibraphonist
• Tamar Katz, Israeli figure skater living in the United States
• Vera Katz, American politician
• Welwyn Wilton Katz, Canadian children's author
• William Loren Katz, American historian, specializing in African American history
• Yuri Katz, Ukraine-born American music producer

See also

• Katz (disambiguation)
• Kutz (disambiguation)
• Katzmann, Katzman
• Katz forms: Kaz (KAẒ), Catz, Kats, Cats

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: