Kass

This article is about the surname. For other uses, see Kass (disambiguation).
Kass
Origin
Language(s)Czech, Estonian
MeaningCat (in Estonian)
Region of originEstonia
Other names
Variant form(s)Katz

Kass is a surname. It originated in several different ways, including as a nickname in former eastern territories of Germany from the Czech word kos ("blackbird" or "shrewd person"), from the Estonian word kass meaning cat,[1] from the given name Gazo, as an Ashkenazi Jewish surname from the given name Casriel, and possibly as an Americanized spelling of Káš or Kaše.[2][3] The 2010 United States census found 3,796 people with the surname Kass, making it the 8,655th-most-common surname in the country, compared to 3,523 people (8,599th-most-common) in the 2000 census. In both US censuses, more than nine-tenths of the bearers of the surname identified as non-Hispanic white.[4]

People with the surname include:

  1. ^ Puss, Fred (22 August 2018). "Prosopographical-Territorial Analysis for Researching Estonian Surname Giving (1822–1835)" (PDF). University of Tartu, Institute of the Estonian Language: 24. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  2. ^ Hanks, Patrick (2003). Dictionary of American Family Names. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 281. ISBN 0199771693.
  3. ^ Guggenheimer, Heinrich Walter; Guggenheimer, Eva H. (1992). Jewish Family Names and Their Origins. New York: KTAV Publishing House. p. 392. ISBN 0881252972.
  4. ^ "How common is your last name?". Newsday. Retrieved 9 July 2020.