Horowitz
A Jewish surname usually meaning “from Horovice” or another place called Horowitz/Hořovice.
The #3,674 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 31,925 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Horowitz is a Jewish surname formed from the name of a place, most famously the Czech town of Hořovice, rendered in German and Yiddish as Horowitz. In this kind of surname, the ending signals origin or association with a locality rather than a family occupation or nickname. The literal sense is therefore “person from Horovice/Hořovice.”
History
The name became common among Ashkenazi Jewish families in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in areas where German, Yiddish, and Slavic naming forms overlapped. It spread widely through migration in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially to North America and Israel. A well-known bearer was Vladimir Horowitz, the pianist, whose fame helped make the name familiar outside Jewish communities.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname’s many spellings reflect shifts between Slavic, German, and Yiddish spelling habits rather than entirely different origins.