Kress
A surname with German roots, most likely from a nickname or short form built on words for “cress” or “sharpness,” and sometimes found in German-speaking place-based forms.
The #4,711 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,013 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kress is a German surname, but the exact starting point is not fully certain. It is often treated as a nickname or short form connected with Middle High German words such as kresse, “cress,” though some cases may reflect short forms of older personal names or local surname traditions. The same spelling can also appear in compound or noble-style names such as Kress von Kressenstein, which shows the name’s presence in German-speaking naming patterns.
History
The name is established in German areas and was later carried abroad by emigration, especially into North America. Historical surname collections show related forms such as Kresse, Kressel, and Kressmann, suggesting a family of closely connected German names rather than a single fixed origin. In English-language records it is usually treated as a German surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same surname family appears in the historical form Kress von Kressenstein, a compound that looks much more aristocratic than the plain modern surname Kress.
From the historical record
“Crawshaw. A loc. n., Lancs Craze. Fr. Crez; Dch. Kress; p.n Crest ; a loc. n., France De Cres in Rot. Obi. et Fin. Creak. From Creake ; a loc. r Norf.”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)