Nez
A rare surname probably linked to a nickname for someone with a distinctive nose or facial profile.
The #6,948 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 63,962 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is most likely based on French nez, “nose,” ultimately from Latin nasus. In surname history, words for the nose often produced nicknames for a person with a notable nose shape, and related French examples in the old dictionaries include forms meaning “turned-up nose” or “aquiline nose.” Because NEZ is very short and unusual as a surname, it may also reflect a clipped or altered spelling of a fuller French nickname form.
History
The historical sources available here mention nez mainly as part of French descriptive nicknames rather than as a well-documented standalone family name. Similar forms appear in French and Anglo-French surname traditions where facial features became hereditary surnames. In English-language records, the spelling may also have been simplified or shortened over time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A number of old European surnames were built from humorous or vivid nicknames, and “nose” surnames are a classic example.
From the historical record
“KEMPTON. The camp town ; place of the army. KEMYSS. (G-aelic.) Camus, " nez retrousse," a person whose nose is turned upwards ; crooked, from cam, G-aelic, crooked, not straight. KEKNAN. Gaelic, Ceanann or Ceanfhionn, white-headed, bald.”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names