Scholz
A German surname originally linked to the village headman or reeve, with strong roots in eastern and northern German naming traditions.
The #6,557 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,730 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Scholz is a German surname related to Schultheiß, the medieval term for a local official, village headman, or reeve. The name likely reflects a shortened, regional form of that title, especially in eastern German areas where Slavic influence also played a role. In older scholarship it is often grouped with Schulz, Schultze, and Schulte as variants of the same occupational surname family.
History
The surname is especially associated with eastern Germany, and historical writers noted it as characteristic of Silesian naming. It appears alongside Schulz-type forms in many older surname surveys, showing how a single office title developed into several regional surname spellings. In modern Germany it remains common, and in English-language contexts it is usually treated as a German immigrant surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries often treat Scholz as one of several regional offshoots of the same old office-title name family as Schulz and Schulte.
From the historical record
“Unter den von Amt und Handwerk entlehnten Namen sind als eigen- tümlich schlesisch hervorzuheben: Scholz (vgl. auch „ Erbscholtisei '^ — slawisch Woita = Vogt) und Kretschmer vom slaw. Kretscham (Dorfkrug). 20. Stillstand oder Bewegung in der Namenwelt?”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen