Seitz
A German surname most often explained as a shortened form of Siegfried or related names beginning with Sieg-.
The #2,855 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,445 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical treatments connect Seitz with German names built on Sieg-, especially Siegfried, using a shortened or diminutive form. In older German naming, longer compound names were often reduced to a nickname-like form, and Seitz is one of the common results of that process. The first element Sieg- means "victory," so the underlying sense is roughly "victory-peace" or, more broadly, a name associated with victory.
History
The name is well established in German-speaking areas and is especially common in southern and central Germany. Historical onomastic writers also note that related forms such as Seiss and Seiß can point to the same source family, showing how local pronunciation and spelling varied. In emigrant communities, Seitz remained a recognizable German surname and is still fairly common in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century scholars treated Seitz as a shortened form of Siegfried and grouped it with other German names that lost their middle sounds over time.
From the historical record
“Seip- 8. Sig (zweist. E.). Seiß, Seitz s. Sig (einst E.). Seißensehmidt III. niederd. „Sensenschmied*^. Seiw- 8. Sig (V.).”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen