Stolz
A German surname from a word meaning “proud” or “haughty.”
The #9,932 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 95,057 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Stolz is the German word for “proud,” and as a surname it most likely began as a nickname for someone thought to be proud, self-respecting, or perhaps a bit haughty. The older sense is straightforwardly descriptive rather than occupational or place-based. Some 19th-century writers also compared it with related Germanic nickname forms, but the core meaning is simply “proud.”
History
The name is established in German-speaking areas and later appears in immigrant communities abroad, especially in North America. In English-language records it has sometimes been altered to forms such as Stout, which can create confusion because Stout has its own separate surname history as well. The surname remains most strongly associated with German ancestry.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers sometimes linked Stolz with English Stout, but that is more a case of occasional substitution in immigrant records than a direct native English equivalent.
From the historical record
“Nutzungsrichtlinien Google ist stolz, mit Bibliotheken in partnerschaftlicher Zusammenarbeit öffentlich zugängliches Material zu digitalisieren und einer breiten Masse zugänglich zu machen. Öffentlich zugängliche Bücher gehören der Öffentlichkeit, und wir sind nur ihre Hüter. Nichtsdestotrotz ist diese Arbeit…”
— Die deutschen Familiennamen