Wertz
A surname usually treated as a variant of Wert, likely a German short form or nickname-based name.
The #4,331 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,661 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is most plausibly connected with German Wert, a short form or related surname stem that could be used as a nickname or family-name base. The cited 19th-century source also treats Wertz as a form built from Wert plus a patronymic ending, essentially meaning "son of Wert." Because surname spellings were often fluid, Wertz can also be understood as a variant spelling shaped by regional pronunciation and German-American record-keeping.
History
Wertz is found among German-speaking families and became established in the United States through immigration and later spelling variation. In English-language records, the final -z often reflects an altered or Anglicized spelling of a German surname base such as Wert or Werts. The name remains most common in the U.S. and is especially associated with families of German descent.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is a good example of how one extra letter at the end of a name can reflect centuries of spelling variation rather than a completely different family line.
From the historical record
“Wertinan. Wert, an herb ; man, a man. An herb-man. Wertz. Werts, from Wert, Wert, and ^' for sun, son. Son of Wert. Wesley. Wes, the west ; /ic, Hke. ResembHng the west ; westernly.”
— Family Names from the Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman and Scotch