Katz is a common German and Ashkenazi Jewish surname.
Germans with the last name Katz may originate in the Rhine River region of Germany , where the Katz Castle is located. (The name of the castle does not derive from Katze Katzenelnbogen , going back to Latin Cattimelibocus Chatti and Melibokus.)
Where it is a Jewish surname , Katz is almost always a Hebrew abbreviation (Hebrew : כּ״ץ Kohen TzedekJewish priests (although not all Jewish Katzes are in fact descended from priests).
The full form Kohen Tzedek appears as a surname or title in a number of medieval sources, while the acronym Katz has been used since the seventeenth century, or perhaps somewhat earlier. If the reading is correct, this abbreviation occurs on a tombstone , dated 1536, in the cemetery of Prague . It is found also on a tombstone of the year 1618 in Frankfurt , in the books of the Soncino family of Prague of the seventeenth century, and in one of the prefaces to Shabbethai ben Meïr ha-Kohen 's notes on the Choshen Mishpat (Amsterdam , 1663).
The use of the abbreviated and Germanicized Katz likely coincided with the imposition of German names on Jews in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries. Jews with the surname Katzenelenbogen may also have shortened their surname to Katz upon arrival in America.[ citation needed ]
Notable people with the surname include:
Aaron Katz (Soviet general) (1901-1971)Abraham Katz (1926–2013), American diplomatAda Katz (born 1928), American artist's modelAdam Katz , American sports agentAlbert Katz (1858–1923), writerAlex Katz (born 1927), American artistAlex Katz (baseball) (born 1994), American baseball playerAllan Katz (born 1941), American comedy writerAllan J. Katz (born 1947), American ambassadorAmir Katz (born 1973), Israeli-born musicianAndrew Katz, drummer of Car Seat Headrest
Andy Katz (born 1968), American college basketball journalistBernard Katz (1911–2003), German-born British biophysicistBoris Katz (born 1947), American computer scientistBurt Katz (1937–2016), American restaurateurCharles Katz (1927–1974), American mathematician and computer scientistDan Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleDaniel Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleDanny Katz (born 1963), Australian columnist and authorDaryl Katz (born 1961), Canadian drug store owner, owner of Edmonton OilersDave Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleDavid Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleDill Katz (1946–2025), British bassist and educatorDovid Katz (born 1956), Lithuanian-American Yiddishist and academicElias Katz (1901–1947) , Finnish 3,000-meter steeplechase runnerElie Katz (born 1974), American politician from New JerseyElihu Katz (1926–2021), American-Israeli sociologist and communication scientistEmmanuel Mané-Katz (1894–1962), Ukraine-born Israeli artistErez Katz (born 1980), Israeli basketball playerErich Katz (1900–1973), German-born musicologist and Jewish refugeeEthan Katz (born 1983), American Major League Baseball pitching coachGary Katz , American music producerGreg Katz, guitarist and lead vocalist of Cheekface
Haim Katz (born 1947), Israeli politicianHarold Katz (1937–2025), American entrepreneurHarold A. Katz (1921–2012), American lawyer and politicianIan Katz (born 1968), British journalistIsrael Katz (born 1955), Israeli politicianIwan Katz (1889–1956), German politicianJack Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleJackson Katz (born 1960), gender violence educatorJacob Katz (1904–1998), Israeli historianJane Katz (born 1943), American swimmer and authorJane Lobman Katz (1931–1986), American activistJay Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleJeff Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleJeffry Katz , American music producerJerrold Katz , American philosopher and linguistJoanne Katz , American professorJoel D. Katz , Canadian psychologist and researcherJoette Katz (born 1953), American attorneyJon Katz (born 1947), American journalist and writerJonathan Katz (born 1946), American comedian, actor, and voice actorJonathan David Katz (born 1958), American professorJonathan Ned Katz (born 1938), American historian of LGBT American historyJordan Katz , American trumpeterJoseph Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleJosh Katz (born 1997), Australian Olympic judokaJosie Katz (born 1940), Israeli singerJudah Katz , Canadian actorKatriel Katz (1908–1988), Israeli diplomatLawrence F. Katz (born 1959), American economistLeslie Rachel Katz (born 1961), American attorney and politicianLouise Katz , Australian writer of fantasy and young adult fictionLeo Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleLeon Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleLiz Katz , American cosplayer and actressMabel Katz , Argentinian-American speaker and TV show hostMartin Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleMaxim Katz , Russian politician and activistMelinda Katz (born 1965), American Queens County District Attorney , 19th Borough President of Queens,Member of the New York State AssemblyMickey Katz (1909–1985), American comedian and musicianMike Katz (born 1944), American bodybuilderMikhail Katz (born 1958), Israeli mathematician and professorMiriam Katz (born 1931), birth name of Miriam Zohar , Israeli actress
Nathan Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleNets Katz , mathematicianNicholas Katz (born 1943), American mathematicianOmri Katz (born 1976), American-Israeli actorOtto Katz , agent of the Soviet UnionPaul Katz , American cellistPhil Katz , American computer programmerPhoebe Cates (born Phoebe Belle Katz), American actressRalph Katz , American bridge playerRandy H. Katz , American professorRaphael Katz , American politicianRenina Katz (1925–2025), Brazilian engraver, printmaker, and watercoloristRichard H. Katz , American bridge playerRita Katz , terrorism analystRobert Katz (1933–2010), American novelist, screenwriter, and non-fiction authorRon Katz (born 1985), Israeli politicianRonald A. Katz (1936–2025), American inventorRudolf Katz (1895–1961), German judge and politicianRyan Katz (born 1976), American wrestlerSam Katz , Canadian politician from ManitobaSamuel Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleSandor Katz (born 1962), American DIY writer and food activistSheila Moriber Katz (1943–2023), American pathologistSheldon Katz (born 1956), American mathematicianShmuel Katz (artist) (1926–2010), Israeli artistSidney A. Katz , American mayor of Gaithersburg, MarylandSimon Katz (born 1971), English songwriter and musicianSteve Katz (disambiguation) , multiple peopleSky Katz , American rapper and actressTamar Katz (born 1988), Israeli figure skater living in the USTuvia Katz (born 1936), Israeli artistVera Katz (1933–2017), American politicianVictor J. Katz (born 1942), American mathematician and historian of mathematicsWelwyn Wilton Katz , Canadian children's authorWilliam Loren Katz (1927–2019), American historian, specializing in African American historyYossi Katz (born 1949), Israeli politicianYossi Katz (geographer) (born 1953), Israeli political geographer
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gotthard Deutsch (1901–1906). "Katz". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.