Katz (surname)
Katz is a common German and Ashkenazi 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, "cat", but from Katzenelnbogen, going back to Latin Cattimelibocus, consisting of the ancient Germanic tribal names of the Chatti and Melibokus.)
Where it is a Jewish surname, Katz is an abbreviation (Hebrew: כּ״ץ) formed from the initials of the term Kohen Tzedeq ("priest of justice"/"authentic priest") or Kohen Tzadok (meaning the name-bearer is of patrilineal descent of the Kohanim sons of Zadok). It has been used since the seventeenth century, or perhaps somewhat earlier, as an epithet of the descendants of Aaron. The collocation is most likely derived from Melchizedek ("king of righteousness"), who is called "the priest (kohen) of the most high God" (Genesis xiv. 18), or perhaps from Psalm cxxxii. 9: "Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness (tzedeq)". The use of the abbreviated and Germanicized Katz likely coincided with the imposition of German names on Jews in Germany in the 18th or 19th centuries.
If the reading is correct, this abbreviation occurs on a tombstone, dated 1536, in the cemetery of Prague.[1] It is found also on a tombstone of the year 1618 in Frankfurt,[2] in the books of the Soncino family of Prague of the seventeenth century,[3] and in one of the prefaces to Shabbethai ben Meïr ha-Kohen's notes on the Choshen Mishpat (Amsterdam, 1663).
People
- Ada Katz, American artist's model
- Alex Katz, American artist
- Alex Katz (baseball), American baseball player
- Allan Katz, American comedy writer
- Amir Katz, Israeli-born musician
- Andrew Katz, American drummer for indie rock band Car Seat Headrest
- Andy Katz, American college basketball journalist
- Sir Bernard Katz, German-born British biophysicist
- Boris Katz, computer scientist
- Burt Katz (1937–2016), American restaurateur
- Daniel Katz (psychologist), American psychologist (1903–1998)
- Daniel Katz (politician), mayor of Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Danny Katz (columnist), Australian columnist and author
- Daryl Katz, Canadian drug store owner, owner of Edmonton Oilers
- David Katz (author), British music historian and journalist
- Dovid Katz, Lithuanian-American Yiddishist and academic
- Elias Katz, Finnish 3,000-meter team steeplechase Olympic champion
- Elie Katz, former mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey
- Elihu Katz, American sociologist
- Emmanuel Mané-Katz, Ukraine-born Israeli artist
- Erich Katz (1900–1973), German-born musicologist and Jewish refugee
- Ethan Katz (born 1983), American assistant pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants
- Gary Katz, music producer
- Harold Katz, American entrepreneur
- Ian Katz, British journalist (born in South Africa)
- Jackson Katz, creator of gender violence prevention and education program Mentors in Violence Prevention
- Jacob Katz, Israeli historian
- Jane Katz, competitive swimmer and author of successful swimming books
- Jane Lobman Katz (1931–1986), American activist
- Jay Katz (disambiguation), name/pseudonym for several people
- Jeff Katz, American film producer and comic book author
- Jeffrey Owen Katz, American scientist
- Jeffry Katz, American music producer
- Jerrold Katz, American philosopher and linguist
- Joette Katz (born 1953), American attorney
- Jon Katz (born 1947), American journalist and writer
- Jonathan Katz (born 1946), American comedian, actor, and voice actor
- Jonathan David Katz (born 1958), American professor
- Jonathan Ned Katz (born 1938), historian of LGBT American history
- Joseph Katz (disambiguation)
- Judah Katz, Canadian actor
- Leo Katz, jurist
- Leo Katz (1914–1976), American statistician
- Leo Katz (writer) (1892–1954), Austrian writer
- Leon Katz (born 1919), professor emeritus of drama at Yale University
- Leon Katz (1909–2004), Canadian physicist
- Martin Katz, American collaborative pianist
- Mickey Katz, American comedian and musician
- Mike Katz, American bodybuilder
- Mikhail Katz, Israeli mathematician and professor
- Miriam Katz (born 1931), birth name of Miriam Zohar
- Nathan Katz (professor), American professor
- Nathan Katz (poet), Alsatian poet
- Nets Katz, mathematician
- Nicholas Katz, American mathematician
- Omri Katz, American-Israeli actor
- Otto Katz, agent of the Soviet Union
- Paul Katz, American cellist
- Phil Katz, American computer programmer
- Phoebe Cates (born Phoebe Belle Katz), American actress
- Ralph Katz, American bridge player
- Randy H. Katz, UC Berkeley professor
- Raphael Katz, American politician
- Richard H. Katz, American bridge player
- Ronald A. Katz, inventor
- Robert Katz (1933–2010), American novelist, screenwriter, and non-fiction author
- Ryan Katz, professional wrestler billed as "GQ Money"
- Sam Katz, mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Samuel Katz (disambiguation)
- Sandor Katz, American DIY writer and food activist
- Sheldon Katz (born 1956), American mathematician
- Shemuel Katz (1926–2010), Israeli artist
- Sidney A. Katz, mayor of Gaithersburg, Maryland
- Simon Katz, English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
- Sky Katz , American rapper and actress.
- Tamar Katz, Israeli figure skater living in the United States
- Tuvia Katz (born 1936), Israeli artist
- Vera Katz (1933–2017), American politician
- Welwyn Wilton Katz, Canadian children's author
- William Loren Katz, American historian, specializing in African American history
- Zebra Katz, an American rapper
See also
- Katz (disambiguation)
- Kutz (disambiguation)
- Katzmann, Katzman
- Katz forms: Kaz (KAẒ), Catz, Kats, Cats
References
- ^ Hock, Die Familien Prag's, p. 175.
- ^ M. Horowitz (Moses Horowitz?), Die Inschriften des Alten Friedhofes der Israelitischen Gemeinde zu Frankfurt-am-Main 1901, p. 63.
- ^ Zunz, Z.G. p. 262.
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.