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SHULTZ
(German) The name Shultz is a status name for a village headman, from a contracted form of Middle High German Schultheize (Old High German is Sculdheizo). The term originally denoted a man responsible for collecting dues and paying them to the lord of the manor. It is a compound of sculd(a), meaning “debt” or “due,” plus a derivative of heiz(z)an, meaning “to command.”
(Source: “A Dictionary of Surnames,” Patrick Hanks and Favia Hodges, Oxford University Press, 1988, Oxford & New York.)
(German) variant of Schultz: The magistrate or sheriff; a steward or overseer.
(Source: “New Dictionary of American Family Names,” Eldson C. Smith, Harper & Row Publishers, 1973, New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London.)
Every town in Germany had a Schultzmann, or mayor. In the larger cities the office was called, Burgermeister.
(Source: “Shultz Family Record: 1716 – 1966,” Lawrence W. Shultz, 603 College Avenue, North Manchester, Indiana, 1966, Light & Light Press, Winona Lake, Indiana.)
Spelling variations include: Schultz, Schultheis (Switzerland), Schultes, Schultz and many more.
First found in Switzerland, where branches of this estimable family were elevated to the ranks of the nobility and came to possess great political influence.
Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: Esther Susanna Schultheis, who came to America with her five children in 1709. The first bearer of the variation “Schultz” to arrive was Anna Elizabeth Schultz, who came to New York City in 1710. Other Schultz members arrived in Philadelphia after 1725, including Heinrich Schultz (1727) and Hans Martin Schultz (1731). A number of members of the Schultz family came to Canada in 1783, among them was Joachim Schultze. Among the over one hundred members of various Schulz or Schulze branches who emigrated to Texas in the 1840s, we found Andreas Schulz with his wife Anna Schmidt and three children, Friedrich Schulze with his wife and four children, and many others. Bearers of the variation Schulte also came to Texas in the 1840s, among them Dietrich Schulte and W. Schulte with two children.
(The above three-paragraph narrative comes from a crest marketing Internet website, and so lacks credibility; “Your Family Crest” http://store.pagewise-, 8/30/02)
The name Shultz comes from one of those ancient dukedoms, territories and states that would eventually form a part of present day Germany. At its birth in the Middle Ages, it was used to indicate someone who worked as a town-mayor derived from the medieval name “Schultheis” which has the same meaning.
(The above paragraph comes from a marketing Internet website, and so lacks credibility; www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=Shultz, 7/12/2009)
Shultz: Americanized spelling of German Schultz, or a variant spelling of the Jewish name.
Schultz 1. German: status name for a village headman, from a contracted form of Middle High German schultheize. The term originally denoted a man responsible for collecting dues and paying them to the lord of the manor; it is a compound of sculd(a) ‘debt’, ‘due’ + a derivative of heiz(z)an ‘to command’. The surname is also established in Scandinavia. 2. Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Schulze (see 1 above). The reasons for adoption are uncertain, but may perhaps have referred to a rabbi, seen as the head of a Jewish community, or to a trustee of a synagogue.
Source: Ancestry.com