KUNZ / COUNTS origin & variations
Richard Koontz
I started just looking for Koontz. Then one day I opened the search
to Coontz, just in case. Then added Koonce, although I knew they
weren't related. Then I started finding ancestors who spelled their
name in half a dozen ways in their life. So here is my list, and some
explanation about the origins of the name itself...
Total variations of the name: 48 so far (in America)
COONCE - COONES - COONS - COONTS - COONTZ - COONZ - COOTS (!)
CONES - CONZ - COUNCE - COUNTS - COUNTZ - CUENZ - CUENZE - CUNCZE
-CUNETZ - CUNITZ - CUNSE - CUNTZE - CUNZ - CUNYS - CUNZE - CYNTZ -
CYNZ
KINS (honest!)
KOEHN (but rarely KUEHN!) - KOONCE - KOONES - KOONS - KOONSE - KOONTEZ
- KOONTSE - KOONTZ - KONTS - KONZE - KUENZ - KUENZE - KUHNS
KUNCE - KUNS - KUNTAS - KUNTES - KUNTS - KUNTZ - KUNZ - KUNTZE - KUNZE
WHY IS THE NAME SPELLED THAT WAY?
Most of what follows is taken from a blue pocketbook called the “Hans
Bahlow Deutsches Namenlexikon”, which can be found in many Family
History Centers.
The name stems from the popular and respected Emperor Conrad, who goes
‘way back. Just as many people in America carried the names George
Washington as their first and middle names, so did many in Germany
name their sons after their emperor.
Conrad was originally “Kunrad”, the latin form of a shortened German
phrase “kühn im Rat”, which means either “shrewd counsellor”, or “bold
counsellor”.
These original spellings weren’t always used. Some people shortened
them. Much like “Friedrich” carries the moniker “Fritz”, so does
Conrad or Kunrad lead to Kunz.
The most popular name in Germany at one time was Heinrich (derived
from the Emperor Heinrich). The second most popular was Kunrad. From
that stems a phrase in German which is: “Hinz und Kunz”. Both of
these are diminutive forms of those two names. The phrase means
“everyman”.
These names, however, do go ‘way back.
The choice of Conrad (pronounced Koan-rahdt), or Kunrad (pronounced
Koon-rahdt), depended on where you lived. Commerce was limited,
villagers kept in their villages, and dialects developed that ensured
the differences were maintained or increased.
As you move from Old High German, you see the formal name change from
Kunrad to Kuonrat (pronounced Koo-Own-Rahdt) by the time Middle High
German developed. (In the Middle Ages.) You also see a number of
diminutives in use. We had Kuon, Kune, and Kunz. Two of these had
further dimunitives: a “Künel” was a little Kune. And a “Künzel” was
a little Kunz.
By the “Courtly Romantic” period around 1800 in Germany, the
diminutive “Kunz” was no longer in use as a first name. By the time,
the short form of Conrad had evolved to either Kuno or Kurt.
Also by this time, first names had long since moved into the family
name position. Just as in Sweden, where “Friedrich Johnson” was
John’s son, so “Conrad Kunz” may have at one point been Kunz’s son,
where Kunz was a diminutive form of Conrad itself. Thinking of it in
Swedish terms, Conrad Kunz was actually Conrad Conradson.
Take notice of the “u” sound in these names. It can (sometimes) be a
clue to the original location of a family.
Kunz was not the only term used. Up in the north Germanic areas of
the Rhine plain, where they spoke “Platt Deutsch”, or lower German, we
see another variant. There it took the form of “Köhn”. This in turn
led to a variety of names such as Köhne, Köhnen, and Köhnke. And
perhaps from that we also see Conkel...
Just south of that area, still in the Platt Deutsch dialect but in the
Rhineland, you see the variations of Konert and Kohnert (pronounced
with a long “o”). In Westfalen, you see Konertz, Coners, Conerding,
and Conring (all with the long “o”). Along the border of France, in
the Saar and the Alsace, you see Conz and Contz and Contze (again, all
long “o”). All of these stem from the “ô” in the Platt Deutsch
pronunciation, which in turn reflected the “uo” pronunciation of
Middle High German.
Meanwhile, in middle and upper German areas, you see the evolution of
names such as Kühne, Kühnel, Kühnemann, and Kühnzel (instead of “uo”,
you have a kind of “eww” sound). In Schleswig you see Kuhnt and Kunat
(both pronounced with more of a “u”).
Kuhnke and Kunath led to Kunisch in East Germany. Kunke led to
Kunitz, which was the name of many towns in Schleswig, Thuringen, and
Brandenburg, also in the east.
Once the names diverged, they stayed diverged. Very few led back to
the pronunciation “Koontz” or “Coons” and its many variations.
In addition, a name such as “Kunst”, which has to do with art or
craft, does not appear to ever change over to the Coons variety.
Kunst, Kunstler, Künster all stayed firmly in their niches. They are
a different line entirely.
Then you have the very early usages of “Cuncze von Cracow” (1388), and
“Cuntz der Küntzel” (1382) in Kempten. These pop up again by 1675 in
Siegen, up just east of Bonn in the Rheinland, as the name “Cuntze”.
And a final exception is this: the religious exodus series that
powered the entire region sent small groups of people out of
Switzerland and up into Germany. It sent Huguenots from France to
central Germany. So you will find a “Kunz”, for instance, from Basel,
Switzerland originally, who you notice appears to have come from north
Germany.
Finally: enter the American experience.
When they came to this country, their names were recorded numerous
times by people of different nationalities. The Germans, often
bilingual or even trilingual, took a low-profile position and accepted
whatever the scribes, recorders, and taxmen said. A Schmidt would
list his name that way in his own church, but show up as Smith on a
tax record.
What is more puzzling was the situation where one brother chose the
name “Counts”, where another in the family chose “Koonce”, a third
chose “Koontz”, and the father was either a “Kuntz” or a “Kunz”, and
in one case, also “Cuntze”.
It wasn’t until about 1800 that they settled on one spelling and kept
it from generation to generation. Even then, we stumble on a Coons
family that became a Koontz. Interestingly, they were an English
family that settled in a very German village in Ohio, and were
promptly taught how their name “should” be spelled.