Explore the Family Name Retz

The meaning of Retz

German: 1. habitational name from any of several places called Retz or Retzen in northwestern Germany and Austria. 2. from a short form of any of various ancient Germanic compound personal names formed with rād, rāt ‘advice, counsel’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Retz in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Retz has seen a slight decrease from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Retz was ranked 33,054 in popularity and this slipped to 34,539 in 2010, marking a change of -4.49%. Interestingly, while the rank fell, the actual count of people with this surname increased minimally from 653 in 2000 to 655 in 2010, representing a 0.31% increase. However, the proportion per 100k individuals decreased by -8.33%, indicating a lower overall prevalence.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#33,054	#34,539	-4.49%
Count	653	655	0.31%
Proportion per 100k	0.24	0.22	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Retz

When looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Retz, data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals some shifts between 2000 and 2010. The majority of individuals with the surname Retz identify as White, accounting for 96.78% in 2000 and slightly less at 95.27% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Hispanic saw a significant increase from 0.92% in 2000 to 1.83% in 2010, which is a 98.91% rise. Those identifying with two or more races remained relatively stable at just over 1%. There were no recorded individuals with this surname who identified as Black or Asian/Pacific Islander in either year. American Indian and Alaskan Native identity appeared in the 2010 data with a proportion of 0.92%, absent in 2000's record.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.78%	95.27%	-1.56%
Hispanic	0.92%	1.83%	98.91%
Two or More Races	1.23%	1.22%	-0.81%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0.92%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%