Updated June 9, 2019

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Family name origins & meanings

  • German : from the Middle High German title of nobility herzoge ‘duke’ (Old High German herizoho, from heri ‘army’ + ziohan ‘to lead’, a calque of the Byzantine title stratēlatēs ‘general’, ‘commander’, from Greek stratos ‘army’ + elaunein ‘to lead’). The name is unlikely to refer to descent from an actual duke; it is normally an occupational name for the servant of a duke or a nickname for one who put on the airs and graces of a duke.
  • Jewish (Ashkenazic) : ornamental name from German Herzog ‘duke’. Compare Graf and Kaiser.