~HEINTZ~

~Heintz~

The German surname Heintz, and its variants Heinz, Heinze and Heins, is of patronymic origin, that is, it belongs to the category of surnames derived from the first name of the father of the initial bearer. In this instantce, the name indicates "son of Heintz", a contraction of the ancient German personal name Heinrich. The given name Heinrich is derived from either the Old High German word "hagan" meaning "enclosure, hedged in area" or "heim" meaning "home" with the prefix "-rich", derived from "rihhi" meaning "rule, power". This was extremely popular first name in the Middle Ages, being the name of numerous dukes, kings and emperors.

Surnames did not come into general employ in Germany until late in the Middle Ages. With the growth of documentation it became essential to distinguish between people of the same first name. In the twelfth century the nobility began to call themselves after their ancestral seats and such names were usually prefixed by "van" indicating "of, from". Among the citizens, however, surnames were not adopted until the fourteenth century and did not become general until the sixteenth century.

The earliest record of this surname of a variant dates back to the fourteenth century where one Pfaff Ulrich Hainricher was recorded in Ulm in 1369. In 1404 one Heinrich Heins was a counsllor of Zurich and Heinrich Heinrick was a citizen of Strassburg in 1480. Rudolf Heintz was a guild master in Zurich in 1612 and Johnann Wolfgang Heintz was listed as residing in Trier in 1675.