indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname
Usage Upper German
Meaning & History
Derived from Alemannic Swabian Batz "pile; large quantity", possibly applied as a nickname either for a man of large physical proportions or for a man of wealth. The term also denoted a coin and may have been used metonymically for a coiner. The name of the coin is believed to have been derived from its imprint of a bear known in folklore as Betz or Petz.
