Kass

This article is about the surname. For other uses, see Kass (disambiguation).

Kass is a surname. It originated in several different ways, including as a nickname in former eastern territories of Germany from the Czech word kos ("blackbird" or "shrewd person"), from the Estonian word kass meaning cat,^[1] from the given name Gazo, as an Ashkenazi Jewish surname from the given name Casriel, and possibly as an Americanized spelling of Káš or Kaše.^[2][3] The 2010 United States census found 3,796 people with the surname Kass, making it the 8,655th-most-common surname in the country, compared to 3,523 people (8,599th-most-common) in the 2000 census. In both US censuses, more than nine-tenths of the bearers of the surname identified as non-Hispanic white.^[4]

Kass

Origin
Language(s)	Czech, Estonian
Meaning	Cat (in Estonian)
Region of origin	Estonia
Other names
Variant form(s)	Katz

People with the surname include:

• Amalie Kass (1928–2019), American historian
• Amy Kass (1940–2015), American humanities scholar
• Carmen Kass (born 1978), Estonian model
• Danny Kass (born 1982), American snowboarder
• Deborah Kass (born 1952), American painter
• Edward H. Kass (1917–1990), American physician, professor and historian
• James R. Kass (fl. 1962–present), Canadian physicist
• János Kass (1927–2010), Hungarian illustrator
• Jerome Kass (1937–2015), American screenwriter and author
• Johannes Kass (born 1949), Estonian politician
• John Kass (born 1956), American journalist
• Kristiina Kass (born 1970), Estonian children's writer and illustrator
• Leon Kass (born 1939), American bioethicist
• Leonhard Kass (1911–1985), Estonian footballer
• Peter Kass (1923–2008), American acting teacher and director
• Pnina Moed Kass (born 1938), Belgian writer
• Ras Kass (born John Austin, 1973), American rapper
• Raye Kass (fl. 1970–present), Canadian social scientist
• Rob Kass (fl. 1990–present), American statistician
• Robin Kåss (born 1977), Norwegian medical doctor and politician
• Ron Kass (1935–1986), American businessman, recording executive, and film producer
• Sam Kass (born 1980), American chef

See also

• Cass (surname)

References

1. Puss, Fred (22 August 2018). "Prosopographical-Territorial Analysis for Researching Estonian Surname Giving (1822–1835)" (PDF). University of Tartu, Institute of the Estonian Language: 24. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
2. Hanks, Patrick (2003). Dictionary of American Family Names. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 281. ISBN 0199771693.
3. Guggenheimer, Heinrich Walter; Guggenheimer, Eva H. (1992). Jewish Family Names and Their Origins. New York: KTAV Publishing House. p. 392. ISBN 0881252972.
4. "How common is your last name?". Newsday. Retrieved 9 July 2020.