Jocelyne Dumay <jocege@...> asked:

"Can anybody tell me more about the origin and signification of the name
M?NZ (MUENZ - MUNZ umlaut on U); is it very used (or was it in the past)
and are there regions in which it is particularly given ?"

I try to give a good answer to this question. Mr. Gary Mokotoff gave a good
answer: That the name MUNZ comes >from the German word Munze what mean a coin.
The origin of this word is the Latin word Moneta. The problem is that
in Germany this family name MUNZ exists but German family name books and
dictionarys and Lexicons (that I have in my home) don't include it.
I don't know why it is - perhaps because it is not a 100 % German
word. You have well the family name MUNZER.

Munz mean also a Mint (not a coin) and I know that in The city of Gunzburg
in Bavaria it is a hotel with the name Zum Munz and also a Beer brand with
the same name. I called the owner of this hotel and he tell me that the
name Munz is not a coin but in this place was a Mint building that produce
the famous Maria Theresa Taller,s. This was the first possibility to
explain the name MUNZ.

*******(in all the names MUNZ that I write I mean U with umlaut).********

The second possibility is that it get out >from the name of the town in
Mainz in Germany, in the 15 century we know Rabbi Moshe ben Isaak MUNZ from
the town of Mainz (Philo lexicon page 494).>from old Jewish sources we know
that Mainz is called in Hebrew (or Yiddish) as Magenza, (Mem - Gimel - Nun
- Tzadik - Alef) or Magenz (Mem - Gimel - Nun - Tzadik sofit) and Menz (Mem
- Ayn - Nun - Tzadik sofit) (Germania Judaica). >from the city name Menz is
the way very short to MUNZ.

Another explanation is that it is a Surname that derived >from a feminine
given name. If we take the name Mina or Mine a old German name >from the 10
century, this name was also used by Jews in Germany according Alexander
Beider in his book Dictionary of Ashkenazic given names . He give the next
derivation to the name Mine:(I don't give all the scheme) Mine - Minlin -
Minel - Minke - Mintse - Mints - Muntse - Muntshe. Mr Beider mentioned the
name Muntz also as a Jewish name in 1409 in Germany.

I wanted to give the suggestion that >from Muntz as a women name we get the
family name MUNZ and perhaps not >from the German word Munze. This is
perhaps also the reason that I don't find in any book that I have the word
MUNZ, not as a word and not as a name.

I know that we can find more suggestions for this name but I think that 3
is more then we need. Best regards

Ury Link Amsterdam Holland uryl@...