Knez Family History
Knez Name Meaning
Slovenian and Croatian: from knez a title meaning ‘prince’ but also used for markgraves and other counts. It was probably applied as an ironic nickname or as a metonymic occupational name for someone in the service of a markgrave or count. In Croatia it could also be a status name for the headman of a village. Czech (Kněz and Kněž): nickname from kněz ‘priest’ (in old Czech ‘prince’). The homonymous Sorbian cognate Kněz is apparently found in Germanized forms only (see Knies and Kniess ).
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022