Family name origins & meanings
- German and Swiss German : in the north from a Germanic personal name Ganthas, of uncertain origin, or a nickname from Middle Low German ganter ‘gander’.
- German and Swiss German : in the south probably an occupational name for an auctioneer, from Middle High German gant ‘court-ordered auctioneer’, or a topographic name from Middle High German (originally Romansch) gant ‘scree’, in all cases with excrescent -t.