Family name origins & meanings
- German : from the medieval personal name Pankratz, the vernacular form of Latin Pancratius (Greek Pankratios, from pankratēs ‘all-in wrestler’, from pan ‘all’, ‘every’ + kratein ‘to conquer, subdue’, re-analysed by early Christians as meaning ‘Almighty’ and thus a suitable epithet of Christ). The name was borne by a 4th-century Christian martyr in Rome, hence its popularity as a personal name in the Middle Ages.