Family name origins & meanings
- German and Swiss German : variant of Gans ‘goose’.
- German : from a short form of the Germanic personal name Ganso, a cognate of modern German ganz ‘whole’, ‘all’.
- German : possibly also from an altered form, under Russian influence, of the personal name Hans, a short form of Johannes (see John).
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : ornamental name from German ganz ‘whole’.