Gross or Groß in German is the correct spelling of the surname under German orthographic rules. In Switzerland, the name is spelled Gross. Some Germans and Austrians also use the spelling with "ss" instead of "ß". It is a surname of German,

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n, and

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

(

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

) origin. The word means "big", "tall" or "great", and was likely adopted in Europe over the 15th to 19th centuries during the times of the

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...

when monarchs of the

royal families A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while the ...

(Emperor or Empress) were called "the Great" (der Große). Descendants of this House may have adopted the name ''Gross'' from their

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

s. German-speaking Christian

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

s use references to Jesus as "Mein Herr ist Groß" (''My Lord is Great'') or "So Groß ist der Herr" (''So Great is the Lord''). Composer

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

(1797–1828) wrote several

songs A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...

referring to Jesus or God as ''groß'', such as D 757, a

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

called "Gott in der Natur" (''Groß ist der Herr!'') in 1822 and D 852, "Die Allmacht" (''Groß ist Jehova, der Herr'') in 1825.

People with this surname

* Al Gross (born 1962), American politician and United States senate candidate * Alfred J. Gross (1918–2000), American inventor *

Andrew Gross Howard Andrew Gross (May 18, 1952 – April 9, 2025) was an American author of thriller novels, including four ''New York Times'' bestsellers. He is best known for his collaborations with suspense writer James Patterson. Gross's books feature c ...

(1952–2025), American author of thriller novels * Andy Gross (born 1968), American magician, former professional racquetball player *

Arye Gross Arye Gross (; born March 17, 1960) is an American actor, who has appeared on a variety of television shows in numerous roles, most notably Adam Greene in the ABC sitcom ''Ellen''. Personal life Gross was born on March 17, 1960, in Los Angeles ...

(born 1960), American actor *

Avrum Gross Avrum M. Gross (February 25, 1936 – May 8, 2018) was an American lawyer who served as the Attorney General of Alaska from 1974 through 1980. Early life and education Gross was born on February 25, 1936, in New York City. He was raised in S ...

(1936–2018), American lawyer *

Benedict Gross Benedict Hyman Gross (born June 22, 1950) is an American mathematician who is a professor at the University of California, San Diego, the George Vasmer Leverett Professor of Mathematics Emeritus at Harvard University, and former Dean of Harvard C ...

(born 1950), American mathematician *

Bill T. Gross William T. Gross (born 1958) is an American businessman. Early life Gross grew up in Encino, California and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. Career He founded GNP L ...

(born 1958), American businessman *

Bob Gross Robert Edwin Gross (born August 3, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player. A , forward, he attended Seattle University and California State University, Long Beach, and was selected in the 1975 NBA draft by the Portland T ...

(born 1953), American retired professional basketball player *

Chaim Gross Chaim Gross (; March 17, 1902 – May 5, 1991) was an American sculptor and educator of Hungarian Jewish origin. Gross studied and taught at the Educational Alliance Art School in New York City’s Lower Manhattan. Childhood Gross was born t ...

(1904–1991), American sculptor and educator *

Charles Gross Charles Gross (born 13 May 1934) is an American film and TV composer, living in New York City. Gross, born in Boston, Massachusetts, was educated at Harvard University (BA), the New England Conservatory and Mills College (teaching fellowship), ...

(born 1934), American composer * Charles P. Gross (1889–1975), United States Army officer *

Christian Gross Christian Jürgen Gross (born 14 August 1954) is a Swiss football manager and former player. He played as a sweeper and central midfielder. Gross was manager of Basel from 1999 to 2009, winning four Swiss Super Leagues and four Swiss Cups. As ...

(born 1954), Swiss football manager *

David Gross David Jonathan Gross (; born February 19, 1941) is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. ...

(born 1941), American scientist and Nobel prize winner * David A. Gross (born 1954), American diplomat *

Ella Gross Ella McKenzie Gross (; (; born December 1, 2008), also known mononymously as Ella, is an American singer, model, and actress based in South Korea. She first began her career as a model at age two and has modeled for fashion brands such as H&M, ...

(born 2008), American singer, model, actress *

Ernest Gross (footballer) Ernest Gross (22 December 1902 – 8 December 1986) was a French footballer. He played in five matches for the France national football team The France national football team () represents France in men's international Association foot ...

(1902–1986), French footballer *

Ernest A. Gross Ernest A. Gross (September 23, 1906 – May 2, 1999) was a United States diplomat and lawyer who headed the U.S. delegation to the United Nations in the lead-up to the Korean War. Biography Ernest A. Gross was born in Brooklyn on September 23, ...

(1906–1999), American diplomat and lawyer *

Evgeni Gross Evgenii Fedorovich Gross (1897 – 1972) was a Soviet physicist working in optics and spectroscopy of condensed matter. He graduated from Leningrad University in 1924. He became a correspondent member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1946. ...

(1897–1972), Soviet scientist * Feliks Gross (1906–2006), Polish-American sociologist * Frank Gross (1919–2006), Canadian philanthropist * Gabe Gross (born 1979), American baseball player * Garry Gross, American photographer *

George Gross (journalist) George Gross, O.Ont (born Juraj Gross; January 23, 1923 – March 21, 2008) was a Slovak-born Canadian sports journalist and soccer executive. He worked for several newspapers, most notably the ''Toronto Sun''. He was a co-founder of the Easte ...

(1923–2008), Canadian sport journalist * George Gross (American football) (1941–2010), American football defensive tackle * George Gross (water polo) (born 1952), Canadian water polo player * Grete Gross, (born 1890), Russian-German commercial artist. * H. R. Gross (1899–1987), American politician *

Halley Gross Halley Wegryn Gross (born December 27, 1985) is an American screenwriter and actress. She is best known for writing two 2016 episodes of the HBO series ''Westworld'' and co-writing the 2020 video game ''The Last of Us Part II''. Early life H ...

(born 1985), American screenwriter and actress *

Hannah Gross Hannah Gross is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Debbie Mitford in the Netflix drama '' Mindhunter''. Early life Gross grew up in Toronto. She is the daughter of actors Martha Burns and Paul Gross. She attended New York ...

(born 1990), Canadian actress *

Hans Georg Friedrich Groß Hans Georg Friedrich Groß, (4 May 1860 – 27 February 1924), was a German balloonist and airship constructor.#Lui, Luisenstadt 2008 Balloons In the 1890s, the ''Verein zur Förderung der Luftschifffahrt'' (an association promoting airflight ...

(1860–1924), a German Empire balloonist and airship constructor *

Hans Gross Hans Gustav Adolf Gross or Groß (26 December 1847 – 9 December 1915) was an Austrian criminal jurist and criminologist, the "Founding Father" of criminal profiling. A criminal jurist, Gross made a mark as the creator of the field of crimina ...

(Groß, Grosz) (1847–1915) Austrian lawyer, one of the earliest modern forensic scientists * Heinrich Gross (1915–2005), Austrian Nazi doctor *

Heinrich Gross (rabbi) Heinrich Gross, written also as Henri Gross (born Szenicz, Hungarian Kingdom, now Senica, Slovakia, 6 November 1835; died 1910), was a German rabbi. He was a pupil in rabbinical literature of . After graduating from the Breslau seminary and from ...

(1835–1910), German rabbi * Helen Gross (1896–unknown), American classic female blues singer *

Henry Gross Henry Gross (born April 1, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his association with the group Sha Na Na and for his hit record, hit song, "Shannon (song), Shannon". Gross is considered a one-hit wonder artist; none of his ot ...

(born 1951), American singer-songwriter * Herbert Gross (1929–2020), American mathematician * Irma Hannah Gross (1892–1980), American home economist * Izidor Gross (1866–1942), Croatian chess master and hazzan * Jacob Gross (1840–1918), Illinois state treasurer * Jacob Gross (1819–1899), German-American piano maker * Jacob A. Gross (1842–1887), New York politician * James A. Gross, American professor and labor law expert *

James Gross James J. Gross is a psychologist best known for his research in emotion and emotion regulation. He is a professor at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Psychophysiology Laboratory. Education Gross received his B.A. in philo ...

, American psychologist and professor *

Jan T. Gross Jan Tomasz Gross (born 1947) is a Polish-American sociologist and historian. He is the Norman B. Tomlinson '16 and '48 Professor of War and Society emeritus and professor of history emeritus at Princeton University. Gross is the author of se ...

(born 1947), Polish-American historian *

John Gross John Gross FRSL (12 March 1935 – 10 January 2011) was an English man of letters. A leading intellectual, writer, anthologist, and critic. ''The Guardian'' (in a tribute titled "My Hero") and ''The Spectator'' were among several publication ...

(1935–2011), British author, editor and critic *

Jordan Gross Jordan Alan Gross (born July 20, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes, earning consen ...

(born 1980), American football player * Jost Gross (1946–2005), Swiss politician * Julie Gross (born 1957), Australian basketball player * Karl Groß (disambiguation), multiple people * Kenneth I. Gross (1938–2017), American mathematician * Kevin Gross (born 1961), American baseball player *

Kip Gross Kip Lee Gross (born August 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Nippon-Ham Fighters, Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros in Major League Baseball and Nippon Professio ...

(born 1964), American baseball player *

Lance Gross Lance Darnell Gross (born July 8, 1981) is an American actor and model. He is known for his role as Calvin Payne on the TBS/BET sitcom ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' (2007–2012; 2020–present), for which he won four NAACP Image Award for Ou ...

(born 1981), American actor and model *

Larry Gross Larry Gross (born 1953) is an American screenwriter, and producer. He is a visiting professor of film and new media at New York University Abu Dhabi. Best known for his collaborations with Walter Hill, his credits include ''48 Hrs.'' (1982), ''S ...

, American screenwriter *

Luke Gross Luke Gross (born November 21, 1959) is an American former rugby union player and current rugby coach and administrator. A lock who played for various club sides, he earned 62 caps for the United States between 1996 and 2003. Gross was the all-tim ...

(born 1969), American rugby footballer *

M. Louise Gross M. Louise Gross (1884–1951) was secretary to New York City Tammany Hall district leader Thomas F. Foley, a close associate of Al Smith. She served in leadership positions in repeal of prohibition organizations including the Molly Pitcher C ...

(1884–1951), American activist *

Manuela Groß Manuela Manja Groß (later Leupold, born 29 January 1957 in East Berlin, East Germany) is a German former competitive pair skater. With partner Uwe Kagelmann, she is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, and she is the youngest female figure skat ...

(born 1957), German figure skater * Marjorie Gross (1956–1996), Canadian television writer and producer * Mark Gross (born 1966), American musician * Mark Gross (born 1965), American mathematician *

Mary Gross Mary Gross (born March 25, 1953) is an American voice actress, comedian, and actress known for her four-year stint on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1981 to 1985 and her recurring role as Sabrina's favorite teacher, Mrs. Quick in ''Sabrina, the Te ...

(born 1953), American actress, voice actress, and comedian * Mason W. Gross (1911–1977), American university president * Matthias Gross (born 1969), German social scientist *

Maurice Gross Maurice Gross (born 21 July 1934 in Sedan, Ardennes; died 8 December 2001 in Paris) was a French linguistJean-Claude Chevalier,, ''Le Monde'', 12 décembre 2001. and scholar of Romance languages. Beginning in the late 1960s he developed Lexicon-G ...

(1934–2001), French linguist * Michael Gross (disambiguation), multiple people * Michael Groß, German politician * Michael Groß, German swimmer * Milt Gross (1895–1953), American comics artist *

Mimi Gross Mimi Gross (born 1940) is a New York City born American artist. Biography Early life Gross was born in New York City in 1940. She is the daughter of the sculptor Chaim Gross. She grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan among the artist comm ...

(born 1940), American artist *

Miriam Gross Miriam Gross, Lady Owen is a British literary editor and writer. She was the deputy literary editor of ''The Observer'' from 1969–81, the women's editor of ''The Observer'' from 1981–84, the arts editor of ''The Daily Telegraph'' from 198 ...

(born 1939), British editor, journalist and writer * Mirjana Gross (1922–2012), Croatian historian and writer * Morris Gross, American college sports coach *

Neil Gross Neil Louis Gross (born June 1, 1971)"Neil Gross." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center, Accessed 13 June 2018. is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology and chair of the department of sociology at Colby College. ...

(born 1971), American sociologist and academic * Nikolaus Gross (1898–1945), German anti-Nazi activist *

Otto Gross Otto Hans Adolf Gross (; 17 March 1877 – 13 February 1920) was an Austrian psychoanalyst. A maverick early disciple of Sigmund Freud, he later became an anarchist and joined the utopian Ascona community. His father Hans Gross was a judge tur ...

(1877–1920), Austrian psychoanalyst *

Pascal Groß Pascal Alexander Groß ( born 15 June 1991) is a German professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder or full-back (association football), full-back for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Germany national football ...

(born 1991), German footballer *

Paul Gross Paul Michael Gross (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian actor, film and television director, screenwriter, playwright, and producer. He rose to fame for his lead role as RCMP Constable Benton Fraser on the popular Canadian television series '' ...

(born 1959), Canadian actor * Pete Gross, American sports announcer * Philip Gross (born 1952), English poet *

Ricco Groß Ricco Groß (also spelled Gross, born 22 August 1970) is a German former biathlete. He is one of the most successful biathletes of all time at the Winter Olympics and the World Championships. Personal life He has been married to his wife Kathri ...

(born 1970), German retired biathlete * Rita Gross (1943–2015), American educator, writer, and theologian * Robert A. Gross (1927–2018), American physicist * Robert A. Gross (born 1959), American historian and professor * Robert Arthur Gross (1914–1983), American violinist and composer * Robert E. Gross (1897–1961), American businessman *

Robert Edward Gross Robert Edward Gross (July 2, 1905 – October 11, 1988) was an American surgeon and a medical researcher. He performed early work in pediatric heart surgery at Boston Children's Hospital. Gross was president of the American Association for Thoraci ...

(1905–1988), American pioneering pediatric surgeon * Roland Gross (1909–1989), American film editor *

Sam Gross Sam Gross (August 7, 1933 – May 6, 2023) was an American cartoonist, specializing in single-panel cartoons. He contributed to an array of publications, including ''The New Yorker''. History Born in The Bronx, New York City, Gross was the son ...

, American cartoonist * Samuel David Gross (1805–1884), American surgeon * Sara Gross (born 1976), Canada-born British triathlete *

Stanislav Gross Stanislav Gross (; 30 October 1969 – 16 April 2015) was a Czech lawyer and politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party from 2004 until 2005 when he resigned as a result of ...

(1969–2015), Czech lawyer, politician and former social-democratic Prime Minister * Susanna Gross, English newspaper editor *

Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NP ...

(born 1951), American radio personality * Tom Gross, journalist and political commentator * Walter Gross (disambiguation), multiple people * William H. Gross (born 1944), American financial manager and author *

Yoram Gross Yoram Jerzy Gross (18 October 192621 September 2015) was a Polish-born, Australian film and television producer, animation director, and writer of children's and family entertainment. He founded the animation studio Flying Bark Productions. ...

(1926–2015), Polish–Australian film producer

Fictional characters

* Dr. Gross, a character in the ''Adventure Time'' miniseries "

Islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

" * Dr Gröss, a character in Faces of Death and its sequels. It can also refer to Heinrich Gross

People with this surname

Fictional characters

See also