What does Krauss mean?

Krauss means curly, frizzy, or wavy-haired in German, and is a variant spelling of Kraus and Krause, all sharing the same origin and meaning. Krauss comes from Middle High German krus meaning curly, and was used as a nickname surname in medieval Germany for someone with curly hair. The double s spelling Krauss is common in southern Germany, Bavaria, and Austria, while Kraus is more common in northern and eastern Germany, and Krause with an e is common throughout Germany. All variations mean the same, curly-haired. The surname Krauss is ranked among the most common surnames in Germany and is also common among Ashkenazi Jewish families who adopted German surnames. In modern German, kraus still means curly or frizzy, as in krauses Haar meaning curly hair, or confused or crumpled in figurative use like krause Ideen meaning confused ideas. As a family name, Krauss simply denotes ancestry from someone with curly hair. Famous people with the name include film director Lawrence Krauss? Actually Lawrence Krauss is a physicist, and Werner Krauss was a German actor. The brand Kraus USA uses the spelling Kraus without double s, but Krauss with double s is the same meaning. So Krauss means curly, and as a surname it means one who is curly-haired, of German ethnicity.