Kranz is a German language-derived surname; in German the word means wreath.
People bearing the name include:
Ashley Kranz, winner of CMT Canada's "CMT Casting Call 2007"
Bernhard Kranz, German highly decorated Hauptmann der Reserve in the Wehrmacht during World War II
Carl Frederick Kranz, German-born minister and teacher, founder of the German Evangelical Proseminary, founding president of Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois
Fran Kranz, American actor
Gene Kranz, American NASA flight director and manager
George Kranz, German dance music singer and percussionist
Hugo Kranz, German-born businessman and political figure in Ontario, Canada
Jacob ben Wolf Kranz, Jewish Lithuania (Belarus)-born preacher (maggid)
James P. Kranz Jr., American lawyer
Ken Kranz, American NFL football player
Markus Kranz, German football coach and former player
Neal Kranz, Guam wrestler
Paula Dean Broadwell (née Kranz), American writer, academic, and anti-terrorism professional
Stanislaus Kranz, birth name of Stanley Cortez, American cinematographer
Walther Kranz, German Classical philologist and historian of philosophy
Places include:
Kranz Peak, a peak in the Queen Maud Mountains
Kręcko (German: Kranz), a village in western Poland
Other uses include:
Frankfurter Kranz, a cake specialty believed to originate from Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Kranz anatomy, a characteristic leaf anatomy often possessed by C4 plants
Professor Kranz tedesco di Germania, a 1978 Italian comedy film