Some time ago it was considered that this word is derived from the Middle High German word "kötze" or “kütze”, which means a woven basket (Tragekorb) or a kind of a coarse woolen garment (Oberkleid).
According to the Starling linguist's database,[3] this word originally referred to birds of prey, not specified by kind.
During the 14th and 18th centuries the word passed through a number of grammatical transformations from "kūtze" to "kutz", and finally into "kauz",.
In the 17th to 20th centuries, East Prussia was periodically captured by Poland, Germany or the Russian Empire.
Kutz is also a Germanized respelling of Polish Kuc, a nickname for a short person from a noun meaning "pony".