Kovač
Kovač (Cyrillic: Ковач), meaning "forger" (or "blacksmith") in Slavic languages, is a common surname in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia. Outside Europe, the surname is fairly common in the United States (especially Texas and California), Canada, and South America.
Kovač is a common surname in Croatia, with 9,614 carriers (2011 census),[1] most of them living in northern and eastern parts of the country and in Serbia with 8,749 people bearing it. In Slovenia, some 4,800 bear this surname.
The surname Kovács is the Hungarian loanword of this word, and is one of the most frequent surnames in Hungary. The Romanian form is Covaci, and it is also a relatively frequent surname in Romania.
The derivative forms Kovačić or Slovenian Kovačič, as well as Kovačević and Bulgarian Kovachev, are also very common.
Cognates
- Kovac in the United States and parts of South America was often shortened from a longer last name given out to people who could not spell their last name. Example: Dukovac was shortened to Kovac.
- Koval in Ukraine (also Kovalchuk, Kovalenko, Kovalev)
- Kowal in Poland (also Kowalczyk, Kowalski)
- Kovach, the Carpatho-Ruthenian form
- Kovács, Kováts or Kovách in Hungary
- Kováč in Slovakia
- Kovář (also Kováč) in Czech Republic.
- Covaci in Romania
Notable people
- Aleksandra Kovač, Serbian singer/songwriter
- Boris Kovač, Serbian composer and multi-instrumentalist
- Edvard Kovač, Slovenian theologian
- Jože Kovač, Slovenian hockey player
- Kornelije Kovač, Serbian musician/producer
- Kristina Kovač, Serbian singer/songwriter
- Marko Kovač, Serbian architect, film director and actor
- Mario Kovač (disambiguation), several notable Croatian people (a director, an inventor, a politician...)
- Michal Kováč, Slovakian politician
- Mirko Kovač, Montenegrin writer
- Mirko Kovač, Serbian basketball player
- Mišo Kovač, Croatian singer
- Niko Kovač, Croatian football player
- Radoslav Kováč, Czech football player
- Robert Kovač, Croatian football player
- Roberto Kovac, Swiss basketball player
- Slobodan Kovač, Serbian volleyball player
- Tinkara Kovač, Slovenian singer/musician
- Thomas Kovač, Belgian researcher
Fictional
- Luka Kovač, doctor portrayed by Goran Višnjić on ER
Places
- Kovač is a village in the Czech Republic
- Kovach, sometimes transliterated Kovač, is a village in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria
- Kovač is a village in the Republic of Macedonia
Medicine
- Kovac's reagent, a biochemical reagent used for the diagnostical indole test
See also
References
- ↑ "Names and surnames in Republic of Croatia". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012. Retrieved 2013-09-08.