Find out how popular the last name Kovac is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Kovac.

Kovac, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Kovac surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kovac in America

Kovac is the 11299th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kovac surname appeared 2,795 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Kovac.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kovac to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Kovac

The surname Kovac is of Slavic origin and is most commonly found in Croatia, Serbia, and other parts of the Balkans. The name is derived from the Slavic word "kováč," which means "blacksmith" or "metalworker." This suggests that the earliest bearers of this surname were likely involved in the metalworking trade.

The name can be traced back to the Middle Ages, and it is believed to have been first used as a descriptive surname to identify individuals by their occupation. In the 14th century, records from the city of Split in Croatia mention a person named Petrus Kováč, which is one of the earliest known instances of the name.

In the 15th century, the name appears in various historical documents in the region, such as the "Codex Diplomaticus Regni Croatiae, Dalmatiae et Slavoniae," which contains references to individuals with the surname Kovac or its variants.

One notable bearer of the name was Josip Kovačić (1854-1934), a Croatian writer and politician who played a significant role in the Croatian national revival movement in the late 19th century. Another famous Kovac was Mirko Kovač (1938-2013), a prominent Serbian writer and novelist whose works explored themes of identity and the human condition.

Other historical figures with the surname Kovac include Marin Kovačić (1508-1570), a Croatian military commander and nobleman who fought against the Ottoman Empire, and Petar Kovačić (1816-1892), a Croatian lawyer and politician who was a leading figure in the Croatian National Revival.

In the 19th century, the name became more widespread as industrialization and urbanization led to an increase in metalworking and related trades. Consequently, the surname Kovac was adopted by families across the Slavic regions, and it continues to be a common surname in these areas today.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kovac

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Kovac.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Kovac was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Kovac has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Kovac was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Kovac, please contact us.

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