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

Zečević, 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 Zečević surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zečević in America

Zečević is the 89753rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zečević surname appeared 206 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Zečević.

We can also compare 2010 data for Zečević 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 Zečević

The surname Zecevic originates from the Southeastern region of Europe, specifically the Balkan Peninsula, and is prevalent in countries such as Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name is of Slavic origin and belongs to a category of surnames known as patronymics—names derived from the given name of an ancestor. The root of Zecevic can be closely linked to the word Zec, which means "hare" or "rabbit" in Serbo-Croatian languages. The suffix -vic is a common Slavic patronymic denotation translating to "son of" or "descendant of," thus making Zecevic mean "son of Zec."

Historical references indicate that surnames in the Balkan region were significantly standardized from the medieval to the early modern period. The use of Zecevic as a surname likely became more fixed, particularly in record-keeping and census documents introduced under various regional empires like the Ottoman Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian rule in the 18th and 19th centuries. Despite not being documented in a specific manuscript like the Domesday Book, which pertains to England, the surname appears in various parish records, military conscriptions, and civil registries from these eras.

The earliest recorded examples of the name are found in church and state records from the 17th century when documenting births, marriages, and deaths became more systematic. For instance, a record from a Serbian Orthodox Church in the mid-1600s notes the baptism of a child from the Zecevic family. This surname also appears in tax records from the Ottoman period, showing the prevalence of the name in regional administrative centers like Belgrade and Sarajevo.

Notable individuals bearing the surname Zecevic include Milutin Zecevic (1832–1905), a Serbian educator and linguist who made significant contributions to the development of the modern Serbian language in the 19th century. Another early figure is Nikola Zecevic, a Montenegrin soldier famous for his role in the Montenegrin–Ottoman conflicts of the late 18th century, specifically in the Battle of Krusi in 1796. Marko Zecevic (1888–1949) was a Croatian politician who played a critical role in the political landscape of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the interwar period.

In more recent history, Dragoslav Zecevic (1924–2007) was a Yugoslav and Serbian chemist recognized internationally for his work in organic chemistry. The name appears in cultural fields as well, with Milica Zecevic (born 1953), a renowned Serbian painter whose works have been exhibited in galleries across Europe and beyond.

The surname Zecevic has endured through centuries, maintaining its cultural and historical significance within the Slavic-speaking regions of the Balkans. The continuity of such surnames speaks volumes about the persistence of familial and cultural identities in this culturally rich and historically complex area of Europe.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zečević

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

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 Zečević 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 Zečević 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 Zečević was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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