Kovač ( sh-Cyrl, Ковач) is a surname derived from the

Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium BC through the 6th ...

word kovač, which translates to

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

. It is common across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, specifically countries in

Southeast Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

such as

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, and

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Kovač is a common surname in Croatia, with 9,614 carriers (2011 census), most of them living in northern and eastern parts of the country. The surname is one of the most common surnames in five counties of

. It is common in Serbia, with 8,749 people bearing it. In Slovenia, some 4,800 have this surname. Outside

, the surname is fairly common in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(especially

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The surname

Kovács Kovács or Kovacs, meaning blacksmith, is one of the most common Hungarian family names. History The name is found in Hungary and Hungarian expatriate communities. There are similar names with the Kováts or Kovách spellings. The name means "bl ...

is the Hungarian loanword of this word, and is one of the most frequent surnames in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. The

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

form is

Covaci Covaci is the Romanian form of the name Kovač (Ковач), meaning "forger" or "blacksmith" in Slavic languages. Cognates * Kovač in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia * Kovac in the United States ...

, and it is also a relatively frequent surname in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The derivative forms Kovačić or Slovenian Kovačič, as well as

Kovačević Kovačević (Serbo-Croatian, sh-Cyrl, Ковачевић), Kovačevič ( Slovene and Slovak; feminine (Slovak): Kovačevičová) or Kovačovič (Slovak; feminine: Kovačovičová), is a Slavic surname meaning " lackmith's son". The surname is de ...

and Bulgarian

Kovachev Kovachev (; also transliterated ''Kovačev'') is a Bulgarian surname originating from the word ''Kovach'', meaning blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other meta ...

, are also very common.

Notable people

Aleksandra Kovač Aleksandra Kovač ( sr-Cyrl, Александра Ковач, ; born 1972) is a Serbian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer. She is the eldest daughter of composer Kornelije Kovač and the elder sister of singer Kristina Kovač. Alo ...

(born 1972), Serbian singer/songwriter *

Boris Kovač Boris Kovač (; born 1955) is a Serbian composer and multi-instrumentalist. Biography Kovač was born in Novi Sad, Vojvodina region of Serbia, then part of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia. He studied on the accordion as a chi ...

(born 1955), Serbian composer and multi-instrumentalist *

Edvard Kovač Fr. Edvard Kovač (born 1950) is a Slovenian theologian, philosopher and author. He is a member of the Order of Friars Minor and professor at the University of Ljubljana Theological Faculty and the Catholic University of Toulouse. Kovač is ...

(born 1950), Slovenian theologian *

Jože Kovač Joze Kovac (born September 23, 1961) is a former Yugoslav ice hockey player. He played for the Yugoslavia men's national ice hockey team at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different langua ...

(born 1961), Slovenian hockey player *

Kordula Kovac Kordula Kovac (born 22 October 1957) is a German politician of the CDU who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag for the state of Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of German ...

(born 1957), German politician *

Kornelije Kovač Kornelije "Bata" Kovač ( sr-Cyrl, Корнелије "Бата" Ковач, ; ; 1 January 1942 – 13 September 2022) was a Serbian composer. Early life Born in Niš during World War II in the Nazi-occupied Serbia to a Hungarian father an ...

(1942–2022), Serbian musician/producer *

Kristina Kovač Kristina Kovač ( sr-Cyrl, Кристина Ковач, ; born 10 November 1974) is a Serbian singer and composer. She became famous during the 1990s when she and her sister Aleksandra Kovač were a big attraction in Serbia and surrounding count ...

(born 1974), Serbian singer/songwriter * Marko Kovač (born 1981), Serbian architect, film director and actor * * Mirko Kovač (1938–2013), Montenegrin writer * Mirko Kovač (born 1983), Serbian basketball player *

Mišo Kovač Mate "Mišo" Kovač (; born 16 July 1941) is a Croatian recording artist. He is the best selling artist from Croatia and former Yugoslavia, with well over 20 million records, cassettes and compact discs sold to date, and is often regarded as one ...

(born 1941), Croatian singer * Niko Kovač (born 1971), Croatian football player and coach * Nikola "NiKo" Kovač (born 1997), Bosnian professional ''

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games, in which opposing teams attempt to complete various objectives. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, '' Counte ...

'' player * Robert Kovač (born 1974), Croatian football player * Roberto Kovac (born 1990), Swiss basketball player * Slobodan Kovač (born 1967), Serbian volleyball player *

Sonja Kovač Sonja Kovač (born 18 June 1984) is a Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to th ...

(born 1984), Croatian actress and model *

Tinkara Kovač Tinkara Kovač (born 3 September 1978) is a Slovenian singer and flautist. She represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, finishing in 25th place. Career Career in general Her professional career as a singer sta ...

(born 1978), Slovenian singer/musician

Cognates

* Koval in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

(also Kovalchuk, Kovalenko,

Kovalev Kovalyov (), often written as Kovalev, or its feminine variant Kovalyova, Kovaleva (), is a common Russian surname, an equivalent of the English surname Smithson (derived from the Ukrainian word koval' (), which means "blacksmith"). Due to the am ...

) *

Kowal Kowal may refer to: * Kowal (surname), a surname *Kowal (town) Kowal is a town in Włocławek County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,478 inhabitants (2004). History Kowal was the birthplace of Casimir III the Great, the last P ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

(also

Kowalczyk Kowalczyk is the fifth most common surname in Poland (98,739 people in 2009). Ministry of Interior (Poland). Statystyka najpopularniejszych nazwisk występujących w Polsce in 2009'' (The most popular surnames in Poland in 2009). The name comes ...

Kowalski Kowalski (; feminine: Kowalska, plural: Kowalscy) is the second most common surname in Poland (140,471 people in 2009). ''Kowalski'' surname is derived from the word ''kowal'', meaning " lackmith". " Jan Kowalski" is used as a placeholder name ...

) * Kovach, the Carpatho-Ruthenian form *

, Kováts or Kovách in

Kováč Kováč (pronounced: K-OH-v-ae-k), feminine: Kováčová, is a surname in Slovakia. It may refer to: ; Kováč * Alan Kováč (born 1993), Slovak footballer * Dušan Kováč (born 1942), Slovak historian * Ervín Kováč (1911–1972), Slovak ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Kovář Kovář (; feminine Kovářová, ; anglicized as Kovar) is a Czech surname Czech names are composed of a given name and a family name (surname). Czechs typically get one given name – additional names may be chosen by themselves upon baptism but ...

(also Kováč) in

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

* Kovaçi in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Fictional characters

Luka Kovač Luka Kovač is a fictional character from the NBC television series '' ER''. The role was portrayed by Goran Višnjić from the sixth season episode, "Leave It to Weaver", which aired on September 30, 1999 until the thirteenth season episode, "T ...

, doctor portrayed by Goran Višnjić on ''ER'' * Steve Kovac, character cryogenically frozen in Howard Fast's ''The Cold, Cold Box''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovac Occupational surnames Surnames of Serbian origin Surnames of Montenegrin origin Surnames of Bosnian origin Surnames of Croatian origin Slovene-language surnames

Notable people

Cognates

Fictional characters

See also

References