Kovács

Look up Kovacs, kovács, or Kovács in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Kovács or Kovacs, meaning blacksmith, is one of the most common Hungarian family names.^[1]

History

The name is found in Hungary and Hungarian expatriate communities. There are similar names with the Kováts or Kovách spellings. The name means "blacksmith" in Hungarian, and it is probably q loanword from Slavic languages or an ancient steepe word for blacksmith^[2]. There are 221,688 people in Hungary who are named Kovács, making the name the second most common family name among Hungarians.^{[citation needed]}

Cognates

Covaci in Romania
Koufax in Yiddish
Kovač in many South Slavic and West Slavic communities
Kováč in Slovakia
Kovach, the Carpatho-Ruthenian form
Kovachev in Bulgaria
Kovaçi in Albania
Kaval in Belarus (also Kavalchuk, Kavalenka, Kavaliou, Kavalski, Kavalchyk, Kavalevich)
Koval in Ukraine and Russia (also Kovalchuk, Kovalchyk, Kovalenko, Kovalyov, Kovalevych, Kovalsky)
Kovář (also Kováč) in Czech Republic.
Kowal in Poland (also Kowalczyk, Kowalski)
Kovač in Croatia (also Kovačić, Kovačević)

Notable people

Ágnes Kovács (born 1981), Hungarian swimmer
Angela Kovács (born 1964), Swedish actress
Barbara Kovács (born 1993), Hungarian racewalker
Balázs Kovács (born 1977), Hungarian hurdler
Bill Kovacs (1949–2006), American pioneer of commercial computer animation technology
Dan Kovacs (born 1970), American powerlifter
Dénes Kovács (1930–2005), Hungarian violinist
Edit Kovács (fencer) (born 1954), Hungarian foil fencer
Edit Kovács (swimmer) (born 1951), Hungarian swimmer
Ella Kovacs (born 1964), Romanian middle distance runner
Ernie Kovacs (1919–1962), American entertainer
Ervin Kováts (1927–2012), Hungarian-born Swiss chemist known for the Kovats retention index
Frank Kovacs (1919–1990), American tennis player
Fred Kovacs, American soccer player
Gábor Kovács (financier) (born 1957), Hungarian financier, banker, art collector, philanthropist and founder of KOGART
Greg Kovacs (born 1968), American bodybuilder
Iván Kovács (born 1970), Hungarian épée fencer
János Kovács (born 1985), Hungarian footballer
Joe Kovacs (puppeteer) (born 1967), American puppeteer
Joe Kovacs (born 1989), American track and field athlete
Julie Kovacs (born 1959), American chemist
Kálmán Kovács (disambiguation)
Katalin Kovács (born 1976), Hungarian canoer
Ladislav Kovács (born 1991), Slovak Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player
László Kovács (politician) (born 1939), Hungarian politician and diplomat
László Kovács (cinematographer) (1933–2007), Hungarian-American cinematographer
Magda Kósáné Kovács (1940–2020), Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament
Michael Kovats de Fabriczy (1724–1779), Hungarian noble and military officer. Known as a founding father of the United States Cavalry.
Michal Kováč (1930–2016), first president of Slovakia
Mišo Kovač (born 1941), Croatian singer
Margit Kovács (1902–1977) Hungarian ceramist and sculptor
Pál Kovács (1912–1995), Hungarian saber fencer
Péter Kovács (footballer) (born 1978), Hungarian footballer
Richard Kovacs (1885–1950), physician
Robin Kovacs (born 1996), Swedish ice hockey player
Rita Kovács (born 1970), Hungarian swimmer
Sándor J. Kovács (born 1947), Hungarian-American cardiologist
Sandy Koufax (born 1935), American baseball player
Sharon Kovacs (born 1990), Dutch singer
Stephen Kovacs (1972–2022), saber fencer and fencing coach, charged with sexual assault, died in prison
István Kovács (footballer born 1920) (1920–1995), Romanian football manager
Viktor Kovács (born 1973), Hungarian track and field athlete
Zoltán Kovács (ice hockey) (born 1962), Hungarian ice hockey coach and administrator
Zsófia Kovács (triathlete) (born 1988), Hungarian triathlete

Fictional characters

Takeshi Kovacs, a fictional character in three books by Richard Morgan
Walter Kovacs, the identity of the character Rorschach, in the DC Comic series Watchmen
Kirilli Kovacs, a character in Darren Shan's series, The Demonata.

References

^ Ganzhina, I. M. (2001) Словарь современных русских фамилий. Moscow: Astrel. p. 260. ISBN 5-271-00127-X.
^ Cresswell, Julia (2010). "The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins". The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. Retrieved https://discord.com/invite/BNWcUmAR9N. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help); Check date values in: |access-date= and |archive-date= (help); External link in |access-date= and |archive-date= (help)

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Kovács (Kovacs).
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.

Surnames associated with the occupation of smith

Celtic