Novak

For the manufacturer of radio control electronic equipment, see Novak Electronics.
Look up Novák or Nowak in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Novak (in Serbo-Croatian and Slovene), Novák (in Hungarian, Czech and Slovak), Nowak (in German and Polish) is a Slavic name, both used as a given name and surname, derived from the word for "new" (e.g. Polish: nowy, Czech: nový, Serbo-Croatian: novo) meaning something similar to "new man", "newcomer", or "stranger" in English. The name was often given to a new arrival in a city or a convert to Christianity. It was also used for newcomers to an army and as an occupational surname for people who used the slash-and-burn method to create new arable land—novina.[1] It is pronounced almost the same way in most languages, with the stress on the first syllable. The main exception is Slovene, which places the stress on the last syllable.

It is the most common surname in the Czech Republic,[2][3] Poland,[4] and Slovenia,[5] and the sixth most common in Croatia. It is also found in Romania and Moldova in the Novac form and among Ashkenazi Jews in various forms depending on their country of origin.[6]

Spelling

The surname is usually spelled Novák in Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian, Nowak in Polish, Novak (Cyrillic: Новак) in Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian, and Novac in Romanian. In Germany, the most common orthography is Nowak, with German "w" pronounced as English "v". Many Americans with the surname Nowak have Anglicized it to Novak or Novack.

In specific countries

Poland

As of 2009, Nowak (Polish pronunciation: [ˈnɔvak]) is the most common surname in Poland, having surpassed Kowalski.[4] Its plural is Nowakowie ([nɔvaˈkɔvjɛ]). Nowak is used by both male and female individuals. The archaic feminine version is Nowakowa ([nɔvaˈkɔva]). Related surnames include Nowakowski (feminine: Nowakowska; plural: Nowakowscy), Nowacki (feminine: Nowacka; plural: Nowaccy), and Nowakiewicz.

Nowak is the most common surname in nine voivodeships (administrative units) of Poland, and second in another. It is ranked first in Greater Poland Voivodeship (35,011), Silesian Voivodeship (31,838), Lesser Poland Voivodeship (23,671), Łódź Voivodeship (15,460), Lower Silesian Voivodeship (13,217), West Pomeranian Voivodeship (7,444), Opole Voivodeship (5,538), Lubusz Voivodeship (5,444), and Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship (5,538), and second in Subcarpathian Voivodeship (9,301).

There are two noble families of Polish origin with the surname Nowak:

Czech Republic and Slovakia

Novák is widespread in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In both countries, the feminine form is Nováková. It is the most common surname in the Czech Republic.[2][3]

Slovenia

Novak is the most common surname in Slovenia with more than 11,000 sharing it.[5] There are however significant variations between regions: it is very common in central Slovenia (in the regions around Ljubljana and Celje), as well as in parts of southern Slovenia and eastern Slovenia (Lower Carniola, Prekmurje). It is much less common in northern and western Slovenia; in the Goriška region on the border with Italy, it is quite rare. The rank of the surname Novak in the Slovenian statistical regions: 1st in the Central Slovenia Statistical Region (3,422) and Savinja Statistical Region (1,380); 2nd in the Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region (1,231) and Mura Statistical Region (1,040); 3rd in the Drava Statistical Region (1,732); 5th in the Upper Carniola Statistical Region (963) and Lower Sava Statistical Region (380); 6th in the Coastal–Karst Statistical Region (228); 8th in the Central Sava Statistical Region (192); 10th in the Carinthia Statistical Region (238); 11th in the Inner Carniola–Karst Statistical Region (228); 131st in the Gorizia Statistical Region (171).

Other countries

In Croatia, Novak is the sixth most common surname.[7]

In Serbia and Montenegro, Novak is a given name, while Novaković is found as a common surname.

In Germany Nowak is 159th (c. 31,000) and Noack is 270th (c. 22,000), together with different spellings c. 64,000, with some concentration in the Ruhr area, around Salzgitter and Lüchow-Dannenberg and as Noack in Lusatia.

People

Novak surname

Nováková surname

Nowak surname

Novak given name

Main article: Novak (given name)

Fictional characters

See also

References

  1. ↑ Izvori priimkov. Imenoslovec prof. Pavle Merku. Mladina.si.
  2. 1 2 Mužská příjmení - občané ČR a cizí státní příslušníci - 20 nejčetnějších
  3. 1 2 Ženská přijmení - občanky ČR a cizí státní příslušnice - 20 nejčetnějších
  4. 1 2 Statystyka najpopularniejszych nazwisk występujących w Polsce in 2009 ("The most popular surnames in Poland in 2009"). Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Database of first names and family names". Demography and Social Studies. Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia. 1 January 2010. Archived from the original on 13 November 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  6. ↑ Laurence Urdang. The Last Word: The English Language: Opinions and Prejudices. OmniData. 2008. p. 228.
  7. ↑ "Most frequent surnames, Census 2011". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
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