Hudak
A Slavic surname most often understood as a nickname for a thin or slight person, especially in Slovak and related languages.
The #6,124 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 55,202 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hudak is a surname of Slavic origin, especially associated with Slovak and nearby East-Central European naming traditions. It is commonly explained from a nickname based on a Slavic word related to being skinny, weak, or slender, though exact details can vary by language and region. In some areas, surnames of this type arose independently from the same nickname root rather than from a single family line.
History
The name is found among Slovak, Polish, Ruthenian, and other Central/Eastern European communities, and many bearers later carried it to North America through 19th- and 20th-century immigration. In the United States it is now a relatively uncommon but established surname. Because similar forms occur across several Slavic languages, the name may reflect more than one local origin point.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname’s spelling often changes in migration records, with accents usually dropped and the final -k preserved or sometimes adapted to -ck in English-language documents.