Kania
A surname most likely from a Slavic word for a kite or hawk, or from a nickname based on that bird.
The #8,102 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 75,451 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kania is best understood as a Slavic surname built from a word for a bird of prey or similar bird, especially Polish "kania," meaning a kite or, in some contexts, a hawk-like bird. Such surnames often began as nicknames for someone thought to resemble the bird in appearance, habits, or temperament. In some cases, names of this type can also come from a place name or a house sign, so the exact route is not always certain.
History
The surname is well established in Poland and appears in other Slavic-speaking regions as well. Outside its homeland it spread through migration, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is now found in immigrant communities in North America and elsewhere. The name is also encountered in a few different spelling traditions, but Kania is the standard modern form.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In Polish, "kania" is also the common word for a kind of bird, which makes the surname especially vivid and easy to remember.
From the historical record
“ilbeitniBet, 1,79! ihid.p.447 William Bett;o;.,?o. Yor£ ^. .. 1581. Franca Betlea, co. Kania; Rer. Univ. Oif, vol. LL pi, ii, p. log. ' imo. John Beta, co. Kent, ibid. p. 176. 1696. Buried-Bctaon ; St. HalyAlder-”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances