Kozak
A Slavic surname usually meaning “Cossack,” often used as an ethnic nickname or byname.
The #4,733 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,194 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kozak is a Slavic surname built on the word for “Cossack,” a term used in eastern Europe for the frontier warrior communities of the steppe. In many languages, the name could function as a nickname or identifying label for someone thought to be a Cossack, Cossack-like, or from a region associated with Cossacks. The underlying word ultimately comes from Turkic kazak, meaning “free man” or “adventurer.”
History
The surname is especially familiar in Poland and Ukraine, and it also appears in other Slavic-speaking regions and in diaspora communities. Like many surnames formed from ethnonyms or social labels, it could arise independently in different places. In North America it is found mainly through immigration from eastern and central Europe.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root gave English the word “Cossack,” but in many Slavic languages the surname keeps the shorter form Kozak.