In Slovenia, the picture is clear. The most common surname is Novak. Novakov is currently over 11,000 in Slovenia, followed by Horvat and Kovačič. What is the picture in Europe, you can read below, as well as what the most common surnames say about the character and history of individual European countries.
According to current data from the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, the most common surname in Slovenia is Novak. But you already knew that. But you probably didn't know that Novak is also the most common surname in Poland (Nowak) and the Czech Republic (Novák) and that our second most common surname is – Croat – the most common surname in Croatia.
Map with the most common surnames in Europe was prepared by a Czech linguist, artist and mathematician Jakub Marian, who not only delved into statistics, but also dealt with onomastics or nomenclature, which, among other things, helps shed light on social history. And what is the meaning of the surname Novak? A word comes from the word new (as a newbie). Novák was once a man selected for military service, but it was also a professional name for a man who creates new cultivated areas (the newspapers). But the surname originates from elsewhere. Slovenes use the word Novak to denote an immigrant, a foreigner who immigrated to us. This was so important to our ancestors that they included this information in the foreigner's name, which was then passed on to his descendants.
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Horvat is the most common surname in both Slovakia and Croatia, because Croats are most defined by being Croats (Horvat is an old term for a Croat). The other most common European surnames also have interesting backgrounds. Germans used to be a land of millers, that's why Müller expectedly at the top of the list. It is the same in Switzerland. The English used to have all blacksmiths (Smith) and they still are today, but only by surname and not by profession. Many French are obviously descendants of the god Mars (in Roman mythology he was the god of spring, fertility and war and the patron saint of farmers), as most of them are written Martin (the word is derived from the word Mars). There were apparently a lot of redheads in Italy at one time, as it is their most common surname Rossi (plural for rosso meaning red). Russians apparently once considered themselves to be very silent, peaceful and gentle, as their most common surname Smirnov means just that. Naked is the most common surname in Hungary and means 'big' (a nickname for a big and influential person).
More information:
jakubmarian.com
