POLAK
Polak is a surname of Polish origin. It is used chiefly to denote an individual who is a Pole or of Polish descent.
The etymology of the name is straightforward: it derives from the Polish word Polak, meaning “a Pole” or “a person from Poland”. In the original context the term is simply a geographic or ethnic identifier.
Historical records show that the surname appears in Germany under several spellings, including Polack, Polak, Pollack, Pollach and Pohlack. The earliest documented instance is that of Kurschener Polag, recorded in the registers of the town of Golitz in 1480 during the reign of Emperor Joseph in the German Empire. Later entries from the 17th and 18th centuries include Elisabet Pollack, christened in Dortmund, Westfalen, on 10 February 1664, and Christian Pohlack, christened in Berlin Stadt, Brandenburg, on 16 July 1722. The name was among the earliest German surnames to arrive in the United States, and records indicate that it was in use during the period of American independence (1771‑1783). An example of early American use is the christening of Anna Margaretha Polak in Rensselacr, Brunswick, New York, on 10 December 1777, where witnesses included Bernhard Polak and his wife Agnes.
In contemporary times the surname is most common in Poland, where it is borne by more than 16 per cent of the population and is one of the country’s most frequent surnames. It also appears widely in Germany (the twentieth‑fifth most common surname), the Czech Republic (the eighth most common name) and in the United States, where it ranks among the fifty most common Polish‑origin surnames. In the United States the surname is particularly prevalent in Midwestern states such as Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, where there is a high concentration of Polish‑American communities. The name can be found in other regions of the world, including Australia where it has been present since at least the mid‑nineteenth century, the United Kingdom (notably in Scotland, Wales and certain parts of England), South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
There exist numerous variants of the surname, many reflecting linguistic adaptations in different countries. Among the most common are Polakowski and Polkowski, which in Poland and other Slavic nations are understood to mean “son of the Pole”; Polacco or Polakoff, used mainly in the United States and likely derived from the Italian Polacco; Pollack or Pollock, which are the Germanised versions of the Yiddish פּאָלאַק; Paulsen or Polsen, which appear in Finland and Scandinavia; Polnik and Polski, found in certain parts of Russia; Polich, also a Russian variant; and Polyak or Polyack, used in Russia and Ukraine and derived from a combination of the Russian words Поляк “Pole” and ацкий “son of”.
While the name in its original Polish usage is simply descriptive, it has been used in certain contexts outside of Poland with pejorative connotations, thereby stereotype or deride those of Polish heritage. Nevertheless, within the Polish community it remains a neutral and commonly used identifier of ancestry or nationality. The persistence of the surname across Europe, North America and other parts of the world reflects long‑standing migration patterns and the wide diaspora of people with Polish roots.
Typical given names associated with the Polak surname
Male
- Daniel
- Elliot
- Jan
- John
- Marcin
- Marek
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Simon
- Thomas
- Zbigniew
Female
- Agnieszka
- Anna
- Charlotte
- Elissa
- Emma
- Ewa
- Jan
- Joanna
- Malgorzata
- Marilyn
- Marta
- Paulina
- Sophie
- Tracy
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Polak in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 617 people named Polak in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around nine in a million people in Britain are named Polak.
Region of origin: Europe
Country of origin: Poland
Language of origin: Polish
Famous people named Polak
- Ben Polak - Economist
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.