Surname Kopec - Meaning and Origin
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Kopec: What does the surname Kopec mean?
The last name Kopec is of Polish origin and is an occupational surname. It is derived from the old Polish word “kopiec” which means “hill of having a raised mound of earth.” This was most likely given to a family of hill-dwellers or those who lived at the top of a hill. It could also have been given to those who worked as a digger of trenches, ditches, or hillocks.
The Kopec name is wide-spread across the globe, with large populations in Poland, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Germany. It is known to be an old and noble name with a proud pedigree.
In Poland, Kopec can also be translated to mean “leader or manager of a group”. This again shows how indicative the name is of those who rose to a position of leadership.
Other variations on the spelling of the name Kopec can include Kopecz, Kopecs, Kopecsky, or Kopecky.
Overall, the last name Kopec suggests a family of strength, ambition, and success. It has long been associated with those who have risen to positions of power and leadership, and also with those who have successfully lived above the earth on the highest parts of hills.
Order DNA origin analysisKopec: Where does the name Kopec come from?
The last name Kopec is of Polish origin and is most common in Poland today, followed closely by the United States and Slovakia. As of 2020, statistics showed that the Kopec surname ranked 2,390th in Poland, indicating that it is quite common there.
In the United States, the age-adjusted rate of Kopec occurrence showed that the Kopec surname was present in the top 10,000 names, with the highest numbers of occurrences being located in the south-eastern states of Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia.
In Slovakia, the Kopec surname was the 412th most common in 2017, showing that it is still relatively common there as well. As more people emigrated from their native nations to other countries in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Kopec surname was spread across the world to nations such as Mexico, England, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, and Brazil.
Regardless of where in the world people with the last name Kopec reside, it has become prevalent in many different cultures and in weddings, people from all over the world will say the surname with pride. Additionally, with such a strong presence of this surname in certain regions, it is not uncommon to find people of the same family with different variation of the Kopec name.
Variations of the surname Kopec
Kopec is an occupational surname of Polish origin, derived from the word kopac meaning “to dig”. It can be spelled in several different ways including Kopec, Kopeć, Kópac, Kopeczky, Kopecska, Kopecky, Kopecny, Kopecek, Kopecka, and Kopetski. Each of these spellings refer to the same origin and they are all interchangeable.
Kopec is also a variant of the Jewish surname Kabak. This variant is derived from a Hebrew word meaning “catcher” or “trapper”, which may refer to someone who catches or traps small game. This surname is found most commonly throughout Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovakia but is also found in Germany and the United States. Variations of this surname include Kaba, Kabek, Kabel, Kaboc, Kabol, Kapak, and Kapel.
The surname Kopec has also been used as an anglicization of several ethnic names such as Kopetski and Kopchev. Kopech and Kopetski refer to a person of Ukrainian or Belarusian ancestry, while Kopchev is of Russian or Bulgarian origin. These surnames were most likely anglicised when immigrants of these different ethnicities arrived in Britain or North America.
In summary, the surname Kopec has many different variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin. These alternate spellings are derived from various sources such as Polish, Jewish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Russian and Bulgarian. They are all interchangeable, but are all derived from the same origin.
Famous people with the name Kopec
- Alan Kopec: American historian and Ohio State University professor who focuses on the history of eastern Europe
- Chris Kopec: Former professional tennis player and current tennis coach at the University of Alabama
- Dave Kopec: American chess grandmaster who has been a strong competitor in international tournaments
- Ernest Kopec: Polish football player who was a two-time medalist in the Olympics
- John Kopec: Canadian soccer coach and former professional soccer player who has coached in the North American Soccer League
- Joanna Kopec: Polish screen and stage actress known for Netflix series, 1983
- Stan Kopec: retired professional ice hockey player who played in the NHL and WHL
- Stanley Kopec: retired American football player who played 11 seasons in the NFL and one in the CFL
- Tim Kopec: Former professional basketball player who is now a sports agent
- Timothy Kopec: American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour