The Kovacs surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 9,072 people carried this name — #3,917 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 32,500 people counted. That is up 3% from 8,775 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Kovacs surname
A surname originating as an occupation for a smith; one of the most common surnames in Hungary.
Common Slavic surname of Slovene, Czech, Slovak, and Serbo-Croatian origin, all from kovač (“smith”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Kovács» (Hungarian), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
864 people named Kovacs live in Switzerland.
They live in 20 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 313 people named Kovacs live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 269 people named Kovacs.
Most of them — 169 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 25 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 122 people named Kovacs live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Brussels-Capital.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In Poland’s population register
86 people named Kovacs have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 362 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 9 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
624 people named Kovacs are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Kovacs in American newspapers,
1912–1956.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 14,203 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Kovacs,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Richard Kovacs 1884–1950 · physician -
Ernie Kovacs 1919–1962 · actor -
Rorschach 1940–1985 · superhero -
Arp Kovacs 1948–2023 · painter -
Mijou Kovacs 1957– · actor
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 106 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Kovacs.
- Kouba 1,443 · U.S. census
- Kouyate 344 · U.S. census
- Kouyoumdjian 275 · U.S. census
- Kovac 2,795 · U.S. census
- Kovacevic 1,256 · U.S. census
- Kovacic 975 · U.S. census
- Kowal 4,337 · U.S. census
- Kowalczyk 5,615 · U.S. census
- Kowalewski 2,718 · U.S. census
- Kowalik 1,435 · U.S. census
- Kowalska 153 · U.S. census
- Kowalski 18,077 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Kovacs is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.