The Kowalski surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 18,077 people carried this name — #1,999 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 16,300 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (18,134).
What the name means
The meaning of the Kowalski surname
From kowal + -ski, translating roughly to 'from the Smith's hamlet.'
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Kowalski» (Polish), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Poland’s population register
121,407 people named Kowalski have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 134,435 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in all 16 of Poland’s voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere 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 France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 1,035 people named Kowalski.
246 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 58 départements, most often Pas-de-Calais.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
219 people named Kowalski live in Switzerland.
They live in 16 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 139 people named Kowalski 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.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 95 people named Kowalski 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 the Nordic population registers
526 people named Kowalski are counted in Norway and Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers.
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) · Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Kowalski in American newspapers,
1895–1963.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 34,874 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Kowalski,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Marian Kowalski 1821–1884 · astronomer -
Stanisław von Kowalski 1837–1908 · military officer -
Henri Kowalski 1841–1916 · composer -
Yelizaveta Kovalskaya 1851–1943 · university teacher -
Leon Kowalski 1870–1937 · photographer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 224 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Kowalski.
- Kovacs 9,072 · 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
- Koza 1,469 · U.S. census
- Kozak 7,495 · U.S. census
- Koziel 801 · U.S. census
- Koziol 3,194 · U.S. census
- Kozlowski 10,358 · U.S. census
- Kozma 1,294 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Kowalski 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.