Novak
Novak (in Serbo-Croatian and Slovene; Cyrillic: ), Novák (in Hungarian, Czech and Slovak), Nowak or Novack (in German and Polish), is a surname and masculine given name, derived from the slavic word for "new" (e.g. , , / ), which depending on the exact language and usage, translates as "novice", "new man", "newcomer", or "stranger". It seems to originate, at least by common occurrence, in the province of Upper Silesia, when Germanic stock moved into the upper Oder river region, the slavs referred to the "new men" as "Nowaks". Another theory is that "new man" refers to a person who has converted to  Christianity or to a new arrival in a city. It was also used for newcomers to an army and as an occupational surname for people who used the slash-and-burn method to create new arable land—"novina". It is pronounced almost the same way in most languages, with the stress on the first syllable. The main exception is Slovene, which places the stress on the last syllable. It is the most common surname in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia, and the sixth most common in Croatia. It is also found in Romania and Moldova, in the "Novac" form, and  among Ashkenazi Jews in various forms depending on their country of origin. Spelling. The surname is usually spelled Novák in Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian, Nowak in Polish and German, Novak () in Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian. In specific countries. Poland. As of 2009, Nowak ( ) is the most common surname in Poland, having surpassed Kowalski. Its plural is "Nowakowie" (). Nowak is used by both male and female individuals. The archaic feminine version is "Nowakowa" (). Related surnames include Nowakowski (feminine: Nowakowska; plural: Nowakowscy), Nowacki (feminine: Nowacka; plural: Nowaccy), Nowakowicz (gender-neutral), and Nowakiewicz (gender-neutral). Nowak is the most common  surname in nine voivodeships (administrative units) of Poland, and second in another. It is ranked first in Greater Poland Voivodeship (35,011), Silesian Voivodeship (31,838), Lesser Poland Voivodeship (23,671), Łódź Voivodeship (15,460), Lower Silesian Voivodeship (13,217), West Pomeranian Voivodeship (7,444), Opole Voivodeship (5,538), Lubusz Voivodeship (5,444), and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (5,538), and second in Subcarpathian Voivodeship (9,301). There are two noble families of Polish origin with the surname Nowak: Czech Republic and Slovakia. Novák is widespread in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In both countries, the feminine form is Nováková. It is the most common surname in the Czech Republic. Slovenia. Novak  is the most common surname in Slovenia with more than 11,000 sharing it. There are however significant variations between regions: it is very common in central Slovenia (in the regions around Ljubljana and Celje), as well as in parts of southern Slovenia and eastern Slovenia (Lower Carniola, Prekmurje). It is much less common in northern and western Slovenia; in the Goriška region on the border with Italy, it is quite rare. The rank of the surname Novak in the Slovenian statistical regions: 1st in the Central Slovenia Statistical Region (3,422) and Savinja Statistical Region (1,380); 2nd in the Southeast Slovenia  Statistical Region (1,231) and Mura Statistical Region (1,040); 3rd in the Drava Statistical Region (1,732); 5th in the Upper Carniola Statistical Region (963) and Lower Sava Statistical Region (380); 6th in the Coastal–Karst Statistical Region (228); 8th in the Central Sava Statistical Region (192); 10th in the Carinthia Statistical Region (238); 11th in the Inner Carniola–Karst Statistical Region (228); 131st in the Gorizia Statistical Region (171). Other countries. In Croatia, Novak is the sixth most common surname. In Serbia and Montenegro, Novak is a given name, while Novaković is found as a common surname. In Germany, Nowak is  159th (c. 31,000) and Noack is 270th (c. 22,000), together with different spellings (c. 64,000), with some concentration in the Ruhr area, around Salzgitter and Lüchow-Dannenberg and as Noack in Lusatia.