Kovács

Kovács or Kovacs, meaning blacksmith, is one of the most common Hungarian family names.

History
The name is found in Hungary and Hungarian expatriate communities. There are similar names with the Kováts or Kovách spellings. The name means "blacksmith" in Hungarian, and it is probably a loanword from Slavic languages or an ancient steepe word for blacksmith. There are 221,688 people in Hungary who are named Kovács, making the name the second most common family name among Hungarians.

Cognates

 * Covaci in Romania
 * Koufax in Yiddish
 * Kovač in many South Slavic and West Slavic communities
 * Kováč in Slovakia
 * Kovach, the Carpatho-Ruthenian form
 * Kovachev in Bulgaria
 * Kovaçi in Albania
 * Kaval in Belarus (also Kavalchuk, Kavalenka, Kavaliou, Kavalski, Kavalchyk, Kavalevich)
 * Koval in Ukraine and Russia (also Kovalchuk, Kovalchyk, Kovalenko, Kovalyov, Kovalevych, Kovalsky)
 * Kovář (also Kováč) in Czech Republic.
 * Kowal in Poland (also Kowalczyk, Kowalski)
 * Kovač in Croatia (also Kovačić, Kovačević)

Notable people

 * Ágnes Kovács (born 1981), Hungarian swimmer
 * Angela Kovács (born 1964), Swedish actress
 * Barbara Kovács (born 1993), Hungarian racewalker
 * Balázs Kovács (born 1977), Hungarian hurdler
 * Bill Kovacs (1949–2006), American pioneer of commercial computer animation technology
 * Dan Kovacs (born 1970), American powerlifter
 * Dénes Kovács (1930–2005), Hungarian violinist
 * Edit Kovács (fencer) (born 1954), Hungarian foil fencer
 * Edit Kovács (swimmer) (born 1951), Hungarian swimmer
 * Ella Kovacs (born 1964), Romanian middle distance runner
 * Ernie Kovacs (1919–1962), American entertainer
 * Ervin Kováts (1927–2012), Hungarian-born Swiss chemist known for the Kovats retention index
 * Frank Kovacs (1919–1990), American tennis player
 * Fred Kovacs, American soccer player
 * Gábor Kovács (financier) (born 1957), Hungarian financier, banker, art collector, philanthropist and founder of KOGART
 * Greg Kovacs (born 1968), American bodybuilder
 * Iván Kovács (born 1970), Hungarian épée fencer
 * János Kovács (born 1985), Hungarian footballer
 * Joe Kovacs (puppeteer) (born 1967), American puppeteer
 * Joe Kovacs (born 1989), American track and field athlete
 * Julie Kovacs (born 1959), American chemist
 * Kálmán Kovács (disambiguation)
 * Katalin Kovács (born 1976), Hungarian canoer
 * Ladislav Kovács (born 1991), Slovak Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player
 * László Kovács (politician) (born 1939), Hungarian politician and diplomat
 * László Kovács (cinematographer) (1933–2007), Hungarian-American cinematographer
 * Magda Kósáné Kovács (1940–2020), Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament
 * Michael Kovats de Fabriczy (1724–1779), Hungarian noble and military officer. Known as a founding father of the United States Cavalry.
 * Michal Kováč (1930–2016), first president of Slovakia
 * Mišo Kovač (born 1941), Croatian singer
 * Margit Kovács (1902–1977) Hungarian ceramist and sculptor
 * Pál Kovács (1912–1995), Hungarian saber fencer
 * Péter Kovács (footballer) (born 1978), Hungarian footballer
 * Richard Kovacs (1885–1950), physician
 * Robin Kovacs (born 1996), Swedish ice hockey player
 * Rita Kovács (born 1970), Hungarian swimmer
 * Sándor J. Kovács (born 1947), Hungarian-American cardiologist
 * Sandy Koufax (born 1935), American baseball player
 * Sharon Kovacs (born 1990), Dutch singer
 * Stephen Kovacs (1972–2022), saber fencer and fencing coach, charged with sexual assault, died in prison
 * István Kovács (footballer born 1920) (1920–1995), Romanian football manager
 * Viktor Kovács (born 1973), Hungarian track and field athlete
 * Zoltán Kovács (ice hockey) (born 1962), Hungarian ice hockey coach and administrator
 * Zsófia Kovács (triathlete) (born 1988), Hungarian triathlete

Fictional characters

 * Takeshi Kovacs, a fictional character in three books by Richard Morgan
 * Walter Kovacs, the identity of the character Rorschach, in the DC Comic series Watchmen
 * Kirilli Kovacs, a character in Darren Shan's series, The Demonata.