Novak

See also: novak and Novák

English

Etymology

Usually from Czech Novák or Slovak Novák, but possibly also from Serbo-Croatian Nȍvāk, Slovene Novák, or Hungarian Novák.

Proper noun

Novak (plural Novaks)

  1. A surname.
  2. A male given name.

Statistics

  • According to the 2010 United States Census, Novak is the 980th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 35,461 individuals. Novak is most common among White (95.6%) individuals.

German

Alternative forms

Etymology

Usually from Czech Novák or Slovak Novák, but possibly also from Serbo-Croatian Nȍvāk, Slovene Novák, or Hungarian Novák. The meaning newcomer, novice is equivalent to the native surname Neumann

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈnoːvak/

Proper noun

Novak m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Novaks or (with an article) Novak, feminine genitive Novak, plural Novaks)

  1. a surname

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nôʋaːk/

Proper noun

Nȍvāk m

  1. a surname

Statistics

  • According to the 2021 Croatian census, Novak is the 6th most common surname in Croatia, belonging to 9739 individuals.

Further reading

  • Novak”, in Acta Croatica (in Serbo-Croatian)

Slovak

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈnɔvak]

Proper noun

Novak m pers (female equivalent Novaková)

  1. a surname

Declension

Declension of Novak
(pattern chlap)
singularplural 1plural 2
nominativeNovakNovakoviaNovakovci
genitiveNovakaNovakovNovakovcov
dativeNovakoviNovakomNovakovcom
accusativeNovakaNovakovNovakovcov
locativeNovakoviNovakochNovakovcoch
instrumentalNovakomNovakmiNovakovcami

Further reading

  • Novak”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Slovene

Etymology

From:

  • nov (new), for "newcomer to the village".
  • novina (new arable land), as an occupational surname for people who used the slash-and-burn method to create new arable land. Compare Novinec.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /nɔʋàːk/

Proper noun

Novák m anim

  1. a surname

Declension

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
Masculine anim., hard o-stem
nominative Novák
genitive Nováka
singular
nominative
(imenovȃlnik)
Novák
genitive
(rodȋlnik)
Nováka
dative
(dajȃlnik)
Nováku
accusative
(tožȋlnik)
Nováka
locative
(mẹ̑stnik)
Nováku
instrumental
(orọ̑dnik)
Novákom

Proper noun

Novák f

  1. a surname

Declension

Indeclinable.

Statistics

  • Novak is the most common surname in Slovenia, belonging to 10,620 individuals.

Further reading

  • Novak”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025