This is a Family Tree DNA Project website for the surnames, Kovacs, Kovats, or any derivative such as Kovaks, Kovak, Kovac, Kohen, Kohan, Kohn, Kovan, etc. Individuals from all ethnic and religious backgrounds are welcome to join. The surname Kovacs is believed to be of Eastern European origin from the Slavonic Kovač or in its Hungarian form, Kovacs, and means "black smith" or "smith." Kovacs is currently listed as the second most common Hungarian surname[1], and carries with it no specific ethnic artifacts outside of its use in Eastern Europe. Kovacs was also a name commonly used among individuals with the surname Cohen or the tradition of being Cohen. The Kovacs surname was adopted to avoid persecution. Individuals with the Kovacs surname who are Cohenim are also welcome to join this study, even if they already belong to the Cohen group or another group. You can see maps of the distribution of the following Kovacs and deritivative surnames from the 1891 Industry and Trade Directory of Greater Hungary by clicking on any of the surnames below: Kovacs | Kovats | Kovac | Kohan | Kohn *Note: Individuals with the name Smith are welcome to join only if they know that their name was anglicized from Kovacs or a derivative or changed to Smith in place of Cohen. Otherwise, we ask that Smith families join one of the Smith surname user groups listed here.