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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Czech, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian (Tatár), and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) : ethnic name or nickname from tatar ‘Tatar’. In some languages, e.g. Czech, the word came to be used as a nickname for a wild or uncontrolled man, while in 18th-century Hungary it became a nickname for a godless person. In some cases the name was given to people who had been captured by the Tatars.

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