Surname Gracz - Meaning and Origin

Gracz: What does the surname Gracz mean?

The last name Gracz is derived from the Medieval Slavic word 'grac', meaning 'favourable'. This may suggest that the ancestral bearers of the name likely had some kind of success in their past, either in terms of their standing in the community, or in terms of the fruits of their labour.

The name is also rooted in the Latin 'gratia', meaning 'grace' or 'goodwill', which was adopted and adapted into Old Polish. If the ancestral bearers of the name lived in an environment where Latin was still spoken or taught, this could explain the adoption of the name.

Today, the surname is most commonly found in Poland, where it is one of the fifty most common surnames. It's also common in Belarus, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Romania, and Ukraine. Gracz is also present in the U.S., Canada, France, and Germany, amongst other countries.

In Polish culture, 'gracz' translates as 'player' and has come to represent a person's skill at a game or highly competitive activity, often associated with gambling. It can also be used to describe someone of immense wit and/or intelligence. The surname may have evolved this way to reflect the characteristic ability of its original bearer.

Gracz: Where does the name Gracz come from?

The last name Gracz is a common Polish surname, which means "teller of grace." It is most commonly found in Poland today, as well as in other Polish diaspora communities throughout Europe, North America, and Australia.

In Poland, the most common regions to find the surname are in the north and southwest parts of the country, as well as in the cities of Poznań and Warsaw. There are over 27,000 Polish citizens who bear the name and it can be found in all major cities.

In the United States, the surname is much less common with the estimated population of about 7500 individuals. It is primarily found in the states of New York and Pennsylvania where Polish immigrants first started to settle in the late 19th and early 20thcenturies.

In Australia, it is a very rare surname, with less than 2000 people bearing the name. The majority of them reside in New South Wales and Victoria, though there are a few individuals who live in the other states.

The surname is also found in Canada, but it is very rare and the total population of Graczs is estimated to be somewhere between 7 and 800 people. Most of the families are located in Ontario and Alberta.

Overall, the last name Gracz is more commonly found in Poland than in any other country. It can also be found in smaller proportions in other parts of the world, including the United States, Australia, Canada, and other European countries.

Variations of the surname Gracz

The surname Gracz has multiple variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin. The most common variant of the surname Gracz is the Polish version, Grycz, which is pronounced with a hard 'g' sound. Other spellings of this surname include Gratse, Graetz, Gratsch, Grach, Gratz and Graz.

The surname Grycz was first attributed to people who lived in and around the Ryczow region in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The surname would have further spread across Poland and surrounding countries as people moved to other areas in search of work.

Variants of the surname Grycz can also be found in Russia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Belarus. These variants typically include the suffix '-ko' or '-ki', making the name Gryczko or Grycki. In some cases, the surname has also taken various spellings in different countries, leading to people bearing the surnames Graetz, Gratsch, Grach, Gratz, Graz and others.

The surname Gracz can also be found scattered across the United States, Australia and other countries following waves of Polish immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is also common among countries of the former Soviet Union, which may be the result of the surname's popularity in certain areas of what was once Poland.

Famous people with the name Gracz

• Wojciech Gracz: Polish actor, film director, and journalist.
• Stanislaw Gracz: Polish painter and graphic artist in the style of functionalism.
• Krystyna Gracz: Polish actress.
• Adam Andreas Gracz: German musician, musicologist and music educator from the Romantic period.
• Agata Gracz: Polish actress.
• Andrzej Gracz: Polish writer, playwright, and poet.
• Edward Gracz: Polish chemist and biophysicist.
• Fabian Gracz: Polish hockey winger.
• Ireneusz Gracz: Polish painter, draughtsman, and graphic artist.
• Jacek Gracz: Polish politician and lawyer.
• Jan Gracz: Polish poet, literary critic, and essayist.
• Julian Gracz: Polish film director and screenwriter.
• Łukasz Gracz: Polish photographer.
• Maciej Gracz: Polish editor, Christian translator, and theologian.
• Małgorzata Gracz: Polish biologist.
• Michał Gracz: Polish sculptor and painter.
• Robert Gracz: Polish composer, music theorist, and musicologist.
• Szymon Gracz: Polish sculptor and monumentalist.
• Tadeusz Gracz: Polish film director, actor, and screenwriter.
• Tomasz Gracz: Polish screenwriter, film director, and film producer.

Other surnames

GraceGracie