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Name Lineage

    The surname Karas

    A Turkish surname, carried by 5,858 people in the United States.

    2 syllables Soundex K620

    Karas: #5,890 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Karas #5,890, 5,858 people Karas: #5,890 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Karas #5,890, 5,858 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Karas is more common than 96.4% of them.

    Origin

    Turkish origin

    * As a Slavic and Jewish surname (Polish Karaś, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Upper Sorbian): all from the noun karaś (“crucian carp”). Compare Caras, Karasch, Karras. * As a Hungarian surname, from the name of the river Karaš, itself possibly from Turkish kara (“black”). Also Americanized from Kárász, itself related to the carp sense above. * As a Greek surname, from κάρας (káras, “black”), itself from the Turkish word. Also shortened from names like Καραγεωργίου (Karageorgíou, “Black George”), Καραγιάννης (Karagiánnis, “black John”), etc. Compare Caras, Kara, Karras. * As a German surname, shortened from names like Zacharias, or Ancient Greek μακάριος (makários, “blessed”), Christian saint's name.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 5,858 people named Karas in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 52,705 Americans. That is up 20% since 2000, when the Census counted 4,894.

    #5,890
    rank among US surnames
    5,858
    people in 2010
    2.0
    per 100,000 Americans
    +19.7%
    change since 2000 (was #6,406)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #5,886Halpin5,86552,642
    #5,888Shupe5,86152,678
    #5,889Albano5,86052,687
    #5,890Plant5,85852,705
    #5,892McCaskill5,85752,714

    Who is named Karas

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    91% of people named Karas identified as white (not Hispanic), 5.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.8% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

    • White (not Hispanic) 91%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 5.2%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 1.8%
    • Two or more races 1.2%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Karass

    2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Anton Karas
      Austrian musician, composer (1906–1985)
    • Othmar Karas
      Austrian politician serving as First Vice-President of the European Parliament, born 1957

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Karas

    Karas has the Soundex code K620, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K620.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Karas come from?
    * As a Slavic and Jewish surname (Polish Karaś, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Upper Sorbian): all from the noun karaś (“crucian carp”). Compare Caras, Karasch, Karras. * As a Hungarian surname, from the name of the river Karaš, itself possibly from Turkish kara…
    How common is the surname Karas?
    5,858 people in the United States had the surname Karas in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 52,705 Americans. It ranked 5,890th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Karas?
    In the 2010 Census, 91% of people named Karas identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
    Who is the most famous person named Karas?
    Anton Karas, Austrian musician, composer (1906–1985), followed by Othmar Karas.
    Where is the surname Karas most common?
    Wikidata records people named Karas in Austria.
    Is the surname Karas getting more or less common?
    More common. 4,894 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,858 in 2010, up 20%.