Kowalski

Kowalski (Polish pronunciation: [kɔˈvalskʲi]; feminine: Kowalska, plural Kowalscy) is the second most common surname in Poland (140,471 people in 2009). Kowalski translates to blacksmith, as it is the patronymic form of the Polish equivalent of Smith, "Kowal" (see the Polish surname Kowal and the Ukrainian surname Koval). Several other surnames, such as Kowalczyk, Kowalewski, and Kowalewicz, are also derived from the word Kowal.

The name Jan Kowalski is the equivalent in both translation and popularity to John Smith in English-speaking countries.

"Kowalski Bratski" phenomenon

The "Kowalski Sausage" phenomenon, as it is popularly known, has made a major impact on the American meat packing industry.

A sizable number of Polish immigrants to the United States came in the 1960s and 1970s. Some came to pursue higher educations, but upon graduating with MBAs, engineering or other degrees could not find professional jobs or jobs that paid well. Many of them worked in blue collar jobs and saved up to buy undervalued or dilapidated sausage factories, turning them into businesses. As many as 60% of mid-sized sausage links and patties companies all over the US are owned by people of Polish origin. Of this nearly one-third have the surname Kowalski - a popular one among Polish immigrants.

According to the Polish American Sausage Association (P.A.S.A.), 50 percent of sausage makers in the United States are owned by people of Polish Origin". A large immigrant population of educated Polish came in the 1960s and 1970s. These Kowalski’s are known as founding fathers, having worked hard, saved, and then invested in the industry. Having a steady amount of income and savings, they called over their distant relatives and friends from the villages of Poland. Upon their arrival, these immigrants would already have financial assistance from the founding fathers and would be able to find employment with them until they could afford to start up their own businesses.

In popular culture, a Polish film “Burial of a Potato” satirizes the community's fascination with emigrating to the United States.

Kowalski surname in Polish voivodships

Kowalski is:

• 1st in Masovia Voivodeship (26,270),
• 2nd in Silesian Voivodeship (11,811),
• 3rd in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (12,076),
• 2nd in Łódź Voivodeship (15,005),
• 2nd in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (9,429),
• 3rd in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (6,480),
• 2nd in West Pomeranian Voivodeship (6,345),
• 3rd in Lubusz Voivodeship (2,904).

Notable people

• Aleksander Kowalski (1902–1940) – Polish ice hockey player killed in the Katyn massacre
• Aleksander Kowalski - Polish Nordic combined skier
• Aleksander Kowalski (1908–1951) – Polish trade union activist
• Aleksander Kowalsky (born 1943) – Croatian-Austrian classical music conductor
• Alexander Kowalski (born 1978) – German DJ, electronic music artist
• Alfred Kowalski-Wierusz (1849–1915) – Polish painter
• Aneta Kowalska (born 1982) – Polish pair skater
• Anna Kowalska (1903–1969) – Polish writer
• Bernard Louis Kowalski (1929–2007) – American director
• Bolesław Kowalski (1915–1944) – Polish trade union activist and underground fighter (AL)
• Daniel Kowalski (born 1975) – Australian Olympic swimmer
• Danuta Kowalska (born 1929) – Polish artist, designer of interior decoration
• Franciszek Kowalski (1799–1862) – Polish poet, insurgent of the November Uprising
• Frank Kowalski (1907–1974) – American US Army soldier and United States Representative
• Grzegorz Kowalski (born 1942) – Polish sculptor, designer of interior decoration
• James Kowalski (born 1954) – United States Air Force Lieutenant General, Commander Air Force Global Strike Command Barksdale AFB
• Janusz Kowalski, Polish cyclist
• Janusz Andrzej Kowalski (born 1935) – Polish artist, designer of interior decoration
• Jerzy Kowalski (1893–1948) – Polish writer and classical philologist
• Jerzy Bogdan Kowalski (born 1923) – Polish professor of theory of state and law
• Jochen Kowalski (born 1954) – German singer
• John Kowalski (born c. 1951) – American soccer coach
• Józef Kowalski (born 1900) – Polish supercentenarian and last Polish-Soviet war veteran
• Józef Kowalski-Wierusz (1866–1925) – Polish physicist
• Julie Kowalski (born 1983) – French female biker (nickname: "la reine des petits bouchons")
• Kasia Kowalska (born 1973) – Polish pop rock singer and songwriter
• Katarzyna Kowalska (born 1985) – Polish long distance runner
• Kazimierz Kowalski (born 1925) – Polish professor of zoology, ordination, mammals paleontology
• Kazimierz Maria Kowalski (born 1926) – Polish writer and journalist
• Ken Kowalski – Canadian politician
• Ludwik Kowalski (born 1931) – Polish-American nuclear physicist and professor emeritus
• Marian Kowalski (1821–1884) – Polish astronomer
• Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938) – Catholic saint
• Myron Kowalsky – Canadian politician
• Natalia Kowalska (born 1989) – Polish racing driver
• Piotr Kowalski – artist
• Raymond Kowalski – (born 1951) – American artist ceramicist and inventor
• Richard Kowalski (born 1963) – American Astronomer
• Robert Kowalski (born 1941) – British logician
• Sharon Kowalski – subject of groundbreaking disability and LGBT legal rights case
• Stanisław Kozyr-Kowalski (born 1936) – Polish professor of sociology
• Tadeusz Kowalski (1841–1904) – Polish agronomist, agricultural activist and educator
• Tadeusz Kowalski (1889–1948) – Polish orientalist, expert on Middle East Muslim culture and languages
• Thomas Schmidt-Kowalski (1949–2013) – German composer
• William Kowalski (born 1970) – American author of Eddie's Bastard
• Witold Cezariusz Kowalski (born 1936) – Polish professor of geology
• Wladek Kowalski ("Killer" Kowalski) (1926–2008) – Polish-Canadian professional wrestler, trainer
• Władysław Kowalski (1883–1937) – Polish trade union activist, publicist and politician (KPP)
• Władysław Kowalski (1894–1958) – Polish trade union activist, writer and politician (PSL, ZSL)
• Włodzimierz Tadeusz Kowalski (born 1935) – Polish professor of modern history and publicist
• Zygmunt Kowalski (born 1932) – Polish professor of chemistry

Fictitious

• Stanley and Stella Kowalski – character in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams and 1951 film, A Streetcar Named Desire
• Leon Kowalski – character in the 1982 film Blade Runner played by Brion James
• Peter "Petey" Kowalski in the video game Bully
• Viktor Kowalski, member of the OAS in The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
• Detective Stanley Raymond Kowalski – character in the Gemini Award-winning television series Due South (named after the above Streetcar character)
• Matt Kowalsky – George Clooney's character in the movie Gravity.
• Kowalski – The Top Gun pilot in 1991 film Hot Shots!, by Kristy Swanson
• Sophie Kowalski – Marion Cotillard's character in the 2005 French film Jeux d'Enfants, also known by its English title, Love Me If You Dare
• Sergei Kowalski, the titular character in the spaghetti western The Mercenary, played by Franco Nero.
• "Kowalski" – song by British dance/rock band Primal Scream
• Baby Kowalski – Supporting character in the Ren & Stimpy Show
• Major Charles Kawalsky – character in the popular science fiction television series Stargate SG-1
• Kitty Kowalski – Lex Luthor's companion in 2006 film Superman Returns, by Parker Posey
• Kowalski – main character in Vanishing Point (1971 film), played by Barry Newman
• Kowalski – on the Seaview, the Submarine on the 1960s TV show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
• Benjamin "Ben" Kowalski in the Comic series Templar, Arizona
• Kowalski – fictional character in the PlayStation 2 game Syphon Filter 2
• Walt Kowalski, the protagonist, a traditional Korean War veteran in a changing world, in the 2008 film Gran Torino played by Clint Eastwood
• Steve Kowalski – character in the 2007 film Devil's Diary
• Sgt. Kowalski – character in video game Call of Duty 3
• Roxanne Kowalski – Daryl Hannah's character in Roxanne, the 1987 remake of Cyrano de Bergerac (play) with Steve Martin
• Mr Kowalski – original owner of Kowalski's, Rosie Duncan's florist store in the novel Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson
• Sgt. Kowalski – Raising Arizona
• Roch Kowalski – brave and stupid officer in Sienkiewicz's novel With Fire and Sword
• Mrs. Kowalski – Miriam Margolyes' character in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (film) (2008)
• Dick Kowalsky – character in the French animated series "Funky Cops" (2003)
• Kowalski – Penguin in Madagascar and the TV series The Penguins of Madagascar
• Joe Kowalski – character in SIGMA Force book series from author James Rollins

Others

• In re Guardianship of Kowalski
• Kavalski, a Yiddish variant
• Koval'skiy (crater)
• Kowalski (song) by Primal Scream