8. VUKOVIĆ /vukovich/

Frequency in Croatian population: 10.582 (8th Most Frequent)

Word vuk in Croatian language means wolf. Scholars claim that Vuković family name originates from the ancient Vlach's etnicity which had been assimilated by Slavic tribes. The surname is very frequent along Dinara mountain area in the Southern part of Croatia, along the Adriatic coast.

There are other Croatian surnames that has word vuk in their root: Vukov, Vukotić, Vukovac, Vukojević, Vuk, Vukasović, Vukadinović, Vukalović, Vukobratović... Depending of the variant, sometimes it's bearer is likely of Croatian ethnicity, other times of Serbian.

However, Vuković family name is almost always borne by a person of Croatian ethnicity, from the city of Slunj, and sometimes from Brinje. Very rarely, Serbs can bear the Vuković family name (from the area near Vrlika), but also Montenegrins.

Geography: The village of Saborsko near Slunj is most densly populated area with persons bearing Vuković surname (one in five).

(Sources: Petar Šimunović, Hrvatska prezimena, Golden Marketing-Tehnička knjiga, Zagreb, 2006; Enciklopedija hrvatskih prezimena, Nacionalni rodoslovni centar, 2008)