Frequency in Croatian population: 8.759 (15th Most Frequent)

This is another patronymic Croatian surname with the common name Pavao as the root, which comes from the Roman family name Paulus, meaning “small” or “humble”. In Croatia, this name comes in several different variants including Pavo, Pavel, Paval and Pavle.

There are quite a few surname variants based on this root, some of which are among the most frequent: Pavić, Pavlić, Pavletić, Pavlica, Pavlic, Pavlečić, Pavlinec, Pavlinić, Pavlov, Pavličević, Pavlinović etc.

Bearers of the Pavlović family name are often of Croatian ethnicity. They come from the region near the city of Senj, as well as from Bosnia-Herzegovina. They can also be Serbs, from the region near the city of Glina.

Geography. Križpolje near Otočac, Donji Lepuri near Benkovac and Goranec near Zagreb are places where one of every six residents are surnamed Pavlović.

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