Kovalchuk
Kovalchuk, Kavalchuk, Kowalczuk, Later Kovalčuk, Covalciuc, also transliterated as Kowalchuk, is a common East Slavic surname. The Kovalchuk name extends back to before 1500 AD in Kievan Rus.
Koval literally translates as forge or blacksmith. The suffix -chuk denoted either a son of, or an apprentice to a blacksmith. It is somewhat similar in commonality to the English surname Smith. It is also cognate with the very popular Polish surnames Kowalczyk and Kowalski.
In East Slavic languages, the correct pronunciation is ko-vahl-CHOOK. Among Ukrainian Canadians, the pronunciation ko-WAL-chuk is more common.
People
Kovalchuk
- Andrey Kovalchuk, Russian sculptor
- Andrii Kovalchuk, Ukrainian general
- Anna Kovalchuk, Russian actress
- Boris Kovalchuk, Russian official, son of Yury Kovalchuk
- Ekaterina Kovalchuk, Belarusian footballer
- Ilya Kovalchuk, Russian ice hockey player
- Kyrylo Kovalchuk, Ukrainian footballer
- Maria Kovalchuk, Ukrainian model and victim of human trafficking in Dubai
- Mikhail Kovalchuk, Russian physicist and politician
- Oleksii Kovalchuk, Ukrainian poker player
- Olga Kovalchuk, Ukrainian Paralympic sport shooter
- Petro Kovalchuk, Ukrainian footballer
- Sergey Petrovich Kovalchuk, Belarusian footballer
- Tatiana Kovalchuk, Ukrainian tennis player
- Victoria Kovalchuk, Ukrainian artist
- Yury Kovalchuk, Russian businessman and financier
Kavalchuk
- Aksana Kavalchuk, Belarusian volleyball player
- Maksim Kavalchuk, Belarusian footballer
- Syarhey Kavalchuk, Belarusian footballer
Kowalczuk
- Aleksandra Kowalczuk, Polish taekwondo practitioner
- Chris Kowalczuk, Canadian football player
- Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, German historian and author
- Jadwiga Kowalczuk, Polish athlete
Other
- Ed Kowalchuk, Canadian politician
- John Russell Kowalchuk, Canadian politician
- Serghei Covalciuc, Moldovan-Ukrainian footballer