Pollak
A surname with several possible origins, including a place-name source and a possible link to Pollock or to an old word for a pole or stake.
The #8,453 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 79,003 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Pollak is not straightforward: older surname dictionaries treat it as a form that may point to a place-name, or as a variant spelling related to Pollock. One proposed explanation connects it with Old English elements meaning a pool and an oak, though even the 19th-century source marked that idea as doubtful. In some cases Pollak may also reflect Central European or Jewish surname traditions, where the spelling overlaps with Germanic and Slavic forms.
History
In English-language surname scholarship, Pollak is usually handled as a variant or related form rather than a single, fixed origin. The spelling also overlaps with surnames found in Central Europe and among Ashkenazi Jewish families, so real-world bearers may have different family histories even when the name looks identical. Because of that overlap, the surname’s history is best treated as multiple converging traditions rather than one neat line of descent.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century source actually questioned its own best guess for the name and treated the place-name explanation as doubtful, which is a good reminder that surname etymology can be messy.
From the historical record
“POLLACK 1 I Bel. to Pollack (Hants) [doubt* POLLAK J ful : perh. O.E. ^rf/, pool + dc, oak (tree : ' cp. the Kentish place - name 'Poleash'] 2 for Pollock, q.v. 3 for Pol a (c)k, q.v. POLLARD (A.-Fr.-Lat. + Teut.) the French”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)