# Karas

> English word · Proper noun · frequency rank #85,406

## Definitions
1. A surname.

## Etymology
* As a Slavic and Jewish surname (Polish Karaś, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Upper Sorbian): all from the noun karaś (“crucian carp”). Compare Caras, Karasch, Karras.
* As a Hungarian surname, from the name of the river Karaš, itself possibly from Turkish kara (“black”). Also Americanized from Kárász, itself related to the carp sense above.
* As a Greek surname, from κάρας (káras, “black”), itself from the Turkish word. Also shortened from names like Καραγεωργίου (Karageorgíou, “Black George”), Καραγιάννης (Karagiánnis, “black John”), etc. Compare Caras, Kara, Karras.
* As a German surname, shortened from names like Zacharias, or Ancient Greek μακάριος (makários, “blessed”), Christian saint's name.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/karas