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Karas Family History

Karas Surname Meaning

Polish (Karaś) and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic; also Karaś); Ukrainian, Belorussian, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Slovenian, and Sorbian: from Polish karaś and other Slavic karas ‘crucian carp (Carassius vulgaris)’; hence a metonymic occupational name for a carp fisher or possibly a nickname for someone thought to resemble the fish. As a Jewish name, it is mainly artificial. Compare Caras, Karasch, and Karras.

Hungarian: topographic name for someone living by the Karas river, a tributary of the Danube, named with Turkish kara ‘black’. Americanized form of Hungarian Kárász, a cognate of 1 above.

Greek: nickname for a dark-haired or gloomy individual from karas ‘black, dark’ (and by extension ‘moody’) from Turkish kara ‘black’. It can also be a shortened form of any of numerous compound surnames such as Karageorgiou (patronymic from a nickname meaning ‘Black George’) and Karagiannis ‘Black John’. Compare Caras, Kara, and Karras.

German: from a short form of the personal name Zacharias or of Greek Makarios ‘blessed’, a Christian saint's name.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Karas family from?

You can see how Karas families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Karas family name was found in the USA, Canada, and Scotland between 1841 and 1920. The most Karas families were found in USA in 1920. In 1841 there was 1 Karas family living in Fife. This was 100% of all the recorded Karas's in Scotland. Fife had the highest population of Karas families in 1841.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Karas surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Karas ancestors do for a living?

In 1940, Laborer and New Worker were the top reported jobs for men and women in the USA named Karas. 23% of Karas men worked as a Laborer and 8% of Karas women worked as a New Worker. Some less common occupations for Americans named Karas were Miner and Clerk.

View Census Data for Karas | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

United States shown, England data unavailable

Top Male Occupations In 1940

  • Laborer
    23%
  • Farmer
    7%
  • Proprietor
    6%
  • Miner
    5%

Top Female Occupations In 1940

  • New Worker
    8%
  • Waitress
    8%
  • Maid
    6%
  • Clerk
    6%

What Karas family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 8,000 census records available for the last name Karas. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Karas census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Karas

Passenger Lists

There are 3,000 immigration records available for the last name Karas. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Karas immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 3,000 military records available for the last name Karas. For the veterans among your Karas ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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