Kropach

This interesting and unusual name, usually found in the form Kropacek, is of Czechoslovakian origin and is possibly an occupational name for a lay minister, or someone who performed the religious rights involving holy water. The derivation is from the word "kropac", which means literally, a sprinkler, or a dispenser of holy water. Occupational names are fairly widespread in the Czech language, with many of the names having the diminutive ending "cek", meaning little or son of, as in Kropacek, (above), and this suggests that the name in this instance, found in Austria, with the recordings of the birth of Frantisek Kropac on November 11th 1817 at Bohutin, Maehren Kroenlande, is a variant of the Czech word. A further recording is the marriage of the above Frantiseck Kropac to Zuzana Jelinkova on February 2nd 1693 also at Bohutin. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Karel Kropacek, which was dated September 5th 1676, Ledec nad Sazavov, Czechoslovakia, during the reign of King Leopold 1, (Holy Roman Emperor), 1658 - 1705. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.