Meaning and Origin of the Surname Duda

The Duda surname comes from a root word meaning "bagpipes."
Getty / Sean Gallup

From the Polish noun duda, meaning "bagpipes" or "bad musician," the common Polish surname Duda is most likely an occupational surname for one who played the bagpipes or, possibly, one who played them badly. A dudy is a form of bagpipe with a single reed in the chanter, common in the southern and western areas of Bohemia in the Czech Republic, and in parts of Poland and Austria. 

Another possible meaning, suggested by Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut in his book "Nazwiska Polakow" (The Surnames of Poles), is "one who made a lot of needless noise."

Duda is among the 50 most common Polish surnames

Surname Origin: Polish, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak

Alternate Surname Spellings: DUDDA, DADA

Where do People with the Surname DUDA Live?

According to Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland, there were 38,290 Polish citizens with the Duda surname living in Poland in 1990. 

Famous People with the Surname DUDA

  • Lucas Duda - American professional MLB baseball player
  • Andrzej Sebastian Duda - Polish lawyer and politician; sixth President of Poland

Genealogy Resources for the Surname DUDA

Duda Family Tree DNA Surname Project
Male individuals with the Duda or Dudda surname can come together with other Duda researchers interested in using a combination of Y-DNA testing and traditional genealogical research to connect Duda families back to common ancestors.

Duda Family Genealogy Forum
Search this popular genealogy forum for the Duda surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Duda surname query.

DistantCousin.com - DUDA Genealogy & Family History
Explore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Duda.

  • Looking for the meaning of a given name? Check out First Name Meanings
  • Can't find your last name listed? Suggest a surname to be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings & Origins.

Sources

Cottle, Basil. "Penguin Dictionary of Surnames." Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1967.

Menk, Lars. "A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames." Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2005.

Beider, Alexander. "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia." Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2004.

Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. "A Dictionary of Surnames." New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Hanks, Patrick. "Dictionary of American Family Names." New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Hoffman, William F. "Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings." Chicago: Polish Genealogical Society, 1993.

Rymut, Kazimierz. "Nazwiska Polakow." Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich - Wydawnictwo, 1991.

Smith, Elsdon C. "American Surnames." Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

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Powell, Kimberly. "Meaning and Origin of the Surname Duda." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/duda-last-name-meaning-and-origin-3860097. Powell, Kimberly. (2020, August 27). Meaning and Origin of the Surname Duda. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/duda-last-name-meaning-and-origin-3860097 Powell, Kimberly. "Meaning and Origin of the Surname Duda." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/duda-last-name-meaning-and-origin-3860097 (accessed March 29, 2024).