Family name origins & meanings
- Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, and Belorussian : from the personal name Prokop, Greek Prokopios, from pro ‘before’, ‘in front’ + kopē ‘cut’, originally an omen name meaning ‘success’, ‘prosperity’ but as a Church name taken to mean ‘pioneer’, as it was the name of the first victim of Diocletian’s persecutions in Palestine in ad 303. He is venerated in the Orthodox Church, whence the popularity of the Russian personal name Prokofi. The popularity of the name in central Europe is largely due to a later St. Prokop, patron saint of Bohemia, who founded Sázava abbey in Prague in the 11th century.