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Last name origins & meanings:

  1. Hungarian and Jewish (from Hungary): from vad ‘wild’, hence a nickname for an unsophisticated person, or someone with crazy ideas, alternatively an occupational name for a hunter.
  2. Americanized spelling of Hungarian and Hungarian Jewish Vadász, from the vocabulary word vadász ‘hunter’, from vad ‘game’ + ász (ész) occupational suffix of Hungarian family names, hence an occupational name for a hunter.
  3. Czech: from a pet form of the personal name Vadislav, variant of Vladislav. In some cases the Czech family name is a derivative of the Hungarian word vadász ‘hunter’, hence an occupational name for a hunter.