# What are the origins of the name Halluska?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-origins-of-the-name-halluska/347607>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 8, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-origins-of-the-name-halluska/347607 "2006-03-08T23:21:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-origins-of-the-name-halluska/347607/1 "2006-03-08T23:21:10Z")

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I once knew a guy with the surname of Halluska. This is a very unusual-sounding name. I really can’t imagine what language it could come from. I’ve been unable to convincingly link the name, through various searches, with German or any other Northern European language, and it certainly doesn’t sound French or Italian, nor Greek.

Both the Halluskas I knew were very Northern European-looking.

My only guess is that the name is Basque or Hungarian. Does this sound reasonable?

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-origins-of-the-name-halluska/347607/2 "2006-03-08T23:25:07Z")

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I knew a guy named Haluska, and I believe he was Czech. [This site](http://www.ancestry.com/search/SurnamePage.aspx?html=b&ln=Haluska&sourcecode=13304) seems to agree:

> [@](#):
>
> Czech and Slovak (Haluška): from Czech and Slovak halušky ‘pasta pieces’. The application as a surname is unclear; it may in fact have been a nickname for someone with a prominent mole.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-origins-of-the-name-halluska/347607/3 "2006-03-08T23:25:34Z")

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> [@Argent Towers](#):
>
> I once knew a guy with the surname of Halluska. This is a very unusual-sounding name. I really can’t imagine what language it could come from. I’ve been unable to convincingly link the name, through various searches, with German or any other Northern European language, and it certainly doesn’t sound French or Italian, nor Greek.
> 
> Both the Halluskas I knew were very Northern European-looking.
> 
> My only guess is that the name is Basque or Hungarian. Does this sound reasonable?

Looks Czech or Slovak to me. Haluska (one “l”) are a type of noodle. In Hungarian, they’re known as galuska (the “g” -\> “h” transformation in Czech or Slovak is very common.) In German, the same noodles are known as spaetzle.

Anyhow, that’s what I see. It may very well be a false cognate.

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**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2006, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-origins-of-the-name-halluska/347607/4 "2006-03-09T00:07:25Z")

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Ahem.

[Go Hawks](http://hawkeyesports.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/haluska_adam00.html)!