Zając (archaic feminine: Zającowa, plural Zającowie) is one of the most common surnames in Polan and the third most popular in Lesser Poland. The English translation of this surname is 'hare'. The second vowel of the name, generally rendered as “a” in English-speaking countries, is the nasalized ą of Polish, producing, in Polish, a sound somewhat more like a long ō in English. Without the nasalized ą (namely as "Zajac") the name also appears outside the Polish setting, sometimes with a variant spelling, especially in connection with other west- and south Slavic nationalities.