Kowalski (; feminine: Kowalska, plural: Kowalscy) is the second most common surname in Poland (140,471 people in 2009). Kowalski surname is derived from the word kowal, meaning "[black]smith". "Jan Kowalski" is a name that is used as a placeholder name in Poland in the meaning of "Average Joe", similar to "John Smith", its rough English-language equivalent, in English-speaking countries. (though a more direct translation would be "John Smithson"). Notable people Alexander Kowalski (1902–1940), Polish ice hockey player killed in the Katyn massacre Aleksander Kowalski (1930–2009), Polish Nordic combined skier Alexander Kowalski (musician) (born 1978), German DJ, electronic music artist Alfred Kowalski-Wierusz (1849–1915), Polish painter Aneta Kowalska (born 1982), Polish pair skater Annette Kowalski (born 1936), American producer, business partner of Bob Ross Bernard Louis Kowalski (1929–2007), American director Bronisława Kowalska (1955–2020), Polish politician Chana Kowalska (1899-1942), Polish Jewish painter and journalist Craig Kowalski (born 1981), American ice hockey player Daniel Kowalski (born 1975), Australian Olympic swimmer Faustyna Kowalska (1905–1938), Polish Catholic saint, nun and mystic Franciszek Kowalski (1799–1862), Polish poet, insurgent of the November Uprising Frank Kowalski (1907–1974), American US Army soldier and United States Representative Gary A. Kowalski (born 1953), American author Grzegorz Kowalski (disambiguation) James Kowalski (born 1954), United States Air Force Lieutenant General, Commander of Air Force Global Strike Command Barksdale AFB Janusz Kowalski (born 1952), Polish cyclist Jerzy Kowalski (disambiguation) Jochen Kowalski (born 1954), German singer John Kowalski (born c. 1951), American soccer coach Józef Kowalski (1900–2013), Polish supercentenarian and second-to-last Polish-Soviet war veteran Józef Kowalski (1911–1942), Polish Roman Catholic priest killed at Auschwitz, beatified Józef Wierusz-Kowalski (1866–1927), Polish physicist and diplomat Kasia Kowalska (born 1973), Polish pop rock singer and songwriter Katarzyna Kowalska (born 1985), Polish long distance runner Kazimierz Kowalski, Polish singer Ken Kowalski (born 1945), Canadian politician Kerstin Kowalski (born 1976), German rower Ludwik Kowalski (born 1931), Polish-American nuclear physicist and professor emeritus Łukasz Kowalski, Polish footballer Manja Kowalski (born 1976), German rower Maria Kowalska, Polish alpine skier Marian Albertovich Kowalski (1821–1884), Polish astronomer Saint Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938), Catholic saint Myron Kowalsky (born 1941), Canadian politician Natalia Kowalska (born 1989), Polish racing driver Natalia Kowalska (1918–unknown), Polish chess master Piotr Kowalski (1927-2004), French-Polish artist Richard Kowalski (born 1963), American astronomer Robert Kowalski (born 1941), British logician Sharon Kowalski, subject of groundbreaking disability and LGBT legal rights case Tadeusz Kowalski (1841–1904), Polish agronomist, agricultural activist and educator Tadeusz Kowalski (1889–1948), Polish orientalist, expert on