Horvat is the most frequent surname in Croatia and Slovakia, 2nd most frequent in Slovenia and 5th most frequent surname in Hungary. The surname originates from Croatia, Horvat being the older version of the word Hrvat, which means Croat in Croatian. Croats with surname Horvat live almost exclusively in kajkavian speaking region. According to the 2011 census, it's the most common last name in the city of Zagreb, Zagreb County Krapina-Zagorje County, Varaždin County, Koprivnica-Križevci County, Bjelovar-Bilogora County, Virovitica-Podravina County and Virovitica-Podravina County. Apart from them, there is a certain number of ethnic Serbs with surname Horvat inside Baranja region of Croatia. Almost half of the citizens of Slovenia that have the surname Horvat live in the Prekmurje region, where it is the most common surname by far. It is also common in Lower Styria and in Ljubljana, while it is very rare in western Slovenia.
Notable people with the surname include:
Andraš Horvat (1744–1789), Croatian author and cultural activist who worked among the Hungarian Slovenes
Andrej Horvat, Slovenian economist and politician
Anika Horvat (born 1977), Slovenian folk singer
Bo Horvat, (born 1995), Canadian ice hockey player
Branko Horvat (1928–2003), Croatian economist and politician
Bryan Horvat (born 1983), American dirt track racer, chicken farmer, & fishing lure collector
Danielle Horvat (born 1991), Australian actress
Darko Horvat (born 1973), Croatian footballer
Drago Horvat (born 1958), Yugoslav ice hockey player
Feri Horvat (born 1941), Slovenian politician
Hrvoje Horvat (born 1946), Croatian handballer and coach
Ivan Horvat (born 1993), Croatian athlete
Ivica Horvat (1926–2012), Croatian football player and coach
Ivana Horvat (born 1975), Croatian model
John Horvat (died 1394), Croatian nobleman
Josip Horvat Međimurec (1904–1945), Croatian painter
Joža Horvat (1915–2012), Croatian writer and sailor
Lidija Horvat (born 1982), Croatian handball player
Lidija Horvat-Dunjko (born 1967), Croatian soprano
Lucas Mario Horvat (born 1985), Slovenian footballer
Nikolina Horvat (born 1986), Croatian athlete
Mila Horvat (born 1981), Croatian TV host
Milan Horvat (1919–2014), Croatian conductor
Paul Horvat (14th century), bishop of Zagreb
Ryan Horvat (born 1993), Canadian hockey player
Stevan Horvat (born 1932), Serbian wrestler
Steve Horvat (born 1971), Australian professional football player
Stjepan Horvat (1895–1985), Croatian patriot, geodesist and professor
Zlatko Horvat (born 1984), Croatian handballer
At least 533 individuals with the surname died at the Jasenovac concentration camp.
