Gontar is a Russian occupational surname that refers to a roofer or shingler. The occupational meaning is obsolete, as with many such surnames including the equivalent Shingler, and Schindler. Gontar derives from Russian gont (гонт), shingle,^[1] from Polish gont, shingle,^[2][3] from Middle High German gant, beam,^[4] from Latin cantherius, rafter,^[5] from Greek kanthelion (κανθήλιον), rafter.^[6] The English word gantry also derives from the Latin cantherius.^[7]

The same slavic word for shingle, and the surname, also exist in Ukrainian as both Gontar and Hontar,^[8] and in Polish, Gontar.^[9] Ukrainian Гонтар may be approximated by Hontar, as Г in that language indicates an 'h' sound that is slightly fricative. In Russian, Г sounds as a hard g, written in Ukrainian by a Ghe with upturn, Ґ. Many people in Ukraine, however, appear to use the Gontar pronunciation. The usual Russian Cyrillic spelling is Гонтарь.

As spelled Gontar, 75% of people bearing the surname live in Russia, at 3,192.^[10] Yet 99% of people bearing the Hontar spelling live in Ukraine, and more than double the bearers of the Gontar spelling worldwide.^[11]

Notable people with the surname include:

• Abram Yutkovich Gontar (1908–1981), Soviet Jewish poet and novelist of Ukrainian origin, participant in the Kengir uprising
• Anastasiia Gontar, Russian Paralympic swimmer
• Anna Hontar, Ukrainian Paralympic swimmer
• Nikolai Gontar (born 1949), Russian footballer
• Olga Gontar (born 1979), Belarusian rhythmic gymnast
• Viktor Petrovich Gontar (1905–1987), son-in-law of Nikita Khrushchev; from 1954, administrative director of the Russian Drama Theater and Kyiv Opera; later administrative director of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine

• All pages with titles containing Gontar
• Gonchar

Surname list

This page lists people with the surname Gontar.
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