I once looked up "Houdek" in a book of surname meanings. It said it was Bohemian (Czech), which you all know, and meant "One who shouts". :-) If you want to apply a kinder interpretation it could mean something like town crier.

Just browsing phone books in Germany I found a scattering of Houdeks. As I got near Munich, which is very near then-Czechoslovakia, there were _a lot_ of Houdeks. There's a German sausage maker whose label reads, "The Original Houdek."

Most Houdeks do seem to have been centered around Prague, but wars and uncertain borders have apparently spread the name into surrounding areas. The variation, Hudak, which people would confuse with my name, is the Slovak version of the name.

My clan of Houdeks is from east-central Minnesota coming to there by way of New Prague, MN. Joseph Houdek being my great-grandfather, m. Anna. There is more than one Joseph and lots and lots of Anna Houdeks so I haven't had much luck figuring out who's who.
Deb