Katanec families are Croats and they are mostly from Samobor area. According to some sources they are from Medjimurje or Podravina. In the past century, relatively most of Croatian residents bearing this family name were born in Zagreb and Bjelovar. In Sveta Nedelja in Samobor area every eighth inhabitant had the family name Katanec.
Prevalence
About 220 people with faimily name Katanec live in Croatia today, in 90 households. There were 290 of them in the middle of the past century, and their number decreased by 30 percent. They are located in 9 Croatian counties, in 16 cities and 18 other places, mostly in Zagreb (60), Sveta Nedelja in Samobor area (35), Gorican in Cakovec area (20), Varazdin (20), and in Sveta Helena (20).
Outside Croatia
Family name Katanec is present in five countries on four continents.
In the sources analysed in the project Acta Croatica so far, the name is mentioned over ten times, the first time 1902 in source Hartmann's General List of Apartments in Zagreb.