Recorded as Kardos and Kartos, this is a famous Hungarian surname. It derives from 'kard,' a word Turkish in origin, meaning a sword, and as such is, or was in medieval times, a status or occupational name for a swordsman or perhaps a fencing master. The Polish surname Kardolinski and the Danish Kardoff are surnames believed to have the same origin, and there may be others. Unfortunately Hungarian records are at best erratic, many having been lost or deliberately destroyed in the upheavals of Central Europe in the past century, and particularly so during the Communist regime from 1947 to 1989. The coat of arms most associated with the surname has the blazon of a blue shield charged with a cross moline inside a horseshoe, all gold.