 The surname has a root in the verb "ùzēti" which means "to take (away)" in Serbian and refers to the man who married into his wife's household, rather than taking her to his own, i.e.he was "taken (away)" from his family into another one.In Spring of 1668 census in Trnovac, Bužim or Smiljan ("villages near Gospić, Croatia") there is a record of Novak Uzelac and 5 members of his family.