Wikova
The term Wikova appears across several unrelated domains: as a romanization of the Russian surname Vilkova, as a Czech engineering group, as a citrus cultivar, and as a Prague street name. Each usage traces to a distinct origin.
Vilkova (Вилкова) is a Russian surname most commonly found in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan.[^c1] Its possible origins include the Russian word for "fork" (вилка) or a dialectal variant of Volkov ("of the wolf"). In Chinese-language sources, the surname is transliterated as 维柯娃 (pinyin: wéi kē wá), and this form is sometimes romanized as "Wikova."[^c2] Notable bearers include the actresses [[Ekaterina Vilkova]] and [[Taisiya Vilkova]].
The [[Wikov]] engineering group was founded in 1918 as Wichterle & Kovářík in Prostějov, Czechoslovakia, producing agricultural machinery, automobiles, and tractors before being nationalised after the Second World War.[^c3] [[Otto Wichterle]] (1913–1998), son of co-founder Karel Wichterle,[^c7] was a chemist who invented modern soft contact lenses[^c6] and later served as president of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.[^c8] The brand was revived in 2004 and has grown into an international manufacturer of industrial gearboxes and hydropower equipment.
[[Wikova (citrus)]] is a sweet lemon cultivar grown in Iran, equivalent to the Wekiwa tangelo, a hybrid of grapefruit and Sampson tangelo developed in Florida.[^c4] The name reflects a Persian-language transliteration of "Wekiwa," a Creek-Seminole word meaning "spring" after the Florida town Wekiwa Springs.[^c9]
Vikova Street in Prague 4, established in 1965, is named after the Czech painter and woodcut artist [[Karel Vik]].[^c5]