Krakus, Krak or Grakch was a legendary Polish prince, ruler of the Vistulans (a Lechitic tribe), and the presumed founder of Kraków.

[1] The first recorded mention of Krakus, then spelled Grakch, is in the Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae from 1190.

Historian Jacek Banaszkiewicz [pl] attributes Krak's name to a pre-Slavic word "krakula", meaning 'judge's staff' or 'scepter', which also signified judicial authority among the pagan Balts.

[2] Historians Cetwiński and Derwich suggest a different etymology, which seems more probable to some, with Krak, meaning simply an oak, a sacred tree, most often associated with the concept of genealogy.

The Krak and Princess Wanda legend appeared in the early Polish history written by Wincenty Kadłubek (Latin: Vincentius Cadlubkonis); a similar legend, that of Krok and Libussa, appeared in the early Czech history by Cosmas of Prague.