Surname Discussions

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When possible, I give name information found in works by various German, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian experts. If I can find no expert analysis of a name, I check dictionaries and other sources for information on plausible roots for that name, making it clear that this is just my interpretation of what I find in those sources. Information from a specific family's history is likely to tell you more about why and how a particular name came to be associated with that family than generalized information typically given by name experts. I cannot guarantee the accuracy and relevance of the information I give, precisely because I have no access to detailed materials on individual persons or families. The circumstances that caused your family to use a name might differ from those that applied to another family's use of the same name.

As of 24 October 2009, I no longer include e-mail addresses in posted name analyses. If you wish to contact the person who asked me about a particular name, write me and I will forward your note to the most recent address I have for that person. Of course, I cannot guarantee that person will receive your forwarded note, or if he/she does, will answer it.
 

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Article Groups

Andryshyn - Andryszyn

...I have been trying to find whether my mother's family name is Polish or not, but we haven't had any success so far. The name is Andryszyn, yet we are not 100% sure that's the way to spell it, but my greatgrandfather's name was Mikolaj and his wife's Anna Helena. Maybe she was not Polish, we believe she was Austrian.

I think I can help a little -- Andryszyn is a Polish spelling of a Ukrainian surname, which in English we'd spell as Andryshyn (the original, of course, was spelled in Cyrillic). It's rare in Poland these days -- as of 1990 there was only 1 Andryszyn, living in Wloclawek province -- but is probably not so rare in Ukraine and in places where Ukrainians have settled, such as Canada, Brazil, etc. The name comes from Andriy, "Andrew" -- from that is formed Andrykha, "Andrew's woman," and the suffix -yn is added, softening the kh to an sh sound = Andryszyn or Andryshyn, literally "son of Andrew's woman." Surnames ending in -ishin or -yshyn (in Polish spelled -iszyn or -yszyn) are almost always Ukrainian, formed the same way, e. g., Petryshyn (son of Peter's woman), Romanyshyn (son of Roman's woman), etc.

...They came to Brasil around 1924-30, with 6 of their 7 kids. The names were, as my grandmother used to tell us, Olga, Mary, Ida, Eugenia, Stevo, Steva and Jose Guilherme (probably Jozef Wilhelm in Polish).
It's a small world -- just yesterday I visited a Web page telling of Ukrainians in Brazil celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Ukrainian Catholic church in Brazil. Odds are it would have nothing relevant to your research, but if you're interested, here is the address:

http://www.ugkc.lviv.ua/WEBMAIL/mesg00011.html

I'm not sure exactly where to go from here, but perhaps it will help knowing the name is Ukrainian. One good Website you might check is http://www.infoukes.com/

They provide a lot of good info.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Arnista

... I am looking for information on my surname, Arnista. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

The derivation of the name is difficult -- none of my sources mention it specifically. In Polish -ista usually refers to one who operates a particular tool or plays an instrument, so that an organista plays the organ, a cymbalista plays the cymbals, etc. But I find no native Polish root with arn-, except as a name root from Arnold, and that makes no sense with -ista... I do note that the first name Ernest has appeared in Polish as Arnest, so it's not outrageous to suggest a connection -- Arnista might have started as a patronymic, that is, a name meaning son of Ernest. But that's just a guess, and I have nothing solid that indicates whether it's a good guess.

As of 1990 there were 195 Polish citizens named Arnista, living in the following provinces: Białystok 3, Gorzow 7, Katowice 6, Łomża 102, Olsztyn 8, Opole 2, Suwałki 50, Torun 7, Walbrzych 2, Wroclaw 4, Zielona Gora 4. It's interesting that there's also a name Arnister, borne by 71 Poles, living in the provinces of: Łomża 33, Olsztyn 9, Opole 1, Suwałki 10, Szczecin 18. This suggests the original form might have been Arnister, but Poles don't care for the suffix -er and often change it to an -a. Still, then we're left wondering what Arnister means? All we know for sure is that these names are definitely most common in northern and eastern Poland, in the provinces of Łomża and Suwałki.


If you'd like to ask the best experts about this, I suggest writing the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow.

Also, if you do write them and hear back, I'd be very interested in hearing what they say. I would love to include this name and some reliable info (as opposed to my guesses) in the next version of my book on Polish surnames. So I would appreciate very much hearing anything you find out.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Andrychowski - Stygar - Sztygar

...I have a couple of names. My own, Stygar and my sister married an Andrychowski. Any information you have would be greatly appreciated.

Stygar probably is a variant of Sztygar, a word meaning "foreman," especially in mines. This term comes from German, and is comparable to the German names Stieger, "one who lived by a mountain path," and Steiger, literally "climber." So this could be the German name rendered in Polish spelling, or it could be a Polish name from a Polish word borrowed from German. Either way, the ultimate origin is German. The form Stygar is most common in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 310 Poles with that name. The largest numbers were in the provinces of Krosno (126) and Rzeszow (29), with smaller numbers in several other provinces, mostly in southeastern Poland, which is quite mountainous.

As with most names ending in -owski and -ewski, the name Andrychowski probably started as a reference to the name of a place the family came from or (if noble) owned. In this case two likely candidates are the villages of Andrychy, in Łomża province, and especially Andrychow, a reasonably good-sized town in Bielsko-Biala prov., southwest of Krakow. As of 1990 there were 311 Polish citizens named Andrychowski, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (57) and Łomża (54) and smaller numbers in many other provinces. The place names Andrychy and Andrychow are derived from the first name Andrzej, "Andrew," and mean basically "Andrew's place" -- so Andrychowski is literally rendered as meaning having some association with a place or thing associated with a guy named Andrew, but for all practical purposes this means "person from Andrew's town."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Białaszewski - Wawro

...I'm interested in knowing more about the Wawro and Bialaszewski (my grandmother's family name) family names.

The name Bialaszewski almost certainly derives from a connection with a place named Bialaszewo, or something similar; the most likely source is the village of Białaszewo (The Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w), about 15-20 km. SSE of Grajewo in modern-day Łomża province in northeastern Poland. There could be other, smaller places with similar names that gave rise to this name in some cases; but probably most families with this name came from, or were otherwise somehow connected, with this village of Białaszewo. The village, in turn, takes its name from the ancient first name Białasz -- probably the name of the village's founder or owner at some point; this name is from the root bial-, meaning white, with Białasz meaning something like "Whitey" in English.

This surname is not very common -- as of 1990 there were some 146 Polish citizens named Białaszewski. They lived mostly in the provinces of Warsaw (13), Gdansk (25), Gorzow (10), Pila (40), Slupsk (22), and Suwałki (22).

I should also mention there is a surname Białoszewski, somewhat more common (345 by that name in 1990), and in some cases the names might be related. But if the form Białaszewski is correct (rather than a variant of Białoszewski), I think derivation from the name of the village Białaszewo is most likely.

Wawro is an interesting name, mentioned in documents as early as 1453. According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, it is most likely a short form or nickname of Wawrzyniec, the Polish form of the first name Lawrence. It might also be connected to the Ukrainian first name Lavro, which some say is a separate name, from Latin laurus, "laurel," whereas others see it as a variant of Wawrzyniec; Polish influence might explain the change from an l sound to the v sound of Polish w (as happened with "Wawrzyniec" = "Lawrence"). The surname Wawro is fairly common, borne by 1,827 Poles as of 1990. The largest concentrations lived in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (322), Katowice (286), Krakow (265), and Przemysl (215); no other province had as many as 200 inhabitants by this name. All these provinces are in southern Poland, near Krakow (or near the Ukrainian border, in the case of Przemysl), areas with large numbers of ethnic Ukrainians. As I say, the name might be Polish, or it might be Polish-influenced Ukrainian, since in those areas we see many names of mixed origin.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Buława - Stawecki

...I would appreciate any information you have on Bulawa and Stawecki (mother's maiden name.) Thanks in advance.

Buława (The Polish slashed l sounds like our w, so that Buława would sound something like boo-WAH-vuh) is a moderately common name in Poland. As of 1990 there were 1,130 Polish citizens by that name, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (250), Bydgoszcz (147), Katowice (83), Pila (79), and Tarnobrzeg (200) -- the largest numbers appear in provinces in southern Poland, but other than that I see no particular pattern. The most likely origin for this name is the noun buława, which means "mace, staff of office" -- apparently it was a staff certain officials carried as part of their paraphernalia. I suppose a family would get this name either because a member was an official who carried such a staff, or because something about a person's shape or demeanour somehow reminded folks of the staff.

Stawecki is almost certainly derived from place names, including candidates such as Stawek, Stawce, Stawki, Stawiec -- there are quite a few places by those names, so nothing in the name itself gives us a clue as to where a particular Stawecki family might have originated. As of 1990 there were 866 Polish citizens by this name, with the largest numbers (more than 50) living in the provinces of Biala Podlaska (59), Białystok (51), Katowice (57), Kielce (112), Leszno (59), and Lublin (141). Again, if there is a particular pattern to this distribution, I'm afraid I can't see it.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Chądzyński - Gołoński - Malewicz - Markowski - Mękarski - Odachowski - Przyłęcki - Strzetelski

Note: the original question and reply were in Polish. I've translated them to make them more accessible to users of this page, most of whom presumably aren't fluent in Polish! - WFH

The surnames Chądzyński, Przyłęcki, Malewicz, Markowski, and Mękarski appear in Part Two of my book, a list of surnames arranged by the roots they derived from, (i.e., Mękarski appears under Mąk-, Markowski under Mar[e]c-, Mar[e]k, etc.). The surnames Gołoński, Odachowski, and Strzetelski don't appear in the book because they are quite rare, and there wasn't room for rare names.

I can make the following short comments on these surnames:

Chądzyński surely comes from place-names, for instance, Chądzyn in Siedlce province, Chądzyny in Ciechanow province. In 1990 there were 1,344 Poles by this name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (235), Ciechanow (135), Czestochowa (106), Lodz (68), and Piotrkow (115).

I don't know what Gołoński comes from -- probably from a place name, but I could find no such name in atlases or gazetteers. In 1990 there were 22 Poles with this surname, in the provinces of Warsaw (4), Białystok (11), Torun (2), Walbrzych (3), and Wroclaw (2).

Malewicz is a patronymic, meaning for example son of a little guy (mały) or son of a man named Mal, where Mal or something similar might be a short form of an old compound name such as Malomir. In 1990 there were 1,113 Poles with this name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (109), Białystok (117), Bydgoszczc (173), Gorzow (82), Szczecin (82), Wroclaw (69), and Zielona Gora (68).

Markowski comes from names of villages such as Markow, Markowo, Markowka, Markowa -- of which there are many in Poland. Obviously these place names come from the first name Marek (Mark) and meant something like village or estate belonging to Marek or Marek's kin. In 1990 there were 21,938 Markowskis in Poland.

Mękarski can come from the place name Mekarzow in Czestochowa province, or from the first name Mękarz, a variant of the name Makary. In 1990 there were 561 Poles with this surname, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Czestochowa (92), Lodz (85), and Piotrkow (93).

I've never run across the name Odachowski before, but in 1990 there were 415 Poles with this surname, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Białystok (140), Łomża (101), and Walbrzych (25). At first I had no idea where this name came from, but I saw that the form is toponymic (i. e., from a place-name), and I found a locality called Odachów (currently Adakavas in Lithuania) and one called Odachowszczyzna in Nowogrodek county of Minsk province in the former Russian Empire. It seems probable to me that the surname comes from these place names.

The name Przyłęcki probably comes from place names such as Przyłęk and Przyłęki, of which there are several. As of 1990 there were 351 Poles with this name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (23), Kalisz (56), Lodz (50), and Wroclaw (20).

I've also never seen the surname Strzetelski before, and in 1990 there were only 34 Poles by that name, in the provinces of Warsaw (3), Jelenia Gora (3), Kielce (3), Krakow (24), and Tarnow (1). The name is toponymic in form, but I could find no place with a name that seemed to fit. It is possible that such a place exists or did exist, but was too small too show up on maps or in gazetteers.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.




 

Chlapowski

... I am trying to find the origin and history of my surname which is Chlapowski (with a line over the l).

Most names ending in -owski derive from a place name ending something like -ow or -owo or -owa (similarly with -ewski). This isn't always the case, but usually with a name like Chłapowski (the ł stands for the Polish l with a slash through it or line over it, pronounced like our w) the first thing to do is look for places named Chłapow(/o/a), and usually the surname name began as a way of distinguishing people who came from that place.

According to Polish name expert Dr. Kazimierz Rymut, names beginning with the root chłap- have some connection with the verb chłaptać, which means "lap up, swill." In some cases, I can't help wondering if it might also be related to the root chłop-, which means "peasant" -- often Polish a and o sound very similar, so it's not outrageous to suggest a possible connection there. Now as to why a village would get such a name, that I don't know -- your guess is as good as mine. But the surname Chłapowski almost certainly means connected with, coming from, formerly owning, or prominent in Chłapowo.

As it happens, there are at least two villages named Chłapowo, one in Gdansk province, one in Poznan province; there may be others too small to show up on the map. Anyway, chances are good families named Chłapowski originally came from one of those villages; but without detailed genealogical research, however, there's no way to tell which one (or some other, smaller place with a similar name) would have been the one associated with your particular family. However, as you do research, if you start noticing that certain geographic facts add up, that might allow you to draw a fairly reliable conclusion as to which one is relevant.

As of 1990 there were 119 Polish citizens named Chłapowski, living in the follow provinces: Warsaw 13, Bydgoszcz 5, Elblag 4, Kalisz 2, Krakow 1, Leszno 39, Lodz 1, Opole 3, Poznan 26, Szczecin 21, Zielona Gora 4. No further info (first names, addresses, etc.) is available to me, I'm sorry to say.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Cieliczka - Tuszyński

... I am starting research on two names: 1) Tuszynski and 2) Cielcizka.

Cielcizka looks to me like a misspelling of Cieliczka, a name borne by some 260 Poles as of 1990, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Leszno (16), Lublin (15), Przemysl (178), and Walbrzych (13) -- so it looks as if southeastern Poland, and especially the Przemysl area, is the main place to look for this name.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions that most names beginning with the root ciel- come from the term cielę, "calf"; the dictionary shows cieliczka as a term meaning "young heifer." I'm not sure exactly how this came to be the name of a person, perhaps it was a nickname, for someone who bawled like a heifer, or was especially good at raising heifers -- about all we can be sure of is that the name arose due to some sort of association with heifers.

Tuszyński would most likely be a name suggesting a family was connected to (at one time owned, or worked at, or lived in) a place named Tuszyn, Tuszynki, Tuszynek, something like that. On the map I see four places with names that could spawn this surname, and there are probably more too small to show up on the map -- so the surname probably got started independently in several different places. Thus it's not surprising the surname is rather common in Poland; as of 1990 there were 4,711 Poles by this name. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers showing up in the provinces of Warsaw (653), Bydgoszcz (335), Katowice (388), Radom (319), Torun (360) -- basically, the only pattern I see to this is that the surname is most common in provinces with larger populations. So I'm afraid the name doesn't offer much in the way of clues as to where a family by that name might have come from.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Cwojdak - Sikora

...I just wanted to drop you a line and thank you for your help. One more favor. If you know anything about the names Cwojdak and Sikora I would appreciate you passing the information along. Thanks again.

Sikora comes from the noun sikora, "titmouse" (a kind of bird). This is an extremely common surname, as of 1990 there were 39,850 Poles by this name, living all over the country (plus another 26,051 with the name Sikorski).

The root of the name Cwojdak is something I would like to know more about. I mentioned the root in my book because some fairly common names are derived from it - Cwojdziński (834), Czwojdrak (376), Czwojdziński (201) -- but I could find nothing definite on it. As of 1990 there was no one named Cwojdak, there were 32 Poles named Cwojda, and 14 named Cwojdrak. I did find one source that mentioned that this name is found in Silesia (southwestern Poland), and it might be related to a term cwajda, a call used for cattle or horses. It might also be a Polonized form of a German word, although so far I haven't been able to figure out what word that would be -- it just sounds as if it might have a German origin. But the bottom line is, I'm not sure, and I hope one day to find a source that tells me more.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Czaplicki

I saw your web page on Polish names. Below is what I've learned about my Czaplicki name so far. Can you review what I have and correct or add to the information. I would be pleased if you chose to add this information to the web page.

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CZAPLICKI FAMILY NAME HISTORY

Name Origins

The Polish surname Czaplicki is classified as being of toponymic origin. Such names refer to an origin which is derived from the place name where the initial bearer lived on held land. In this instance, the surname derives from Czaple which is the name of a city located in north-western Poland, south east of Olsztyn. Thus, the original bearer of the surname Czaplicki was someone who was identified by members of his community as "one who hailed from Czaple." Etymologically, this toponym derives from the Polish term czapla which literally means "heron, stork," hence indicating a place frequented by this bird. In some cases, this surname originated as a nickname for a man with long thin legs, or perhaps for one who was shy and easily frightened.

Four Czaplicki Families

Czaplicki was the surname borne by four noble Polish families who were septs of the great clans Grabie, Kotwicz, Lubicz, and Grzymala, respectively. The Czaplickis of the clan Grabie had their ancestral seal located in the region of Chelmo which is about 50 kilometers northeast of Czestochowa, where their existence was documented in 1640. The Czaplicki of the clan Grzymala lived in the region of Prussia, although a branch of this family were registered in the district of Chelmo in 1700. The family who belong to the clan Kotwicz came originally from Mazovia where they were recorded in 1650. A Czaplicki family from Silesia used this coat of arms although their family probably faded out. Members of this family were documented as living in Lithuania in 1700. A descendant of this house, Stanislaw Czaplicki, made an endowment to the Dominican friars of Ostrowie, and in 1640 donated 5000 zloty to the monastery funds. The Czaplickis of the clan Lubicz had their ancestral seat located in Mazovia where their existence was registered as early as 1436.

Our Czaplicki Roots

This family from which my both paternal Czaplicki grandparents were born were from the Przasnysz district. The Lubicz-Czaplicki family were very branched out. Today about 6500 persons in Poland use that surname. The nest of this family was probably from the estate Czaplice in the Przasnysz district. In the gazetteer Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego, 1880, that place was divided into several villages, i.e.;

1. Czaplice- Bąki
2. Czaplice- Jaworowo
3. Czaplice- Furmany
4. Czaplice- Pilaty
5. Czaplice- Kurki
6. Czaplice- Milki
7. Czaplice- Wielkie
8. Czaplice- Rajki-Golanki
9. Czaplice- Koty

There is also a Czaplice-Osobne village in the nearby Łomża district and a Czaplice village in the Sluck district in Lithuania.

It looks as though the common ancestor of many of the Czaplicki families in these areas was knight Mroczeslaw de Czaplice who lived from 1410 to 1444. His descendants divided into 3 main lines: Mazovian, Lomzynian and Sandomierian.

In the 1432 Register of the Mazovian principality it lists that two first cousins from the sword side: Marcin Falislaw and Mroczek (diminutive of Mroczeslaw) de Czaplice were the owners of Czaplice in the parish of Krzynowloga in the Ciechanovian district in 1432. It appears that the Czaplicki's of the Łomża line are descendants of Mroczeslaw and that Marcin Falislaw was the ancestor of the Mazovian line.

In the Armorial of Ignacy Kapica Milewski it lists that Mroczeslaw de Czaplicki moved to Łomża district in 1436 and established the village Czaplice Osobne (parish Szczepanki). Furthermore the book mentions that Marcin de Czaplice born 1440, Andrzej de Czaplice born 1441 and Jøzef de Czaplice, son of Andrze (1498-1502).

Note: all this is information from Mr. Czaplicki, and as far as I can tell it seems accurate. I would think that while the term czapla, "heron," is clearly the ultimate root of the surname, most of the time the surname Czaplicki would derive from the place name Czaplice, rather than from Czaple. But Mr. Czaplicki got his information from some fairly good sources, and they indicate what he gives above is correct. Polish surname suffixes can be tricky, and what he says is quite plausible, so I don't disagree with it. And in any case, this is a good example of how a person who does good research can soon become much more of an expert on his/her name than I can ever be! -- WFH.

Danisiewicz

... Is there a way to find out if this name (Danisiewicz) is common in Poland and in what part of the country if it is.

Yes, I consulted a 10-volume set, the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych [Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland], which used a 1990 Polish government database with data on 94% of the Polish population to extract all surnames borne by Polish citizen and to give a breakdown of where they live by province. Unfortunately, further details (first names, addresses, etc.) which are surely in that database are not available -- the government office won't share them with researchers. So what I give here is all that's available.

As of 1990 there were 106 Polish citizens named Danisiewicz. They were scattered all over the country in 17 of the 49 provinces. Here are the provinces in which 10 or more lived: Warsaw (15), Katowice (10), Lodz (31), and Olsztyn (10). There were also 82 Poles named Danisewicz, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Białystok (10), Gdansk (9), Koszalin (8), Olsztyn (8), Slupsk (16), Suwałki (8), Szczecin (10). These names are so close that it's quite possible they could become confused, so it seemed advisable to give info on both. Danisiewicz shows no real pattern, except that the Lodz is where it's most common; Danisewicz shows up almost exclusively in the northern provinces along the Baltic that were once ruled by Germany.

I'm not surprised there is no really striking pattern to the names' distribution. The name just means son of Danis, where Danis is a first name that originated as a nickname for such Polish first names as Daniel, Bogdan or from the root word meaning to give. Names of this sort could and did arise anywhere Polish was spoken and there were guys with the appropriate first name. So -ewicz and -owicz names generally originated independently in many different places and families all over the country. It's kind of frustating for researchers, but it's a lot like trying to trace Johnsons in England -- the name itself just isn't distinctive enough to give you any clues.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Dejo - Raflewski

...While doing some research for my family tree, I came across a reference on the Net regarding a possible list you may have of Polish surnames. I was wondering if you have ever came across the name of Raflewski or Deyo? Any help you may provide would be greatly appreciated.

The spelling Deyo is not correct by modern Polish standards, which say that y can only be used as a vowel; however, in older Polish y could be used where these days they use j. So Dejo is a more likely form; however, it is quite rare -- in 1990 there was only one Pole by that name, living in Lodz province.  But -o and -a can be very hard to distinguish in handwriting, so it's not outrageous to suggest the name may have started out as Deja -- and there were 3,178 Poles by that name as of 1990. It probably comes from a dialect or slang term deja, meaning "heavy, awkward fellow." That name is found all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (500), Gdansk (345), Katowice (455), and Radom (619) -- if there's a pattern to that distribution, it escapes me. There were also 577 Poles named Dej, and I think it's highly likely one or the other of these names is the one you want.

I'm fairly sure that Raflewski ultimately derives from the first name Rafał (Raphael in English; the Ł stands for the Polish L with a slash through it, which sounds like our W). Usually surnames in -ewski or -owski derive from a place name ending in -ew- or -ow-, so I would expect Raflewski to have started as meaning one associated with a place named Raflewo (or something like that), and that place in turn probably took its name from a Rafał who founded it or owned it. I can't find any such place on the map, but sometimes Polish surnames came from names of places that were quite tiny, names used only by the locals, so it's not necessarily surprising that I can't find a place with an appropriate name. This is a fairly rare surname in Poland: as of 1990 there were only 42 Poles named Raflewski, living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (3), Elblag (4), Gdansk (2), Katowice (4), Lodz (6), Olsztyn (3), Suwałki (4), and Torun (16). (Unfortunately, I don't have access to further details, such as first names, addresses, etc.).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Derlanga - Malik - Prokowski

...There are three more surnames that I wasn't able to locate and am reasonably sure that they exist, save one. The two I'm most interested in are Prokowski and Derlanga. The third one is to clarify a point, while Malik is listed in your book, one of my cousins insists that his name is spelled as Malick.

Malik and Malick are probably the same. In German and English -k and -ck are pronounced the same, and those are the two foreign languages that most often affected the forms of Polish names -- so chances are that's just a variant spelling of no great significance. The one case where it might be significant is if Malick is a shortened form of Malicki, another surname from the same basic root. This is not out of the question, but I wouldn't give it much thought unless you find other evidence that supports the idea -- and even then, it doesn't necessarily mean much.

Derlanga is a tough name to nail down, but considering how e and y often switch in Polish, I suspect it comes from the term dyrlaga, "tall, thin person," and the related term dryląg, "tall, clumsy fellow." I notice that as of 1990 there were 236 Poles named Derlaga (see below for distribution). There were 290 named Dyrlaga, and there was a listing for Derląg but data was incomplete. The spelling Derlanga did not appear in the Surname Directory, but Derlęga did, and that's very close. All in all, considering where the name is most common, I suspect it's a southeastern regional variant of a surname deriving from the term dryląg -- from a phonetic point of view, that's quite plausible.

Here are the distributions for the names mentioned above:

DERLAGA: 236; Bielsko-Biala 2, Elblag 11, Gdansk 10, Gorzow 24, Jelenia Gora 3, Kielce 37, Krakow 3, Krosno 1, Legnica 3, Rzeszow 1, Suwałki 4, Tarnobrzeg 31, Tarnow 93, Walbrzych 10, Wroclaw 3

DERLANGA -- no listing

DERLÉGA: 62; Krakow 6, Legnica 5, Tarnow 43, Walbrzych 5, Wroclaw 3

DYRLAGA: 290; Warsaw 9, Bielsko-Biala 210, Bydgoszcz 1, Chelm 4, Ciechanow 1, Czestochowa 7, Elblag 2, Katowice 4, Koszalin 2, Krakow 3, Legnica 4, Leszno 4, Nowy Sacz 2, Opole 5, Szczecin 2, Tarnow 3, Walbrzych 11, Wroclaw 10, Zielona Gora 6

Prokowski is a rare name, as of 1990 there were only 30 Poles by this name. That is often a handicap, but in this case it might work to your advantage -- of those 30, 28 live in the province of Szczecin (the other 2 in Jelenia Gora). Thus the name is very concentrated, making it more likely you can find relatives in Poland. As for the origin, one would expect it to mean "person from Prokow/Prokowo/Prokowa," and I see there is a village Prokowo in Gdansk province, about 4 km. west of Kartuzy. The surname may refer to this village, or perhaps to another I can't find on my map.

There's no way to guess exactly how people living in Szczecin province (near the border with Germany) came to bear a name that refers to a place near Gdansk. One possibility is that the Prokowskis used to live in the village near Kartuzy and took their name from it, but later moved. That happened sometimes, especially with the nobility, who often sold and bought estates and moved around. But I'd say chances are decent the surname does refer to that village, unless you turn up evidence of another place with the same or a similar name.

You might contact the Polish Genealogical Society of America to ask about having the Szczecin provincial telephone directory searched for Prokowskis. I don't know how much it would cost, probably not a whole lot. There's no guarantee any relatives will be listed, but it seems the best bet for getting an address and finding those 28 Prokowskis. If you ever find out more about the origin of the Prokowski name and any link with Prokowo, I'd be interested in hearing about it -- it might be good material for the next revision of my book!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Duda - Dudynic

... My mother's father is Alex Dudynic, and my mother says only that he came from the Ukraine. I have checked all U.S. Internet phone directories, all genealogical indexes I can find, and I can find no one with that surname. I don't even know if it is truly Ukrainian?

RE: Dudynic/Dudynich, Dudynets, etc. It would be nice to see how your name was spelled in Cyrillic, especially the suffix (nets, ich, etc.). A dudi or dudy (however it is transliterated) is a cuff on a shirt sleeve. A dudko is a simpleton or fool. Let's assume your name was not based on the town fool. A duda is a bagpipe or an amateur musician. So your surname could be derived from any of these root words.

I recommend that you obtain the arrival record of your immigrant ancestors. That will state where they were born.

Tavarishch Lavrentij


I have nothing to add, except that in Polish the usage is pretty much the same.

 

Dulka

...I am trying to trace the origin of the surname Dulka. According to the family tree the name originated in the current geographical region of Poland but I can not verify any other reference except the last known city of ancestry is Vilnius (sp?) Poland.

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, but a great many Poles lived there (the Poles call it Wilno), especially back when Poland and Lithuania joined up as one very large country consisting of two distinct but (theoretically) equal parts, the Commonwealth of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. My wife's paternal ancestors were Poles living in Lithuania -- so this is not at all unusual.

I'm afraid the name Dulka doesn't give any clues that will help you focus on a specific place. Dulka is a name that has appeared in documents as early as 1414, but the person mentioned in that document lived near Krakow in southcentral Poland -- a long way from Vilnius! As of 1990 there were 245 Dulka's in Poland, living in the provinces of Warsaw (3), Białystok (1), Bydgoszcz (4), Gdansk (26), Katowice (22), Koszalin (3), Krakow (5), Lodz (13), Łomża (2), Olsztyn (6), Rzeszow (2), Slupsk (1), Suwałki (2), Szczecin (2), Torun (116), Walbrzych (2), Wroclaw (2). As you can see, the largest concentration is in the province of Torun, in north central Poland; but there are people by that name living pretty much all over the country...

The compilation that gives this data (and does not have first names, addresses, or any other info, unfortunately) used a database that had data only for citizens of Poland in its current boundaries, so it tells us nothing about how many Dulka's might still be living in Lithuania... There is a gentleman who has a similar source on Lithuania, however, you might contact him and ask if the name still shows up in Lithuania and what derivation they give -- David Zincavage.

If the name is of Polish origin, it comes from a basic root dul- meaning "swelling, thickening." In some dialects there is a word dula meaning a kind of pear, and dulka would be a diminutive of that. Or it might have started as a nickname for a thickset person; there are plenty of terms like that which became names in Polish. If the name is of Lithuanian origin, Dave Zincavage might be able to tell you something about it.

Note: Mr. Dulka did contact Dave Zincavage, who had this to say:

This is a very difficult one, but it's not uncommon in Lithuania. Vanagas finds 11 persons named Dulka, 65 Dulke, 1 Dulkevićius, 15 Dulkinas, 12 Dulkis/Dulkys.

Possible roots include: the Lithuanian dulke "a grain of dust"; the Polish dul-, "swelling", dulka, "oarlock", and do'l, "pit"; the German dul, "swamp" and duel [u-umlaut], "doll"; and the White Russian name Doolko [meaning not explained] which may be related to the Russian doolo, "muzzle" and "barrel" [according to my dictionary].

I wonder if there is not some Slavic name, like Dolislaw, which is the actual source. My guess would be that there is one, whose diminutive is the root.

An interesting idea! But unfortunately I can find nothing that seems to qualify to prove or disprove it either way. This is one I have to put in the "Unsolved" file, and hope one day I will find a more satisfactory answer.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Palzewicz

...any information on Polish surname Palzewicz, grandfather's name Stefan Palzewicz, came over on U.S.S. Lincoln about 1901, port of entry New York. Also had brothers 2 died another returned to Poland - Fredryk Palzewicz-but returned to america grandfather lived in East Chicago, Indiana. I have no known relatives other than family in USA.

As of 1990 there were 10 Polish citizens named Pałzewicz (the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our W); they lived in the provinces of Warsaw (5) and Lodz (5). There were also 18 named PałŻewicz (the z with a dot over it, pronounced like "s" in "measure"); they lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (7), Gdansk (3), Katowice (3), and Olsztyn (5). These folks are pretty well spread out, so it doesn't appear that the name is concentrated in any one area of Poland; and unfortunately I don't have access to any further data such as first names, addresses.

The root -ewicz means "son of," so the question is what Palz- means. It might just be an old first name that is no longer used, but I can find no mention of such a root in any of my sources. There is one thought that occurs to me: if Stefan's papers were filled out in Germany, or there is German influence on the spelling, Palzewicz may be a German-influenced spelling of Polish Palcewicz. The Poles pronounce c as "ts," and Germans spell that sound as z, so this is possible. Also, "Stefan" can be either Polish or German. All in all, I think it's at least possible the surname was originally Palcewicz. Not that that's a common name either -- as of 1990 there were 9 Poles by that name, in the provinces of Warsaw (6), Katowice (2), and Wroclaw (1). This appears to come from the root palec, "finger," so perhaps it was used as a nickname, "son of the Finger." Poles are very imaginative in the use of nicknames, so it's hard to say exactly what such a name meant originally.

The Palcewicz connection may not be right, but I thought it was worth mentioning, in case you run into that form during the course of further research. If the root is Palz-, I'm afraid I have no info on it.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Puchlik

...When you have a moment I would be most curious as to the origin and meaning of the surname Puchlik. This is my great great grandmother's maiden name. She was raised in Rutkowszczyzna, Białystok.

As of 1990 there were only 112 Polish citizens named Puchlik, and 57 of them lived in Białystok province (there were also 39 in nearby Suwałki province, and a few scattered in other provinces). So this suggests the northeastern part of Poland is definitely the right place to look for Puchliks. According to my sources, Rutkowszczyzna is served by the Catholic parish church at Suchowola in Białystok province, so that's where the family probably went to register baptisms, deaths, and marriages.

Puchlik appears to come from a root meaning "to swell, be swollen," and it seems likely the name began as a nickname or a name derived from a personal trait or characteristic -- perhaps an ancestor looked swollen. There is also a root puch meaning "down, feathers," so it's not impossible that the name also means "downy, feathery," perhaps referring to someone's hair. But that l in Puchl- strongly suggests it does come from the root meaning "swollen," so that strikes me as the most likely derivation.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Dec - Mitus

...If you have information on the names Dec or Mitus, I would be very pleased to receive it.

Dec is a bit of a problem, when I was working on my surname book I couldn't find any really good, firm info on it. One scholar mentioned that it was seen sometimes as a kind of short form or nickname for Dyonizy, which is more or less equivalent to our "Dennis." But there may be other derivations I don't know about; it wouldn't take too much for it to derive from some German names, e. g., Dietz, a nickname or short form for the German name Dietrich. (Dec in Polish would be spelled Detz in German, but I don't think that's related -- apparently Detz was an archaic term for "dung", so let's not go there). As of 1990 there were 7,500 Poles named Dec and another 299 named Deć. With such a common name, there might well be more than one source, and it's quite reasonable it derives from common first names, so the Dyonizy and Dietrich connections are plausible.

Mitus is the same way, I didn't find anything that let me really nail it down. As a rule, however, names beginning with Mit- tend to come from nicknames for the first name Dymitr or Dmitri. As of 1990 there were 173 Poles named Mituś, scattered all over but with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Krakow (27), Nowy Sacz (60) -- this suggests it is most common in southcentral Poland. By the way, there is a Polish term mituś that means "crosswise," I don't know whether that plays a role in this or not.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Oborski - Piglowski

...Found your really interesting site just surfing for genealogy info on the net. I have just started looking for roots, and am really interested in mine and my husbands polish ancestry. If you have time, could you let me know anything at all about the following: Oborski, which is my husband's, and Piglowski, also seen written as Peglowski and Piklowski, which is my mom's maiden name.

The name Oborski comes from the term obora, "cow-shed, barn." In practice the surname probably indicates a family came from, owned (if noble) or worked as peasants at a village or estate named Obora, Obory, Oborki, something like that (those places, in turn, took their names from the term for "cow-shed") -- and there are several places with those names. As of 1990 there were 1,029 Poles named Oborski, living all over the country, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (57), Kielce (51) Lodz (68), Warsaw (72), and Zielona Gora (59). I don't see any really helpful pattern to that distribution, which is not surprising because the various places with names beginning in Obor- are scattered all over.

It's hard to say for sure if the proper form of the other name is Piglowski or Peglowski or Piklowski, but I'm going to assume it's Pigłowski, that seems the most likely. As of 1990 there were 492 Pigłowski's in Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (42), Konin (32), Lublin (54), Lodz (48), and Poznan (69)-- again, I don't see any real pattern there. This name might come from a place name such as Pigłowice in Poznan province, or it might come from the basic root pigłać, "to nurse, care for," but with -owski surnames you usually want to go with a place name, if there is one that seems suitable. There may be other places with names beginning Pigłow- that are too small to show up on maps or in gazetteers yet could have yielded this surname. But Pigłowice in Poznan province seems a good possibility.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Oryl

...I am contacting you from Australia in an endevour to trace the lineage of my surname Oryl. My father was killed some twenty three years ago so I do not have any information to work with apart from the fact that he was from somewhere near Osiek and his name was Stanislaw Oryl. Anything you could offer to answer my question would appreciated.

When I was working on my surnames book, I could not find a reference book with analysis of the origins of Oryl. I did find a Polish term oryl, meaning "raftsman; lout" -- in other words, the main meaning is "raftsman," and apparently a secondary meaning developed later, "uncouth fellow, lout," presumably because folks came to have a rather low opinion of raftsmen's manners. While one cannot simply pick a word out of a dictionary and say "There, that's what it comes from," there are instances where such terms are plausible sources of surnames, and that's so in this case. I can find no other source that seems applicable, and occupation-derived surnames are very common in Polish. So we can't be positive, but it seems a pretty good guess that's what Oryl means.

As of 1990 there were 561 Poles named Oryl, living all over Poland but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (61), Ciechanow (175), Elblag (52), Olsztyn (55), and Torun (40). This seems to indicate northcentral Poland (in its current boundaries, that is) is the area where this name is most common. That's not too surprising, there are numerous rivers in this region, one would think a good number of people made their livings as raftsmen. Unfortunately, I have no access to more detailed data such as first names, addresses, etc. of those Oryls, the info I give here is all I have.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Blochowiak - Blohoviak - Pachucki - Pahucki

...Am trying to learn more about my Polish ancestry and have no living relatives (except younger siblings). My mother’s maiden name was Pahucki...

Pahucki is probably a variant spelling of Pachucki -- in Polish ch and h are pronounced the same, so we often see names spelled either way. Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut says names beginning with Pach- can come from the term pacha, "armpit," or from nicknames for once popular first names such as Pakosław and Paweł (= Paul; Pakosław has no English equivalent). Poles often formed nicknames or short forms of names by taking the first couple of sounds, chopping off everything else, and then adding suffixes. Thus there is a name Pachuta seen in records as far back as 1451, and it probably originated that way: pa- + ch- + uta. Pachucki looks like and probably is an adjectival form of that name, meaning basically "kin of Pachuta, folks who came from Pachuta's place," something like that. It's a moderately common surname, as of 1990 there were 1,067 Poles named Pachucki, living all over the country, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (88), Biala Podlaska (80), Łomża (144), and Suwałki (328). This suggests a concentration in northeastern Poland (Łomża and Suwałki provinces).

...My grandmothers maiden name was Blochowiak -- I have also seen it spelled Blohoviak.

Blohoviak is just a phonetic spelling of Błochowiak (ł = the Polish slashed l, pronounced like our w), the latter is the form that matters. There are several ways that name could have originated. It could be from German Bloch, "block"; from a variant of Włoch, "foreigner"; as a rabbinical surname; or as one of those nicknames of the kind I mentioned above. In this case Poles took such names as BlaŻej (Blaise) and Błogota (no equivalent), chopped off everything but the Bl-, and added suffixes. In this scenario Bloch- started out as a nickname, the -ow- is a possessive suffix, and -iak usually means "person from, of, son of." Thus this name might mean "person from Błochowo or Błochy (= 'Bloch's place')." There is a village Błochy in Ostrołęka province -- the surname might come from that. But it could have originated several other ways, as I said.

These days in Poland Błochowiak is not extremely common, but it's not rare either -- as of 1990 there were 518 Poles by this name. They lived all over the country, but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (92), Gdansk (40), Leszno (63), and Poznan (167).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Budzyn - Jaktorowo

...I would like to ask if you know the meaning of two place names: Budzyn and Jaktorowo?

I can't always answer questions about the meaning of place names, but in this case I believe I can. Both names derive from personal names with the addition of possessive suffixes.

Vol. I of Nazwy Miejscowe Polski [Place Names of Poland], edited by Kazimierz Rymut, covers names beginning with A and B. The name of Budzyn comes from a very old Polish first name, Budza, with the possessive suffix -yn added (after some roots the suffix would be -in, which explains where names ending in -ynski and -inski come from). In modern Polish the verbal root budz- means "to awaken, arouse," but in archaic Polish it meant "to feel, sense," so Budza was not a Polish Buddha but rather a name given a son in the hope that he would be sensitive -- not in the modern touchy-feely sense, perhaps, but rather "alert, wide-awake, perceptive." And the village name Budzyn means "of Budza, something belonging to Budza" = "Budza's place." The book also mentions that the name could be associated secondarily with the noun budzyn, "shabbiest, worst-built part of a village."

Unfortunately I don't have copies of any further volumes of this work (I understand the next volume has only recently been printed and is on its way to me), but I'm still pretty certain that Jaktorowo comes from Jaktor, a variant form of the name Hektor (= Hector in English). J. Bubak's Ksiega nazych imion [Book of Our First Names] mentions that Jaktor is a form of "Hector" seen in records back as early as 1386; in some Polish dialects there was a predilection to modify certain sounds to Ja-, as seen with Jagnieskza as a variant of Agnieszka, Jadam instead of Adam, Jagata instead of Agata, Jaracz instead of Horacy, and so forth. So if Jaktor = Hector, the -owo suffix is just a possessive, and Jaktorowo means literally "thing, place belonging to Jaktor (Hector)." Jaktorowo is "Hector's place," presumably referring to a noble who owned the area at one time, or a man who founded the village, or a prominent citizen at some point.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Chowaniec - Penc

...Having Polish ancestry on both mom's and dad's side, I was wondering if your book contains any info on either Penc (dad's side) and Chowaniec (mom's side).

My book does mention both names, but I can add a little to what's in the book. The name Chowaniec (pronounced roughly "hoe-VAHN-yets") appears in documents from 1628 and comes from the noun chowaniec, which means "adopted child." As of 1990 there were 2,959 Poles by this name, scattered all over the country but with the largest numbers (over 100) in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (656), Katowice (458), Krakow (149), Nowy Sacz (699), Opole (122), Tarnobrzeg (109). This suggests that the name is most common in southcentral Poland (the provinces of Bielsko-Biala, Katowice, Krakow, and Nowy Sacz). I'm not sure why it is more common there, perhaps people in other parts of Poland had other words besides chowaniec they preferred to use for "adoptee."

Penc is not quite so clear-cut, there are several things it might come from but no one really obvious one, and I can't find any source that really nails it down. The most likely origin is from the word Pęc (the ę represents the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail, pronounced very much like en, so that either Penc or Pęc would be pronounced roughly "pents"). The term pęc is from a root meaning "splash, smack," a splashing or smacking sound. The name might also come from a nickname for ancient pagan compound names such as Pękosław, or from a root pąk, meaning "bundle, bunch, bud." As you can see, there are several words that are close, but none is a direct hit.

As of 1990 there were 204 Poles named Penc, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Poznan (25) and Tarnobrzeg (70) and much smaller numbers in many other provinces. There were only 7 named Pęc, in the provinces of Katowice (1), Krakow (3), Opole (1), and Wroclaw (2). So this name is not a particular common one, although there are other names presumably from the same roots that are pretty common: Pęcak (1,666 from a word for hulled barley), Pęczek (1,535, from a word for "tuft, whisp"), etc.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Grzybowski

...I'm curious to find out more about my last name, Grzybowski. Someone had actually showed me an article from the NY Times magazine a few years ago saying the was a park in Warsaw with the same name as my last name.

Surnames ending in -owski usually derive from place names ending in -y, -ow, -owo, -owa, and so on. There are at least 17 villages in Poland named Grzybow, Grzybowa, Grzybowo, etc., (probably more too small to show up on maps), and the name Grzybowski originated as a reference to association with any or all of them; it could have meant "family from Grzybow/o etc.," or it might have referred to a noble family that owned the estate there, peasants who worked on an estate there, a man who traveled there often on business, or so on. It is virtually certain the name was adopted by many different families in many different places... The root of the place name is grzyb, "mushroom," so all these places got their names because of some association with mushrooms, and the surname just means basically "one associated with the place of the mushrooms."

When a surname can come from so many places, it is usually pretty common, and that's the case here: as of 1990 there were 14,498 Polish citizens named Grzybowski, living all over the country.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Bronder

...I'm researching the Bronder family history, and I have traced the Bronder lineage back to Keltsch, Prussia, which was once part of German Silesia and is now part of Poland. It seems to be an uncommon name, I think it is either German or Austrian in origin. Do you have any information on this surname? Would you happen to know its nationality and meaning? Thanks for your time.

The only info I can find on Bronder is that as of 1990 there were 460 Polish citizens with that name, living in the provinces of Czestochowa (92), Katowice (161), Krakow (2), Opole (201), Poznan (1), Walbrzych (1), Wroclaw (2). These are areas with large German populations, and the name does sound German to me, but neither George F. Jones nor Hans Bahlow mentions it in their books on German surnames.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Bugno - Judicky - Moizuk

...The surnames I have are Bugno and Moizuk and Judicky(sp).

Bugno probably comes from the root bug-, "bend, curve," especially in a river. The most obvious case of this is the name of the Bug River, part of the eastern border of modern Poland. Bugno might mean an ancestor lived by a bend in a river, something like that. As of 1990 there were 651 Poles with this name, living all over but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (89), Krakow (33), Lodz (31), Nowy Sacz (160), Opole (30), and Tarnow (82) -- so the largest numbers are in southcentral and southeastern Poland.

Judycki (the standard spelling in Polish) looks like an adjectival form of the name Judyta = our "Judith." So Judycki might refer to an association with a person named Judith or a place name for her. It might also refer to Juda, "Jew" (actually that's all Judith originally meant, "Jewess"). As of 1990 there were 578 Poles named Judycki, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (54), Białystok (48), Katowice (41), Olsztyn (34), Pila (40), Suwałki (99) -- mostly in the northern and especially northeastern part of Poland.

I could not find Moizuk, but it is very likely that is a variant spelling of MojŻuk (I'm using Ż to stand for the z with a dot over it, pronounced like the "s" in "measure"). This name comes from the name Mojzesz, "Moses," and is an Eastern-Polish form meaning basically "son of Moses." This might suggest Jewish ancestry, but doesn't have to -- in medieval times the name Moses was used by both Christians and Jews, it wasn't until later that the name came to be associated exclusively with Jews. As of 1990 there were 105 Poles named MojŻuk, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 9, Białystok 24, Łomża 4, Olsztyn 7, Sieradz 4, Suwałki 46, Szczecin 3, Walbrzych 1, Wroclaw 5, Zielona Gora 1.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Juszkowski - Lagiewniki - Logewnik

...My great-grandfather was Piotr Juszkowski and his wife was Julia Danielewski. He found under Wilhelm I in the German Army. He was born in 1861 in West Prussia in a town named Logewnik (?)... We know that he left from the port of Bremen in January 1888 for America and ended up eventually in Detroit, Michigan area where he raised his family. Have you seen this name before? What might it mean? Do you know of a town named Logewnik or something like that in Prussia? I can't find anything. He was definitely of Polish descent.

I have seen the name Juszkowski before. The root of names with Juszk- derives from the first names Juszka (seen in records as early as 1388) and Juszko (1368), which in turn originated as nicknames for such common first names as Justyn, Julian, Jozef, etc., much as "Joe" or "Joey" is formed from "Joseph" in English.

More directly, surnames ending in -owski usually refer to an association with a place name ending in -i or -ow/-owo. There are two or three places that might be relevant in this case: there's a village Juszki, south of Koscierzyna in Gdansk prov.; a village Juszkowo, some 15 km. south of Gdansk; and a Juszkowy-Grod in Białystok prov. Since your ancestors came from West Prussia, odds are the places in Gdansk province are relevant (although you can never rule anything out on such slim evidence). In any case, the surname Juszkowski means "associated with a place called Juszki or Juszkowo," and the place name means "place of Juszka or Juszko."

As of 1990 there were 79 Polish citizens named Juszkowski, living in the following provinces: Warsaw (9), Ciechanow (23), Elblag (3), Leszno (11), Lublin (1), Łomża (8), Lodz (1), Slupsk (9), Szczecin (9), Torun (3), and Wroclaw (2). Unfortunately I have no further details such as first names or addresses (people always ask, and this is all the data I have access to). If your ancestors came from West Prussia, the Juszkowski's living in Slupsk, Szczecin, and Torun provinces are the ones most likely to be related.

Logewnik seems to me a slight distortion of Łagiewniki (ł stands for the Polish slashed l, pronounced like our w, so that the name is pronounced roughly "wag-yev-NEE-kee"). This is a term for residents of settlements occupied mainly with making łagwi, wooden or leather containers for liquids used before glass-making became widespread. Unfortunately, the fact that this is a reasonably common term means there were quite a few places with this name, at least 16 in my atlas of Poland.

However, I see only two in territory that might have been considered "West Prussia" (always assuming we're not dealing with a place too small to show up on maps or in gazetteers). One, called Elvershagen by the Germans, is in Szczecin province, maybe 5 km. southeast of Resko; technically it was in Pomerania, but could easily have been regarded as West Prussia. The other is 1-2 km. south of Kruszwica in Bydgoszcz province, more in Provinz Posen than West Prussia, but the boundaries varied and it might well have been regarded as West Prussia, at least at one time. The parish church serving Catholics in that area was in Kruszwica. You might consider getting its records on loan from the LDS Family History Library and looking through them, to see if there are any Juszkowskis who match up -- it's a bit of a long shot, but better than nothing. Of course, if your Juszkowskis weren't Catholic, that may not be much help.


For further help you might want to contact the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan at this address: PGS of Michigan, c/o Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48202. A lot of people with roots in Michigan have found the PGS-MI most helpful.

A long-shot that might be worth a look is the Kashubian Association of North America (KANA c/o Blanche Krbechek, 2041 Orkla Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55427-2439). They're supposed to have a name list on their Web site: http://feefhs.org/kana

I'd try them because if your folks came from West Prussia, there is a halfway decent chance they may have been members of the Kaszub ethnic group, and if they are the KANA might prove very helpful.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Fedosz

...I am researching my paternal grandfather's surname, Fedosz. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My grandfather came to this country around the beginnng of the 1900's, from a town near Warsaw,Poland.

None of my sources mention Fedosz, but most names beginning with Fed- derive ultimately from Fedor or Fyodor, Eastern Slavic forms of the name Theodore (Teodor in standard Polish). In other words, the name probably started out as Ukrainian, Belarusian, or Russian. There are many Polish names that started out in other languages because the history of Poland has so much intermingling of Poles with Germans, Ukrainians, Czechs, Lithuanians, etc. The Poles, Ukrainians, etc. often formed names by taking the first syllable of a common first name and adding a suffix or two to it; so from Fedor we have Fed-, then add -osz = Fedosz. There is no exact way to translate this into English, it would basically just mean something like Teddie and probably originated as a patronymic, a way of referring to a person as son of so-and-so.

As of 1990 there were only 17 Polish citizens named Fedosz, living in the following provinces: Legnica 11, Poznan 4, Szczecin 2. None of those is very close to Warsaw, but that's not surprising, in view of the mass movements of people during the last couple of centuries.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Frankowski - Gąsiewski - Gonsiewski - Nawodyło - Stankiewicz - Wykowski

...I have not found much on Nawodylo or Gonsewski/Gonsiewski so far.

To start with, Gons- is just another way of spelling Gąs- (where ą is the Polish nasal vowel and pronounced very much like -on-). So the "correct" spelling of the name was probably Gąsiewski. Now names ending in -ewski or -owski are usually derived from place names that are similar but without the -ski. So Gąsiewski most likely means something "person who owned (if noble) or who came from Gąsiewo," or something like that; that place name, in turn, comes from the root gęś, "goose," so Gąsiewo would mean something like "Goose Village" (presumably there were a lot of geese raised there). On the map I see a Gąsewo in Płock province, that's one place this name might come from; but I'm pretty certain there are other places with similar names that were too small to show up on the map, but could also have spawned this name.

As of 1990 there were only 11 Poles named Gonsiewski, living in the provinces of Białystok (1), Gdansk (1), Piotrkow (2), Suwałki (1), and Tarnobrzeg (6). But there were 1,209 Gąsiewskis! They lived all over, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (172), Łomża (157), Olsztyn (83), Ostrołęka (166), and Suwałki (215). The habit of switching spellings on/ą is so common that I think you're probably better off regarding Gonsiewski and Gąsiewski as different spellings of the same name, rather than as two different names; and as such, it is fairly common.

Nawodylo: this is a rare name in modern-day Poland -- as of 1990 there were only 9 Poles named Nawodyło (the Polish slashed l, pronounced like a w, so that the name in Polish is pronounced something like "nah-vo-DI-woe," with the i being short as in "sit"). They lived in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (5), Katowice (1), Przemysl (2), and Szczecin (1). The numbers here are too small to draw conclusions from, but I've seen a similar pattern before with Ukrainian names -- they tend to show up along the southern borders of Poland, and many were relocated from Ukraine to western Poland after World War II. And Nawodyło sounds more Ukrainian than Polish to me. You'd expect dz, not simple d, in Polish, and the root verb nawodzić is rare in Polish; but the verb navodyty, to lead, direct, is reasonably common in Ukrainian, and in that language the -dy- is quite normal. "Nawodyło" can be regarded as simply a Polish phonetic spelling of Ukrainian "Navodylo." So while I can't be sure, I think chances are this is a Ukrainian name from a word meaning "to lead, direct." This is quite plausible, since historically much of Ukraine was under Polish rule for a long time, so you find Ukrainian names in Poland and Polish names in Ukraine. This doesn't mean your ancestors weren't Poles -- regardless of the linguistic origin of the name, they may well have considered themselves, and been considered by others, true Poles! But it's at least worth knowing they might have been ethnic Ukrainians, and that may be why it's hard finding much on them in Poland.

...The others are Frankowski (probably very common), Wykowski, and Stankiewicz.

Frankowski is quite common, as of 1990 there were 11,094 Poles by that name, living all over the country. The -owski, again, suggests an original meaning of "one who came from, owned, or often traveled to Frankow or Frankowo," and there are several villages that qualify (Franki, Frankow, Frankowo, etc.). Those place names, in turn, came ultimately from the same source as our name Frank, from an abbreviation of Franciszek, Francis, or perhaps in some cases from the term Frank, from the name of a Celtic tribe once living in what is now France (the name of which comes from the same root). So Franki/Frankow/ Frankowo was "Frank's village," and Frankowski was "person from Frank's village."

Wykowski is not so common, but still not rare; as of 1990 there were 689 Poles by that name, living all over but with the largest numbers (more than 50) in the provinces of Gdansk (52), Łomża (265), Ostrołęka (74), and Suwałki (66). By now you can probably guess: the name means "person from Wyki or Wykow or Wykowo," and there are several places with names that qualify, so we can't pinpoint any one area where this name started. I would think the place name comes from wyka, the vetch (a kind of plant); there are a couple of other possible derivations, but this strikes me as the most likely one. So the Wykowskis were "the people from the village with lots of vetch."

Stankiewicz is extremely common, borne by 19,826 Poles living all over the country. The suffix -ewicz means "son of," so this means "son of little Stan." Stanek or Stanko was a nickname for someone named Stanisław (Stanislaus), literally "little Stan," possible also "son of Stan," and when you add the suffix it becomes Stankiewicz, "son of little Stan" or "son of Stan's son." If a name is at all popular, as Stanislaw is, then the -ewicz or -owicz forms from its nicknames are also extremely common, and that's true here.

...Do you think it's helpful to contact other people with the same last name while doing this research? I found about 30 people with the last name Gonsiewski on the internet white pages, and have contacted one of them through e-mail. Is that name too common to think we might be related somewhere down the line or that they could help with information?

That's an intelligent question -- I hear all the time from researchers who think their name is rare, so if they find anyone with the same name, he/she must be a relative. That can be true, certainly, but so very often it's not. If you realize this, and don't jump to conclusions, yes, I think it is worthwhile contacting others with the same name. Even if the info you share proves not to have any connections, that right there tells you something about the name and how widespread it is. And if you keep on making contacts, odds are good sooner or later you'll run into a relative, and that can really pay off. So as long as you don't have unrealistic expectations that are easily frustrated, and you just take what you get as it comes and make the best of it, yes, I think such contact is a good idea.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Furgal - Furgat

...Please let us know what Furgat or Furgal means, my children have projects for school that are asking for the meaning of their names...

This name could originate in other languages besides Polish, from completely different origins; but if you have reason to think it is Polish in this case, here is the most likely origin I can discover.

There is a verb furgać (accent over the c, the word is pronounced roughly "FOOR-gach"), a term used in dialect, which means "to take flight, fly away, flee." In Polish, names were often formed by taking such verbs, dropping the infinitive ending -ać, and adding the suffix -ała (the Polish l with a slash through it sounds like our w). This suffix generally means one who's always doing the action or demonstrating the quality described -- e. g., Biegała is from biegać, "to run," and means someone who's always running. In this case, Furgał or Furgała would apparently mean "one who's always taking off, one quick to flee." So that explains the name if it is Furgal or Furgala. If it's Furgat, it probably still means something similar, but -at is a much less common suffix in Polish names. (By the way, the Polish ł looks a lot like a t, and in some names people mistook it for a t so that the name changed from -ał to -at -- that could have happened in this case.)

As of 1990 there was only 1 Furgat in Poland, living in the province of Rzeszow, in far southeastern Poland, near the Ukrainian border. Furgał is very common, however; there were 1,149 Poles by that name, living all over the country but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (127), Krakow (174), and Tarnow (331) -- which suggests the name is most common in southern Poland. There were also 984 Furgała's, with half living in one province, Przemysl (466), also in southeastern Poland. The large numbers in Tarnow and Przemysl provinces suggest the name is most common, and may have originated, in southeastern Poland, near the Ukrainian border. I wish I had data for Ukraine, I bet it's a fairly common name in western Ukraine, which also used to be part of the Commonwealth of Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Gacek - Kochowski

...Do you know anything on Kochowski or Gacek?

None of my sources states definitively what Gacek comes from, but it seems highly likely to derive from the word gacek, meaning bat (the animal). It might have originated as a nickname because someone somehow reminded people of a bat, or lived in an area where there were bats, something like that. It is a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 4,749 Polish citizens named Gacek, living all over the country. In fact, I have a letter on my desk right now from a lady in England named Gacek. I'm afraid the name offers no clues that help suggest where a family by that name might have originated.

Kochowski, like most -owski names, probably originated as a reference to a place with a name like Kochow or Kochowo with which the family was associated -- if they were noble, they may have owned it, if not noble they probably came from there or did business there or traveled there often. There are at least two places named Kochow, one in Siedlce province, the other in Tarnobrzeg province, and there is a Kochowo in Konin province. This surname is not so common, as of 1990 there were only 332 Poles named Kochowski, living in many parts of the country but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Radom (46) and Tarnobrzeg (175), which are in east central and southeastern Poland respectively. I have to suspect the majority of the Kochowskis came from that Kochow in Tarnobrzeg province, since that is the place with the largest concentration of the name; but it seems likely at least some of the families named Kochowskis came from the other villages I mentioned. The probably ultimate root of all these names is koch-, which means love in Polish.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

 

Głębocki - Glembotsky

... in search of Glembotsky from Vilna, Poland - looking for any / all information/ people and origin, etc. ---

I have no info that will help with the family, but I might be able to give you a few insights on the name itself. First of all, you do realize that "Vilna, Poland" (or in Polish Wilno) is Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, right? I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but sometimes people don't know how much the borders of eastern Europe have changed, and how the place names changed with them, so I figure it's always best to point these things out, just in case it clears up some confusion. I can also assure you that a great many ethnic Poles lived and still live in Lithuania, especially the Vilnius area --my wife's Polish ancestors came from that general area, and she still has relatives living in Alytus (Polish Olita), Lithuania. So it's not at all incompatible to say a Polish family came from what is now Lithuania.

Glembotsky is a Germanized or Anglicized version of the name Poles usually spell Głębocki; the l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w, and the e with a tail under it, usually pronounced like en but before a b sounding more like em. So the Poles pronounce this name "gwem-BOT-skee"; if you factor in Germans' reaction to ł (Germans have no w sound in their language, so they usually just turned ł into a normal l) you can see how easily Głębocki could come to be written Glembotsky.

Głębocki is a pretty common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 2,347 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country; the 10-volume set from which I got this info (which, by the way, does not have first names or addresses or anything more than a total for Poland and a breakdown by province) had access only to data from Poland in its current boundaries, so it would not show anybody by that name still living in Lithuania. I see no real pattern to the name's distribution; it shows up in virtually every province and has the highest numbers in provinces that have greater populations. So unfortunately the name gives no real clue as to where a family by that name may have originated.

There are a couple of roots this name might come from: głąb, meaning "stalk" (e.g., of cabbage), or głęb-, "deep." Whichever is the ultimate root, the surname probably comes directly from a place name, indicating origin in any of the numerous places named Głębock, Głębocko, Głęboka, Głębokie, etc. That's how it usually works with these surnames that come from common place names: there's a lot of folks with such names, and they're spread all over because the name arose independently in many different places at different times. So it's a good bet there are many, many different families named Głębocki, not just one big one.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Grycki

...I had the opportunity to read about your work with Polish names. My last name is Grycki and anything that you could find for me I would appreciate.

This is a tough name, because the form of it doesn't really same quite right for Polish. I don't mean the family wasn't Poles, but there are a lot of surnames borne by Poles that aren't of Polish origin, but Ukrainian, Czech, Lithuanian, German, etc. Furthermore, the name is rare in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 24 Polish citizens named Grycki, living in the provinces of Czestochowa (1), Jelenia Gora (12), Przemysl (2), Szczecin (1), Walbrzych (6), and Zielona Gora (2). This isn't enough data to conclude much from, but I have seen similar distributions for Ukrainian names due to post-World War II displacement of Ukrainians to western Poland.

My best guess is that this name is related to the word gryka, buckwheat; Grycki could very well come from that, although names with Grycz- are more common from that root. There is another possibility that comes to mind. Sometimes in Polish dialect the vowels e and y become confused, so that would make this name = Polish Grecki, which means Greek and was often applied to Ukrainians who were Greek Catholics. In some ways that makes sense because the distribution pattern of the name suggests a possible connection with Ukrainian.

If you'd really like to get an expert opinion and don't mind spending $20 or so, contact the Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Haszczak

...I have found a new name in my family searching, it is Haszczak. Could someone look for me and tell me the origin of this name and also the numbers of people who had this name from Mr. Rymut's book. I am giving it to a man Roman Haszczak who is the only person in the US listed with this name.

The name is pretty rare -- as of 1990 there were only 22 Poles named Haszczak, living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (4), Gdansk (1), Gorzow (4), Katowice (1), Krakow (1), Rzeszow (3), Szczecin (3), Wroclaw (5). The most likely origin is that it comes from a place, since haszcza is a thicket, a place with dense undergrowth -- presumably Haszczak started as meaning a person who lived near such a place... If Mr. Haszczak wants more info, I'd recommend writing the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Hendzel

...I'm researching my ancestors that came to the U.S. in 1914 and 1920. They came from a city named Dubiecko, Poland. The last name is Hendzel. It seems this name is German?? What's the story of such a name?

Yes, the name is probably German. Germans use the -l or -el suffix the way Poles use the suffixes -ek, -ka, -ko, etc., as diminutives, "little ..." The only question is which particular first name Hendzel came from. German expert Hans Bahlow doesn't discuss this name directly, but gives info that suggests it could be from Hans, "John," in which case it's a lot like the name Hansel; or it could come from Heintz or Hentz, short forms for Heinrich (Henry). Polish expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions Hendzel and says it could come from Hans or from Anzelm (Anselm). So it could mean "little John" or "little Henry" or "little Anselm"; diminutives are also sometimes used as patronymics, names formed from one's father's name, so that it might also mean "John's son," "Henry's son," "Anselm's son." Rymut generally seems to know his stuff, so I'm inclined to say it's most likely a German-influenced nickname from the first name "Anselm."

As of 1990 there were some 934 Polish citizens named Hendzel. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (96), Krosno (118), Przemysl (158), Rzeszow (53), and Wroclaw (58) -- so it's most common in the southern provinces, and especially in the southeastern provinces near the border with Ukraine, Przemysl and Krosno. This fits in with your info that your ancestors came from Dubiecko, which, if I'm not mistaken, is in Przemysl province.

It's not surprising that the name is German but is found in Poland. Poles and Germans mixed with each other a lot over the centuries. You find the most mixing in western Poland, near the German border, naturally -- especially after Germany seized western Poland during the partitions and began a policy of settling German colonists on the best land; but there were plenty of Germans living all over Poland, too, dating from much earlier. When plague and war devastated medieval Poland, the nobles owning lands found their estates depopulated and plunging in value. They wanted skilled craftsmen and farmers to come settle on their land and increase the value of their estates. Meanwhile, in Germany there was disease, religious persecution, political unrest, etc., so many Germans were more than ready to go elsewhere. Nobles in Poland (and Ukraine and Russia, too, for that matter) invited them to come settle on their land, giving them various incentives (land free from taxes for up to 20 years, that sort of thing). The native Poles weren't always too thrilled to see all these Germans settling among them, but it was good for the local economy, so they made the best of it. That's why we see pockets of ethnic Germans all over Poland, and that's why a name of German origin can be quite common even in far southeastern Poland.

I know it seems a little odd at first, but believe me, the more you study Polish history, language, culture, and names, the more you realize this was commonplace.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Kazczyk - Shmegelski - Śmigielski

... My father's surname is Shmegelski and my mother's is Kazczyk (I am purely polish).

Kazczyk is almost certainly a patronymic (a name formed from one's father's name), meaning "son of Kaz" where "Kaz" is a short form or nickname for the popular Polish name Kazimierz. In Polish the suffix -czyk is most often used to form patronymics, as in Janczyk (son of Jan), Adamczyk (son of Adam), etc. The kaz- root could come from the verb kazać, meaning "to order" or in older Polish "to destroy" -- but the patronymic suffix suggests it is more likely to be in this case simply a short form of the Polish first name Kazimierz (usually rendered as "Casimir" in English), an ancient pagan name formed from the verb root kaz-, "destroy" + the noun root mir, "peace." The ancient Slavs (like most Indo-Europeans) liked to give their children names that served as prophecies or good omens, and "Kazimierz" was probably given in the hope that, in the difficult and war-like times in which the ancient Poles lived, Kazimierz would excel in battle. Later Poles loved to take these long names and chop off all but the first syllable and add suffixes to that (not unlike the way English-speaking people formed "Eddie" from "Edward"). I feel certain that's how Kazczyk started, as a name referring to those who were descendants of some fellow named Kaz or Kazimierz who was locally prominent.

The surprise here is that usually patronymics formed from popular first names are very common in Poland, but the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych [Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland, ed. Kazimierz Rymut, published 1994 in Krakow by the Instytut Jezyka Polskiego PAN, ISBN 83-85579-25-7] shows no one named Kazczyk living in Poland as of 1990! It's not unusual to find that a name died out in Poland after people by that name emigrated, I've run into that fairly often; but I certainly would have expected to see at least a few hundred people by this name. But then this field is full of surprises!

As for Shmegelski, its form proves it has been modified since the family left Poland, because Poles don't use the letter combination sh. In Polish either sz or ś (s with an accent over it) is used to represent this basic sound, so we would expect either Szmegelski or Śmegelski. However, two other spelling points arise. In proper Polish, the combination ge is not normally allowed, it must be gie, so that gives us Szmegielski or Śmegielski. Finally, the combination Śme- is rare, that accent over the s represents palatalization, which affects the whole sound cluster, and predisposes the vowel to be either i or ie: so in proper Polish spelling, one would expect either Śmigielski or Śmiegielski, with Szmegelski a possible alternative because ś and sz are sounds easily confused.

Going by name frequency, I would expect Śmigielski to be the original form; it is easy to see and hear this (pronounced "shmeeg-YELL-skee") could become modified to Shmegelski in English, and that name is fairly common in Poland. Actually the root of this name, Śmigiel is also common, with 1,940 Polish citizens by that name in 1990; but the adjectival form Śmigielski is much more common, with 5,925 Poles by that name in 1990 (there were only 30 Poles named Śmiegielski, which suggests that is just a rare spelling variant of the standard form). The Śmigielskis lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers (> 250) in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (448), Ciechanow (251), Katowice (326), Konin (436), Poznan (518), Torun (265), Warsaw (285), and Wloclawek (272). I don't see any really useful pattern to that distribution, it seems the name has the largest numbers in the provinces with the most people, which suggests the name is evenly distributed and therefore probably originated in many different places and at different times. So it's a good bet all the Śmigielskis are not related to each other!

The root of the name, the noun śmigiel, means "rail in a ladder." It requires a bit of imagination to figure out how this name came to be applied to so many people. Polish names ending in -ski often derive from a place name, and there is at least one village called Śmigiel in Poland, in Leszno province, about 10 km. southwest of the town of Kościan; but there may be many more places by that name too small to show up on the map, or perhaps the name was only used by the locals and never made it into any gazetteers or atlases. So a family Śmigielski might have gotten that name because they came from a place named Śmigiel or something similar. Or a prominent member may have made rails, or was thin as a rail -- who knows? People are very ingenious with names, and it is often impossible to figure out exactly how they got started -- folks are still arguing whether Groucho Marx got that name because he was a grouch, or because he carried what was called a "grouch bag." If we can't settle that question, imagine trying to settle the derivation of a name that started in Poland several centuries ago!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Kiszkiel

...Could you please give me some insight into the origins of my family's surname, Kiszkiel? According to your database of surnames, is it a relatively rare name and from what part of the country does it stem from, if any? ...

As of 1990 there were 390 Polish citizens named Kiszkiel. Here is a listing of where they lived by province, i. e., Warsaw 18 means there were 18 Polish citizens by that name living in the province (not just the city) of Warsaw. I'm afraid more details, such as first names and addresses, are not available; what I give here is all I have:

KISZKIEL: 390; Warsaw 18, Białystok 183, Elblag 4, Gdansk 14, Gorzow 24, Jelenia Gora 13, Koszalin 36, Krakow 3, Legnica 12, Łomża 2, Lodz 9, Ostrołęka 4, Slupsk 7, Suwałki 4, Szczecin 24, Walbrzych 5, Wroclaw 4, Zielona Gora 24

If the name is Polish in origin, it almost certainly derives from the word kiszka, which has a basic meaning of gut, bowel, but is also a term used for a kind of pork pudding or liver sausage, also a term (archaic?) for sour milk. There are many Polish names derived from terms for food, indicating perhaps that a person got that name because he produced or dealt in that kind of food was always eating it, or somehow had a shape or smell that reminded people of it.

I note, however, that the largest concentration of Kiszkiel's is in the province of Białystok, which is in northeastern Poland and borders on Belarus. This is an area where Lithuania has long had influence, and a Polish name in -iel often -- not always, but often -- turns out to be Lithuanian in origin. My Lithuanian dictionary gives kiŝka (upside-down caret over the s, giving it the sound of sh, which Poles spell as sz), meaning thigh, haunch, also kiŝkis, hare. Both the Polish and Lithuanian terms probably come from the same root, originally, but you can see that that root has come to have different meanings in each language, so it does make a difference which language the name came from.

I am sending a copy of this to Dave Zincavage, who is very interested in Lithuanian names and has some sources that may let him give you some additional info.

Based on what I see, I would think names like Kiszka, Kiszko, Kiszczak are definitely from the Polish word kiszka. But with your name the Lithuanian words must be taken into account, because as a rule Poles don't add the suffix -iel to roots, whereas -iel is often seen in Polonized forms of Lithuanian names. So I would think your name is more likely Lithuanian rather than Polish. However, Dave may be able to add some facts that will shed more light on this.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Klucznik - Rydzewski

...If you have time, perhaps you can provide me with some data on the surnames of Klucznik and Rydzewski. These are the families of my mother and father, respectively. Somewhere along the line, Rydzewski was mangled into Ryder.

According to Polish surname expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, Klucznik comes from the noun klucznik, which means "steward, doorkeeper, caretaker." The basic root is the term klucz, key. He adds that this name appears in documents as far back as 1489. It is a moderately common surname these days -- as of 1990 there were 1,108 Poles by this name, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Katowice (79), Suwałki (128), Tarnow (127), Torun (82), and Wroclaw (98), and smaller numbers in many other provinces. I don't see any particular pattern to that distribution, which is not too surprising; the meaning of the name is such that it could have arisen independently in many different places.

The ultimate root of Rydzewski is apparently the term rydz, a species of edible agaric according to the dictionary (?!) -- I believe that means it's a kind of mushroom or fungus. But more directly, the name almost certain started as referring to a family's connection with a place by the name of Rydzew or Rydzewo, something like that; the family might have owned the estate, if they were noble, or might have come there or often traveled there, if they were not. Looking over the map, I see there are at least 6 villages named Rydzewo, 4 of them in Łomża province, so it's not surprising that of the 4,054 Rydzewskis in Poland as of 1990, the name shows up in largest numbers in provinces near Łomża: Warsaw (309), Białystok (340), Łomża (405), Suwałki (639). There are smaller numbers (less than 300) living in many other provinces.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Kołos - Wcisło

... Since everyone has been asking for the origins of their surnames, I thought I would add two to the list... My great grandfather's parents were Joanna Kolos and Lukasz Wcislo. They were farmers (agricola) in the village of Szczytniki which was less than 20 km east of Krakow. The parish is located in Brzezie, which in turn belonged to the deanery of Niegowic. This is in the Diocese of Krakow.

Kołos was the name of 415 Polish citizens as of 1990. The largest numbers of people by that name lived in the provinces of Białystok (104) and Krakow (131), with smaller numbers in many other provinces. It's tough to say exactly what the name comes from: it could derive from a variant of kłos, an ear of corn, but Kołosz is a known nickname from Mikołaj (= Nicholas). It could even come from the root kol-, round, circular. Of all these, I'd say it's most likely from Mikołaj, kind of like "Nick" in English.

Wcisło is pretty common, as of 1990 there were 4,252 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (238), Czestochowa (305), Katowice (443), Kielce (286), Karakow (1,218), Rzeszow (151), Tarnobrzeg (187), and Tarnow (200) -- thus it's most common in southcentral and southeastern Poland. It comes from the verb root wcis- as in wcisnąć, "to press, cram, squeeze." Wcisło comes from a participial form, so I'm guessing the name generally started as referring to a small, compact, squat person, one who looked as if he'd been squeezed or compressed. I'm not certain about that, but it seems a likely explanation.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Krutzel

...I came across your address while visiting a Polish genealogy site. I am trying to ascertain the origin of the name Krutzel. I know that it is Slavic and most likely Polish. A simple explanation of its meaning would help me immeasurably.

You say Krutzel is Slavic, and that may be right, but we can't assume that. Actually, the spelling tz is German -- Polish uses c for that same sound, so a Polish spelling would be Krucel. Another possible Polish spelling is Kruzel. Also, -l and -el are Germanic diminutives, not Slavic; Slavic uses -k as in suffixes -ek, -ka, -ko, etc. So at first glance the most likely derivation for Krutzel is as "little Krutz," where Krutz may be a first name. I can't find a German name Krutzel, however, which doesn't rule this theory out but also means it's less automatically right than I would have thought -- on first glance I'd have bet good money this name had to be German! And it still might be, I'm just a little less certain now. If it is Germanic in origin, it may have started perhaps as a nickname or variant meaning "son of Kurt" or "little cross" (Kreuz is often used as a name in German with several different meanings, including "crusader, one on a pilgrimage").

If the name is Slavic, it's interesting that there is a Polish word kruciel, a term for a peasant dance like a polka but a little fancer, common in Lithuania and Belarus and coming from the Belarusian word kruciel. Other Polish words that show kruc- come from German Kreutz, cross, so we're back to that again. There are many Polish names from the root kruk- or krucz-.

I should add that it's not strange that I keep talking about Germans and Lithuanians and Belarusians in reference to a name you think is Polish. Names of foreign origin are extremely common in Poland, due to its history. You run into thousands of Hoffmanns in Poland, for instance! Since Poland has at various times ruled much of what is now part of Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine, and since Germans have long ruled much of what is now western Poland, and since German farmers and craftsmen were often invited in the Middle Ages to come settle in Poland -- well, these are a few of the reasons you find so many "Polish" names that are actually of non-Polish origin. So you can be a good Pole and still have a name that isn't of Polish linguistic derivation.

According to the best data available, there were no Polish citizens named Krutzel or Krucel or Kruciel as of 1990. The only name that does show up is Kruzel, which might be related because in German -tz- and -z- have the same sound, so under German influence the name could be spelled either way. As of 1990 there were 800 Polish citizens named Kruzel, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (189), Katowice (131), Tarnobrzeg (108). In general the places where there are lots of folks by this name are places where a great many ethnic Germans settled, so it makes some sense that the name may be of German origin.

So unless your ancestors came from northeastern Poland or Lithuania or Belarus -- in which case the word for a kind of dance might be relevant -- I would still think German origin is most likely. It might mean little Krutz or son of Kurt or son of Krutz, which might be just a first name or might be a form of the word for "cross."

I wish I could have given you a nice, simple answer, but that's often impossible, especially if foreign influence comes into play. I do hope this is some help to you, however. If you'd really like to get an expert opinion and don't mind spending $20 or so, contact the
Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Kumor - Witkowski

You asked about Witkowski and Kumor. Kumor is a reasonably common name in Poland, borne by 2,283 Polish citizens as of 1990. It comes from a variant form of the word komar, which means "mosquito, gnat, midge." The name appears all over Poland, but the largest numbers live in the provinces of Ciechanow (126), Katowice (347), Kielce (527), Nowy Sacz (104), Tarnow (158), and Wroclaw (108). These are all in southern central Poland, but other than that I see no real pattern to the distribution.

As for Witkowski, it is very common -- there were at least 42,173 Witkowskis in Poland as of 1990. This name generally originated as a way of indicating a person or family came from a village named Witkow, Witkowo, Witkowa, etc., and there are a great many such places in Poland. All those names basically mean Witek's place, usually suggesting the villages or estates were founded or owned by somebody named Witek (that's a short form or nickname of several first names such as Wit, Witold, Witoslaw, etc.). This name is found in large numbers all over Poland, with no discernible pattern to the distribution.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Kuzniar

...Found your information very interesting. My daughter is trying to define what her name means: Kuzniar. Today is spelled Kuznar, but I remember my father sometimes added the i. Found what Kuz- means with your help but not -niar. Not really sure if it might have been spelled differently when they landed from Europe.

You have to be careful -- Kuz- is one thing, but Kuzniar- can be, and is, something entirely different! That's one of the tough things about Polish names; you have to figure out when you're dealing with a root that's had suffixes added and when those suffixes are an integral part of the root. It can be tricky!

Kuzniar comes from the root kuznia, forge, smithy; the term kuzniarski means "having to do with a forge or blacksmith," so I must assume at some time kuzniar was a term for a blacksmith or one who worked at a forge, though that term doesn't appear in dictionaries. Kuzniar is a pretty common name in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 2,404 Poles by this name. They lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (113), Krakow (133), Legnica (135), Przemysl (321), and Rzeszow (783) -- so the name is most common in southern Poland and especially southeastern Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Łachut - Łahut

...Would you be interested in doing a lookup for another surname: Lachut pronounced Wahoot or Wahut? I am at a brick wall again. All the Lachut people I have contacted said we are not related. Not sure what nationality it is, though on marriage license all names listed Austria/Poland as birthplace 1850 forward. HELP.....

The name Łachut (pronounced just as you said) is apparently Polish. Or at least, as of 1990 there were 659 Polish citizens with this name, which is kind of high if it isn't Polish! They were scattered all over, with the only sizable numbers living in the provinces of Katowice (49), and TARNOW (321)! Gee, Tarnow was in Galicia, i.e., the partition ruled by Austria. You don't suppose Tarnow province is where your people came from, do you? ... That's interesting; I don't often get such a decisive majority in one spot. I know it doesn't help a whole lot, Tarnow province is still a lot of ground to cover, but maybe it's a little help.

I'm not quite positive what the word meant, because Łachut is not in any of my sources. However, I see firm evidence that łach is a rag, a clout, and łacheta and łachota were kind of slang words for a guy in rags, a beggar or ragamuffin. I think chances are pretty good łachut is just another way of saying the same thing.

So your ancestor was a lousy dresser who came from Tarnow! Aren't you glad you asked?

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Laskowski

...I just checked out your page...it is interesting...but I had hoped to find something on Laskowski. However you did explain about the -owski part.

Unfortunately I don't have room in the book or on the Web page for every Polish surname, much as I'd like to be able to do so. But you've got to realize, as of 1990 there were over 800,000 Polish surnames -- so I have to take them a little at a time! I should add that I'm cheating a little when I cite that number, a great many of those names were variants, misspellings, extremely rare, etc. But even if you count only those names borne by more than 25 Poles, that's still over 40,000 names. So I realized some time ago I'm never going to be able to say I've analyzed every Polish surname!

...My father said that his family did come from the Kielce region. Someone had once said that Lask had something to do with the forest, perhaps combining the two would mean that my father's family came from the forest? Whether this has anything to do with family history and name origin, until my grandfather was taken away by the Nazis, my grandfather and his brother worked in the woods cutting trees for lumber. Perhaps this was always a family trade?

Laskowski is an extremely common name -- as of 1990 there were some 25,425 Poles named Laskowski; 812 of them lived in modern-day Kielce province, but you find them all over Poland. There are several ways the name could get started, but in most cases it surely started out referring to some connection between a family and a place named Laskow, Laskowo, Laskowka, something like that; it might have meant the family came from there, or (if noble) had once owned one of those places, or often went there on business, hard to say exactly what the connection was (although in most cases it probably just mean the family came from there).

Unfortunately, as you might have guessed, there's about a jillion places named Laskow, Laskowo, etc., from which Laskowski might have been formed. That's usually the case when a surname can derive from several very common place names.

The next question, then, is what did those place names derive from? Here's where what you said about the connection with woods may very well hold true! The place names Laskow, Laskowo, etc. probably came either from lasek, a small forest or grove, or from laska, which these days means "walking stick" or "cane" but in older Polish could also mean "hazel-grove." Obviously a place would get such a name because it was located near a forest or grove -- so odds were good anyone who ended up being called Laskowski might well have found their livelihood working in the forest. It wouldn't be at all odd if your family's name did turn out to have some link with the meaning of forest, even if by way of a village name.

For that matter, it's also possible the Laskow- didn't come into the name indirectly, by way of a village or estate by that name, but rather came directly in reference to people who worked in a small forest (lasek). That kind of thing did apparently happen sometimes. Usually, however, names ending in -owski do turn out to refer to a place name ending in something like -ow(o/a).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Lewandowski - Marciewicz - Nalaskowski - Pawlak - Tamulewicz

...I've seen you on the GenPol list ... and I would like to request such help.

1. The name that has appeared as Pavlock, Pavalak, etc., almost certainly originated in Poland as Pawlak; all the other forms make sense as English phonetic representations of that name. Unfortunately, there are several places named Komorow in the area formerly ruled by Germany, so I can't pin down which one your ancestor came from. Even before the partitions there were parts of Poland where so many Germans lived that the Poles who did live in the area spoke German more than Polish. And after the partitions, due to the German government's policies toward the Poles, there were many Poles in the German partition who grew up speaking virtually no Polish (it was not allowed to be taught in schools or spoken in any public place). So what you said about your grandfather is not surprising or hard to believe ... Pawlak comes from the first name Paweł (Paul), and probably started as meaning son of Paul. As is usually the case with patronymics from common first names, Pawlak is a very common surname -- as of 1990 there were 43,556 Polish citizens by that name, living in huge numbers all over the country.

2. Nalaskowski is a puzzle. As of 1990 there were 340 Polish citizens by this name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (64), Gdansk (43), and Torun (158). So the name exists, but I can find no origin for it. -owski names usually point to association with a toponym (place name); in this case I'd expect it to refer to a place named Nalaski or Nalaskow(o), something like that. But I can find no toponym that's a viable candidate. I looked in the 15-volume gazetteer
Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego, and even there I found nothing. The odd thing is that in terms of structure and phonetics, it's a perfectly reasonable Polish name -- I just can't find any place by that name! However, there are jillions of tiny communities or subdivisions of villages that have names, are too insignificant to show up in any gazetteer or on a map, yet could spawn surnames. That may be the case here.

3. As for Marciewicz or Marcewicz (Marizewicz is most likely a misreading of Marczewicz, a plausible variant of the other two names; Marizewicz seems really unlikely, but Marcz- in Polish script could easily be misread as Mariz-): the -ewicz ending means "son of," and Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut lists Marcewicz among names deriving from the first name Marcin, Martin. So it's almost certain this name originated as meaning "son of Martin." There are a couple of other names that might come into play once in a while (e. g., Marta [Martha], Marek [Mark], Marzec [March]), but the link with Marcin is the most plausible. As of 1990 there were 110 Poles named Marcewicz, living in the provinces of Warsaw (8), Białystok (9), Elblag (7), Gdansk (4), Jelenia Gora (3), Koszalin (9), Legnica (5), Lublin (37), Lodz (20), Szczecin (7), and Wroclaw (1). There were listings for Marciewicz and Marczewicz, but the frequency was given as 0, which meant there was at least 1 person by that name but the data in the file was incomplete. So Marcewicz is probably the standard form. The data does not allow us to draw conclusions on where it originated -- it probably originated independently in several different places.

As for the place name Orkielniki or Olkielniki, the best match I can find there is with Olkielniki in what is now Lithuania (currently called Valkininkai). This region is in Lithuania now, but before that it was in Russian-ruled territory, and before that it was part of the Poland-Lithuanian nation. It's not unusual to find Poles living in this area -- my wife's relatives live not that far away. So personally, I think this is quite plausible.

4. Rymut says Tamulewicz comes from the noun tama, dike, dam, wier, or the adverb tam, there. I think it might also come from the name Tomasz (Thomas) -- the o and a in Polish sound very similar, Tomulewicz is a known derivative from Tomasz, and I find son of Tom easier to swallow than son of there or son of the dike. However, I'm sure you could make a case for the others, too -- sometimes the origins of names prove to be quite imaginative! Tamulewicz is not a very common name. As of 1990 there were 169 Poles with this name, living in the provinces of Elblag (12), Gdansk (17), Koszalin (39), Legnica (11), Warsaw (12), and Zielona Gora (10), with a few other provinces having fewer than 10.

5. You listed Lewandowka, I wonder if you meant Lewandowski? That is an extremely common surname in Poland, with 89,366 Polish Lewandowskis as of 1990, living all over -- the largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (7,336), Bydgoszcz (9,032), Pila (5,640), Torun (7,490) and Wloclawek (7,809). According to the best data, on the other hand, there was no one named Lewandowka. The root of either name (Lewandowski or Lewandowka) would be lawenda, the lavender bush, especially in toponyms such as Lewandów, a section of Warsaw.

6. As regards your ancestor Eulenburg, I couldn't find any place that seemed to match Ludowen, Russia. But I can say this -- much of what is now Lithuania was part of East Prussia for a long time, and many of the inhabitants, especially in the towns, spoke German. It is also true that over the centuries many Germans fled trouble in their homeland and settled in Poland, Ukraine, and Russia, so what you were told by the non-family sources about Germans ending up in Russia is true. But I don't think that's relevant here. The key is that East Prussia had large numbers of Germans, Poles, and Lithuanians living in it, but much of the surrounding territory was ruled by Russia, and later the Soviet Union grabbed it all. So German-speaking people from Lithuania born in Russia actually is not be that big a puzzle -- people from the areas in or near East Prussia up until World War I could fit that description, especially if they were even the tiniest bit less than precise when it came to geographical designations!

...Other family lore, unable to validate but stated by relative someone met in Germany years ago, indicates that there could be a relationship to the German aristocrats by this name: We had a Graf in the family...

Could be. I'll warn you that virtually every family you talk to has a family legend about how they used to be nobility -- an awful lot of the time it proves fallacious. But Poland and Lithuania did have unusually high percentages of nobility vs. peasants; the key was that most of the nobility were so-called petty nobility, not really much better off than the peasants, except they had a sword and a name. And since Germany used to include much of Poland, the same statement can sometimes be made about noble Germans, too. I wouldn't pay too much attention to this family lore unless and until you get proof -- but it's not a ridiculous notion, by any means!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Tylinski - Zielinski

I am trying to research the surnames "Tylinski" and "Zielinski" - I believe that my Tylinski Grandfather came from the Wielkopolska region - I believe from a town called "Kolo". I think the spelling is reasonably true, as he came to the U.S. sometime after 1900. I am unable to find anything on the Tylinski name (except for a few references, but nothing of substance). I have just begun searching on"Zielinski", but I know even less about my grandmother's history.

Well, ZIELINSKI is spelled with an accent over the N and pronounced roughly "zheh-LEEN-skee." It's one of many Polish names that are so common and so widespread that there is no one derivation. As of 1990 there were 85,988 Polish citizens named Zielinski, living in large numbers all over Poland. There isn't one big Zielinski family that got the name one way, there are many families who all got the name independently in different ways; if you were in a big room full of Zielinskis, you would probably find this Zielinski family got their name one way, that one another, and that one yet another. The most we can say is that the basic root of the name is ziel-, which means "green," as seen in words such as ziolo, "herb" (a "green"), zielen, "the color green," and so on. So ZIELINSKI may have started in some cases as referring to the kin of a fellow who raised or sold herbs, or a fellow who always wore green, or some other perceived association between a person or family and something green.

In most cases, however, it probably started as a reference to the name of a place the person or family came from. There are many towns, villages, estates, etc. with names like Zielen or Zielin or Zielina, all from the root meaning "green," and Zielinski could refer to any of them; it can just as easily mean "one from Zielen," "one from Zielin," "one from Zielina," etc. So there's no way to learn from the name itself anything about a given Zielinski family. Only successful genealogical research may uncover facts about which particular place the name refers to, if it refers to a place, or what the family's connection to "green" originally was, if it doesn't.

TYLINSKI is spelled with an accent over the N also, and is pronounced roughly "till-EEN-skee." Theoretically it can refer to a place name, something like Tyla or Tylin or Tylina or Tylno; but I can't find any places with names that fit. That doesn't necessarily mean much -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc. Often surnames came from the names locals used for a particular field or hill or other feature of the land, names that would never show up on any but the most detailed maps, or in local guides. So it is quite plausible the name means "one from Tyla" or any of the other possibilities I mentioned.

But TYLINSKI literally means "of, from, connected with the of Tyl," so it might also mean "kin of Tyl." That is a name that can come from a number of different roots, including tyl, "rear, back, behind," or tyle, "how much," or the German first name Thill, or even from a nickname from "Bartlomiej," the Polish form of "Bartholomew." So without detailed information on a specific family's background there's no way even to make a reasonable guess exactly which meaning is relevant. All I can do is list the possibilities, in hopes that one day your research will uncover some fact that will shed light on exactly how the name developed.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 739 Polish citizens named Tylinski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 103, Leszno 111, Lodz 82, and Poznan 116. So there is no one area with which this name is particularly associated; a Tylinski could come from almost anywhere in Poland, especially western Poland. I'm afraid the place name Kolo isn't necessarily much help because there are at least 3 places by that name in Poland. The one you want is probably the one east of Konin and northwest of Lodz, since as of 1999 that is in the far eastern part of modern Wielkopolska province; but it's unwise to rule out the others until you're certain. In 1990 Kolo was in Konin province, and the Slownik nazwisk directory shows no Polish citizens named Tylinski living in Konin province.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Zatorski

I found your site, and perhaps you can help me. I am attempting to find a section of my mother's family that did not manage to escape Poland before the Nazi occupation. The family name is Zatorski or Zatorsky. I am curious as to the origins of this name.

ZATORSKI is adjectival in form, and comes from the noun zator, "blockage, especially of a river's course; ice jam," or from place names derived from that noun. There are at least three villages or settlements called Zator (at least 2, one near Bielsko-Biala and one near Skierniewice) and Zatory (near Ostrołęka). As of 1990 there were 4,287 Polish citizens named Zatorski, living all over Poland. So like the vast majority of Polish surnames, this one doesn't provide a researcher a whole lot to work with.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Mądrowski - Mondrowski - Szudarek

...I was wondering if you could look in your dictionary for the names Szudarek and Mondrowski. These are my husband's grandmother's maiden name and her mother's maiden name.

There were 45 Poles named Mondrowski, in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 28, Pila 3, Piotrkow 1, Szczecin 1, Wloclawek 8, Zielona Gora 4. However, this is just another way of spelling Mądrowski (the Polish nasal a, written as an a with a tail and pronounced much like on, so that many names are often spelled either way). Mądrowski is a more common name, borne by 516 Poles in 1990. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (99), Pila (77), Poznan (49), and Szczecin (66) -- so it seems most common in northwestern and western Poland in the area, formerly ruled by the Germans.

The root is the word mądry, wise, although in many cases Mądrowski probably started out meaning "person from Mądre or Mądrowo." There is at least one place on the map I can find that qualifies, Mądre, a village in Poznan province, southeast of the city, but there may be other, smaller places that don't show up on my maps yet could be connected to this name.

As of 1990 there were 88 Poles named Szudarek. They lived in the following provinces: Gorzow 4, Katowice 8, Pila 54, Poznan 13, Szczecin 9. So the largest numbers are in northwestern Poland. According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, the name comes from the root szudrać, meaning "to scrape, scratch."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Lichorobiec

... Hello, I am a bride to be of a Polish man with the surname Lichorobiec. I didn't see it on the surname list and wondered if you had any information on this name.

Lichorobiec, that's an interesting name, I've never run into it before. As of 1990 there were 164 Polish citizens with this name, living in the following provinces: Warsaw (1), Biala Podlaska (1), Bielsko-Biala (4), Gorzow (9), Katowice (2), Kielce (1), Krakow (7), Krosno (1), Lublin (2), Opole (3), Slupsk (1), Tarnow (120), Walbrzych (6), Zamosc (6). (I'm afraid I have no details, such as first names or addresses). Obviously the area around the city of Tarnow in southeastern Poland is where this name is most common, one would suspect it originated there and shows up in other areas because people moved from the Tarnow region. However, that's a guess, and could be wrong.

The meaning of the name is perhaps not too flattering. The root licho in Polish means "bad, miserable," and robi- comes from a root meaning "to make, do." Just looking at the name, it would appear to mean "one who makes lousy things" or "one who does not do well." But maybe it's not such a bad name: in Ukrainian the same root seems connected more with "misfortune, trouble," and since Radom is not far from Ukraine, there might be a Ukrainian influence on the name. In other words, instead of "ne'er-do-well, guy who always messes up," it may mean something more like "poor devil, one things just don't go right for."

Frankly, I'm guessing here, and it's entirely possible Lichorobiec has a specific meaning that I can't find (although it's not in my 8-volumePolish language dictionary, so that would make it a pretty rare word). But just going by what the word appears to say, that's what it would mean.

If you'd like more info, I recommend contacting the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

 

Ludwiczak

...I think I have a very rare last name. It is Ludwiczak. On My grandfather pass port He put down Karaze Poland. I have tried other people with the same name and all say the same thing. They just know that their families came here from Poland. Could you help Me to know more about the Ludwiczak name?

Ludwiczak may be rare in this country, but in Poland it's quite common. As of 1990 there were 4,579 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country but with the largest numbers (over 200) in the provinces of Kalisz (479), Leszno (241), Lodz (383), Płock (303), Poznan (964). This is basically a strip running from Poznan and Leszno and Kalisz provinces in west central Poland up to Płock and Lodz provinces in central Poland. That's where the name is most common -- but you find decent numbers of Ludwiczaks living in every province.

The reason for this is the meaning of the name: "son of Ludwik." So this name could start anywhere they spoke Polish and had guys named Ludwik, that is, anywhere in Poland. Surnames formed from popular first names usually are common all over the country -- which makes sense, but is unfortunate in that it provides no helpful clues for those trying to find out where their family came from.

The form Karaze is suspect, it doesn't sound Polish and I can find no place by that name. I wonder if it might be Karcze? Very often these names did get misread or misspelled when immigrants filled out papers, and for that matter a c can look very much like an a. There are a several villages this might refer to, but the most likely one is Karcze in Siedlce province -- it was served by the parish church in Zbuczyn, which is where vital records would have been kept. There was another Karcze in Lithuania, near Dzisna, but the one in Siedlce province is the one I'd start with. You might do a little investigating and see if that place works out as correct. I can't guarantee it is, but from what you've told me that seems the best guess.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Miazga

...I travelled to the city of Debica, studied the history of the word Miazga in Polish, and done a great deal of genealogical information. If you would be interested in corresponding or mentioning if you have even stumbled upon the name, please e-mail me.

Miazga is not a name I could find any expert comment on. In my book on Polish surnames I noted a possible derivation, from the noun miazga, meaning "pulp, chyle." It's a little tough figuring exactly how such a name came to be applied to a person, but we see so many examples of this in Polish that we have to accept it: sometimes a surname comes from a nickname, and it's tough to know how nicknames get started (people are still arguing over the exact origin of Groucho Marx's name!).

This is a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were 2,905 Poles named Miazga. The largest numbers lived in these provinces: Warsaw 232, Lublin 356, Radom 138, Rzeszow 324, Tarnobrzeg 147, Tarnow 125, Zamosc 191. Clearly it's most common in southeastern Poland, although there are smaller numbers living in virtually every province.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Mojsiewicz - Onychimowicz

...I am trying to find the origins of my family name Mojsiewicz [from the region of Nowogrodek] and to determine whether the Jewish connotations of this name would indicate that the family converted at some time to Catholicism. It has been suggested to me that the name has its roots further eastwards towards Armenia but I'm not sure of the thinking behind this.

Mojsiewicz is probably from Ukraine or Belarus, since "Mojsiej" is the form of the name "Moses" in the East Slavic languages, while "Mojzesz" is the Polish form. So it's probably of Russian, Ukrainian, or Belarusian origin. What's most likely is that the family came from one of the East Slavic countries, and the name was probably written in Cyrillic, but at some point it came to be written by Poles and thus the Polish spelling -ewicz added to the not-so-Polish first part ... Mojsiewicz was the name of some 281 Poles as of 1990, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Gdansk (25), Koszalin (31), Olsztyn (25), Slupsk (33), Szczecin and (48). That's a long way from Ukraine, but we can probably thank World War II and all the forced relocations after it for that -- I'll bet before the war these names showed up mostly in eastern Poland... In the last century or two names from forms of "Moses" tend to be associated primarily with Jews, so one would expect the family to have been Jewish at one point, although from what you say it sounds as if your family must have converted to Christianity. But since Jews in Eastern Europe generally did not take surnames until the 1800's, this would suggest the family must have converted within the last 150 years.

As for place of origin, Armenia seems unlikely. The suffix -ewicz (Polish spelling) or -evich (Russian, Belarusian spelling) or -evych (Ukrainian spelling) is Slavic, and the Armenians aren't Slavs. That doesn't mean a family by that name might not have been in Armenia for a while; but I think we're fairly safe saying the name is not of Armenian linguistic origin.

...Secondly I am interested in the name Onychimowicz [from the same region] - some genpollers thought the origins may be Greek Orthodox.

Onychimowicz and Onichimowicz don't appear in the surname directory, but we do see Onichimiuk (that -iuk ending is very much East Slavic!) borne by 183 Poles, and Onichimowski (142), and numerous names from the Onisk- root, e. g. Onisk (393), Oniszczuk (1,222), Oniszko (204), Onyszczuk (259), Onyszko (473), etc. So this particular form is rare in Poland these days, but you can probably find something very similar in Ukraine.

This name means "son of Onychim" (for our purposes -owicz and -ewicz may be regarded as identical) and the Greek Orthodox theory is probably right. There's a Ukrainian name Onysim (from a Greek term meaning "useful, advantageous"), and I'm fairly certain Onychim is a variant of it (the guttural sound of ch often gets switched around with other sounds). So this is almost certainly a name of Ukrainian origin (if it were Belarusian the o would probably have become an a, Anychim). I can't seem to find any source that confirms this, but I've run into this name often enough to feel fairly certain I'm right.

... I have read in Rymut that the surnames Mojsiewicz and Mosiewicz are of a different root - do you think this is absolute or are there any circumstances under which the two names may have been confused or amalgamated [i.e. by Russian officials]?

You never say "never" with surnames, and certainly names with Mos- sometimes derive from various forms of the name "Moses," just as they can come from other sources. I will say this: it's dangerous placing too much emphasis on a single letter in any name, but that j in Mojsiewicz really does increase the odds that that name is from "Moses." It's not absolute, and certainly the names could have been confused.

The problem is, however, that you can only put so much weight on linguistic analysis before it snaps. One solid fact is enough to topple the most sophisticated analysis, and accidents happen -- one tired clerk writing a J when he didn't mean to can confuse even the best onomastics expert! If you trace the family back by the difficult and tiresome process of genealogical research, analysis of the name can often help confirm ideas about its origin; but analysis of the name seldom gives you anything solid enough to take you where you want to go without research.

Having said all that, however, in most cases I've found that if a letter like that J persists, it usually is a reliable indicator.

In a later note Kristin gave some additional info:

...as we have a photo of a document from 1680 naming a Danilo Mojsiewicz Onychimowicz, but the crest of arms on this document have been identified as the Mosiewicz emblem (Topacz herbu). Which leads me to all this confusion....

This additional info definitely changes things! It is very hard for me to imagine that this Danilo (a Ukrainian form of the name "Daniel") could have been a noble in 1680 if he were a Jew! Jews were ennobled sometimes, mainly if they provided major financial support for kings or other big-wigs in money trouble -- but such cases were rare. Also, I can't imagine Onychimowicz as a Jewish name -- it almost certainly means he was Greek Catholic or Orthodox. So Mojsiewicz, there, is highly unlikely to be Jewish; it may still mean "son of Moses" but dating from a time before the name Mojsiej became so strongly associated with Jews. I found one source that says before the 18th century Mojzesz (or Mojsiej) was a name used by Christians and Jews, only after then did it come to be almost exclusively associated with Jews. I also found a source that cites legal records from 1437, 1472, and 1493 which mention farmers named Mojsiej living in Ukraine and Lithuania. In that time and place it would be pretty unusual to find a Jew who owned land in Ukraine and farmed it -- it's not impossible, but it would be rare!!!

So if we're talking that kind of time frame, Mojsiewicz could mean "son of Moses" and refer to a Christian. "Danilo" could be Christian or Jewish, but Onychimowicz is almost certainly Ukrainian Christian, perhaps Orthodox, perhaps Greek Catholic. (I don't often deal with people who have records back to 1680, which is why I generally view things from a time-frame of 18th century on unless something tells me otherwise.)

But that still leaves the question of the Mosiewicz emblem and the Mojsiewicz name. There just isn't enough info to justify a conclusion. There are other, non-Jewish names Mojsiewicz or Mosiewicz could come from, including the old pagan compound name Mojslaw (literally "my fame") -- as I believe you noted, Rymut specifically mentions that names in Mosi- and Mosz- could have arisen as short forms or nicknames from that name, and if so Mojsiewicz and Mosiewicz may merely be variant of the same name, "son of Mojslaw." It is not all uncommon to see different spellings of the same name, in that context the presence or absence of that J would not necessarily mean much. So that theory is tenable; but so is the "Mojsiej" = Moses theory.

In any case, I think the added info you cited makes it extremely unlikely that Danilo was Jewish. That info strongly suggests the name derived either from one of those ancient Slavic compound names, such as Mojmir or Mojslaw, or from the East Slavic form of "Moses" dating from a time when that name was still widely used by Christians.

Thanks for telling me more, it certainly made a difference!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Nowakowski - Sanocki

...I thought I would inquire about these names. Sanocki I can find nowhere. The Nowakowski name was changed to Novak. Could you tell me a little something about these names.

Nowakowski is an extremely common name, as of 1990 there were 54,178 Polish citizens by that name. It comes from several places with names such as Nowaki, Nowakowo; those place names come from the word nowak, new fellow, new guy in town, from the root now-, new. Nowak also sometimes was applied to converts to Christianity, who were new men, so to speak. The same name is very common in other Slavic languages, especially Czech, where it is spelled Novak (but is pronounced virtually the same as Polish Nowak, NO-vahk).

Sanocki would have originated as meaning coming from or otherwise connected with Sanok -- Sanok is the name of a good-sized town in Krosno province in far southeastern Poland ("Sanok" in turn comes from the name of the San River). This is a fairly common name, as of 1990 there were 1,006 Polish citizens named Sanocki. They lived all over Poland, but the largest numbers were in the provinces of Gorzow (80), Katowice (71), Krosno (172), Pila (94), and Przemysl (118) -- the highest concentrations are, as one would expect, in southeast Poland, near Sanok.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Okrzyński

...I have just recently read a text version of chapter one of your book Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings. I found this information very interesting and found myself wanting to find out more seeing as I am in the process of researching my roots... Through my investigative process I have found that my maiden surname, Okrzynski, is not very common, but should prove to be very interesting in its source, and it is that reason that I am writing to you today.

Okrzyński is, indeed, a pretty rare name. As of 1990 there were only 95 Polish citizens by this name, living in the provinces of Jelenia Gora (31), Katowice (2), Legnica (2), Lodz (1), Opole (7), Rzeszow (1), Szczecin (16), Tarnobrzeg (10), Walbrzych (8), and Wroclaw (16). (I'm afraid I have no further data, no first names or addresses, just this). It's hard to see much of a pattern to that distribution, except the name is mainly to be found in western Poland.

Surnames ending in -yński are usually from toponyms (place names), and in this case I would expect the place to be named something like Okra -- but I could find only two in my sources. One is the name of a river, the Okra, a tributary of the Dniepr in Ukraine. The other was the Polish name of a village near what is now Daugavpils, Latvia -- which means it might now be in Latvia, in Lithuania, or in Belarus, and God only knows what its name is, if it still exists. (The village was served by the Catholic parish in Birzagol and was in the rural district of Kapino, just in case you care to look into this more). There may be a place or places in Poland named Okra that are too small to show up on the maps or in gazetteers, or have changed names, or vanished, yet gave rise to the surname centuries ago. But I was unable to find any of them.

[Note: Alice later wrote me as follows:]

...During my research I came across a national park named Swietokrzyski, as well as a plant name Okrzyn jeleni (Laserpitium archangelica). The plant is found only in the Babiogorski Park. Could this possibly be connected in any way??

[I congratulated her on her research, and agreed that it might very well come from the name of this or a similar plant. But the following advice is still good:]

If you'd like to learn more, I recommend contacting the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Orlicki

...Have ordered your book but my surname, Orlicki, may not be in it since my paternal forebears were/are in Galicia (sort of a grey area now, methinks).

Anyone who orders my book is welcome to whatever help I can give. I will tell you that Orlicki is in the book because it's a fairly common surname in Poland -- so even though the eastern half of Galicia is now in the independent country of Ukraine, there were enough Orlickis left within Poland's current boundaries that the name obviously needed to be in my book. But here I can go into a little more detail than I did in the book (although obviously the book gives a whole lot more background -- I hope you won't regret buying it, and if reaction from others is any guide, I believe you won't).

...Dad and one of his brothers came to the US about 1905 and the surname somehow came out as Orlitzky. When he applied for Soc. Sec. the records had to reflect the Orlitzky name. I think probably that was the phonetic spelling of Orlicki. At that time of course he spoke no English so the mistake was not corrected. The phonetic spelling of immigrant names was not uncommon as I understand.

Yes, Orlitzky is a German or English phonetic spelling of Orlicki, which is pronounced sort of like oar-LEET-skee. And phonetic spelling of immigrant names was exceedingly common. You're kind of lucky the name wasn't mangled a lot worse than this!

...I have no documented family history, but oral history has the family origin at the time of one of the Mongol invasions during the 13th century and that the surname Orlicki derives from the Polish root word for eagle. Dad was not one to live in the past, so what little family history I can recall came from my mother's recollection of what he told her. (Dad was not one to exaggerate either). As you know each generation rewrites history and oral history probably has little resemblance to the facts.

This could well be true. You're right, of course, family oral history can be notoriously unreliable -- and yet every so often it turns out to be right on the button. Obviously I have no resources to say anything about your family at the time of the Mongol invasions, but it is absolutely true that Orlicki derives from the Polish word orzeł, eagle (when endings are added the z and e both drop out, leaving the root orl-). The surname might have been formed from a nickname like Orlicz (son of the eagle) or Orlik (little eagle), or it may derive from a place name such as Orlik or Orlicze, referring to a family connection to a place with such a name (if they were noble, they may once have owned an estate with such a name; if they were peasants, they may have worked on or come from such a place). There are several ways one could end up with the name -- but the bottom line is, somewhere along the line eagle had something to do with it. A person's bravery may have reminded folks of an eagle, he might have followed the standard of the eagle in battle, etc.

As of 1990 there were 1,085 Polish citizens named Orlicki. They lived all over the country, with the highest numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (226), Katowice (100), Krakow (77), Olsztyn (65), Poznan (78), and Radom (83). I don't see any particular pattern in that distribution, except that the highest concentration appears in provinces in southcentral Poland (Bielsko-Biala, Katowice, and Krakow). I don't see any useful conclusion to be drawn from that, but it's worth remarking on -- you never know what fact might prove relevant down the line.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Pankevych - Pankiewicz

...I am wondering what my name means, I am in the process of writing a simple family history. I have family in Canada, U.S.A., Poland, and Ukraine. In Poland the spelling is Pankiewicz, in Canada there are variations, like Pankewycz (which is my name). I don't have a font that will do Ukrainian lettering. My father was born in Dobra Sljachetska, and my Grandfather was from Bryzawa and Lypa. I have been told that the family was originally from Tarnopol.

As I think you realize, the different spellings are all of the same name, but there are slight phonetic differences between Polish and Ukrainian, and the Cyrillic and Roman alphabets have different ways of rendering them. So basically Pankiewicz and Pankevych are the spellings a Pole and a Ukrainian, respectively, would write the name down when they heard it spoken; Pankewycz would be a kind of hybrid form, and such forms are very common.

As of 1990 there were some 3,157 Poles with the name Pankiewicz. They lived pretty much all over Poland, with no apparent pattern to the distribution -- the name could and did arise in many different places. This makes sense, it means "son of panek," a name that could get started almost anywhere Polish or Ukrainian (perhaps also Belarusian) are spoken -- I'm sure there are plenty of Pankevych's in Ukraine, though I have no way of checking... In any case, the real question is, what does panek mean in this case?

It could have several derivations. The most obvious is as a diminutive of pan, "lord, master," also "bridegroom"; as best I can tell, this term was and still is used much the same way in Ukrainian as well as Polish. So panek could mean "little master, little lord," but could also mean "son of the master, son of the lord" -- often -ek used as a diminutive did have a patronymic sense to it. Panek was also used in its own right as a term meaning "minor noble," one who owned some land but not enough to be considered a real big-wig. So in Pankiewicz/Pankevych we might possibly have a name that was meant to be insulting, applied to the son of a fellow who acted like he was a lord; or it might come from an affectionate way of referring to a popular lord, "little master's son"; or it might be a straightforward name meaning simply "son of the minor noble."

The other very real possibility is that Pankiewicz might be patronymic for the son of a fellow named Panek or Panko, nicknames derived from such first names as Pankrac, Pantelejmon, Opanas, etc. -- this is especially likely in view of the Ukrainian connection, since those last two names were more common in Ukraine than in Poland. This is not unlike the way English-speakers took the name "Edward," chopped off the last syllable, and added the diminutive suffix to make "Eddie" -- the same process could produce Panek or Panko from one of those longer names. Then the son of such a fellow would be called Pankiewicz. This could certainly happen with a Polish family, but I suspect it would be even more likely with a Ukrainian family.

We don't have enough data to determine which of these plausible derivations is right in your family's case. Probably the only way to find that out would be to do detailed research on your family, and you'd be rather lucky if documents still exist that go back far enough to settle the matter. But it seems pretty certain the name either means basically "son of the little lord" or "son of Panek," with Panek being a nickname for a fellow with one of those other names I mentioned. The connection with Dobra Szlachecka (literally "noble's estate") might add just a little more weight on the side of the "lord's son" theory.

By the way, since this name could get started several different ways, it's not surprising it is so common. And the fact it is common suggests it did get started several different ways; some Pankiewiczes are "little lord's sons" and some are "Panek's/Panko's sons." That is circular reasoning, I know, but things often do seem to work that way in the world of name derivations.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Pettkus - Tomaschewski - Tomaszewski

...Do you have any info on the origin or meaning of Tomaschewski or Pettkus? These were my grandparents' last names. Their birth records show that they were born in Sonnenborn and Tawelleningken, Germany, in 1888. Supposedly these were parts of Prussia..... I have traced Sonnenborn to now being Stoneczik, Poland...any help with the names would be appreciated.........thank you

Pettkus is an interesting name, because I would expect it to show up in Poland, yet a 1990 Polish government database shows no one by that name in the country! I looked under all the spelling variants I could think of, especially Petkus (Polish rarely uses double letters), and none of them showed up. The closest I got was Pettke, of which there were 372, living in the provinces of Elblag (19), Gdansk (342!), Slupsk (7), and Torun (4) -- all in northwestern Poland, in the areas ruled by the Germans. I have run into many cases before where a name undoubtedly existed in Poland at one time but has since died out, and this may be another such case. The linguistic origin of the name is almost certainly a German-influenced form of a Polish nickname for Piotr, Peter -- the original Polish nickname may have been something like Pietka, Pietko, Pietek, and under German influence it was modified to Pettke or Pettkus. I have no sources that document this, so I'm not 100% certain about it, but this explanation is very plausible and I'm confident it is, in fact, correct.

Tomaschewski is simply a spelling by German phonetic values of the common Polish surname Tomaszewski (the sh sound is spelled sch by Germans and sz by Poles). This name comes ultimately from the first name Tomasz, Thomas. The -ewski ending usually indicates an origin with a place that has a name ending in -ew or -ewo or -ewa or -ow or -owo or -owa (also sometimes -e or -y). You'd expect Tomaszewski to mean person coming from or formerly owning or somehow connected with a place called Tomaszew, Tomaszewo, Tomaszow. Unfortunately, there are quite a few places with these names, so without further information you can't tell which of those places is the one your ancestors got their name from.

Since there are several places with names that could yield Tomaszewski, you'd expect the surname to be pretty common and spread all over the country -- and that is the case. As of 1990 there were 38,139 Polish citizens with this name, and there's no real pattern to their distribution -- the largest numbers of them tend to show up in the provinces with the largest populations.

A gazetteer of German place names says Tawellningken was also called Tawellenbruch, and was in Kreis Niederung in East Prussia; a separate source says that there were two places by this name, apparently very close to each other; one had civil and Protestant records kept in Seckenburg, the other had Protestant records kept in Seckenburg, Catholic records kept in Schillgallen, civil records in Inse. Trying to find what these places are now called is not easy. I found Seckenburg -- it used to be in East Prussia, but now it's called Zapovednoye, and it's 69 km. northeast of Kaliningrad, in that little separate section of Russia that sits on the Baltic, just north of Poland and west of Lithuania. I was not able to find anything on the other places, but at least this will give you a notion where to look for more info.

By the way, the Polish name for Sonnenborn is Słonecznik, with a slashed l, not Stonecznik. This is an easy mistake to make, the l with a slash through it looks like a t, but it's not -- it's what the Poles consider a hard l and is pronounced like our w. Anyway, Słonecznik is a few km. south of Morag in the northern part of Elblag province in modern Poland. This area, too, was part of East Prussia back when the region was under German rule. If you look on a map you'll see that Elblag province is just south of the area where Seckenburg/Zapovednoye is located. So far northern Elblag province, that little separate section of Russia around Kaliningrad, and perhaps some of the adjacent portions of Lithuania are where you need to look for your ancestors.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Pilarski - Sytek

... I was wondering if you have any information regarding the surnames of Pilarski and Sytek. I believe the Sytek name came from the area of Posen, Poland.

Pilarski comes from the word pilarz, "sawyer," that is, one who saws. Actually pilarski is the adjectival form, meaning "of, belonging to, relating to a sawyer"; when used as a surname, it would mean little more than "kin of the sawyer." Often these -ski names also derive from place names which in turn derive from other names or terms, but I can find no places that seem to qualify. So I think basically you could just say it's the equivalent of the name Sawyer in English. It is a very common name, as of 1990 there were 8,544 Poles by this name. They lived all over the country, in every province, with especially large numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (954), Katowice (737), and Poznan (610) -- I see no real pattern to the distribution, just that the most Pilarskis live in the provinces that have the largest populations.

Sytek is much less common, as of 1990 there were only 251 Poles by this name, spread out all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (68), Kielce (24), and Poznan (55). The derivation, according to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, is from the adjective syty, meaning "well fed, sated." The -ek suffix is a diminutive, meaning "little ..." and often used to mean "son of," so this name would mean either "a little guy who's well fed" or "son of the well-fed guy." I should mention that the dictionary also shows syta as mead or syrup for feeding bees, which might be relevant -- in both cases we see the common meaning of "food, nourishment." But it seems to me most likely the surname started out as a nickname for the son of a fellow who obviously hadn't missed too many meals!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Pochopień

...I would appreciate any information you may have on the name Pochopien (my father's) or Litko (my mother's). Both are of Polish ancestry having grown up in Chicago.

Pochopień is a name I'm not positive about. In Polish this root appears in the adjective pochopny, hasty, inconsiderate (i.e., a fellow who's quick to grab whatever he wants and slow to let go), and in the verb pochopić, to catch, grasp, to understand. This is a reasonable interpretation, and grammatically Pochopień makes sense coming from pochopny, so this explanation is probably correct; but I couldn't find any source in which Polish scholars confirmed this, so I like to let folks know there's a question mark beside it.

I note that in Czech there's a term pochopeni that means "understanding," and citove pochopeni means "sympathy." I guess in Czech that same meaning of "grasp" is associated more with "ability to grasp the situation and understand it," whereas in Polish it sometimes means that but can also refer to someone who's grasping, hasty, inconsiderate.

I've also wondered in the past if this name might be a variant of some other names that sound kind of similar, based on the root półchłop-, literally "half man, half peasant." This term was sometimes applied to a man who'd been castrated, but more often to a peasant who owned half a full-sized farm. The ł is pronounced like our w and is often barely pronounced, so it's not stretching things to note that "Półchłop-" could often sound like "Pochop-," and thus there might be a connection. I doubt it, but it's worth mentioning as a possibility, I guess. But I'd need really good evidence before I'd take this for Gospel -- the other explanations seem quite a bit more likely.

As of 1990 there were 1,095 Polish citizens by this name, so it's not a rare name. It shows up all over Poland, but the largest numbers were in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (497), Katowice (254), Krakow (107); in other words the name is most common in far south-central Poland, very near the border with the Czech Republic. That's why I wonder whether the first Polish meaning (grasping) or the Czech meaning (understanding) is more relevant -- if a given family with this name came from the southern part, near the Czech border, it might have started more as a compliment, Pochopień = "fellow quick to grasp the situation" as opposed to "guy hastily grabbing everything in sight." I'm really not sure which is relevant in this case, so I thought I'd mention both.

Litko is a little easier. The -ko is a diminutive suffix ("little ..."), which strongly suggests this started as a nickname for a fellow with a name like Lutobor, Lutogniew, Lutoslaw, etc. Those are all ancient pagan compound names with the root lut-, "strong, ferocious," so that Lutogniew was a name of good omen meaning "may his anger be ferocious," Lutoslaw meant "may his fame be strong," etc. The same root shows up in modern Polish in such terms as litować się, "to have mercy." Poles loved to take names, chop off all but the first few sounds, then add suffixes, sort of the same way we turned "Edward" into "Eddie." So basically Litko started out as a nickname of a man with such a name, or perhaps a name for his son ("little Lutobor" -> Litko).

The funny thing is, many names from this root are rather common -- there were 468 Poles named Litka in 1990, 474 named Litke, 586 named Litkowski - but only 27 named Litko! That surprised me a little, I would have expected the name to be more common. The 27 Litko's lived in the provinces of Gdansk (2), Katowice (8), Konin (12), Lublin (2), and Walbrzych (3). I'm afraid I don't have addresses or any more info on them, what I've given is all I have.

If you'd like to get more expert input on the Pochopień name, you could write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Jarmulowicz - Rutkowski

...We're going to Poland in April - unable to learn where my ancestors where born, but would love to know anything about my mother's maiden name Jarmulowicz and my father's name Rutkowski.

As regards the name Jarmułowicz (the ł stands for the Polish slashed l, pronounced like our w), the -owicz suffix means "son of," so it means "son of Jarmul(a/o)." Jarmul/Jarmula/Jarmulo could come from the root jarm- meaning "yoke" or "noise," but I strongly suspect in this case it comes from an Eastern Slavic (Ukrainian, Russian, or Belarusian) name we'd spell as "Yermolai" or "Yarmolai" (from a Greek name meaning "clan of Hermes"). The one thing we're sure of is that the name started as a patronymic, a name formed from one's father's name, and the father was called something like Jarmul, Jarmula, Jarmulo; that may have been a Polish name from the root meaning "yoke" or "noise," or it may have been the fairly common Eastern Slavic first name Yermolai. As of 1990 there were 281 Polish citizens with this name, scattered all over Poland but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (34), Katowice (23), Łomża (20), Suwałki (52), and Wroclaw (26) -- I see no useful pattern there, the Jarmułowiczes basically live all over Poland. (Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names, addresses, etc.).

The one thing I do see that might be a little helpful is that if Jarmulowicz does come from that East Slavic name, it probably is from the Belarusian form, rather than Ukrainian or Russian -- in those languages it's usually Yermolai, in Belarusian it is Yarmolai. In other words, that Jar- beginning (which is pronounced like Yar- anyway) suggests the name more likely originated in Belarus than in Russia or Ukraine. And I notice a lot of the Jarmułowiczes live in Suwałki and Łomża provinces, up in northeastern Poland, near the border with Belarus. So while it isn't certain, there is some evidence to suggest your family probably came from northeastern Poland or western Belarus.

Rutkowski is a much more common name, as of 1990 there were 41,363 Poles by this name. They lived all over the country, here are the provinces with more than 1,500: Warsaw (4123), Białystok (2048), Gdansk (1841), Katowice (1815), Lodz (1622), Płock (1596), Torun (1928), and Wloclawek (1567). Names ending in -owski usually originated as references to a place name, and we would expect Rutkowski to refer to villages name Rutka, Rutki, Rutkowo, etc. There are at least 9 such places in Poland, so without a lot more detailed info there's no way to make an informed guess as to which one your ancestors came from. Sadly, that's the way it is with most Polish surnames based on place names: the only way to know which place your people came from is if you have so much info on them that you probably already know exactly where they came from! Once in a while a surname will give you a useful clue, but not often.

Anyway, I hope this info is a little help to you, and I hope your trip to Poland is wonderful!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Surname 5 Combined File

LUTY

… If you could help me with a quick note on the origin of the Luty name. I have run into a stonewall, my Luty side of the family has been deceased for over twenty years, and all the info I have sent away for has not been very helpful. I truly appreciate this, and will contact you again when I have further my geneologic research.

Polish name experts agree that Luty can come from the Polish word luty, which is the Polish name for the month of February. It's not unusual to see names of months used as surnames; perhaps such names began as a way to commemorate when a person was born, or a time of year when he performed some special service... Luty can also come from the root that gives February its Polish name, luty, "severe, bleak" (in other words, it's the "bleak" month); this root also appears in ancient Slavic pagan names such as Lutobor ("one severe in battle"), and sometimes the surname could have begun as a short form or nickname for such names beginning with the root Lut-. So it's hard to pin down exactly what the meaning of the name was originally; but since this form matches that of the month's name exactly, I lean toward thinking the name Luty (as opposed to others beginning with Lut-) probably did start as a reference to the month.

It is not an uncommon name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 2,033 Polish citizens named Luty. They were not concentrated in any one part of the country, you run into the name pretty much everywhere.


GORZKIEWICZ

… Im hoping you can help me. My wife and I have been trying to research her family but cant seem to get any where with her family name. Can you tell me anything about the name " Gorzkiewicz"

Names starting with Gor- are a challenge in Polish, because that root has several different meanings, and it can be terribly difficult to straighten the tangle out and figure which one is applicable to a particular name. The root can refer to góra, "mountain, elevation," or it can refer to gorzeć, "to burn," or it can refer to gorzki, "bitter"; it can also appear in old Slavic pagan compound names such as Gorzysław ("one who burns for glory," or "one of burning glory"), because such names were often abbreviated, so that Gorzek or Gorzko could easily have started as a short form or nickname for a fellow with one of those names. So about the best I can do is make an educated guess.

The suffix -ewicz is easy, at least, it means "son of." So we're dealing with a name "son of Gorzk-." I would think this would be the first name Gorzko (or possibly Gorzek), so the name was probably first applied to sons or kin of a man named Gorzko. He might have gotten that name because he had a bitter disposition, but I think it's more likely he had one of those names from the ancient pagan names such as Gorzysław; that's usually the way it works out in these cases, according to the experts. So I believe the surname means "son of Gorzko," with Gorzko being a kind of nickname for Gorzysław or a similar name. If so, the surname is probably pretty old -- a 1394 entry in a legal record mentions a fellow named either Gorzek or Gorzko (the name is Latinized, so it's hard to say for sure which form was meant in Polish).

As of 1990 there were 1,173 Polish citizens named Gorzkiewicz; they lived all over the country, but the largest numbers were in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (81), Kalisz (138), Lodz (351), which are all roughly in central and west central Poland. However, significant numbers people by this name appeared in the other provinces, so we can't really point with any certainty to any particular area and say "Here's where the Gorzkiewicz'es come from." Most likely the name developed independently in many different parts of the country.


DEPUT

… Have you any record of the surname Deput in your listings?

The 10-volume set of surnames used by Polish citizens as of 1990 does have a listing for Deput. There were 125 Poles by that name, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 70, Elblag 7, Gdansk 4, Lublin 1, Olsztyn 28, Pila 2, Przemysl 4, Rzeszow 4, Torun 4, Wroclaw 1. Unfortunately I do not have access to any further data such as first names or addresses.

The name presumably comes from a shortening of the term deputat, "envoy, delegate," which is of Latin origin.


WĄDOŁOWSKI

[This is a response to some materials he sent in Polish that shed light on the origin of the surname Wądołowski in the case of his particular family. I’m including it here because others with this name may find the information useful, or at least interesting. – WFH]

The material Lucjan Wądołowski sent you consists of excerpts from a Polish armorial by Ignacy Kapica Milewski, citations from old records that mention Wądołowskis of Odrowąż arms and of Grabiec arms. The Polish is archaic and would take me quite a while to translate, and I am on deadline right now for several publications, so I can't translate the whole thing. But I can spare a few minutes to summarize some of the entries.

The first section is on Wądołowski's of Odrowąż arms. The first notation comes from an entry in 1421, the records of Opoczynsko in Sandomierz district, mentioning a Jan Koniecki, squire of Konskie, who was apparently an ancestor of the next fellow mentioned. The second entry is from 1470 and quotes entries in legal records for the Commonwealth Chancellory, saying a Maciej Koniecki acquired 20 wlokas of the forest called "Wandały" and later called "Wądoły," in Wizna district, and founded the village Koniecki Wądołowo, from which his heirs took the name Wądołowski, of Odrowąż arms. The 1577 entry is from Łomża city records, and the 1580 from Wizna city records, etc., telling of routine matters where so and so "signed off" [pisze sie] on something.

The second section is a text entry telling some of the history of the Wądołowski's of Odrowąż arms, who appear to be the same family, in the same areas, as mentioned above. The last entry -- the one most likely to tell you whether these people are any connection to you -- comes from 1792, and mentions Stanisław z Koniecki-Wądołowa Wądołowski, the son of the married couple Wojciech Wądołowski and his wife Jean nee Karwowski, grandson of Mateusz Wądołowski, City Burgrave of Wizna, swore loyalty to the Wizna district regency.

The final section cites mentions of another Wądołowski group, bearing Grabiec arms. It mentions that in 1413 the Prince of Mazovia confirms a charter whereby Scibor of Sanchocin, whose lands included a section of 10 wloka's lying below Strumkowska Gora [the name of a góra, a hill or mountain] near Łomża called Wandałowo or Wądołowo, transferred those lands and others to Michal, Andrzej, Stanisław and Chlewietka Drażewski, and they settled there and founded the village of Wądołowo, from which they took the name Wądołowski. The subsequent entries mention these people and the heirs of Chlewietka in 1423, 1479, and 1503.

This tells you there were apparently two different noble families named Wądołowski, one named for land near Opoczno in what is now Piotrkow province in central Poland, the other for lands near Łomża in northeastern Poland. You'll have to determine whether either is likely to be any relation to you. If not, this information won't do you any good. But if you find traces of your family near Łomża or Opoczno, this just might help you.

There is a gentleman named David Zincavage <jdz@inr.net > who has a pretty good armorial library, he might be able to tell you more about this family -- if you haven't talked to him (I may have referred you to him earlier). He usually answers questions fairly quickly, so it might be worth your while to get in touch with him and see if he can add anything to this from other armorials.

I hope this is some use to you, and have a great time in Poland!


POLEK

… I found out that there were 1227 people as of 1990 in Poland with the name Polek, and was referred to you to inquire where in Poland they live according to their region.

As of 1990 people by this name lived in virtually every province of Poland, so there is no way to point to any specific area and say "That's where your Polek's came from." The distribution does show a definite concentration in southcentral and southeastern Poland, however, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (105), Krakow (129), Rzeszow (71), Tarnobrzeg (224), and Tarnow (301).

That's about the only conclusion we can draw from the data available: Polek's live all over the country, but the largest numbers live in southcentral and especially southeastern Poland (the last three provinces mentioned).


SPYCHALSKI

… I was wondering if you have ever came across the surname of Spychalski. I not been able to find any information on this surname except that the Head of State of Poland the late 60s was Marion Spychalski. Hopefully knowing the origins of the name can help.

Probably not, because it's a rather common name. As of 1990 there were 3,511 Poles with this name, living all over the country. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of: Bydgoszcz 559, Gdansk 264, Kalisz 243, Lodz 224, Pila 223, Poznan 241, and Wloclawek 358, with smaller numbers in virtually every province. From that data about the most you can say is that the name tends to be more common in central and western Poland, in the areas formerly ruled by the Germans. Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut says it derives from the term spychać, "to push, thrust, drive"; the name Spychala is very common (4,747 Poles as of 1990) -- it would mean "one always pushing, driving," and Spychalski would be an adjectival form of that name. This would suggest the surname Spychalski started out meaning something like "kin of Spychala," with that presumably originating as a nickname for someone who was always pushing or trying to get people moving.

I'm sorry I can't give you more detailed information, but for what it's worth, I'd say at least 90% of Polish surnames don't provide any useful clue as to exactly where they originated. Once in a while I can dig up something that proves helpful, but usually the names are too common, or too ambiguous, to really tell us anything useful.


ZAKRZEWSKI

Zakrzewski is my maternal grandfathers name. I know he immigrated the the US alone at the age of 15 and was later joined by other family members. I know he was born in Poland prior to 1900 unfortunately my mother cannot remember a town or city. My mother pronounces her maiden name Zachevski. Any help on the origin/translation would be helpful.

This is a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 26,210 Poles named Zakrzewski, living all over the country. In Polish it is pronounced roughly "zok-SHEF-skee," and it comes from the roots za-, "past, beyond, on the other side of," + krzew, "bush." So you could interpret it as "the one who lived past the bushes," but in practice it usually refers to a specific village or town named Zakrzew or Zakrzewo, which, in turn, got those names because they were located in a bushy area. The problem is, there's a whole bunch of those, all over Poland -- way too many to allow us to point at any one and say "That's where you came from."

I'm sorry I can't give you more detailed information, but for what it's worth, I'd say at least 90% of Polish surnames don't provide any useful clue as to exactly where they originated. Once in a while I can dig up something that proves helpful, but usually the names are too common, or too ambiguous, to really tell us anything useful.


STYPA -- WOLCZEWSKI

… I was looking for information on the Polish surnames of Stypa and Wolcheski. I am sure the spelling has changed greatly over the years. If there is any information you can pass on to me i would appreciate it.

According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, Stypa comes from the noun stypa, "funeral banquet," the term for the banquet usually given for mourners after a funeral. Offhand it's unclear exactly how that would come to be a surname -- perhaps it originally was a nickname for someone who always seemed to be giving such banquets, or who gave particularly good ones, or maybe even someone who was always showing up for them (kind of like a professional mourner, or someone always looking to mooch a free meal?). Those are just guesses -- all these centuries after the name started, about all we can be sure of is that it referred to some connection between a person or family and funeral banquets.

As of 1990 there 1,058 Polish citizens named Stypa; they lived all over Poland, but nearly half lived in the province of Katowice (420) in south central Poland -- the rest were scattered all over, with no other province having even 100. I can't imagine why they would be so concentrated in Katowice province, and of course there's no guarantee that's where the family you're interested in came from. But the numbers suggest that might be an area to look at more closely.

Wolcheski is harder because it's unlikely that was the original spelling -- it doesn't look or sound right, and there was no one by that name in Poland as of 1990. Most likely the spelling has been changed to fit English phonetics. If so, I'd guess the original spelling was Wolczewski, except that name is also virtually unheard of in Poland; there were 4 Wolczewski's, all living in Krakow province, and 5 who spelled it with the L with a slash through it, living in the provinces of Gdansk (2), Gorzow (1), Olsztyn (1), and Ostrołęka (1). It's possible those are the people you're looking for (unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses). However, it's also possible the original form of the name was something else, not obvious. So if your research turns up any other spellings -- perhaps Wloczewski or Wlochowski, there are several possibilities -- get back to me and I'll see if I can tell you anything about them.


DRAŻBA

… I am looking for information on the name Drazba. I would appreciate any information you could give me.

I've never run into this name before, but it's not all that rare: as of 1990 there were 386 Polish citizens named Drażba (I'm using ż to stand for the Polish z with a dot over it, pronounced like the "s" in "pleasure"). The vast majority, 267, lived in the province of Suwałki in northeastern Poland, with tiny numbers scattered in numerous other provinces. That makes me wonder if the name might be of either Lithuanian or Belarusian origin -- but I have a pretty good source on Lithuanian names, and while it says there are a few people by this name in Lithuania, it offers no meaning. So this suggests the name may be Belarusian, and unfortunately I have very little on names in that language.

A massive 8-volume Polish-language dictionary does mention drażba as a dialect variant of the word draszka, "threshing, payment for threshing" (ultimately from German dreschen, "to thresh"). So this probably started as a name for an agricultural laborer who did threshing for a living. I can't be positive, because none of my name sources specifically mentions this; but it does seem pretty likely, and it makes sense.

So I think we're on fairly safe ground if we say this name comes from northeastern Poland, possibly also Lithuania and what is now Belarus (all of which used to be part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), and was an occupational name for a thresher.


GÓRALEWICZ

… My problem is that I cannot find any history on my surname (my grandfather, Alexander (Alexius on his Baptismal Certificate) Goralewicz, may have been an only child and an orphan. His Birth Certificate says he was born on March 28, 1877 in Zalczoiwie, District of Rohetyn, in Galicia, and was baptized at St. Michael Greek Catholic Church. His father's name was Onaphren Goralewicz, and his mother was Maria Langorski

The Polish form of your surname would be Góralewicz, pronounced roughly "goo-raw-LAY-vich." The -ewicz suffix means "son of," and góral is a Polish word meaning "mountain men," so the surname means "son of the mountain man." Specifically, the góral usually refers to people living in the Carpathian mountains in southeastern Poland, western Ukraine, and eastern Slovakia -- they are thought of as colorful people with their own customs, dances, clothes, and dialect. So your grandfather's name suggests origins somewhere in that area, much as you thought. There are various sources of info on the górale -- you might find some at the Website www.infoukes.com, and I remember seeing mention of a book on góral customs somewhere, though I can't find it right now -- maybe a Web search would find it for you. You might also want to look for info at the Culture/Customs on this site.... In any case, the name Góralewicz is not all that common in Poland these days, as of 1990 there were only 185, scattered all over the country but with a slight concentration in the provinces of Przemysl (57) in southeastern Poland and Wroclaw (30) in southwestern Poland. The numbers in Przemysl and Wroclaw provinces make sense geographically, as both areas are rather mountainous; also, the Wroclaw numbers might be influenced by post-World War II forced relocations of millions of Ukrainians from southeastern Poland and western Ukraine to the territories taken from Germany and incorporated into Western Poland... I don't have data for Ukraine, it may be that Góralewicz'es are fairly common there; also, I don't have access to further details on where the Góralewicz'es lived in Poland, such as first names and addresses, I only have a breakdown by province.

By the way, to be strictly accurate, your grandfather's original name was not Alexander but Alexy = Alexius in Latin. The names come from the same Greek root, and are often confused, but they aren't really the same name. I don't know what "Zalczoiwie" is, that's clearly misspelled, but the district name was Rohatyn. His father's name was probably Onufry (in Latin Onuphrius), a first name more common in Galicia than in Poland proper.

Langorski is a problem -- as of 1990 there was no one in Poland by that name, I have never run across it before, and it's in none of my sources. It might be a name more common among Ukrainians than Poles, but I can't help wondering if it's been misspelled. For instance, in some records r and w can be hard to distinguish, and Langowski is a common name. Or we might be dealing with Polish nasal vowels that can end up being spelled several ways. The bottom line is, I don't have anything on it -- but if you ever run across records where it's spelled differently, let me know and I'll see if I can find anything on it.

… My grandfather married Maria Ilcewicz (or Milewicz) in NYC in 1906, and it was supposedly a family joke that they were from two different "classes", and could never have married in Poland. I think her family was wealthy landowners and lived in an area that today is part of Russia, while my grandfather lived in the far south (near the Goral Mountains?), and had served in Franz Joseph's army before coming to the US in 1902.

All that is plausible enough, but it's tough analyzing names if you're not sure what the correct form was. Milewicz is a moderately common name (1,334 Poles by that name in 1990), meaning "son of Mil-," where the latter is probably a short form of a longer first name in which the first part is the root mil-, "dear, loved, nice." As of 1990 there were 223 Poles named Ilcewicz (no particular concentration in any one part of Poland), and 157 named Ilewicz. Both would mean "son of" something, but again, the question is, was the name Ilcewicz or Ilewicz? In either case, the name probably means "son of Ilya" -- that's a Ukrainian form of the name Elijah or Elias.

I hope you can find further records that will clear up the spellings of some of these names of people and places, because some of them are clearly distorted (Zalczoiwie, for instance, is definitely not correct for Polish or Ukrainian). It will help a lot if you have correct spellings to deal with. Unfortunately, with Eastern European research, getting the right spelling can be half the battle! These names were often mutilated unintentionally when folks emigrated.

I only charge for name analysis if I do the most thorough job I can, checking every source I can think of. When I do a "quick and dirty" analysis, as in this case, the research only takes a few minutes and I don't see any need to charge for it. In most cases I wouldn't come up with more even if I spent several hours on it, and I think this is such a case. So there's no charge for this info.


CZERNIEJEWSKI -- LAMCZYK

… My father's full name was Raymond C. Lamczyk, and he lived his life in the town of Radom, in the southern part of Illinois. . . my mother's maiden name is Czerniejewski, her full name being Florence L. Czerniejewski. . .Ii know absolutely nothing about if and when the Lamczyk name was shortened, changed, etc.

This name is hard to pin down, none of my sources mention it specifically, and there are a couple of different ways it could have developed, theoretically. I will say this, there is no reason to assume it was changed or shortened -- the name Lamczyk was borne by 508 Polish citizens as of the year 1990, so it's a perfectly good name. The Lamczyk's lived all over Poland, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (87), Gdansk (59), Katowice (81), Kielce (98), and smaller numbers scattered in numerous other provinces (unfortunately, I have no access to further details such as first names or addresses). It's interesting that the name is more common in areas once ruled by the Germans, where German language and names tend to show up often, so we can't rule out some German connection.

The suffix -czyk in surnames usually means "son of," so the question is, what does Lam- or Lamc- mean? There are several possibilities. The name Lamm exists among Germans, from the German word for "lamb," and we can't rule out the possibility that this meant "son of Lamm," perhaps referring to a shepherd or a man who had that name because he reminded people of a lamb or was somehow associated with lambs. It could also derive from a shortened version of a first name, perhaps Lambert; Poles often formed short names or nicknames from first names by taking the first few sounds, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes, so that "son of Lam[bert]" is plausible. The root lam- also shows up in a verb lamować, "to trim," that is, "edge, pipe, add a border"; it seems somewhat unlikely that this surname might refer to the son of a fellow who added borders or piping to clothes, etc., but it's not out of the question.

If the name was originally Łamczyk -- I'm using ł to stand for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w, but often left simply as l when Poles emigrated -- it could mean "son of a łamacz," a person who broke or crushed stone for a living. The problem with that is, the named Łamczyk is virtually unknown in Poland these days, so the odds are we're dealing with Lamczyk, which is a moderately common name.

On the whole, with no firm data to base my analysis on, I would tend to think either "son of Lamm" or "son of Lambert" is the most likely derivation. But I can't be certain.

If you'd really like to know, you might contact the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. They don't do genealogical research, only research on the origins of names. They charge US$10-20 for analysis of a name, and they can correspond in English. If you're interested, read more and get the address from this Webpage: http://www.polishroots.org/surnames_index.htm

Czerniejewski is a name meaning "person from Czerniejew or Czerniejewo or Czerniejow," and there are several Polish villages by those names, so without further info on the family we can't say which of those villages the name originally referred to in your family's case. It's a fairly common surname, as of 1990 there were 1,616 Poles named Czerniejewski, living all over the country.


BOGDAŃSKI

… I was wondering if you could give me any information on my surname, it is "Bogdanski"? I know some history behind the name, but not much any help would be appreciated.

I'm afraid I can't give you much detailed information, because this is one of many Polish surnames that derive from popular first names, and such surnames tend to be very common and distributed all over Poland, since by their very nature they could develop almost anywhere. Thus in 1990 there were 5,543 Polish citizens named Bogdański (ń stands for the accented n). The surname comes from the first name Bogdan, which is a Slavic compound name meaning literally "God-given" (a Slavic equivalent to Hebrew Nathaniel, Greek Theodoros, etc.). Bogdański means literally "of, pertaining to Bogdan," and thus might have originated as a term for "kin of Bogdan," or "person from Bogdanka or Bogdanki [Bogdan's place]," etc. There are several villages by those names, so even if we assume the surname referred to a place rather than just meaning "Bogdan's kin" -- and that's probably not a justifiable assumption, in most cases "Bogdan's kin" probably was the original meaning -- it still doesn't narrow things down much.

With that many Bogdański's, it seems likely the name developed independently in many different places at different times, so there isn't one big Bogdański family, but rather many different ones, and they could have come from anywhere in Poland.

I'm sorry I couldn't be more help, but if it's any help, that's the way it is with, oh, at least 90% of Polish surnames. They just aren't unique enough to offer any really useful leads. Folks often hope I can give them some info based on the name that will help lead them to the place of origin in Poland; I wish it worked that way, but it seldom does.


BAZIŃSKI -- HEJZA -- KOŁTON

… I am the only person in my family that knows how to use the Internet. I am the first generation that was born in the United States. I am 17 years old from troy michigan and want to desperately find my ancestors and family tree. I cannot use a program from the store since my mom and Dad are born in Poland and I am afraid that a lot of the records were lost in the War.

First off, I don't do research; I have all I can do translating records and editing and typesetting various publications. But I can suggest some organizations that might be able to help you quite a bit with your questions.

I would strongly advise you to visit the Website of the Polish Genealogical Society of America at . There's a lot of free info on there that can help beginners. The PGSA also has a handout on genealogy software -- I'm not sure whether it's on the Website, but you could look. If it's not, I'm sure you could buy a copy for a few dollars; I believe it's also included in the packet of info people get for free when they join the PGSA.

Another organization that might be able to help you a lot is the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan. They're not really on the Internet yet, but you can write them at this address:

PGS-MI
c/o Burton Historical Collection
Detroit Public Library
5201 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI 48202-4007

With your family's Michigan roots, PGS-MI might really be able to help you find some excellent leads; you might want to consider joining -- I think their dues are either $15 or $20 a year -- and since they specialize in Poles who settled in Michigan, they're probably your best bet for making valuable connections.

There is also a book you might want to look for at a library or bookstore. It's by Rosemary Chorzempa, and it's called "Polish Roots," 1993, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore MD, ISBN 0-8063-1378-1. Many, many people have told me it helped them enormously when they were getting started, and it's relatively easy to find -- the Barnes & Noble just up the road from my house sells it. I believe it's $20 or less, and lots of folks swear by it.

The reason I'm giving you this info is because surnames, in themselves, very rarely offer any real help with tracing a family. They're just too common. Thus as of 1990 there were 1,012 Polish citizens named Kołton, and another 2,689 used the variant Kołtun. It comes from a root kołton meaning "twisted hair, shaggy hair." Obviously this is a name that could develop independently in many different places all over Poland. Knowing what it means is nice, but doesn't do a thing in terms of helping you find your ancestors.

Other names, such as Baziński, are not so common, but don't really help a lot either. As of 1990 there were 113 Polish citizens named Baziński, but they were scattered all over the country, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bielsk-Biala (25) in southcentral Poland, and Tarnobrzeg (37) in southeastern Poland, and a few here and there in many other provinces. (I don't have access to further data such as first names and addresses, what I've given here is all I have). Polish name experts believe the name comes from the first name Bazyli = English Basil; Poles often formed names by taking the first part of a popular first name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes, thus Baz- + -in- + -ski. This means nothing more than "kin of Basil," or "person from Basil's place."

Hejza is not listed in any of my sources, so I don't know what it comes from. As of 1990 there were 123 Polish citizens by that name, again scattered all over, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (32), Slupsk (20), and Wloclawek (23) -- which means it appears mainly in northcentral and northwestern Poland. That suggests it might be of German origin, since a great many Germans have lived in that part of Poland, and if so, it probably comes from German Heise, which originated as a nickname for "Heinrich" = English "Henry."

As I say, this is how it goes with the vast majority of Polish surnames -- it's nice to know what they mean, but they don't provide much in the way of real help. And that's why I think the information you can get from the sources I mentioned is your best bet. Or, if you can afford it, you might hire a researcher who specializes in Poland; but that gets expensive, and you can do a lot of that yourself, with a little assistance from the PGSA, the PGS-MI, and Chorzempa's book.


SKARPIAK -- SZKARPIAK

… After reading your response & explanation of "Jankowski", I am hopful that you will be kind & help me with my maternal surnames. In searching Skarpiak I have come to a dead end. The brothers Skarpiak appeared to all have daughters & I am only aware of two decendants still living (which again are females), Would you be able to provide additional info re family name(s)?

Skarpiak appears to be a very rare name. None of my sources mention it, and as of 1990 there was no one in Poland by that name, or named Szkarpiak (Polish names beginning with S- often have variants beginning with Sz-, and vice versa). It might possibly come from the term skarpa, "buttress, escarpment" -- if so, it probably means something like "one who lived near the buttress, one who worked on the buttress," or else the son of such a person.

The only mention I could find of such a name anywhere was in the Index to Obituaries in the Polish-language Chicago daily Dziennik Chicagoski. There was an obit for a Walenty (Valentine) Szkarpiak who died 30 Apr 1928 in the Chicago area, in the 3 May 1928 issue of that paper. Also, a Franciszek (Francis or Frank) Szkarpiak was mentioned in two other obits for people named Szymanska. If this sounds like a possible lead, I'd suggest going to the Website of the Polish Genealogical Society of America, www.pgsa.org, and searching their Chicagoski and other databases for Skarpiak or Szkarpiak. If the name is all that rare, there is a chance these folks might be related to you, and searching those databases might turn up some leads (if these aren't people you already know about).

If you don't mind spending $10-20 to learn more, you might try writing the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Insitute in Krakow -- they don't do genealogical research, only research on name origins, and they can correspond in English. For more details, see the introduction to Polish surnames at http://www.polishroots.org/surnames/surnames_index.htm.


KREJPCIO

… As far as I know, it was Boleslaw Krcipczio, altho his immigration papers showed it as Krejpcio, The latter is what I used when I was in grade school. It is now spelled Krepshaw. The passenger list indicates he was from Biala Wala, Russia. I guess that is/was a Polish province taken over by Russia. He immigrated to Phila., PA.

Well, there are so many Polish surnames that it's tough to say anything definitive about them if you don't have a correct spelling -- and Krcipczio makes no sense phonetically or linguistically, it's surely a misreading or misspelling somewhere along the line. However, there is a name Krejpcio which might fit -- it's close to some of the variant spellings you gave, and would be pronounced roughly "CRAPE-cho" (rhymes with "scrape-snow"), which could easily become Krepshaw in America. I can't be certain that's the right name, but it's close enough to be worth mentioning.

As of 1990 there were 172 Polish citizens by that name, of whom the vast majority (141) lived in the province of Suwałki, in northeastern Poland, on the border with Lithuania. And Krejpcio is almost certainly Lithuanian in terms of linguistic origin. It appears to come from the Lithuanian word kreipti, "to turn, make crooked." I would suppose the name might have referred originally to someone who had something crooked about him -- not meaning he was a crook, but rather that he had a crooked leg or back or something like that. We see a lot of Polonized forms of Lithuanian names near the border, so that makes sense in terms of what you said. The area was originally Polish, but was taken over by Russia in the 1800's. And vast numbers of Polish-Lithuanian immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, so that fits too.

… His papers also had last spelled as ....Krepcio, Krepshio. I cannot find Biala, Wala anywhere on a map that I have. Can you help me??? This info. is necessary, as I want to find his birth certificate so I can find out who his parents were.

Place names with bial- in them are very common -- the root just means "white." Biala Wala doesn't seem right, but Biala Wola could well work. There could be quite a few little villages or communities by that name, but I notice there is at least one on the map, a little village called Biała Wola (the ł stands for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w) in the extreme northern part of what is now the province of Olsztyn. This is some distance west of Suwałki province, but not so far as to be implausible -- and it is still quite near the border with Lithuania. So geographically speaking, it fits -- it was in the Russian partition, and it's close to Lithuania. I can't guarantee it's right, but I think the chances are good enough to make it worth a look... If it doesn't pan out, I'd try "Biala Woda" (literally "white water"), but I'd try Biala Wola, Olsztyn province, first. The only problem is, my sources list no Krejpcio's in Olsztyn province, so if they did live there once, they seem to have moved or died out. But some of the Krejpcio's in Suwałki province may well be relatives.

To find birth certificates, you need the parish church that served the community in question. I can't find anything that says for sure which parish serves Biała Wola, but on the map it appears Lubomino is the closest -- it's only a few kilometers away, that probably is where folks in Biała Wola would go to register births, deaths, and marriages. I don't know if the LDS Family History Library has microfilmed the records for Lubomino parish, but I'd suggest going to the nearest Mormon Family History Center and seeing if those records are on file. If they are, you can have them loaned from Salt Lake City to your FHC and can look through them there -- much faster and cheaper than writing to Poland. If it turns out the records you need aren't available through the FHL, then you may have to write the parish in Poland, or the Polish National Archives.

As I say, there are too many variables here for me to be sure I'm right. But if I were you, I'd try looking for a family named Krejpcio living in or near Biała Wola, Olsztyn province, probably served by Lubomino Catholic parish.

[Addendum: Mr. Krepshaw later wrote back to ... inform us that these suggestions turned out to be exactly right! Hurray! That's one for the good guys!]


BRYK

… is the name Bryk covered in your book? I'm interested in its etymology. In your opinion, is it common for a surname, such as Bryk, to be found in Jewish as well as Catholic families (predominantly the latter, I think)?

Bryk is mentioned in the book, although with 30,000 names in 400 pages, you can imagine I don't have room to give a whole lot of detail on any one them... Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut says Bryk can come from two roots: from the old Latin first name Brictius, which was used more often in Poland centuries ago (it's almost unheard of today) in forms such as Brykcy and Brykcjusz; or from the verb root brykać, "to frisk, gambol." The form Bryka shows up in documents as early as 1397. Personally, I suspect Bryk derives in most cases from the first name -- surnames derived from first names are very common in Polish, and the Poles often took the first part of a name, dropped the rest, and used that first part as a new name or nickname, often adding suffixes.

Now what I just said applies mainly to Polish Christians. Alexander Beider's book on surnames of Jews in the Kingdom of Poland (the part under Russian rule roughly 1772-1918) does mention Bryk as a surname borne by Jews, especially in the areas of Makow, Zamosc, Bilgoraj, Stopnica, and Warsaw. He says this name, when used by Jews, usually comes either from Yiddish brik, "bridge" (compare German Bruecke) or from an acronym of Ben Rabiy Yaqoyv Qopl, "the son of Rabbi Jacob Koppel"... By the way, it is not at all unusual to find that Christians and Jews have names that look exactly the same but had different derivations. So among Christians the derivation would probably be from the first name Brykcy/Brictius or the verb meaning "frisk, gambol." But for Jews it would come from the usages I just described.

As of 1990 there were 3,278 Polish citizens named Bryk, so it's a moderately common surname. The bryk's were distributed fairly evenly over the country, with a slight concentration in southeastern Poland.

I imagine most of those Bryk's are Christians, simply because the Jewish community was utterly devastated by the Nazis, and you find very tiny numbers for most distinctively Jewish names. But when dealing with families who emigrated before World War II, the name could easily be either Christian or Jewish.


RADZISZEWSKI

… I have long wondered on the meaning of my family name: Radziszewski. Would you have any information on its origins & meaning ?

Names ending in -owski and -ewski usually began as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name, generally ending in -ow/-owo or -ew/ewo. So we'd expect Radziszewski to have started out meaning simply "one from Radiszew/o or Radiszow/o." There are at least two places this surname could have derived from, and perhaps more, too small to show up in my sources (or they may have changed their names over the centuries since the surname was established). There is a Radziszow in Krakow province, maybe about 20 km. south-southeast of Krakow; and there are villages named Radziszewo-Krole and Radziszewo-Sienczuch in southeastern Łomża province. People from any of these places (and, as I say, possibly more) could have ended up with the name Radziszewski... The names of these places mean, in effect, "the [place] of Radzisz" -- Radzisz is an old Polish first name appearing in documents as early as 1414, coming either from a root meaning "joy" or from a root meaning "advise." Most likely it started as a nickname or short form for a longer compound name such as Radomir ("glad of peace") or Radosław "glad of fame"), or it could have meant "the adviser" or "the joyful one." At any rate, somewhere along the line a little settlement or village founded or owned by a guy named Radzisz could easily end up being called Radziszów or Radziszewo, both meaning "Radzisz's place"; then later a person connected to that place could be called Radziszewski = "one from Radziszewo" = "one from the place of Radzisz."

This is a fairly common surname, as of 1990 there were 4,982 Polish citizens named Radziszewski. They lived all over the country, with especially large numbers in the provinces of Białystok (1,087) in the northeast; Katowice (228) in southcentral Poland; Łomża (208) in northeastern Poland; and Warsaw (462) in east central Poland. It's conceivable all these Radziszewski's might have gotten their names from the three villages I mentioned above, but it seems just a little far-fetched, which is why I think there may once have been more places with names that could generate this surname.

For what it's worth, this is how it goes with the vast majority of Polish surnames -- very few offer really helpful clues with exactly where a given family came from. Usually about the most you can hope for is a reasonable idea of what the name meant when it originated; I'd say about 90-95% there is no link with any specific area, at least nothing precise enough to give you a good lead.


TOŁODZIECKI – TUŁODZIECKI

… My new cousin and i are looking for surname of Tolodziecki, or Tulodziecki. She found it on the wall of honor. my name has changed from what my dad's was on birth and his father's birth. so we are having fun looking to see how it all comes together

The first question is the original form of the name. I have a 10-volume set that lists all the surnames of Polish citizens as of 1990 and tells how many lived in each province (but unfortunately does not give further data such as first names or addresses), so I looked up both spellings and got these results (ł stands for the Polish l; with a slash through it, pronounced like our w):

Tołodziecki, total 121; provinces with 10 or more: Koszalin 18, Legnica 10, Torun 48; there were a few other provinces with fewer than 10.

Tułodziecki, total 747; provinces with 50+: Warsaw 57, Bydgoszcz 57, Ciechanow 101, Olsztyn 71, Torun 141, Wloclawek 108; numerous other provinces with smaller numbers.

So this suggests both forms are "correct," but Tułodziecki is probably the standard form, and Tołodziecki a variant spelling of that, based perhaps on regional variation in pronunciation. Also, the names are most common in northern and northwestern Poland, in areas formerly ruled by the Germans, mainly East and West Prussia.

Names ending in -cki or -ski, more often than not, referred originally to a connection between a person or family and the name of a place -- we'd expect the place or places to be something like Tułodziad. And in fact there is a village and former estate by that exact name, Tułodziad, called "Taulensee" by the Germans, in what used to be Ostróda county, but now in Olsztyn province; it's located roughly 20 km. east of Lubawa and 25 km. south of Ostróda. It is a few km. west of Grunwald, the site of a very important battle in 1410 between Polish and Lithuanian forces and the Teutonic Knights; the Knights were defeated, a major turning point in Polish history.

The name of the village is a puzzle, it appears to be a combination of roots tul- meaning "wander, be exiled" or "hug" + dziad, "old man, grandfather"; I have no more information on the name's meaning, but it looks as if it might originally have been named for some old man who was exiled (?), or perhaps for a man with a compound name meaning "affectionate grandfather." Those are just guesses, until Polish scholars finish a large 10-volume dictionary of Polish place names they're working on (they've only gotten up to the D's so far), I'll have no way of knowing for sure, but that's what the name appears to mean.

None of my sources mention the surname Tułodziecki directly, but odds are it originally meant just "one from Tułodziad." If the family was noble, this may mean they owned it; if non-noble, they were probably peasants who worked on the estate there, or came from there and moved elsewhere.


DZIURA -- JAROCH -- KIEŁTYKA -- KOCHANOWICZ

… You printed a letter and your reply, to someone re: the name "Kielton", and your response included reference to the name "Kieltyka". That is my mother's maiden name... If I understand correctly, that you are able to provide the derivation of the name, and location where it originated, I would be very interested.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Kiełtyka in his book on Polish surname (on-line we use ł to stand for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w but usually just rendered as plain old l in other languages). He says it comes from the root kiełtać, "to cut with a dull knife." I'm not sure how this got to be a person's name, and apparently that root is either quite archaic or else used only in dialect, because it doesn't appear in any of my other sources -- but I've found Rymut usually knows his stuff, so I'm inclined to believe him on this one... This name shows up in Krakow legal records as far back as 1382. It's odd that this root kiełt- generated only this one, rather ancient surname, and otherwise has left no trace in the language; but that's the kind of odd quirk that makes name origins so interesting!

As of 1990 there were 1,518 Polish citizens named Kiełtyka, living in virtually every province of Poland (there may well be more by that name living in Ukraine, but I have no data on that). The provinces with the largest numbers were: Katowice 233, Krakow 155, Krosno 133, and Tarnow 118 -- all in southcentral or southeastern Poland. Przemysl province, which is where Wyszatyce is located, had 46. However, the database from which this info was compiled was lacking complete data for some provinces, including Przemysl, so the actual number might be somewhat higher... The source of this data is a government database, but the book I got it from only has totals for all of Poland, then for each province. In other words, I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses; the Polish government agency that runs that database won't allow researchers access to such info. So what I've given you here is all I can get.

… Other names in the tree that I would like to know more about, if you have the information are: "Kochonowicz" or "Kochonowich"; "Jaroch"; "Dzuira."

Kochonowicz is probably a misreading of Kochanowicz; the -owicz means "son of," and the root kochan- means "beloved," so the name means roughly "son of the beloved one"; or it may have started more often as just meaning "son of Kochan" where that was a first name in itself, deriving from the root meaning "beloved." As of 1990 there were 1,106 Poles named Kochanowicz, none named Kochonowicz, which is why I think the first form is probably right. The Kochanowicz'es lived all over Poland, but the largest single number for any province was Przemysl, with 208. "Kochonowich" is surely a spelling affected by English phonetic values, since the -cz is pronounced like our "ch." The name would be pronounced by Poles something like "ko-hah-NO-vich."

Jaroch may have started as a nickname of older pagan compound names such as Jaromir, where the first part is an ancient root meaning "harsh, severe," or in some cases "robust, young." But some scholars think the specific names Jaroch and Jarosz came from a variant of the Slavic version of "Jerome." So the name probably meant originally something like "kin of Jerome." As of 1990 there were 1,092 Poles by this surname, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (250) in northwestern Poland and Przemysl (137) in southeastern Poland. The name is pronounced roughly "YAH-rok."

Dziura is probably the right spelling of "Dzuira." This is a very common name, with 6,017 Poles named Dziura as of 1990. It comes from the term dziura, meaning "hole." Perhaps it referred to a person with holes in their clothes, or a person who lived in a hole -- after all these centuries it's hard to say. But that's the basic meaning of the name, there must have been some kind of connection between the person and holes. The name is pronounced something like "jura" (like English "jury" with an -uh sound on the end, instead of an -ee).


ORTHNER

… Recently, I have been making genealogical links to the Germanic family Orthner. Would you happen to known the meaning and origin of this surname?

Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon (available in English translation as Dictionary of German Names) mentions Ortner as coming from a root meaning "end," so that names such as Orthmann, Orth, Ohrt, and Ortner usually referred to where a family lived, i. e., "at the end of the village, end of the street." (Orth- and Ort- are the same, older German spelling often put a silent H after T, as in the name of the writer Goethe, more modern spelling drops the H). I'm afraid I don't have any data on how common the name is in Germany (although I'm sure some book must exist that gives that info), but as of 1990 there were 8 Ortner's in Poland, 1 living in Gdansk province, and 7 living in Opole province, which is in southwestern Poland, in that part of Silesia included in Polish territory after World War II.


SIDOROWICZ

… If time allows please respond. father’s surname: Sidorowicz

Ah, an easy one! I love easy ones!

In Sidorowicz the suffix -owicz means "son of," and Sidor started as a short form or nickname of the first name Izydor, in English "Isidore." That's a fairly rare name in this country, but over the centuries it's been moderately popular in Poland -- as of 1994 there were 4,054 Poles named Izydor, and a century or two ago it was probably more common. It comes from a Greek name meaning "gift of Isis."

As for Sidorowicz, in 1990 there were some 2,343 Poles with that surname, so it's a moderately common name. Sidorowicz'es lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers (100+) in the provinces of Warsaw (173), Białystok (345), Gdansk (136), Gorzow (122), Suwałki (173), and Wroclaw (108). This means there's a particular concentration of people by this name in northeastern Poland (Suwałki and Białystok provinces) -- but you can't really assume that's where a given Sidorowicz family came from, as there's practically no part of Poland that doesn't have at least a few.

By the way, there are several other common surnames that also mean "son of Isidore," including Sidorczuk (1,128) and Sidoruk (1,208). I haven't yet discovered any particular rule or pattern as to why some folks would say the same thing with -owicz, some with -czuk, some with -uk. Maybe one day I'll find out if there is any pattern to it, or if it's just a matter of what people liked the sound of.


BIEDROŃ

… Can you tell me about the surname of Biedron?

According to Polish name experts, names beginning with Biedr- can come from the noun biedroń, which means "ox with mottled coloring, of many colors" (I'm using ń to stand for the Polish n with an accent over it), or from the noun biedro (also spelled biodro), "hip, haunch." Since Biedroń is an exact match with the word for ox, it seems likely that's what that particular name derives from, rather than from the "hip" root. It's difficult to say exactly how such names got started, because they originated centuries ago, often from nicknames, and it can be very difficult to figure out exactly what the original connection was. A Biedroń might have gotten that nickname because he wore clothes that reminded people of the coloring of a certain ox; or maybe he owned such an ox. About all we can know for sure is that there was something about the first person to bear this name that people somehow connected with an ox.

As of 1990 there were 1,636 Polish citizens named Biedroń. The name could be found all over the country, but was particularly common in the provinces of Czestochowa (277), Katowice (171), Krakow (102), Nowy Sacz (203), and Tarnow (189) -- all in southcentral or southeastern Poland. Unfortunately, there's nothing about the name that helps us pin it down to a more specific area.


LUDWA

… Earlier this year you provided me information about my surname. I was wondering, if you have the time, could you please provide information concerning the name Ludwa.

As of 1990 there were 340 Polish citizens with this name, of whom by far the largest number (181) lived in the province of Tarnow in southeastern Poland; there were much smaller numbers scattered all over the rest of the country.

None of my sources mention this name, but it seems most likely this started as a short form or nickname of Ludwik, the Polish form of the name Louis (in German, Ludwig). I can find no native Polish root with ludw-, and the connection with Ludwik seems too obvious to ignore. There is a basic Slavic root lud- meaning "entice, allure, deceive," and ludwa or ludva could possibly have derived from that. But it seems much more likely to me it's just a short form or nickname for Ludwik. Poles often took the first part of popular first names, dropped the rest, and added suffixes, so Ludwik -> Ludwa is not at all implausible.


KRÓL -- ŚNIEŻEK

… I am trying to find the orgins of two surnames listed as Austria/Pol on documents. Krol and Sniezek.

Król comes from the Polish word for "king," which is król (the Polish ó is pronounced like the "oo" in "good"). It could have started as a nickname, perhaps calling somebody the king of a little group; it also sometimes was applied to someone who was a servant of the king. It's a very common surname, as of 1990 there were 46,458 Poles named Król, living all over the country in huge numbers.

Śnieżek would be spelled in Polish with an accent over the S and a dot over the Z, pronounced something like "SHNYEH-zek." That doesn't sound very pretty to our ears, yet it's actually kind of a pretty name, because it comes from śnieg, "snow." The -ek is a diminutive, so śnieżek (as we write it on-line, trying to compensate for not being able to reproduce the Polish characters) means something like "little snow." As of 1990 there were 1,315 Poles with this name; it is found all over the country, but the largest numbers are in the provinces of Katowice (136), Krakow (94), Krosno (282), Opole (110), Rzeszow (86), and Wroclaw (91) -- all in southcentral to southeastern Poland, and therefore mainly in Galicia, that part of Poland ruled by Austria from the late 1700's till after World War I.


KORNASIEWICZ

… The surname that I am interested in is Kornasiewicz. My grandfather was born in the town of Besko in Austrian Galitzia around 1880. I have located a town of this name about 20 miles west of the city of Sanok in southeastern Poland...

The suffix -ewicz or -owicz means "son of" (making the name a so-called "patronymic," a name derived from one's father's name), so Kornasiewicz means "son of Kornaś," where ś stands for the Polish accented s, written si when followed by a vowel. So the real question is, what does the name Kornaś or Kornas come from? Polish scholars have come up with a couple of different possible derivations, but no way to be certain which one is right in a given instance. The name can come from the root korn-, "humble, submissive, obedient," or from kórnik, "bark beetle," or from the first name Kornel (the Polish version of Latin Cornelius). The bark beetle connection seems least likely in this case, because the -ik suffix is integral to that meaning and that suffix does not appear in this name. So we're left with Kornaś as either a nickname for "Cornelius" -- which is quite plausible -- or perhaps as an old first name in its own right, given to someone in hope that he will be humble... By the way, among Slavs this basic notion of korn- is not an insult, Poles and Russians etc. admire someone who's simple, honest, and humble; so whereas "humble, submissive, obedient" may not sound like virtues to us, a name from the root korn- could be thought of as having a positive connotation, the perfect name for a fellow who's good-hearted and not too full of himself.

It's interesting that as of 1990 there were 1,266 Polish citizens named Kornas (no accent over the s), another 1,631 named Kornaś (with the accent) -- but only 100 named Kornasiewicz. That's kind of unusual, as surnames patronymics are generally as common as the names they came from, if not more so. But there are exceptions, and this is one. The 100 Kornasiewicz'es lived in the provinces of: Warsaw (22), Bielsko-Biala (3), Katowice (5), Kielce (3), Krosno (56), Opole (1), Rzeszow (1), Skierniewice (3), Szczecin (1), and Wroclaw (5) -- unfortunately I have no access to further details, such as first names or addresses. This data fits well with your information, since Besko is in the province of Krosno in southeastern Poland, and that area has the largest concentration of Kornasiewicz'es in Poland. Southeastern Poland and western Ukraine comprised the "crownland" of Galicia in the Austrian Empire, and Krosno was right in the heart of it. So this data suggests you are looking in exactly the right place.


DULĘBA -- DULEMBA

… If I may bother you for just one more surname origin - it was my grandmother's maiden name: Dulemba.

This name can be spelled either Dulemba or Dulęba (with ę standing for the Polish nasal vowel written as E with a tail under it and pronounced like en, but before b or p like em) because both spellings sound like "doo-LEM-bah." There are many Polish surnames ultimately from the root dul-, "swelling, thickening," and this may be one of them. But although I can't find any confirmation of this in works by the experts, I suspect the name derives more directly from dulęba, a dialect term for an awkward, uncouth fellow. As of 1990 there were 2,199 Polish citizens who spelled the name Dulęba and another 618 who spelled it Dulemba, so it's a pretty common name (I don't know why it is, but there seem to be jillions of common Polish names from insulting terms, and only a few from complimentary ones!?). You can find Dulęba's or Dulemba's all over Poland, but the largest numbers of Dulęba's are in the provinces of Kielce (780) and Bydgoszcz (136), whereas Dulemba's are most common in the provinces of Katowice (136), Kielce (96), and Rzeszow (71).


BALKIEWICZ -- BOBROWSKI -- GRUNWALSKI

… Thank you for posting your interesting, informative information on Polish surnames. I'm trying to find more about mine--Balkiewicz, and also those of my maternal grandparents--Grunwalski and Bobrowski.

The suffix -ewicz means "son of," so Balkiewicz means "son of Balek, Balka, or Balko." This first name could develop in several ways, as a short form of Baltazar (by tradition the name of one of the Three Kings or Magi), from the Hungarian first name Bal, or from the Polish root bal- meaning "to tell tales." As of 1990 there were some 270 Polish citizens named Balkiewicz, scattered in many different provinces, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Elblag (60), Gdansk (25), Lodz (20), Olsztyn (20), and Ostrołęka (26) -- all in northern Poland, in what used to be Prussia. (I'm afraid I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses).

Names ending in -owski usually refer to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name; we'd expect Bobrowski to have started out meaning "person from Bobrow, Bobrowo, Bobry," etc. Those places, in tern, got their names from the root bóbr, "beaver." In effect, Bobrowski means "one from the place of the beavers." There are quite a few villages named Bobra, Bobry, Bobrowo, etc., so the name itself doesn't tell us which a given Bobrowski family was connected with. As of 1990 there were 5,874 Polish citizens named Bobrowski, so it's a pretty common name and probably developed independently in many different areas.

Grunwalski is surely an adjective meaning "of, from Grunwald." This is a German name meaning "green forest," and there are several places in Poland that are or have been called by that name (especially when western and northern Poland was ruled by Germany). The most famous Grunwald was the site of a battle in 1410 in which Polish and Lithuanian forces defeated the Teutonic Knights, a major event in the history of Poland. As of 1990 there were only 7 Grunwalski's in Poland, 6 in Katowice province and 1 in Opole province, so it's a pretty rare name -- but 1,269 Poles were named Grunwald! 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.   


SOSZKA

… I was hoping that you could help understand the meaning of the last name of Soszka.

This name could develop two ways. It can be a diminutive form of socha, a forked branch, also a kind of primitive plow; so if a fellow used such a branch, or his shape reminded him of one, he might get the nickname "Soszka," "the little forked branch." The name can also derive as a short form of old pagan compound names beginning with So- such as Sobiesław -- these names were ancient, and as time went on the Poles liked to take the first part, drop the rest, and add suffixes. It's sort of like what we did with "Theodore" to get "Teddy." And just as "Teddy" doesn't really mean anything -- it's just a short form of Theodore, which originally meant "gift of the gods" -- so Soszka wouldn't really mean anything, but is just a short form of various older names that did originally mean something. At this point, centuries after names such as Soszka developed, it's difficult to say which of these two roots the name came from in the case of an individual family.

As of 1990 there were 1,167 Polish citizens named Soszka, living all over the country; the largest number of Soszka's lived in the provinces of Lublin (127), Siedlce (315), and Warsaw (154), so there is no one area the name is particularly associated with. (I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses).


GARDOLIŃSKI

… I have just moved from Brazil to the US, and I am living in Atlanta. My grandfather was the only Gardolinski who migrated to Brazil, and the rest of the family is still in Poland... I had Mr. Jan Pizczor research on the Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland, and he found only 18 occurrences in Poland, mainly in the Warsaw area... I already saw the origin of Garwolinski (which looks pretty close), and the prefix Gard- in your book. But I still feel that we may be able to get closer to the actual origin...

As Mr. Piszczor told you, this is a very rare name in Poland these days; only 18 Polish citizens had that name, and all but 4 lived in Warsaw province. And unfortunately, due to its rarety, it hasn't come in for any attention in any of the sources I have -- none of them mention it. I do feel the similarity to Garwoliński is deceptive, in that Gardoliński probably does not have anything to do with that name.

Most likely Gardoliński began as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place named something like Gardolin, Gardolino, Gardola, etc. There are villages named Gardlin in both Białystok and Łomża provinces, and the surname might be connected with one or both of them. I'd expect a surname meaning "coming from Gardlin" to be Gardliński, but it's not out of the question that an -o- might slip in there. Other than that, none of my gazetteers or atlases mention a place with an appropriate name. Of course, this is not rare -- surnames typically formed several centuries ago, and since then many of the places that generated surnames have disappeared, been absorbed into other communities, changed their names, etc. So often we find a surname that clearly came from a place name, but can no longer find any trace of that place.

I note in a Polish encyclopedia mention of an Edmund Gardolinski, born 1914, a Polonian activist, engineer, and historian of the Polish community in Brazil, and a representative of Rio Grande do Sul in the legislature. Surely it's not assuming too much to suppose this was/is your grandfather? ... Unfortunately, that's the only prominent Gardolinski I can find any mention of.

The only way I know of to get a better answer on the name's derivation would be for you to spend $10-20 and contact the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow; they can correspond in English, and they do research into name origins, not genealogical research. If anyone can pin down the exact origin and derivation of this name, it would be the scholars of that Workshop. The address is given on page 177 (assuming you have the second edition of my book). I strongly suggest you write them and see if they can tell you anything.

And by the way, if you do write the Workshop and they give you a good answer, I'd be very interested in hearing what they say. I would gladly add Gardoliński to the next edition of my book, if I just had some info on the name's origin. So if you do write and get an answer, I'd appreciate very much getting a copy!


BRODZKI

… If you please, could you see if you have any info for the surname Brodzki. I believe we originated from the southlands of Poland, (Probably Russia Now). I haven't been able to turn up a single clue as of yet, any info you may have would be greatly appreciated.

As of 1990 there were 444 Brodzki's living in Poland proper -- but I have no data for the areas that used to be part of the Polish Commonwealth but now are in Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. The name can derive from many different roots, including broda, "beard," bro'd, "ford, wading-place," from short forms of ancient pagan Slavic names such as Brodzisław, etc. But from what you say, it seems in your case the most likely derivation is from the name of the town of Brody, a county seat in what used to be Galicia (the territory ruled by Austria after the partitions) and now in Ukraine. If that's so, the name would mean basically just "one from Brody." As I say, I have no data for anywhere but Poland in its modern boundaries, so I can't tell you how common a name Brodzki is in Ukraine (of course, it would be spelled in Cyrillic, and would be written in English phonetic values more like Brodsky).


HODYL

… I have been trying to find some information on the surname Hodyl. This was my grandfather's name (Rafal Hodyl) and all we know is that he came from Naliboki, somewhere in Belarus. He was born in 1904, immigrated to US and died 1989 in NY. He married Josefa Adamciewicz, also from that area. I think the area was Poland at the time, since my family claims Polish ancestry. I cannot find any information on this name. Someone once told me that Hodyl may have been the name of a river? or stream? in that area, but it also may have been a Dutch surname...

As of 1990 there were 135 Poles named Hodyl, scattered in numerous provinces all over Poland, with no concentration in any one area; I'm afraid I only have data for Poland in its current boundaries, so anyone living by this name still living in Belarus would not show up. And there have been sizable numbers of Poles living in Belarus for centuries now -- Belarus was long part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, so it's quite credible that people living there could be of Polish ancestry.

None of my sources mention anything about this specific name's derivation. A number of names beginning with Hod- and Chod- (in Polish h and ch are pronounced exactly the same, kind of like the guttural ch in German "Bach") are given as deriving from the root chod-, "to walk, go," and this same root is used in Russian and Ukrainian (in Belarusian it appears with an a sound rather than an o); among these names are Chodyła, which would mean something like "the guy who likes to walk, who's always walking." It is quite plausible that Hodyl is more or less the same thing, although as I say, none of my sources say so specifically.

If Hodyl is the name of a river or stream, I can't find it on any of my maps. But often surnames did come from names of little streams -- sort of a verbal shorthand meaning the family lived near the stream -- and there certainly could be such a stream that wouldn't show up on my maps (which are not too detailed). Naliboki (now Nalibaki in Belarus) is on a river named Lebiezada, about 110 km. from Oszmiana (now Asmiany in Belarus) and 160 km. from Wilno (now Vilnius in Lithuania).

It's interesting that there is a village called Hadzilivichy in Belarus, also called Hadzilowicze and Hodzilowicze by the Poles, about which a late 19th-century Polish gazetteer says this:

"Hadzilowiczevillage, Rohaczew county, on the Warsaw-Moscow highway, not far from Rohaczew and Dowsk, 300 Orthodox males. School, brick Orthodox church."

I mention this because the Hadzilov- form is Belarusian, but Poles would call it Hodzilowicze and Ukrainians would call it Hodylowicze -- and the name means "[place of] the sons of Hodyl." In other words, if you factor in each language's phonetic tendencies, this village name comes from more or less the same root as your surname. That doesn't mean the two are related in any way, but it's at least interesting. This village is just a few km. east of Rohaczew, as the Poles call it, or Ragachev, as the Belarusians call it.

As for a Dutch connection -- well, it's possible. A lot of Dutch and Germans were invited to come settle in sparsely-populated areas of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as farmers and skilled craftsmen they were highly desirable colonists. So I can't rule out a Dutch origin. But let's just say this: the name makes perfect sense in a Slavic context, there's certainly no reason to assume there had to be a Dutch connection. But we can't rule it out.


ZAPOLSKI

… My grandfather came to America from Poland at the age of 14. His parents remained in Poland and he never saw them again. I really know very little about the Poland side of the family. Only his birth city (Barglow, Suwałki in 1984). I am trying to do research on his and my last name (Zapolski). Can you give me information on it and his mothers maiden name which is Pucrsztowskich?

The surname Zapolski comes from the term zapole, "corn bin," or from the place name Zapole, which may come from that word or from za, "past, beyond" + pole, "field" -- unfortunately, there are over 70 villages in Poland called Zapole, so it's very hard to say with any certainty which one a given Zapolski family might have been connected with back when surnames were originating, several centuries ago.

As of 1990 there were 1,066 Polish citizens named Zapolski, of whom the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Białystok (143), Olsztyn (89), and Suwałki (201) in northeast Poland; so yur grandfather came from the general area where the name is most common, although you see it all over the country... With the link to northeastern Poland, I suggest you investigate joining the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053. A lot of their members come from the Białystok-Łomża region, so they've specialized in that area and just might be able to offer you some good leads. I think it's worth a try.

I'm afraid I can't help you with Pucrsztowskich, because it's not the correct form of the name -- just as one can tell that Anderqswn is not the right spelling of an English name, certain letter combinations just don't occur in given languages, and "Pucrsz-" is not Polish (or any other language I know of). I can say that the -ch ending is almost certainly a grammatical ending that should be dropped. Maiden names are often given in Polish records as, for instance, Anna z Grabowskich, which means literally "Anna of the Grabowski's"; to get the standard form of the name you drop the -ch. But as I say, Pucrsztowski still doesn't work.

Sometimes I can look at a mangled name and figure out what the original form was, but I can't get this one -- there are too many possibilities. If you find some record that gives you another form, let me know and I'll see if I can tell you anything about it.


ZACHARZEWSKI

… I saw your piece on the PGSA pages, and was wondering whether you had any information on the surname Zacharzewski (my original surname).

Like all names ending in -ski, this one is adjectival, meaning basically "of, pertaining to the __ of Zachary," and you fill in the blank with an appropriate word, such as "family," "place," "estate," etc. It could have been applied in some instances to people who were kin of a man named Zachary, but I'd think more often it would mean "person from Zacharzów, Zacharzew, Zacharzewo," etc., where those are all place names meaning "Zachary's place." Presumably at some point a Zachary owned or founded such a village, or was prominent there. I notice on the map there are at least four places that could generate this surname, Zacharz in Piotrkow province, Zacharzów in Radom province, Zacharzew in Kalisz province, and Zacharzowice in Katowice province. There could well be more, places too small to show up on my maps, or ones that have changed their names or disappeared in the centuries since the surname was established. Zacharzew is the best fit, followed by Zacharzów, but the truth is, the surname Zacharzewski could very well have started as a reference to any of those places.

As of 1990 there were 888 Polish citizens named Zacharzewski; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Gdansk (56), Łomża (87), and Warsaw (63), with smaller numbers scattered in numerous other provinces. (I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses). So unfortunately neither the name nor its distribution gives us any firm clues that would let us point to a specific place and say "That's where the name comes from." Different families with this name could have come from different places.


POZORSKI

… I wonder whether you have come across Pozorski as a surname in the course of your studies? I have been unable to find out much about it, other than that we are the only Pozorski family in the United Kingdom, which may indicate that it is relatively rare.

In Poland Pozorski is not an extremely common name, as such things go, but neither is it rare -- as of 1990 there were 1,409 Polish citizens named Pozorski. They lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers (40+) in the provinces of: Bydgoszcz (484), Elblag (47), Gdansk (365), Pila (60), Slupsk (57), Szczecin (53), and Torun (44). The name is thought to have derived from the archaic term pozor, "semblance, appearance."

With that distribution pattern, it is at least possible this name is associated with the ethnic group known as the Kaszubs; they are closely related to the Poles, but have their own language and customs, and represent a fascinating subject in their own right. If you would like to learn a little more, you might benefit by visiting the Webpage of the Kashubian Association of North America: http://feefhs.org/kana/frg-kana.html  

I'm not positive Pozorski is a Kaszub name, but that distribution pattern of greatest frequency in the provinces of Gdansk and Bydgoszcz is typically Kaszubian -- those are their ancestral lands. So there is at least a decent chance your family may have some Kaszub connections, and if so the Website of KANA may offer some valuable leads. I hope so, and I hope this information proves helpful to you!


AUGUSTYN -- AUGUSTYNIAK -- KĘSEK

… I am trying to find out information on the family surname of Kensek. Apparently we spell it "kensek". My uncle spells it "kesek". And my grandfather who came to the US told the census taker of 1920 that it was "kiesek".

It's tough to give anything reliable on a name if you don't have a reliable spelling -- change one letter, and it can make all the difference in the world. Still, it sounds to me as if we're probably dealing with the name Kęsek (ę is how we represent on-line the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced most of the time like en); we often see ę spelled en in names, so that Kęsek would often show up as Kensek. As for Kiesek, that's not too hard to explain; in proper Polish the combination Ke- is not supposed to happen, there should always be an I between them, thus Kie-. That rule doesn't apply to nasal ę, but many Poles would stick an i in there anyway, by force of habit. So Kesek, Kensek, and Kiesek would all make sense if the original name was Kęsek.

This name comes from the root seen in kęs, "piece, bit," and kęsy, "short, scanty"; the suffix -ek is a diminutive, meaning either "little" or in names "son of." My best guess is that this name would be applied to a short fellow or his son. As of 1990 there were 674 Polish citizens named Kęsek, with by far the largest numbers in the provinces of Krakow (448) and Nowy Sacz (49) in southcentral Poland. There are smaller numbers of Kęsek's living in other provinces, but the Krakow-Nowy Sacz area is the site of the main concentration.

… My grandmother's maiden name was something like "agustyn" or "agustynick".

It's pretty certain this would be a surname formed from the first name Augustyn, in English "Augustine." The most likely candidates are Augustyn (7,143 Poles had that surname as of 1990), Augustyniak (14,211, meaning "son of Augustine"), or perhaps Agustyniak (13, a variant of Augustyniak, meaning the same thing). The variant Agustyniak is quite rare, but is possible; the other forms are extremely common. The Chicago-area Polish-language newspaper Dziennik Chicagoski had an obit in its 28 Dec 1927 issue for a Jan Agustyniak, and as best I can determine that was how he spelled his name, it wasn't a misprint for Augustyniak... Those are the surnames that seem most likely to be relevant in your case.

If you want to see if you can find more Agustyniak's, you might visit the Website of the Polish Genealogical Society of America at www.pgsa.org and use their searchable databases for the Chicagoski obits, and also for Haller's Army volunteers, to look up the name. Who knows, you might find some relatives?


PILARCZYK

… I have been thoroughly enjoying reading your responses on the PGSA web site. I'm researching the Pilarczyk side of my family (from Krempa, but the parish church is in Tuliszkow). From responses that you have posted, it looks like my ancestors are "sons of sawyers" - is that correct

Yes, it is, and it's a pleasure to talk to someone who actually bothers to read what I write and understand it! So often I have to bite my tongue to keep myself from screaming "I've already answered that, it's right there in black and white!" I know that's overreacting, but repeating the same thing gets frustrating after a while -- so it's gratifying to deal with someone who has read and comprehended!

… There are only about 100 people with the surname of Pilarczyk scattered across America. I haven't found the name in telephone directories for the larger cities in Poland. Is it uncommon?

I'm afraid not, as of 1990 there were 4,267 Polish citizens named Pilarczyk, and by Polish standards anything over 1,000 has to be considered moderately common. The Pilarczyk's lived all over the country -- which makes sense in view of the meaning of the name, it obviously could develop anywhere they spoke Polish and had sawyers who had sons. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of: Kalisz 586, Katowice 409, Konin 379, Lodz 228, Poznan 393, but there was no part of the country that didn't have at least some Pilarczyk's living there. Some of the 379 in Konin province probably live near the Krempa/Tuliszków area and may be related, but obviously with numbers of this sort it's dangerous to jump to conclusions... Unfortunately, the source from which I got this data does not include first names or addresses, and I don't have access to those details.


DRANKA – DYNDA – IMBOR -- IWASZKO – JAPOLA – KOJDER – KUCZUN – ŁACHMAN – MOSOŃ -- OSIKOWICZ – RZESZUTEK – SOKOLOW – TRYNDA -- WATARZ

[Here are brief notes on a number of names. Please note, these days I don’t have time to answer queries on more than three names – if you send me a note asking about more, I’ll just ignore it. – WFH]

Dranka appears to come from dranka, "batten, board." As of 1990 there were 338 Poles by this name, with a clump in Krosno province (153) and a few scattered here and there all over.

Dynda comes from the verb dyndać, "to dangle, swing," or dynda, "something dangling, swinging." As of 1990 there were 293 Poles by this name, concentrated mainly in Nowy Sacz province (109) and Rzeszow province (70) in southcentral and southeastern Poland.

Iwaszko would be an East Slavic name from Iwan, the Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian version of "John"; Iwaszko would be sort of like "Johnny" in English. As of 1990 there were 1,651 Polish citizens named Iwaszko, scattered all over.

Imbor, pronounced sort of like "EEM-bore," almost certainly comes from the root imbir, "ginger"; I imagine it refers to the spice or to ginger-colored hair or something similar, not to Ginger on "Gilligan's Island." As of 1990 there were 129 Poles named Imbor (with the largest numbers in Katowice province, 28, and Kielce province 52), as well as 395 named Imbierowicz ("son of ginger") and 118 named Imbiorski ("of, from, pertaining to ginger").

Japola is a mystery, I could find nothing on it. However, as of 1990 there were 6 Japola's (5 in Lublin province, 1 in Przemysl province), and 28 Poles named Japoł (12 in Nowy Sacz province, 9 in Szczecin province), also 8 named Japołł, all in Krakow province.

As of 1990 there were 858 Kojder's in Poland. This was a name I could find nothing on -- it sounds to me as if it might be German, perhaps Keuder or something like that, but I came up empty trying to pin this one down. The Kojder's were most common in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (150), Jelenia Gora (122), Przemysl (128), and Rzeszow (105), thus in southern Poland.

Kuczun is a tough one, there are three roots it could come from: 1) kuczyć, "to tease, annoy"; 2) kucza, "hut, tent," or kuczka, "small heap." As of 1990 there were 33 Poles by that name, living in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 4, Jelenia Gora 4, Kielce 6, Slupsk 13, Tarnow 3, Walbrzych 3 -- in other words, they were scattered all over the country.

Łachman is either a variant of łach, "rag, clout, clothes," or a Polonized form of German Lachmann, "one dwelling by a pool." As of 1990 there were 476 Lachman's in Poland (most common in Krakow province, 145, and Katowice province, 50), 74 Lachmann's. There were 249 Łachman's, 100 in Krakow province and 76 in Tarnobrzeg province and a few scattered in other provinces.

Mosoń (the ~ signifies an accent over n) is one of numerous names thought to have derived from abbreviations or nicknames of first names beginning with Mo-, such as Mojsław or Mojżesz (Moses). Poles often took the first part of such names, dropped the rest, and added suffixes, so Mosoń would mean no more than "Teddy" does in English -- it started as a nickname for a longer name that did originally mean something (like Teddy from Theodore, from a Greek name meaning "gift of the gods"). As of 1990 there were 405 Poles named Mosoń, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Krosno (82) and Tarnow (82) in southeastern Poland.

Osikowicz means "son of the aspen"; the -owicz suffix means "son of," and osika is "the aspen tree." It may have referred to the son of a fellow who lived near aspens, or worked with them, or something of that sort. As of 1990 there were 170 Osikowicz'es in Poland, with something of a concentration in southcentral Poland (22 in Krakow province, 38 in Nowy Sacz province, 30 in Katowice province).

Rzeszutek is a moderately common name (1,763 as of 1990) from the term rzeszoto, "sieve, grain measurement."

Sokołów comes from the root sokół, "falcon." Surnames from this root are very common, as comparisons to the falcon made for a complimentary name, and there were also numerous places named Sokoly or something similar because there were lots of falcons there. Sokołów is one of the rarer surnames from this root, as of 1990 there were only 131 Sokołów's, scattered all over the country, with the only large number in Warsaw province (47).

Trynda is thought to come from the verb tryndać się, "to shuffle one's feet, squirm." As of 1990 there were 218 Poles named Trynda, with the largest numbers in the southcentral provinces of Czestochowa (81) and Katowice (37) and the southeastern province of Zamosc (35).

Watarz appears to come from wata, which can mean "cotton wadding" or "large drag-net" -- my guess is a watarz would be someone who used a large drag-net, but I can't be sure. As of 1990 there was only 1 Watarz in Poland.


BARNISZKE -- KRAWIECKI -- SIEKIERKA -- S^NARPUNAS

… I am interested in the names of: Siekierka (Anastasia- b.May 1829 ) in Ksiestwo Poznanskie, Poland…

Siekierka comes from the term siekiera, "ax, hatchet"; the -ka suffix is diminutive, so that the name means "little ax," possibly a name given the son of a man known for a connection with this weapon (perhaps he made them, was especially handy at using them, etc.). As of 1990 there were 1,026 Siekierka's in Poland; they lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (136), Katowice (130), and Opole (140), all in southcentral and soutwestern Poland. There were only 17 in the modern-day province of Poznan; unfortunately, I don't have access to first names or addresses or any other details beyond what I've given here... By the way, "Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie" means "Grand Duchy of Poznan," it was the name of a political entity that existed 1815-1918, of which the city of Poznan (German "Posen") was the capital.

… Sznarpunas or Sznapunas, Sznaspunas ( Joseph- b.Feb 1864) Littan, Poland…

There was no one by any of these names in Poland as of 1990 -- we are almost certainly dealing with a Lithuanian name here. I wonder if "Littan" might not be Littau, German for "Lithuania," or Litwa, the Polish name for that country? This surname and Barniszke are almost certainly Lithuanian, or at least influenced by Lithuanian. Lithuania was an integral part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for centuries, and many Poles lived there. It's possible the records are saying these people came from Lithuania, Poland, which makes sense because Lithuania was long considered part of Poland (although Lithuanians would disagree!), and you often see Lithuanian names referred to as "Polish" by those who didn't know any better.

There is a known surname in Lithuania, S^narpunas (with a little caret over the first S, giving it the sound of "sh" in English, which is spelled sz in Polish); it is apparently found mainly in the area of Vilkavis^kis (Polish name Wilkowyszki). According to Lith. experts, it comes from a verb s^narpti, meaning "to gulp soup, make a rather unpleasant sound clearing one's nose." A person might have gotten this as a nickname because of a habit, and it stuck -- there are many, many names in Polish and Lithuanian that are uncomplimentary, even insulting; compared to some, this is mild!

… Barniszke- Litan, Poland…

There was no one by this name, or anything like it, in Poland as of 1990. As I said, this name, too, sounds Lithuanian; it could be a Polonized form of Lithuanian Barnis^kis, from Lithuanian forms of the first name "Bernard."

…Kraiviecka- also from Littan, Poland…

Well, if this is a Polish name, it's misspelled -- Polish doesn't use the letter V. It may well be a misreading of Krawiecka, the feminine form of Krawiecki, or it could be a Lithuanian-influenced spelling. Krawiecki is a moderately common surname, borne by 1,090 Polish citizens as of 1990. It comes from the word krawiec, "tailor," and is literally an adjective meaning simply "of, from, pertaining to a tailor."

You might wish to learn more about this possible Lithuanian connection by going to this address: http://www.lithuaniangenealogy.org


KWIATEK

… Here's a request that has been challenged by a friend that does not believe in the power, potential and capabilities of the internet. Her Polish last name is Kwiatek, and she wants to know what it means. Can you help?

This one's not even a challenge. Kwiatek comes from the Polish root kwiat, "flower." The suffix -ek is a diminutive, so the name means literally "little flower." Surnames from this root are very common in Poland, and this is no exception; as of 1990 there were 5,448 Polish citizens named Kwiatek. I would give you a breakdown of where they lived by province, but it would be kind of pointless; there's no particular pattern to the distribution, it's just a fairly common name all over the country... This name appears in Polish records as far back as 1136 – a papal Bull in Latin from that date mentions "Ponat, Quatec, Targossa," where "Quatec" is a Latin phonetic spelling of Kwiatek (quoted in Najdawniejsze zabytki jezyka polskiego [The Most Ancient Relics of the Polish Language], ed. W. Taszycki, Biblioteka Narodowa, seria I, nr. 104, 3rd edition, Wroclaw 1951, p. 70) -- so it has been around a long time!


GARCZYŃSKI

… Could you provide any information on the Surname Garczynski. I did some research from his Naturalization Form and it says that he came from (I'm not sure of the first letter but it looks like an L) Leullmaini, Germany,Poland.

Garczyński is a moderately common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 2,366 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country but with particularly large numbers (200+) in the provinces of Warsaw (217), Lodz (238), Poznan (314). The derivation of the name is not clear; it could come from the dialect term garczyna, "pot, broken pot," also used in a symbolic sense to mean "poor or sickly person." But it may also refer to origin in a place named Garcz or Garczyn; my guess is that in a lot of cases the name started as a way of calling someone who came from the village of Garczyn in Gdansk province, or Garczyn Duzy in Siedlce province. But it's likely there isn't just one Garczyński family, but the name developed independently in different places, perhaps in most cases from these two places I've mentioned (or others with similar names too small to show up on my maps), maybe in a few cases also from that term garczyna.

That "Leullmaini" doesn't look or sound right for either German or Polish -- I'm afraid it's been misread. It's probably a town or village in that part of northern or western Poland ruled for a long time by Germany. If you could be sure what it says, that would help you a lot. If there's any way you could get a copy of that form to me (scan it and attach it as a graphics file to an E-mail note, or mail it to me), I'd be willing to look at it and see if I can figure out what it says.


ROZMARYNO[W]SKI

… Hi, I am interested in finding out about the surname, Rosemarynoski.

The standard form of this name in Polish is Rozmarynowski, but it makes perfect sense that it could come to be spelled the way you write it in English. The -owski is properly pronounced "off-skee" in Polish, but in many parts of the country they barely pronounce that "ff" sound, so that it comes out more like "-ah-skee." Thus Rosemarynoski is a pretty good way of writing how Rozmarynowski sounds to those of us used to English phonetic values.

The root of the name is rozmaryn, the Polish word for the herb "rosemary" (both English and Polish get this word from Latin rosmarinus). The surname, like all names ending in -ski, is an adjective, meaning literally "of, from, pertaining to the __ of rosemary," where you fill in the blank with something implied and understood, something that doesn't need to be said. It could be "kin," it could be "place." So the surname could mean "of, from, pertaining to the kin of Rosmaryn," with that used as a first name. This seems possible because there is also a surname Rozmarynowicz, "son of Rozmaryn," so this may have been used as a first name.

But more likely in most cases is that the surname means "person from Rozmarynowo," where that is the name of a village, literally "the place of rosemary," i. e., a place where there was a lot of rosemary around. One of my gazetteers mentions a Rozmarynowo in the county of Wrzesnia in or near Poznan province; I can't find it on any of my maps, it may be too small to show up, or it may have disappeared, or it may have changed its name. After all, most surnames are at least a couple of centuries old, and many, many surnames refer to places that have since changed names or disappeared, etc. But it makes sense that a person or family who came from this place (and possibly others too small to show up in my sources) known for its rosemary might come to be called Rozmarynowski, i. e., "one from Rozmarynowo" = "one from the place of rosemary."

As of 1990 there were 1,055 Polish citizens named Rozmarynowski; they lived all over the country, with the largest numbers (50+) in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (98), Gdansk (54), Katowice (62), Pila (135), Poznan (79), Sieradz (124), and Warsaw (54). There was no one who spelled the name Rozmarynoski, without the w, but that's not odd -- the spelling of names has been somewhat standardized over the last century, so people have gotten used to writing names as -owski even if they don't pronounce them that way. Rosemarynoski is a purely English spelling, so it's not surprising no one in Poland spelled the name that way.


KUBISIAK

… My husband's family name is Kubisiak. We have very little information about the family except that they came from Posnine, Poland (which I can't locate). His great grandfather's name was Michael John Kubisiak born at Posnine. Michael fathers name was Stahley and mother was Kathan. We think Kathan was from Germany and her fathers name was Michal Novich and her mothers last name was Morski. I do not have any dates of births, deaths, etc. My husband is 39 years old.

Well, there is a limit to how much I can tell anyone about specific families -- I just don't have the data. I can, however, suggest that "Posnine, Poland" is probably "Poznan," one of the major cities of Poland. If an American asked a Pole where he came from and the Pole answered "Poznan," the American would probably write what he heard as "Posnine." So I think it's very likely Poznan (called Posen by the Germans when they ruled the area) is what you're looking for... The bad news is that in Poland such administrative subdivisions as provinces (wojewodztwa) and counties (powiaty) and districts (gminy) are named for the town in which their administrative centers were located; Poznan has been the center of various such subdivisions, and often when people said where they came from, they were referring to the province or county of Poznan, not the city. In other words, "I come from Poznan" might have meant not the city but the whole region of which Poznan was the capital, which historically was larger than the modern-day province of Poznan. So you want to start by assuming your husband's family came from the city of Poznan -- it's a big place, lots of people did -- but there's no guarantee that assumption will prove correct.

"Michael John Kubisiak" would appear in Polish records as "Michał Jan Kubisiak" (I'm using ł to stand for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w). "Stahley" and "Kathan" make no sense, those aren't Polish names; I'm guessing "Stahley" should be "Stanley," which is an English name often used as an equivalent to Polish "Stanisław." As for "Kathan," I have to guess here -- it seems most likely to be a misreading or misspelling of "Katarzyna," the Polish form of "Catherine."

Now, as for the surname Kubisiak, it breaks down as Kubis + -iak. Kubis is a nickname derived from the last part of the first name Jakub (Jacob); for some reason English-speakers never formed a nickname from that part, but Poles and Germans formed several, and Kubis is one -- it would be kind of like "Jake" or "Jakey" in English. The -iak suffix usually means "son of" in surnames, so the surname started out meaning "Kubis's son," referring to some member of the family named Kubis who was fairly prominent in his community at the time surnames were becoming established.

Surnames formed from first names are pretty common in Poland, and Kubisiak is no exception -- as of 1990 there were 1,405 Polish citizens named Kubisiak. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Kalisz (142), Lodz (126), Poznan (192). The significant number of Kubisiaks living in the Poznan province suggests that could well be where your husband's ancestors came from. Unfortunately, this still doesn't narrow the search down enough to do you much good.

I hate to say it, but to have any realistic chance of tracing the family in Poland, you're going to have to have more info from some source -- naturalization papers, ship passenger lists, records at a church (often marriage or baptismal records give info on family origins). Even if the family came from the city of Poznan rather than the surrounding area, Poznan is too big to track down one family with a name as common as Kubisiak. To make any progress tracing the family in Poland, you absolutely have to have the correct name, birthdate, and birthplace of the ancestor who emigrated. Until you have those, your chances of getting anywhere are pretty slim. I realize you were probably hoping the surname would provide a clue or a lead, but the truth is I have to disappoint people who hope for that about 95% of the time. Most Polish names just don't offer any information that helps significantly with research.


TOMAKA

… I would appreciate any information on the Polish name of "Tomaka". I was told my Grandfather named "Wojciech Tomaka" came from Oswiencima, Poland, but I think the spelling should be Oswiecim, Poland.

As of 1990 there were 527 Polish citizens named Tomaka, living in small numbers in numerous provinces but with by far the largest concentration, 306, living in the province of Rzeszow, in southeastern Poland. There were only 8 in Krakow province, which is where Oswiecim is located -- actually there are 2 Oswiecim's, there's another one in Kalisz province, but the one near Krakow is the famous one, known in German as Auschwitz. The spelling Oswiencima does not contradict origin in Oswiecim. In Polish, Oswiecim is spelled with an accent over the s, giving it a slight "sh" sound, and a tail under the e, giving it the sound of en; so it's not at all unusual to see Polish names with that nasal e spelled also with en instead, Oswiecim = Oswiencim. As for the final -a, that is probably just an ending dictated by Polish grammar, for instance "from Oswiecim" is z Oswiecima, and in such cases the case ending should be dropped to arrive at the standard form of the name... I should add that the data given above is all I have access to; in other words, I cannot get further details such as first names or addresses of any of those Tomaka's in this province or that.

Actually, it's possible the surname in question is Tomak, and that final -a there, too, is a case ending dictated by grammar. But I notice as of 1990 there were only 63 Tomak's, as opposed to 527 Tomaka's, so the numbers suggest the latter is indeed the name you're interested in. The names mean much the same thing, so it's not a major issue which is meant, but Tomaka seems correct.

This name comes from the first name Tomasz, "Thomas." Poles often formed nicknames (which could later become established as surnames in their own right) by taking the first few sounds of a popular first name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes (not unlike "Tommy" in English). Tomaka probably should be broken down as Tom- + -ak- + -a, where Tom- is from Tomasz, -ak is a suffix meaning "little, son of," and -a is an ending meaning "of," so that the name began as meaning "[kin] of Tom's son." Tomak, by contrast, would be simply "Tom's son" or "little Tom." Tomak appears in records as far back as 1369, I can't explain why it is now rare and Tomaka is much more common; sometimes these things just happen with names, perhaps because Poles just liked the sound of one more than the other.


DUBIEL -- DZIEDZIAK -- STEMPIEŃ -- STĘPIEŃ

… I am just beginning to research my Polish genealogy and was wondering if you have any information on the following names: My maiden name is Stempien. The other names I am interested in are Dziedziak and Dubiel (two grandparents with that name).

Dziedziak comes from the root dziad, "old man, grandfather." The suffix -iak, in names, usually means "son of" -- the vowel -a- in dziad often changes to -e- when suffixes are added -- so the basic meaning of this name is "son of the old man, grandfather's son," something like that. Another possible source is a short form of ancient Slavic names with this root _dziad- such as Dziadumil ("dear to grandfather"), so in some cases the name may have started as "son of Dziad" or some other nickname formed from one of those old names. The bottom line in either case, however, is derivation from that root dziad, one way or another. As of 1990 there were 501 Poles by this name; they lived all over the country, but with a particular concentration (208) in Nowy Sacz province, in southcentral Poland. In Polish the name is pronounced roughly "JED-jock."

I'm afraid Dubiel, pronounced roughly "DOOB-yell," is one of many names that are not very complimentary: it comes from dubiel, "stupid person, simpleton" according to Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut and others. I guess there were a lot of stupid people in Poland, as this is a pretty common name: there were 8,722 Poles named Dubiel as of 1990, living all over the country but especially common in southcentral and southeastern Poland.

[Subsequent analysis by Polish name experts has established that dubiel is also a term referring to a specific kind of small fish, Carpio collari. A connection is also possible with dub, which means "oak tree" in Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian. So it is quite possible that, in a given instance, the surname referred to some connection between an ancestor and this fish, or to oaks, and not to any lack of mental acuity. Without more information on a specific Dubiel family's history, it's impossible to say for sure which derivation applies in a given case.]

Stempien is even more common, as of 1990 there were 1,163 Poles by that name and another 42,062 who spelled it Stępień. I'm using ę to stand for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it, pronounced like en or, before b or p, like em; the ń stands for n with an accent over it. So the name is pronounced roughly "STEMP-yen," and since that em sound can be written either ę or em, you see it spelled either way; but the "correct" or standard spelling is Stępień. Rymut says it probably comes from the archaic term stępień or wstępień, "newcomer to a group, next in line for a position of authority," from the basic root stęp- meaning "step, pace." Some names beginning with Stęp- come from stępnik, "worker who prepares material for processing in a mill [stępa]," so that might also be relevant -- but since this particular name matches the term stępień exactly, I think that's probably what it comes from. It, too, is common all over the country, but especially in south central and southeastern Poland.


OSIEWAŁA -- OSIWAŁA

… My grandfather was from Lodz, Poland and his last name was Osiwala. Born in Lodz, 20/Oct/1890, given name: Ignatius. Other spellings are Osiewala and Osiwalla.

Ignatius is the Latin form of the name Poles call Ignacy -- I just wanted to mention that so that if you run across that form, you will recognize it and have no doubt that the names are, indeed, equivalent.

Osiwala is a little tricky, because Osiwała could possibly be a variant of another name, or it could be an independent surname with its own meaning -- it could come from the verb osiwieć, meaning "to turn grey." (By the way, I'm using ł to stand for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w). The -ała suffix (also often seen as -ala or -alla) usually implies continual or repeated performance of the action, or manifestation of the trait, denoted by the first part of the name. Osiwała, in effect, would be a name given a person whose hair had turned grey, probably prematurely and due to worry and care. This is plausible. The only thing against this explanation is that we'd expect the form to be Osiwiała, not Osiwała, that is, there really should be an extra -i- stuck in after the w. Also, it might be more likely to see the ending -y, not -a, on the name as borne by a man.

The other possibility is that it's a variant of Osiewała -- which, in fact, you mention as a form you've encountered -- and that comes from the verb osiewać, "to sow, sift." Thus Osiewała would mean "the sifter, the sower."

As of 1990 there were 52 Poles with the name Osiwała, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 8, Jelenia Gora 6, Kalisz 5, Katowice 5, Konin 3, Lodz 18, Opole 2, Piotrkow 2, Zielona Gora 3. (Unfortunately I have no access to further details, such as first names or addresses; what I've given here is all I have.) There were 423 Osiewała's, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Kalisz (127), Lodz (81), and Sieradz (96), and less than 30 in several other provinces.

Since Osiewała is the more common name, it seems likely that Osiwała is just a variant form of it. The pronunciation of both is very similar, "oh-shee-VAH-wah" (Osiwała) vs. "oh-sheh-VAH-wah" (Osiewała), in other words the only difference is that in Osiwała that i is pronounced like our long e, in Osiewała the ie is pronounced like our short e. So that's the most likely derivation. But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the possibility that, at least in some cases, Osiwała might be a name in its own right, meaning "one whose hair has turned grey."

Even if you wrote Polish name experts, I'm not sure they could answer this question for you without detailed information on your specific family. So what I suggest is that you continue your research -- obviously concentrating on the region of Lodz, since your facts and the data above suggest that's one of the main places this name is found -- and see which form predominates in the records. If you see it spelled Osiwała or Osiwiała more often than not, it may refer to a grey-haired person. But if Osiewała is the form you encounter more often, that "sow, sift" root is probably the right derivation. All things being equal, that's the one I'd put my money on... If you would like to write name experts in Poland and get their opinion, see the Introduction to my page on Polish surnames, specifically the paragraph on the Pracownia Antroponimiczna in Krakow.


DŁUTOWSKI

Dłutowski (the ł standing for the Polish l with a slash through it) is not all that common in Poland, but as of 1990 there were 297 Poles by that name; the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (81), Ciechanow (70), and Wroclaw (36) smaller numbers in several other provinces. The name probably comes in most cases from villages named Dłutów, Dłutowo, Dłutowek, etc. There are at least 8 places by thos names, all of which could yield Dłutowski as a name for a person from there. The place names are thought to come from the term dłuto, "chisel, engraver's tool." In some cases the surname Dłutowski might also have started as meaning something like "kin of the engraver." Hope this is some help!


PYSZ

… Can you give me any information about the meaning or origin of the name Pysz. I believe this is a Russian/Polish name from the Polish provinces of Galicia

According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, the name Pysz shows up in records as early as 1389, and comes from the root seen in the words pycha, "pride, conceit," pyszny, "proud, haughty," and pysznić się, "to strut, put on airs." As of 1990 there were 1,033 Polish citizens named Pysz, living all over the country, but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (395), Katowice (161), in southcentral Poland, and Przemysl (43), Rzeszow (78), and Tarnobrzeg (39) in southeastern Poland. (Unfortunately, I don't have access to more details such as first names and addresses). The area of main concentration does coincide pretty well with western Galicia, as you expected.


LICHNIAK

… My grandfather Lichniak came from Nowominsk, Poland, Russia. My mother thought he made up this name. Apparently, he was the black sheep of the family. Is Lichniak a surname - or could it have been made up. Since I am attempting to do my genealogy, I think I need this cleared up.

Lichniak is a real name, although not a particularly common one -- as of 1990 there were only 81 Polish citizens named Lichniak. They lived in the provinces of Warsaw (52), Jelenia Gora (1), Siedlce (20), Skierniewice (2), and Suwałki (6) -- unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses... If I'm not mistaken, Nowominsk would be the town now called Minsk Mazowiecki, in Warsaw province -- this area was under Russian rule for most of the 19th century until about 1918. So the facts fit together pretty well, and it seems likely some or most of the 52 Lichniak's in Warsaw province are relatives.

I wouldn't think Lichniak is a name most people would make up or voluntarily adopt, because the root lich- means "bad, evil" in Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, etc.; in Polish it means "bad" less in the sense of "evil" than in the sense of "miserable, shoddy, lousy." The -iak suffix usually means "son of" in names, so Lichniak would seem to mean "son of the miserable one." I guess a black sheep might take a name like that, just to spite people or be different. But it's not a name most people would go out of their way to adopt, so I'd be inclined to think it's real and treat it as such until you have good reason to think it's made up.


ŁUC

… I am looking for information on my last name. Father grew up in Detroit, Michigan near Hamtramck(sp.); my grandparents (Stanislaw and Anna Łuc) were from Poland/Austria died when I was very small and never learned to speak English, but the whole family used Luc as their last name. My father did not speak English until he was 9. The history of my last name that I had been told was that it was really spelled Łuc and pronounced Wootz.

Yes, Łuc would indeed be pronounced "wootz."

… I spoke to someone online once who told me that my last name was not Polish, nor was my name located in any surname books. I am aware that there are many surnames, but since my father's death and my inability to locate any of my relatives, I am feeling a little detached. I always felt I knew where I came from, etc. Now, I'm not so sure. Maybe I should embrace my other ethnic background, Irish. I definitely have been able to trace back that heritage.

I'm starting to get a little angry -- I hear fairly often from people whom some "expert" has misled with information that is completely wrong. I don't who these experts are, but they should shut the hell up!

To start with, as of 1990 there were 1,030 Polish citizens named Łuc -- I'd like to see these experts go tell those 1,030 folks they're not Poles! The largest concentration by far was in the province of Przemysl (349) in southeastern Poland, but there were much smaller numbers scattered all over the country -- the more significant numbers were in the provinces of Katowice (66), Legnica (73), Poznan (48), Wroclaw (57), all the rest were much smaller numbers.

As for Łuc not being in any surname book, that's also a load of crap -- the book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles] by Kazimierz Rymut, who's probably the foremost Polish name expert, lists it. While I can't blame someone for not knowing of this book, anyone not familiar with Rymut's work has no business pretending he/she knows anything about Polish names! It's like pretending to be an expert on physics without ever having bothered to read Einstein.

According to Rymut, Łuc could have come from several different roots. Probably the most likely derivation is as a short form of such popular first names as Łukasz (Luke, Lucas), Łucja (Lucy), and Łucjan (Lucian); it might also, in some cases, derive from the root łuk, "bow, arch," seen also in the verb łuczyć, "to aim at." I would also mention the German name Lutz, which derives from the first name Ludwig (Louis); Poles might turn that into Łuc.

All in all, I'd expect the name Łuc would usually have started as a shortened form of a first name; we see this all the time in surname origins, and it seems likely here. If the family was pretty much Polish in ethnic origin, the most likely name involved would be Łukasz; Łucjan is less common, but is a viable candidate; surnames were less often formed from women's names, so I think Łucja is a bit of a long-shot. If the family had some German blood or lived in areas where German had some influence, it might be a Polonized form of Lutz from Ludwig. But derivation from a first name seems more likely than from the root for "bow, arch."


MRÓZ

… I was wondering if you have any info on my surname, which happens to be Mroz..I understand that this is not a uncommon name, and was awarded a Coat Of Arms almost a milennium ago…

Mróz is pronounced roughly "m’rooz" in Polish, and it is indeed a common surname -- as of 1990 there were 24,134 Polish citizens named Mróz, living in large numbers all over the country. The name is seen in documents as far back as 1377, so it is quite old. I don't know much about coats of arms, so I can't tell you whether there is a Mróz coat of arms, and I tend to doubt it's 1,000 years old -- that seems pushing it a little. But no question the name has been around a long, long time.

In most cases this name would come from the Polish word mróz, "frost." Some names beginning with Mroz- can also come from a short form or nickname of the first name Ambroży (= Ambrose), so we can't rule out the possibility the Mróz might also have originated that way in some cases. But obviously there is no one Mróz family, there are many families with the name that developed independently; in some cases the "Ambrose" connection may account for the name, but I suspect in most cases it is the "frost" connection that is relevant.

If you'd like to learn more about whether there is a Mróz coat of arms, and how old it is, you might want to contact Leonard Suligowski, the Director of Heraldry for the Polish Nobility Association Foundation and editor of their Journal, "White Eagle." Leonard doesn't do genealogical research, he's a heraldic artist, but he has an extensive library on the subject of European and especially Polish heraldry. For a very reasonable fee he will see what info he can extract from all his armorials and pass it on to you -- some folks even engage him to paint their arms. If you're interested, his address is: Leonard Suligowski, 218A N. Henry St., Brooklyn, NY 11222.

 Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.   


WALENTOWICZ

… I am attempting to determine the meaning of the name Walentowicz? And also, if the name denotes a reference to any particular region in Poland. I've been told by relatives that we are Prussian Poles. I have already read that the suffix -owicz means son of, so I guess the key would be to determine what walent means. My humble guess is that is is a patronmic name of St. Valentine, or possibly some reference to Walter. I'm sure my limited knowledge will be apparent.

Don't sell your "limited knowledge" short, because you're on target; some Polish names are not so tough, and this is one of them. As you say, -owicz means "son of," and the Walent- part comes from the first name Walenty, which is the Polish version of "Valentine" (originally from Latin Valentinus from valens, "strong, mighty"). So the name means "son of Valentine."

Unfortunately, by the nature of things, patronymics formed from popular names are quite common, and are seldom concentrated in any one area. As of 1990 there were 504 Polish citizens named Walentowicz (compare 994 Walentynowicz's); the largest numbers (more than 20) lived in the provinces of Białystok (31), Bydgoszcz (135), Ostrołęka (35), Szczecin (24), Torun (62), and Warsaw (40), with much smaller numbers scattered in most other provinces all over the country. It's fair to say there is some concentration of Walentowicz's in the areas formerly part of Prussia and Pomerania of the German Empire -- Bydgoszcz, Szczecin, and Torun provinces fall roughly into that area, and they have a pretty good share of the people by this name, 221 of 504. But that's still not half of the total, so I don't think we can say the name is all that closely identified with Prussia. Still, if you have family information that your folks were Prussian Poles, I'd say the numbers I've quoted do nothing to discredit the idea... I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, I'm afraid what I've given is all I have.


WIELGOPOLSKI -- WIELKOPOLSKI -- WIELOPOLSKI

… Could you please give me any information on the name "Wielgopolski" or "Wielopolski"? Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

There are two separate names that might be involved here, Wielkopolski (sometimes also seen as Wielgopolski, because both forms sound similar) and Wielopolski. The name Wielkopolski comes from a combination of the root wielki (also sometimes wielgi) meaning "great" and the root pol-, "field," or polski, "Polish," which ultimately comes from that root. In most cases this name probably refers to Wielkopolska, "Great Poland," a division of the country running basically from northwestern Poland down toward Krakow in the south, covering perhaps a quarter of Poland (there's also a Malopolska, a "Little Poland," which is basically the southeastern part of the country). The surname Wielkopolski probably started in most cases as a name for a person from that area or somehow identified with that area. Unfortunately, it's a rather large area, so the name itself doesn't provide anything very helpful in terms of tracing ancestors. As of 1990 there were only 4 Poles named Wielgopolski, all living in the province of Konin; and there were 120 Wielkopolski, scattered all over the country.

Wielopolski is different, it derives from places named Wielopole or something similar -- that's all it means, "one from Wielopole." There are several places by that name, so this surname, too, offers nothing very helpful in terms of tracing ancestors. As of 1990 there were 252 Polish citizens by this name, and they, too, were not concentrated in any one place -- you find small numbers of folks by that name all over the country.


PINCOSKI -- PINCZEWSKI -- PIŃCZOWSKI

… I read your invitation and hereby submit the surname Pincoski.

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland with the name Pincoski. It's possible this is a misreading or misspelling of some other name, or it may be a dialect form of a name that appears in standard Polish as Pinczewski (there were 301 Poles by that name as of 1990). When we see -oski it's almost always a dialect form of -owski, so spelled because in some areas the w isn't pronounced; and in some areas of Poland the -cz- (pronounced like our "ch") is pronounced, and therefore often spelled, as -ts-, which Poles spell with the letter -c-. So Pincoski probably = Pińczowski (ń stands for the Polish accented n). Names ending in -ewski or -owski usually started as references to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name, so Pińczowski meant "one from Pińczów" -- there's a village called Pińczów in Kielce province and another in Nowy Sacz province. The surname Pińczowski appears to have died out these days in Poland -- but as I say, Pinczewski might be the standard form these days. In any case, we know Pińczowski it used to exist, and it meant "one from Pińczów." I'm often surprised at how many surnames have died out after families emigrated, so that you have an odd situation where a good old Polish surname is no longer to be found in Poland, but only in other countries such as the U.S.A.!

So to sum up, I can't be positive about any of this, but from a linguistic point of view, Pincoski is probably a dialect version or misreading of Pińczowski, "one from Pińczów." The name appears to have died out in Poland, or else has been standardized as Pinczewski.


WITWICKI

… My surname is Witwicki, which I took from my family from Poland... He was born in a village called "Rawa" that is now not in Poland.

A surname ending in -icki usually got started as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name ending in -ica, -ice, -iki, something like that. In this case I can find only one likely match, and that is Witwica, which is now Vytvytsa in Ukraine. The Rawa you're referring to may be Rava Ruska, which is in Ukraine, just across the border from Tomaszow Lubelski in Zamosc province, Poland -- although there may well be other places named Rava that don't show up in my sources, this is probably the "Rawa" you're referring to (in Polish the v sound is spelled with a w). Witwica and Rawa are some distance apart, but they are both in far western Ukraine, not too far from the current borders of Poland; for centuries this area was ruled by Poland, and many Poles lived there (and still do).

The probable root of the place name and surname is witwa, the basket willow (Salex viminalis), so that Witwica was "the place of the basket willow," and the Witwicki was "the one from Witwica." Here is some information on Witwica I got from a late 19th-century gazetteer:

"Witwica, village in Dolina county, 14 km. NW of Dolina, 10 km. south of the county court and post office in Bolechów. Greek Catholic church in Witwica, Roman Catholic church in Bolechów... This village is the ancestral home of the Witwicki's. From there came Stanisław, Bishop of Kiev and later of Poznań (died 1697); also from this family was the poet Stefan Witwicki, born in Janów in Podolia…"

Dolina is now Dolyna, and Bolechów is now Bolekhiv; my maps confirm that Witwica/Vytvytsa is about 14 km. northwest of Dolyna. Most of the inhabitants of this village were Greek Catholics, and would have gone to the church in the village to register births, deaths, and marriages, whereas the Roman Catholic minority would have gone to the church in Bolechów/Bolekhiv.

As of 1990 there were 955 Polish citizens named Witwicki, living all over the country, but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (89), Katowice (97), Wloclawek (72), Wroclaw (138). There may well be many more in Ukraine, but I have no access to such data; nor do I have access to further details such as first names or addresses for the Witwicki's in Poland.


FIGLEWSKI -- GALUS

I am researching my family tree. I need information, on the names Figlewski and Galus, if available.

Figlewski is not a very common name, as of 1990 there were only 173 Polish citizens with this name. The largest numbers (10 or more) lived in the provinces of Jelenia Gora 12, Poznan 15, Torun 57, Warsaw 11, Wloclawek 15, so the people by this name are scattered all over the country, but with some concentration in central to northwest-central Poland. Usually names ending in -ewski originated as references to a place; in this case we'd expect the name to mean something like "person from Figlewo," except I can't find any mention in any of my sources of any place with a name remotely similar. It could be there was such a place centuries ago, when the surname originated, but it has since disappeared, been renamed, been absorbed into another community, etc. The probable root of the name is figiel, "trick, prank," and Figlewski appears to mean "of, from, pertaining to the __ of the tricks"; most often that blank is filled in with "place," so that "Figlewo" would be "the place of the tricks," but sometimes "kin" is the understood word that fills in that blank. So it could be this name could be an exception and never referred to a place at all, but to the kin of a prankster. That, at least, is the best guess I can make on the basis of the information available to me.

Galus is easier, it's a moderately common name -- there were 2,665 Poles named Galus as of 1990, living all over the country but significantly more common in southcentral and southeastern Poland. It comes from the Latin first name Gallus, which is thought to derive either from Latin gallus, "cock," or from Celtic ghas-los, "foreigner, newcomer." A 7th-century Irish hermit, St. Gall (in Latin Gallus) settled at St. Gallen, Switzerland, and after his death his cell grew into the nucleus of a major monastery of the Benedictine Order. The Order spread this name throughout Europe (although it's not very well known among English-speakers), and among Poles it also developed the form Gaweł, just as in Czech it became Havel (the surname of the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel). Galus developed from the original Latin form.


GRABOWICZ

… I'd like to know if the name Grabowicz is listed in your book.

It is. However, I think it's silly to make a person buy the whole book if all he wants is one name. Let me tell you a bit about this name, and you can buy the book only if you want info on more names, or background info on how such names developed. -- By the way, the book doesn't go into much detail on individual names; it deals with some 30,000 surnames, so there wasn't room. Instead, the index of names gives brief indications of what roots specific ones came from, and the 12 chapters of text that precede the index provide background on how names of that sort originated. The book is long on general info, short on details for specific names; on-line I have to be short on general info, but can give more details on a specific name. So I think the book and my Website complement each other.

The suffix -owicz means "son of," so Grabowicz means "son of Grab." It appears that in ancient times Grab was sometimes used as a first name, though it's unheard of these days. There are several roots it might come from: grab, "the hornbeam tree," grabie, "rake," or grabić, "to rob." So a name like Grabowicz might refer to a person who lived near a grove of hornbeams, or who somehow reminded people of a rake -- but in most cases it probably referred to the son of a man named Grab, and that name was given to someone in hopes he would be quick to "grab" and hold onto property, wealth, whatever (I'm not sure, but I don't think it's totally coincidence that English "grab" and this Polish root are similar; they may well both trace back to some Indo-European root). Other names beginning with Grab- such as Grabowski would more likely refer to a place named for hornbeams, but I think "son of the hornbeam" or "son of the rake" doesn't make that much sense for this name.

As of 1990 there were 1,193 Polish citizens named Grabowicz. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (106), Lodz (177), and Skierniewice (349). So the name is most common in central Poland, but I don't have access to any details that would let me get more specific than that. The name itself is little help in tracking down a particular Grabowicz family -- you'd have to have data from some other source. Incidentally, this is true of probably 95% of Polish names; comparatively few offer any real lead as to where the families bearing them came from.


KWACZENIUK

… Maybe you can help me with another name, when you have a chance, that's not a '-ski' or a '-wicz', or anything common like that? The name is Kwaczeniuk.

The suffix -uk or -iuk is a diminutive generally used to form patronymics, and it tends to appear more often in eastern Poland, Belarus and Ukraine. So usually you can take off -uk or -iuk and render the name "son of _," and usually the first part of the surname is clearly a first name or occupation, e. g., Martyniuk = son of Martyn, Tkaczuk = son of the weaver. Kwaczen-, however, is a bit unusual because it doesn't appear to be a first name or an occupation.

Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut says names beginning with Kwacz- come from the root kwacz-, "to emit a sound like a duck," that is, "to quack"! So this surname would appear to mean "son of the quacker." (You see, you can't make this stuff up; reality is always stranger than fiction!).

Since this name is likely to have originated in eastern Poland, I was curious to see if my Ukrainian dictionary suggested any possible roots. I should mention that Poles use w for the sound we write v and cz for the sound we write ch; Kwaczeniuk is pronounced roughly "kvah-CHEN-yook" -- so what I was looking for was a Ukrainian root (written in Cyrillic) which we'd write phonetically as kvach. All I could find was the noun kvach, "clout; brush for greasing wheels; shaving brush; weak-willed (yielding) person." I don't normally disagree with Rymut, he's damned good, but since this particular name seems likely to originate from the eastern areas where Ukrainian has a lot of influence on names, I'd consider it at least possible Kwaczeniuk means "son of the kvach," perhaps referring to a person who was a bit of a push-over or wimp.

Hard to tell for sure which derivation is correct. I could imagine a person ending up with a nickname because he made a quacking sound; but the "weak-willed" connection also seems plausible. So objectively I can't be sure which one you should go with. If you find your Kwaczeniuk ancestors seem to have come from the eastern parts of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, I'd think the "son of a wimp" derivation is more likely. But if they seem to be ethnic Poles, "quacker's son" is more likely.

As of 1990 there were only 29 Polish citizens named Kwaczeniuk, living in the provinces of Warsaw (3), Białystok (5), Gdansk (1), Gorzow (15), Legnica (4), and Poznan (1). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, what I give here is all I have... It's odd that the largest number live in Gorzow province in western Poland, but I strongly suspect that's due to post-World War II forced relocations; I'd bet almost anything if we had pre-1945 data we'd find most of the Kwaczeniuk's living in eastern Poland or what is now Belarus and Ukraine.

If you'd like to see if Polish name experts can come up with anything more definitive, you should go to the introduction to my Surname and read in the introduction about the Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow. They can correspond in English, they seldom charge more than $10-20 per name, and they're the best experts I know of regarding Polish and Slavic names; they might be able to tell you more. If so, I'd be very interested in hearing what they have to say...


KAROŚCIK -- TRACZEWSKI

… Hello Fred, do you have any information on the origin and meaning of my Grandparents surnames: Grandfather: Karoscik, Grandmother: Traczewska.

The name Karościk is quite rare; as of 1990 there were only 6 Polish citizens by that name, 4 living in the provinces of Gdansk and 2 in Lodz province; unfortunately I don't have access to first names or addresses, but perhaps you can contact the Polish Genealogical Society of America at www.pgsa.org or the PGS-Northeast http://members.aol.com/pgsne2/ to see if they could search Polish provincial phone directories for people by this name... I'm not sure what the name comes from, it might be from a diminutive of karaś, "crucian carp," or it might come from the root kar-, "punishment; the color black when referring to horses." None of my sources mention this surname, so I don't have any Polish experts' research to rely on, but I'd say one of those is the probable origin.

Traczewska is easier. First of all, names ending in -ska are feminine forms of names given in standard form with the ending -ski, so we're looking for Traczewski. Literally the name breaks down as "of, from, pertaining to the __ of the tracz," where you fill in with the blank with some understood word, usually either "place" or "kin." In names Tracz- usually comes from the noun tracz, "sawyer, one who cuts wood" (although I wonder if sometimes it might also refer to tracz, "the merganser duck"?), so Traczewski probably started either meaning "kin of the sawyer" or "one from Traczew or Traczewo or Traczewa = the place of the sawyer." I can't find any mention in my sources of a place named Traczew/o/a, but that isn't conclusive because such a place may have existed centuries ago when the surname developed but has since disappeared, been renamed, etc. So I can't say for certain whether the surname means "sawyer's kin" or "one from Traczew/a/o," but one of those two is probably right. In either case, there's some sort of connection to a guy who sawed wood for a living (or, just possibly, to mergansers?).

As of 1990 there were 458 Polish citizens named Traczewski, and they were scattered all over the country, with no real concentration. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (81), Ostrołęka (53), and Radom (57), thus in east central Poland, but that's not a lot of help, I know.

If you'd like to see if Polish name experts can come up with anything more definitive on Karościk, you might visit the introduction to my Surname page and read in the introduction about the Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow. They can correspond in English, they seldom charge more than $10-20 per name, and they're the best experts I know of regarding Polish and Slavic names; they might be able to tell you more. If so, I'd be very interested in hearing what they have to say.


KONOPKA

… Having recently found, and greatly enjoyed enjoyed your website(s) on Polish history and genealogy I am writing to inquire as to the roots and significance of the surname Konopka. Any assistance would be appreciated.

According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut and others, Konopka comes from the root konopie, "hemp," and this name appears in Polish legal records as early as 1393. It is quite common in Poland, as of 1990 there were 11,121 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (1,278), Katowice (935), and Łomża (1,622)... When giving people nicknames based on the names of animals or objects, Poles often added a diminutive suffix such as -ek or -ka to help distinguish the person from the animal or object; and that's probably how the name Konopka, literally "little hemp," got started, as a nickname that eventually stuck as a surname. It might have referred to a person who grew hemp, sold it, used it a lot, etc. -- now, centuries after surnames were established, it's sometimes difficult to recreate exactly what the link was. But something about a person named Konopka seemed associated with hemp, we can be fairly sure of that.

I'm going strictly by memory here, and thus might be wrong, but I believe Władysław Konopka was the original name of actor Ted Knight, who played "Ted Baxter" on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. He is perhaps the best-known person named Konopka, although the name is common enough that there probably have been other prominent figures by that name.


HODAS -- MAJCZYK

… I ran across your book information on the PGSA web page. If possible, could you find any information on two names: Hodas and Majczyk. Through my limited reseach found nothing about these names.

I'm not surprised you could find nothing on Hodas; none of my sources mention it, and as of 1990 there were only 8 Poles by that name, all living in Krakow prov. Unfortunately I don't have access to first names or addresses, but the PGSA can often search telephone directories for specific parts of Poland; perhaps you could contact them and see if they have the one for Krakow. Phones in private homes are rarer in Poland than here, there are no guarantees, but maybe one of those Hodas's will be listed... As for the origins of the name, the H and Ch are pronounced the same in Polish, so we might be dealing with a variant spelling of Chodas (as of 1990 there were 33 of them, with 28 living in Warsaw province), which presumably comes from the root chod-, "go, walk." But if the family's roots lie in southern or southeastern Poland, the name could come from Ukrainian hoda, "difficult, hard," or from Czech hod, "feast, festival," or hodit, "to throw, cast." Or if the family was Jewish, it's possible the name comes from Hebrew hadas, "holy" (cmp. the original name of the Biblical figure Esther, Esther 2:7).

I know that's a lot of if's, but without more info it's hard to say anything with much confidence. If the family has no Jewish blood and comes from an area where Czech or Ukrainian aren't likely to have much influence, then the link with chod-, "walk, go," seems the most likely derivation. But you can see how the place of origin could affect which source is the most likely.

If you'd like to ask the best experts and don't mind spending $10-20 for an answer, look at the Introduction to the Surname webpage and get the address of the Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow. They have the best sources, if there's anyone who can give you a reliable answer, it's them. (If you do write them and they give you a good reply, I'd love to hear what they have to say!).

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut includes Majczyk with a number of other names from the root maj, "May." In names -czyk usually means "son of," so the name literally means "son of May." A name like this might originate because a child was born in May, or something about that time of year was associated with him. All these centuries later it can be tough trying to figure out exactly what the connection was, the most we can do is say there was a connection. As of 1990 there were 258 Poles named Majczyk, scattered all over the country, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (25), Kalisz (38), Lodz (33), Sieradz (33). These provinces are all in central Poland, so the name seems to be most common in that region; unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, and I'm afraid this probably isn't specific enough to help you much.


SEBZDA

… The name I am looking for is Sebzda. Both my grandparents came from Galicia, Austria, I think. My grandmother could not write so she phonetically spelled her name. It is Anna Puktah.

I'm afraid I can't help you much with these names. I've been trying for some time to figure out what Sebzda comes from, because the name intrigues me -- at times I wonder if it might be a mangled name from Sebastian, but I haven't found any info on this anywhere. It's not all that rare a name: as of 1990 there were 381 Poles named Sebzda, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Katowice (29), Przemysl (68), Rzeszow (29), and Wroclaw (107). Przemysl and Rzeszow are in that part of southeastern Poland seized by Austria and ruled as "Galicia," Wroclaw and Katowice are just a little west of there, so the name is most common in southcentral and southeastern Poland. But as I said, none of my books mention it, and I haven't been able to come up with even an intelligent guess, other than that very tenuous notion about "Sebastian." Such a connection is not outrageous, given the changes names can undergo; but such guesses are also worthless without some evidence, and I have none.

As for Puktah, I'm afraid I've come up empty there, too. There was one Pole named Pukto in Katowice province in 1990 (I'm afraid I have no access to further details such as names and addresses), and I could find no mention of any other name remotely like this. Neither Puktah nor Sebzda really sounds Polish, and it's not rare to see names of many other origins in Galicia -- Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian, Slovak, etc. I strongly suspect these names originated elsewhere and came to Poland with people who immigrated there over the centuries.

If you'd like to ask the best experts and don't mind spending $10-20 for an answer, look at my Introduction to the Surname webpage and get the address of the Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow. They have the best sources, if there's anyone who can give you a reliable answer, it's them... If you do write them and they give you a good reply, I'd love to hear what they have to say, especially about Sebzda!


KORDALEWSKI

… Trying to find the roots of the Kordalewski family please, can you try to guide me in the right direction.

Generally names with the pattern X-ewski can be interpreted literally as "of, from, pertaining to the kin/place of X," so that we'd expect this to mean either "one from Kordalew/Kordalewo/Kordalewa" [which means "place of Kordal"] or "one of the kin of Kordal." I can't find mention in any of my sources of any place with a name beginning Kordal-, but that doesn't necessarily mean much -- surnames developed centuries ago, and sometimes the place they referred to has since disappeared, changed its name, etc. So it's still kind of up in the air whether this name referred originally to a village or settlement named something like Kordalew or Kordali, or whether it simply meant "kin of Kordal or Kordala." Those are names known to have been used in the past, coming either from the roots kord, "saber," or korda, the cord used by monks or nuns instead of belts, or (just maybe) from the Latin name Cordula.

As of 1990 there were 259 Polish citizens named Kordalewski, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (57), Ciechanow (23), Lodz (35), Płock (75), and Skierniewice (18), with only a few others scattered in various other provinces. So the name seems to be most common in central Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to first names or addresses for any of those people, and "central Poland" is still too large an area to help you very much. I'm afraid that's the way it is with most Polish surnames -- they just don't offer much in the way of helpful clues.


PISZCZOR

… My surname, Piszczor, traces from the Zakopane/NowyTarg region back before 1620 (based on reports of a baptismal certificate supposedly in the civil Nowy Targ records). Now the root of our name piszcz I have found to be difined as either a large rodent/high-pitched voice; or as being a claimant, making a claim. (What type of claim has always been a item of wonderment for me. Just a big whiner?)

Since I last revised my book on Polish surnames, I've got hold of a couple of books on names in that general area, especially Cieszyn and Nowy Sacz, and they shed a little more light on this name (and since as of 1990 fully 45 of the 75 Piszczor's lived in Nowy Sacz province, this seems relevant). Apparently most of the names beginning with piszcz- are thought to have referred to piszczeć, "to play a pipe, flute, pan-pipe"; so while the link with the basic root's meaning of "squeal, high-pitched sound" is clear, Wladyslaw Milerski's Nazwiszka Cieszyńskie specifically mentions Piszczor, Piszczór, and Piszczur among the names that probably began as meaning "piper." I know I'd prefer that to being a whiner or rodent!

… Anyway, I have found that region was not begun to be settled until the years 1590-1610. Now I have found on some old 1943 U.S. Army maps a village about 2km or so east of Zakopane by the name of Piszczora! Guess what I'm asking here is, can we begin to draw some conclusions from this?

Out of curiosity I looked in the Slownik Geograficzny gazetteer -- it mentions a "Piszczory, a wólka belonging to Skrzypne, Nowy Targ county, on the stream Rogoznik, in the northern part of Skrzypne, with 7 houses and 35 inhabitants." [A wólka was a "new" agricultural settlement (probably less than 500 years old, as opposed to a really old place like Gdańsk or Poznań) established with settlers from some older village; it was typically established with a 10 or 20-year exemption from rents and taxes, so the settlement could get on its feet before it started paying its noble landowner dividends.] I doubt this is the same place you're talking about, as this one would be maybe 10-20 km. north of Zakopane; but it's not unusual to see two or more places with similar names in the same general region. What I found interesting about this is that Piszczory was a subdivision of Skrzypne, and that name comes from the root skrzyp-, "creak, grind, squeak," used especially in skrzypki, "fiddle," and skrzypce, "violin." Apparently they had a kind of musical theme going in that area, with lots of pipers and fiddlers!

Anyway, I would think a place called Piszczora would have come from the genitive-case form piszczora, "[place] of the piper." In other words, the place probably took its name from people, rather than the other way around. It's risky making general statements like this, there are so many exceptions. But I think the places named Piszczora and Piszczory got those names because there were a lot of pipers around, or else from a person whose name was Piszczor because he or an ancestor had been a piper. That's how I see it, anyway.


ŁOZIŃSKI

… Laskowski was my maternal grandmothers' maiden name, and when I showed my mother your (very NICE, thank you very much) e-mail and your web site, she also became interested. Her maiden name was Lozinski, and again, is one of those names that I couldn't find any info on on your site.

Well, the 1990 compilation I quote for data on name frequency lists some 800,000+ Polish surnames (only 44,723 of which are borne by more than 100 Poles), so there are one or two I haven't gotten to yet on my Website. Even my book only had room for 30,000 of the most common ones...

As of 1990 there were 3,095 Łoziński's in Poland -- I'm using ł to stand for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w, and ń for the accented n; the name is pronounced roughly "woe-ZHEEN-skee." The provinces with the largest numbers were: Gorzow 169, Katowice 163, Krakow 183, Warsaw 258, Wroclaw 366, Zielona Gora 179. Those are the provinces with the most people, so basically that just means the name is rather evenly distributed all over Poland.

A name ending in -iński usually (not always) refers to a similar place name. I'd expect Łoziński to have started as meaning "one from Łozin, one from Łozy," something like that. There are several villages with names that qualify, including Łozina in Wroclaw province, Łoza in Elblag province, and at least three Łozy's (in Przemysl, Siedlce, and Zielona Gora provinces); a Łoziński could come from any of those places. The root of all these place names is probably the term łoza, "osier, wicker," so that these place names all meant basically "place with lots of wicker" and the surname meant "one from Łozina, Łozy, etc." = "one from the wicker place." Viewed this way, it's not surprising the name is moderately common, that's a name that could (and surely did) get started independently in many different places.


DOMARACKI -- DOMARADZKI -- DOMARECKI -- DOMERACKI -- DOMERADZKI

… I found your web page through a search. I have been trying to find even just basic info. on the Polish surname, Domeracki. I've visited a lot of Polish genealogy sites but no info. Was wondering, if it is at all possibly, for you to send me any info., such as etymology etc., that you might have on this surname.

The probable origin of Domeracki is from an old Slavic pagan first name, Domarad, literally "glad at home." The ancient Poles and other Slavs gave their children names that were meant to be good omens, so giving a child a name like that was to express hope he would have a happy home. There are several villages in Poland with names that come from this name, probably because someone named Domarad founded them or owned them at some point; they include a village called Domarady in Olsztyn province, and villages called Domaradz in Krosno, Opole, and Slupsk provinces. There may be others that don't show up on my maps, but this shows there are at least four different places this surname could come from.

There are several reasonably common surnames formed either directly from the name Domarad, or else from places such as those I just mentioned, which in turn got their name from Domarad.

As of 1990 there were 1,129 Polish citizens named Domeracki, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (302), Olsztyn (117), and Torun (139), and smaller numbers scattered all over the country. There were another 755 who spelled it Domeradzki, which would be pronounced exactly the same, roughly as "dome-air-OTT-skee," and for all practical purposes they could be considered the same name; the Domeradzki's were most common in the provinces of Warsaw 107, Płock 91, Radom 98, and Wloclawek 74. However, neither name is associated with any one area to such a degree that we can say "Here's where the name came from" ... Besides Domeracki and Domeradzki we also have the "standard" or most common form Domaradzki (there were 3,409 Poles by that name as of 1990), as well as Domaracki (317) and Domarecki (603). All of these are just variants of the same basic name with slight differences due to regional pronunciations, errors, etc. The data strongly suggests there isn't just one big family that shares this name, but rather the name got started independently in different places at different times.


CHORĄŻEWICZ -- SZABLAK

Horonzevicz (or Horonzewicz) and Szablak are the names I'm interested in

Szablak comes from the word szabla, "saber, sword." The -ak is a diminutive ending, so the name means literally "little sword." Often when Poles formed a name for a person from the name of an object they added a suffix to help distinguish the two; that may be the case here, so that the name means "swordsman." Or the -ak may imply "son of the swordsman," either interpretation is plausible. As of 1990 there were 408 Polish citizens with this name, with the largest numbers in the northeastern provinces of Ostrołęka (138) and Łomża (73) and smaller numbers scattered all over the country. The name is pronounced much like "SHAW-block" would be in English.

Horonzewicz is a variant of the name which appears as Chorążewicz in standard form; the ch and h are pronounced exactly the same in Polish, and ą stands for a a nasal vowel written like a normal a with a tail under it and pronounced much like "own."N. Ż stands for Z with a dot over it, so that it sounds like zh in "Zhivago." Both spellings sound the same -- much like "hoe-ron-ZHE-vich" -- and it's not unusual in such cases to see more than one spelling, especially in past centuries. As of 1990 there were 740 Poles named Chorążewicz, with particularly large numbers living in the provinces of Olsztyn (203) and Ostrołęka (215), both in northeastern Poland, and smaller numbers in many other provinces. There was no one in Poland who spelled it Horonzewicz, probably because with the advent of mass literacy in this century the spellings of many names have been standardized. The name means comes from the term chorąży, "standard-bearer" (tail under the a, dot over the z) plus the suffix -ewicz, "son of," so it means "son of the standard-bearer."


ORSZAK

… Hello, I've already ordered your book, but in the meantime I was wondering if you could provide any information on the subject surname (Orszak) which was my mothers maiden name.

I'm glad you contacted me -- I don't want people who order the book to be disappointed, and Orszak is not in there! I was a little surprised to see I hadn't included it, but generally I didn't include names borne by fewer than 300 Poles as of 1990, and as of that year there were only 183 Poles named Orszak. About half lived in the provinces of Rzeszow (58) and Tarnobrzeg (38) in southeastern Poland, the rest were scattered in small numbers all over the country; so this tells us that at least these days the name is most common in southeastern Poland, sometimes called Malopolska or "Little Poland," and "Galicia" after the Austrians took it over during the partitions. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses of those Orszak's, the info comes from a Polish government agency database, and they won't allow us access to anything other than info on how many people have a particular name and where they live by province. But it might be a little helpful to know the Orszak's are most common in that region.

Polish names can fool us, but it certainly appears that this name comes from the term orszak, "retinue, staff, group of persons accompanying someone or something," in archaic times meaning "a mass of people." My 8-volume dictionary of Polish says it comes from Turkish urszak, "group of people assembled for a specific purpose." It used to be pretty much mandatory for any important noble or clergymen to be attended by a retinue (kind of like the way people use the term "posse" in modern slang), and I suppose this name could come to be associated with a person who had or served in such a retinue. One source, Alexander Beider's Dictionary of Jewish Surnames in the Kingdom of Poland, says this term is what the name probably comes from, and speculates perhaps it referred to a rabbi's train or retinue"; so I'm not the only one who thinks that's the derivation of it the name. However, there is no reason to assume this name was borne only by Jews; I'm sure it's one of many names used by people of any religion; the only difference is, among Jews it might refer to a rabbi's retinue, among Christians it would probably refer to the retinue of a noble or high clergyman.


KURZYNA – NIEDBALSKI -- WALIŃSKI -- WOLIŃSKI

…Is Kurzin a Polish name and if so, what does it mean? I have an ancestor with that name who came from Poznan.

The spelling Kurzin is not used these days -- as of 1990 there was no one in Poland by that name. But there were 16 named Kurzyn and 892 named Kurzyna, and Kurzin could very well be a variant dating back to the days when spelling rules weren't quite so strict or well-known. The 892 Kurzyna's lived all over Poland, with larger numbers in the provinces of Białystok (112), Łomża (150), Lublin (162), and Tarnobrzeg (180); the 16 Kurzyn's lived in the provinces of Warsaw (1), Lodz (1), Suwałki (8), and Zamosc (8). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses... The root of either name is kur, "chicken"; kurzyna can mean "chicken meat," or "a bad hen, one of poor quality," plus several other things.

2. What is the difference between Walinski and Wolinski, or are they the same name with the same meaning?

They can be the same name -- in Polish a and o sound very similar, and we often see them confused in spelling. But in a perfect world, the two names are distinct, referring usually to the names of places the families came from, such as Wola, Wolin, Wolina vs. Waliny. The basic root of wola has to do with "(free) will," but people named Woliński were connected with agricultural settlements called Wola's, because they were settled by people from other villages who were given 10-20 years of exemption from taxes and rents while they got the new settlements on their feet. Names beginning with Wal- typically came from short forms of first names such as Walenty (Valentine) or Walerian (Valerian), or from the verb root walić, "to overturn, overthrow, upset." Poles typically form nicknames or new names by taking the first syllable of a name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes (sort of like English "Teddy" from "Theodore"), and that explains how names like Walin came from Walenty or Walerian. Then -ski is an adjective ending, so that Waliński means literally "of, from, pertaining to Walin." So in practice Waliński would end up meaning something like "kin of Val, one from the place of Val." As of 1990 there were 874 Walinski's in Poland, as opposed to 6,584 Wolinski's.

3. What does the name Niedbalski mean?

This comes from the term niedbala, "negligent, sloppy fellow." The -ski is adjectival, so that the name means literally "of, from, pertaining to the sloppy guy" -- most often in names it would mean basically "kin of the sloppy guy, son of the sloppy guy," something like that. As of 1990 there were 1,446 Poles named Niedbalski.


LEWKOWICZ

… I am beginning to look into my heritage. I don't even really know where to start. My father's name is Stephan Lewkowicz......his father is Bronislav Lewkowicz....I was told that my grandparents came from Poland. Do you have any information on Lewkowicz?

The -owicz suffix means "son of," so this surname means "son of Lewko." Lewko is a name used by Christians and Jews, and the origin can be different, depending on religion. But the names you cite, Stephan and Bronislav, are Christian, so I will assume the family was Christian and not Jewish. In that case the name can come either from the term lewy, "left," or the first name Lew, which comes from the common Slavic root for "lion" and is basically the Slavic equivalent of our names Leon and Leo. So Lewkowicz is basically a Slavic name meaning "son of Leo." As of 1990 there were 2,943 Polish citizens named Lewkowicz, living all over the country. So I'm afraid -- like most Polish surnames -- this one doesn't provide us with any useful clues about where the family might have come from. I would think it more likely to have originated in eastern Poland or Belarus or Ukraine than western Poland, but even then it's more a matter of probability -- there are and have been plenty of people named Lewkowicz in western Poland.


PANIKOWSKI -- PANKOWSKI

… looking for the Polish surname closest to Panikowski can't seem to find one.

Well, how about Panikowski? As of 1990 there were 139 Poles by this name, scattered all over Poland -- the largest single numbers live in the provinces of Gdansk (27) and Krakow (24), with much smaller numbers living in many other provinces, so there's no one part of the country where this name is concentrated... If you want a common name close to Panikowski, I'd suggest Pankowski, there were 3,696 Polish citizens by that name in 1990. But if Panikowski is the form you have, I see no reason to look for anything else -- Panikowski is a perfetly good Polish name.

Both Panikowski and Pankowski probably derive ultimately from the root pan, "master, lord," or from short forms of several first names, such as Pankrac, Pantelejmon, Opanas, etc. Pankowski probably comes in most cases from a name of a village such as Panków or Panki, and would mean basically "one coming from Panków, Panki, etc," and those place names mean basically "place of the pan" or "place of Pan-." There are several villages in Poland named Panki and Panków, so I can't tell you which one the name would refer to in a specific family's case.

Panikowski would probably originated as meaning "one from Paników, Panikowo, Paniki, " or some other place with a similar name. I can't find any such place on my maps, but that doesn't mean anything -- these surnames typically developed centuries ago, and the places they referred to have often disappeared, changed their names, etc. Here again, the name of the place, if there was such a place, would mean something like "place of panik," where panik might be a diminutive of pan, meaning "little master," or might be a nickname from one of those first names I mentioned earlier.


OLISZEWSKI

… I have read your renderings of Polish surnames online and wonder if you might be able to assist me...I have only one name for you to look at! My great-great-grandmother's maiden name is Olishefskie, and I have been unable to find anything which divulges its meaning.

Well, this is probably just a phonetic spelling of Polish Oliszewski -- pronounced out loud, that name does sound very much to us like "oh-li-SHEF-skee," so that spelling makes sense. As of 1990 there were 331 Polish citizens named Oliszewski, with the largest concentration (128) in the province of Warsaw and much smaller numbers scattered in many other provinces all over the country. The name probably comes from Olisz, a sort of nickname of Aleksander -- in many parts of Poland this name takes the form Oleksander, with O instead of A, and Poles formed many nicknames from it. Oliszewski literally breaks down as "of, from, pertaining to the __ of Olisz," where the blank is filled in with something not expressed because it was obvious -- usually either "kin" or "place." So this surname probably meant something like "Al's kin," or else "one from Al's place." I can find only one place on my maps with a name that qualifies, Oliszki in Białystok province, and a family from there could have ended up with a name like Oliszewski. Or there may once have been a place somewhere called Oliszew or Oliszewo, but it has changed names or disappeared in the centuries since the surname was established. Or it may still exist and is just too small to show up in my sources.

Oliszewski is a perfectly good Polish name, but there is one other possibility I really should mention. There is a very common Polish name Olszewski (44,638 Poles bore that name as of 1990), meaning basically "one from the place of the alder trees" (thus "one from Olszewo/Olszewa/Olszew, etc."). This name is so common, and so close to what you mention, that I figured I'd better point it out, just in case it turns out that was the original form, and the first -I- in Olishefskie was inserted by mistake.


MAKOMASKI -- OCHYLSKI -- PRACKI -- STRZELECKI

… Would you please give me info on the names Strzelecki, Pracki, Makomaski, and Ochylski? My grandfather wrote a book on our family, and I am completing his research.

I'm afraid Strzelecki is the only name I can find much on -- it generally meant a family came from one of numerous villages called Strzelce. That name, in turn, comes from strzelec, "shooter, marksman." As of 1990 there were 11,467 Poles named Strzelecki, and the name is common all over the country.

I could find no info on the derivations of the other names. I do have a source that gives the total number of Poles by specific names as of 1990, with a breakdown of where they lived by province (but I have no access to further details, such as first names or addresses). Here's what that source shows

Makomaski: 95, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (30), Płock (12), less than 10 in 11 other provinces.

Ochylski: 12, living in the provinces of Koszalin (3), Lodz (5), Poznan (4)

Pracki: 428, scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Płock (76), Wloclawek (69), and smaller numbers in many other provinces.

If you would like more information and don't spending $30 or so, I recommend contacting the Anthroponymic Workshop I mentioned on the introductory page.


KAPCZYŃSKI -- PŁOTKOWSKI -- ZAWORSKI

… I have searched for possible root words of the 3 names in which I am interested, in my Polish/English dictionary, but, probably because I have only the slightest understanding of the language, I have had no luck in figuring out whether my names have ANY meaning at all. They are: Plotkowski (with a crossbar on the l), Zaworski, and Kapczynski. (The 1st & 3rd families are from the rural area northwest of Warsaw, if this helps any.)

Kapczyński is a moderately common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 1,552 Poles named Kapczyński (by the way, I'm using ~ to mark Polish diacriticals, so that ń is the n with an accent over it, ł is the slashed l, etc.). The largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (205), Bydgsozcz (169), Ciechanow (148), Lodz (106), and Pila (126), with smaller numbers scattered in many other provinces. The root of this name would seem to be kapać, to drip, but I can't seem to find Kapczyński listed in any of my sources; I would expect this surname to be connected with a place name, something like Kapcza or Kapczyn. I can't find any such places listed in my sources, but that doesn't necessarily mean much -- surnames developed centuries ago, and it's not unusual for the places they referred to then to have since disappeared, changed names, etc. Still, I can't help wondering if this is a variant of the name Kopczyński, which was borne by 8,474 Poles in 1990. In Polish the a and o are pronounced very similarly, and we often see them switch back and forth in names -- I can't help but wonder if that's happened here? The name Kopczyński appears to come from the root kopczyna, "pile, mound," especially a pile of harvest grain gathered by landless farmers.

Płotkowski was the name of 314 Poles in 1990, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (51), Gdansk (28), Szczecin (60), Torun (55), and Wloclawek (26); there were only 11 in the province of Warsaw. The name almost certainly derives from the roots seen in płot "fence, enclosure," or płotka, płoć, "roach (a kind of fish)." I would expect this name to have started in most cases as a connection with a village or place named something like Płotki, Płotkowo, so that the name would mean basically "person from Płotki, Płotkowo, etc." Those places, in turn, probably got their names because of some association with either enclosures or the kind of fish we call (rather disgustingly) "roach." As with Kapczyński, however, I couldn't find mention of any places with names that qualify, so I can't be positive.

1,884 Poles bore the name Zaworski in 1990, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Gdansk (222) and Poznan (317). It appears to derive from the term zawora, "bolt, latch," or from places named Zawory in Gdansk and Poznan provinces. I would think the link with the villages would be likely for a surname, thus meaning "one from Zawory"; the large numbers of Zaworski's in Gdansk and Poznan provinces tends to support that notion, since that's where we actually find villages named Zawory.


REDISCH -- REDISZ

… My grandfather, Peter Redisch, left Poland and his parents in 1864.All I know is from his death certificate that the family lived in Galicia at that time.

REDISCH is hard to pin down, because that spelling of the name is clearly influenced by German -- Polish seldom uses the combination -sch, that's a German way of spelling the sound we write as -sh, which the Poles write -sz. So the question arises whether this name is actually German or Polish in origin. None of my sources mentions this name, and a look at surnames used in modern Poland shows no one named Redisch; if we look for the Polish way of spelling this name, there were 11 Poles named Redisz as of 1990, living in the provinces of Katowice (5), Krakow (4), Ostrołęka (2). I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so about all we can say is that these days the name appears mainly in southcentral Poland, which before 1918 was roughly the extreme western edge of Galicia.

If the name is German in origin, it might come from the root red-, "swamp," or from Reddich, an old variant meaning "radish." These seem unlikely, though, the suffix -isch or -isz in surnames is usually Slavic rather than German. So it's more likely this is Polish. Polish names beginning with Red- are usually northern Polish (Pomeranian) variants of names with Rad- in standard Polish. That root means either "joy" or "advise." Generally names with Rad- started as a nicknames or short forms for a longer compound name such as Radomir ("glad of peace") or Radoslaw "glad of fame"), or it could have meant "the adviser" or "the joyful one." The name Radzisz shows up as a first name in old records, and Redisz could be a variant of that. But without more information it's really very hard to say. Of course the problem with this is that the name is showing up in southcentral Poland, rather far from where Red- variants of Rad- would be expected to originate. Still, people did move around in the old days, it's hardly impossible that a family might have come from northwestern Poland and moved to Galicia. We do know from records that some people with German-influenced names settled in Galicia, often as colonists settling new communities or as prisoners of war.

So I can't be certain, but the most likely explanation, from the info I have, is that this is a German-influenced variant of an old Polish first name such as Radzisz, which started as a short form or nickname for someone named Radolf or Radomir or Radoslaw, and later came to be used as a surname. And at some point in, say, the 15th or 16th century, the family came to live in Galicia. This is, at least, consistent with the facts as we know them, and is fairly plausible.


AUFSCHAUER

… Any info on my last name Aufschauer. My Father grew up in Lvov (Lemberg) Galicia.

This name is pure German, and almost certainly comes from the verb aufschauen, "to look up" -- Aufschauer would mean literally "one who looks up." It might seem odd that such a German name shows up in Lvov, but there were large numbers of Germans, as well as German- or Yiddish-speaking Jews, who lived in that area, so it used to be quite common to run across Germanic names there. There is no one in Poland today with this name, but that's hardly surprising, since I only have data for Poland in its modern boundaries, and Lvov is now in Ukraine, so names appearing in the Lvov area would not be included in my sources. It's questionable whether anyone with this name would still live in the Lvov region -- after World War II many of the people with German names and blood left what used to be Poland and resettled in Eastern Germany, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not.


JASTRZĘBSKI – JESTRIMSKI -- YASTRZEMSKI

… I have spent some time searching for information on my family name & was wondering if you per chance had any references to Jestrimski or maybe Jestrimsky

The problem with this name is that Jestrimski or Jestrimsky is almost certainly an Anglicized form of the name, not the original Polish form; and without the original Polish form, there's not much I can do. I'm pretty sure this isn't the original form because 1) there was no one in Poland with this name as of 1990, 2) I've never seen this before, and 3) the spelling is inconsistent with Polish linguistic preferences. So until we know what the name was before it was changed, it's hard to analyze it.

I'll say this, I suspect this is a phonetic spelling of the Polish name Jastrzębski -- the ę is a way of indicating on-line the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it, pronounced normally like en but before a b or p like em, so that the name would sound to us like "yahs-CHEMP-skee." This is a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 19,156 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country. It comes from the root jastrząb, "goshawk" (ą is another nasal vowel, written as an a with a tail under it, pronounced like om before b or p); the surname typically originated either as a nickname for an individual whose manner or voice or clothes reminded people of a goshawk, or from a place name, "person from Jastrzębie [the place of the goshawks]" or other places with similar names and meanings. There are quite a few places by that name in Poland, so it's difficult to tell which one a given family might have come from.

I have seen this name Jastrzębski mangled into many different forms in English – there was a famous American baseball player named Carl Yastrzemski, for instance -- and Jestrimski could very well be a rather inaccurate phonetic spelling of it. I can't be sure, but that would be my guess.

 Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.   


CHUCHRO -- HUCHRO -- PIETRYŁKA

… Thank you again for the information on the name Drazba. There are 2 more names I would like some information on. Chuchro/Huchro and Pietrylka/Petrylka.

The standard form of the name is Chuchro, but since Polish ch and h are pronounced the same, Huchro is a perfectly understandable variant spelling; both are pronounced roughly "khookh-row," where kh stands for the guttural sound of ch in German Bach. It appears to come from the term chuchro, "weakling, frail person." As of 1990 there were 563 Poles by this name (vs. 14 who spelled it Huchro). The largest numbers of Chuchro's lived in the provinces of Katowice (132) and Krakow (90) in southcentral Poland, with much smaller numbers scattered in many other provinces.

Pietryłka (where I'm using ł to stand for the l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w) is a very rare name today in Poland; as of 1990 there were only 4 Poles by that name, all living in Krosno province in the southeastern corner of the country. The form Petryłka was borne by 17 Poles, in the provinces of Jelenia Gora (4), Krosno (11), Zielona Gora (2). None of my sources mention it, but it seems likely to derive from a nickname from Piotr, "Peter." Judging by where it appears in post-war Poland and the Piet-/Pet- spelling variation, I strongly suspect it is of Ukrainian origin rather than Polish, and might be a bit more common in Ukraine -- however, I have no data for that country and thus cannot be sure.


BENTKOWSKI -- BĘTKOWSKI -- CEBULA -- CHLEBEK -- CZUBSKI -- KASPRZAK -- LIGAS – NOWOROLNIK -- ZABRZESKI

… If you discuss any of the names listed below in your book, please let me know and I will be happy to purchase a copy. Any direction you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Well, I hate to disappoint you, but in at least 90% of cases there is nothing about a surname that indicates anything useful in tracing the family. Thus Cebula comes from the word for "onion," and as of 1990 there were 9,868 Poles with this name, living all over the country. Presumably it originated as a nickname for a person who grew onions, or liked to eat them, or was shaped like them, something like that, then later it stuck as a surname. Clearly this isn't going to help you discover where any particular family named Cebula lived.

Similarly, Noworolnik comes from noworola, literally "new field," often used for "field plowed just before spring sowing," or in some cases from nowy + rolnik," literally a "new farmer." A Noworolnik got that name because he was farming a "new field," and as of 1990 there were 486 Poles by that name; the largest numbers were in the provinces of Lublin (122), and Nowy Sacz (163), but that doesn't really tell you anything you didn't already know. (I'm afraid I don't have access to details such as first names and addresses, what I give here is all I have)... The info that your maternal grandparents' family came from Tylmanowa, near Nowy Targ in the province of Nowy Sacz in southcentral Poland (it's 20-30 km. WSW of Nowy Sacz), is far more helpful than anything I can tell you about any of the surnames. Tylmanowa is big enough to have its own Catholic parish church, which is where people living in the vicinity would have gone to register births, deaths, and marriages; if the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has microfilmed its records, that's the place to start trying to trace them.

Bentkoski is a variant of the name Bentkowski (1,426 in 1990) or Bętkowski (1,501) -- these are the same name spelled differently, because the vowel I'm writing here as ę is a nasal vowel, an e with a tail under it, pronounced like en, so that either spelling is phonetically correct, although the spelling with ę is usually standard these days. Names ending in -owski usually refer to a place, so that this one refers to a family's origin in any of several places named Będkowice, Będkowo, or Będków. Będkowice in Krakow province might be a good bet, since this is in southcentral Poland, which seems to be the area your roots might lie in; this village has its own Catholic parish church, so with any luck the records might have been microfilmed by the LDS.

Chlebek means literally "little bread," and as of 1990 there were 963 Poles by that name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice 220, Nowy Sacz 198, Rzeszow 108 in southcentral and southeastern Poland.

Czubski comes either from czub, "hair on top of the head," or from czubić się, "to quarrel." It might also refer to origin in a place with a name beginning in Czub-, e. g., Czuby in Lublin province, and a place with such a name derives from the roots given above. As of 1990 there were 209 Poles with this name, and the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice 112 and Walbrzych 36, with much smaller numbers scattered in many other provinces.

Kasprzak means "little Casper, son of Casper," and there were 16,744 Poles by that name in 1990. As with most surnames from popular first names, this one is common all over the country; there isn't one big Kasprzak family, but dozens or hundreds of individual ones that all came by the name independently, because around the time surnames were being established, a Kasper or Kacper was prominent enough that his kin were referred to by his name.

Ligas probably comes from the verb ligać, "to kick or lie down," compare the term ligęza, "one who loves to lie around," so Ligas too may have started as a nickname for a rather easy-going fellow. As of 1990 there were 687 Poles by this name, with the largest number by far, 290, in the province Nowy Sacz.

In Zabreskiego the -ego is just an ending dictated by grammar in certain circumstances, so you drop it when looking for the standard form. This is almost certainly a simplified spelling of Zabrzeski, "one from Zabrzeż"; in this case the probable reference is to the village Zabrzeż (dot over the final z) in Nowy Sacz province, maybe 5 km. north of Tylmanowa. There are other places with names that could produce this surname, but with the info on your family's roots this is the most likely. Notice again, the surname by itself is useless, but if you have reason to believe the family came from a clearly defined area, you can look for places in that area that match up, with reasonable chances of success.


STĘPKOWSKI

… Please send me any remarks on the surname I hold, i.e.: Stêpkowski (the third letter of it may be correctly seen using Central European Windows fonts).

Usually those of us whose machines are not configured for Polish characters use ę to stand for the nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced like en in most cases, but like em before a b or p. But in this note I’ll use ê so it will show up correctly on your computer.

According to onomastics expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, the name Stêpkowski comes ultimately from the Old Polish root stêpka, "a small stêpa"; he defines stêpa as "urzadzenie do tluczenia, ubijania." In English I rendered this as a "mill for crushing grain, ore, etc." It often happens that names ending in -owski refer to place of origin in a village with a similar name, such as Stêpki, Stêpkowo, etc., and those places got their names because of some association with such mills. I can find no places by such names on the maps I have, but that is not unusual. Surnames generally developed at least two centuries ago, often much earlier, and the places they referred could be quite small, unlikely to appear on maps, or may have disappeared or changed names in the centuries since then.

This is a moderately common surname in Poland: as of 1990 there were 2,142 Polish citizens named Stêpkowski. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warszawa (353), Ciechanow (270), Krakow (104), and Wloclawek (102), but there were smaller numbers in virtually every province (for instance there were 57 in Lodz province). Unfortunately, my source for this information, Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, does not give further information such as first names and addresses, so this is all the data I have access to.


ROMAN

Roman is the name of my Grandfather and Anthony is his first name, they came to the USA from Poland around late 1890's and settled in Pennsylvania. My Grandmother came from a small provence near Warsaw, but there is no one alive to tell me the name or even her maiden name, I am trying to establish a family history...Thank you for your help...

I wish I could help you, but I'm afraid Roman is too common a surname to offer much help. As of 1990 there were 5,730 Polish citizens named Roman, living all over the country -- there is no one particular area where this name is concentrated. It comes from the first name Roman, from Latin Romanus, "Roman, citizen of Rome," and also from the Roman coat of arms. The name appears in records as far back as the 1400's.


NADANER

… I'm very actively researching my maternal grandfathers family, the Nadaners, and have recently connected with two separate Nadaner families... The first translation of Nadaner yielded 'Talented', the second was 'nice, pretty'.

Linguistically speaking, Nadaner is a distinctively Yiddish form, created by adding the Yiddish-German suffix -er to the archaic Polish adjective nadany, in form a participle from the verb nadać. The translations "talented" and "nice, pretty" come from efforts to render the meaning of nadany in English: the word means literally "on-given, to-given," in the sense of "one to whom [desirable qualities] have been given." The English words "talented, nice, pretty" correspond fairly well to the meanings this word had in Polish (as I say, it's archaic now). In some ways nadany is best defined in terms of its antonym, nienadany, where nie- is the negative particle meaning "not, non-"; the term nienadany was used to mean "barbaric, wild, uncivilized." This suggests nadany was used as a positive description for someone comely, attractive, desirable.

I can't add much more; my main source of information for Jewish names is Alexander Beider's Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland, and from the info you gave I'm fairly certain you've consulted this work at some point. About the only thing I can add is that as of 1990 there was no longer anyone named Nadaner living in Poland; there were still some who bore the native Polish forms Nadany and Nadana, but no Nadaner, at least not within the limits of accuracy of the database maintained by the PESEL Government Information Center.


WOJCZYŃSKI

… I would appreciate any information on the meaning or origin of my grandmother's maiden name [Woyczynski].

The Polish spelling of the name is Wojczyński, where ń is how we represent on-line the Polish n with an accent over it; the name is pronounced roughly "voy-CHIN-skee." As of 1990 there were 268 Polish citizens by this name, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Kalisz (221), Pila (103), and Poznan (52) and smaller numbers (fewer than 20) in many other provinces. So this name is most common in west central Poland -- but the data does not allow us to narrow the focus to any particular area.

Names ending in -ski are adjectives, and Wojczyński literally means "of, from, pertaining to wojczyn," so the question is what that means. The ultimate root of is probably woj, "warrior," with wojczyn either as meaning "son of the warrior" or a nickname from old Polish first names such as Wojciech, Wojslaw, etc. Actually, I would expect Wojczyński, like most names ending in -iński and -yński, to have referred to a place named for a warrior or a Wojciech, Wojslaw, etc., thus meaning something like "one from Wojczyn or Wojcza"; there is a village Wójcza in Kielce province, at least some Wojczyński's probably got their name because they came from this place.

There are also at least 5 villages called Wójcin, and since the letter combinations -cin and -czyn in Polish sound similar ("cheen" vs. "chin"), it is possible Wojczyński might also have referred to those places, "one from Wójcin." This place name could come from that first name Wojciech, but could also come from the word wó~jt, a kind of village mayor; so Wójcin can mean "the place of the wójt" and Wójciński "one from Wójcin = one from the place of the wójt." It's a bit of a reach from Wójciński to Wojczyński, but I can't rule it out; there probably are at least a few cases where the two names were confused.


FUJARA -- SZWAJA

… I have come across these two names in my family. They seem unusual. Does anyone know if Fujara is actually Polish? That is the exact spelling on a good number of clear records.

Fujara can be Polish, there were 85 Polish citizens by that name as of 1990, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (32) and Przemysl (16). It almost certainly comes from the word fujara, "pipe," the sinple musical instrument, with a secondary meaning of "nincompoop, goof-off." I think the connection is a fujara is "the kind of fellow who sits around tootling while all us poor slobs are working our butts off, damn him (and how come I don't get to do that?)." My big dictionary says the ultimate source of the word is Romanian fluera, and I'm rather proud of the fact that when I first read your note I thought, "Hmm, sounds Romanian." (If I'm so smart, why ain't I rich?)

Does Szwaia fall into Polish names? It is written exceptionally well on one record so the spelling cannot be denied.

This is in the book, but not in that spelling. As the notes on p. 11 of the book indicate, J and I and Y were often interchangeable in older Polish spelling; these days the standard spelling of this name would be Szwaja. I couldn't find discussion of this name by any Polish expert, but there is a word szwaja, a contemptuous term for "seamstress, neadlewoman," and I strongly suspect that's the source of the surname. As of 1990 there were 1,096 Szwaja's in Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Czestochowa (155), Katowice (136), Kielce (129), Krakow (93); so it's found most often in southcentral Poland.

Don't be bothered that neither of these terms is particularly complimentary. Compared to a lot of Polish names, ones meaning "nincompoop" and "seamstress" are mild!


DYTRYCH

… Since the birth of my son I've developed an interest in trying to trace our family tree, but I must admit I am not getting very far as records are very thin on the ground. My father was born in Poland but lived out his years in England after the war. I would be grateful if you could offer me any advice on the origins of our surname.

Dytrych is a Polish version of the German first name Dietrich; the German name is pronounced roughly "DEET-rick," whereas this Polish version (there are others) sounds more like "DITT-rick," with that first vowel a short i rather than a long e. This name is of ancient origin, from back in the days before Germans and Poles etc. were Christianized -- parents would give their children names of good omen, based on what they hoped the child would grow up to be (or naming them after a famous person who bore that name). The ancient Germanic roots in this name mean "people" and "rule," so that we might interpret the name as "ruler of the people" = "may he grow up to rule the people" (the second element is also seen in "Friedrich" [Frederick], "peaceful ruler," "may he rule in peace").

There were a great many ethnic Germans who came to live in Poland, often invited by land-owning nobles who wanted skilled farmers and craftsmen to help repopulate areas devastated by the Black Death and other catastrophes. So it's not at all rare to see names of German origin in Poland. The family bearing this name, after a while, probably thought of themselves as Poles and didn't even think about how their ancestors were actually Germans. Millions those who did continue to identify themselves as German, or who had distinctively German names, moved out of Poland after World War II, afraid to go on living there after what the Nazis did to the Poles during the war.

Dytrych is still a moderately common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 588 Polish citizens by this name, scattered in small numbers all over the country. I'm afraid there's nothing about its frequency or distribution that offers any really helpful clues as to what part of Poland families by this name might have come from; they could have lived anywhere in the old Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania. I know this may be disappointing, perhaps you were hoping the name would give a clue; but in all honesty I'd estimate some 90% of Polish names don't provide any kind of useful lead. I'm afraid usually the only thing that helps is digging in naturalization records, ship passenger lists, church records, etc.


SIEDLECKI

… I would appreciate it if you could search my last name, Siedlecki.

Siedlecki is one of many Polish surnames coming from place names, generally indicating that the family in question came from or was otherwise connected to a place with a name like Siedlce or Siedlec. If the family was noble, it meaned at one time they owned a village or estate by those names; if the family was not noble, they probably worked the fields at such a place, or at one time lived there and later moved elsewhere, so that it made sense to distinguish them by calling them "the ones from Siedlce/Siedlec." That's really all Siedlecki means, it's an adjectival form meaning "of, from, pertaining to Siedlce or Siedlec." It's pronounced in Polish something like "shed-LET-skee."

There at least a dozen places in Poland with those names. The largest and best known is Siedlce in east central Poland, big enough to be the capital of its own province; but there are several other Siedlce's and quite a few Siedlec's. All of these place names derive ultimately from a Polish root siedl- meaning "settle" (it's not an accident the Polish and English roots sound similar, if you go back far enough they came from the same original root in Indo-European). Usually what happened is that back in the old days before Poles accepted Christianity, they named their children with names formed by sticking two roots together to express a good omen or hoped-for success, much as German Friedrich means "peace+rule" = "peaceful ruler." For instance, there was an old Polish name Siedlewit, and the roots in question are siedl-, "settle, seat" + wit, "master, lord," thus "lord of the settlement," expressing a hope that the child would be the master of the place where he lived. Then later Poles abbreviated the name and added suffixes (much as we turned "Theodore" into "Teddy"). Siedlec and Siedlce both would mean something like "the place of Siedl," and Siedlecki just means "one from the place of Siedl."

As of 1990 there were 7,786 Polish citizens named Siedlecki, living all over the country, so it's a pretty common name. And it's so widely distributed that you can't trace it back to any one place and say "That's where it came from." The only way to figure out which particular Siedlec or Siedlce your family came from would be to trace the family's roots back to Poland, pinpoint exactly what area they came from, and then look for a Siedlec or Siedlce nearby. Even that's not foolproof, because these names originated centuries ago, and a lot has changed over the ages. But that would be the only way to even hazard a good guess on which particular place a given family came from.


WICHEREK

… Hello. My name is Czeslaw Wicherek and my family come from the Polish part of Silesia and are fiercely Polish. However, I can find no reference to the name anywhere and now not in your list… Do you know if my name is a form of any other name or anything about it, or could you advise me where to look. Any assistance you could give would be much appreciated.

Well, according to the series Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, a 10-volume set edited by Prof. Kazimierz Rymut of the Instytut Jezyka Polskiego PAN in Krakow, as of 1990 there were some 800,000+ surnames used by Poles! Obviously many of these were very rare or were closely related variants of others -- e. g. Kamieński vs. Kamiński, or Wicher vs. Wicherek vs. Wicherski -- but there were still more than 40,000 borne by 100 or more Poles. So neither my book nor my Webpage can begin to cover them all! That's why there are a great many names that don't appear in that list.

According to Prof. Rymut's book Nazwiska Polaków, the name Wicherek comes from the term wicher, "wind," or especially wicherek, "little wind, breeze," and appears in Polish documents as early as 1401. He does not discuss exactly how a family might come to get such a name, and in fact even the best experts can't always say how such a thing happened; humans are very ingenious in the names they give each other, and most of these names are many centuries old, so it can be difficult to analyze the exact origin. A name like this might have once been given someone because he was born on a breezy day and got the name to commemorate that; or perhaps he lived in an area that was always breezy. About the most we can say is that the name originally was given because of some connection to wind or breeze, and may have started as a nickname that later became established as a surname.

As of the year 1990 there were 552 Polish citizens named Wicherek. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (189), Katowice (103), and Poznan (88), with much smaller numbers in many other provinces. So the name is most common in southcentral Poland, in or just east of Silesia, depending on exactly how you define "Silesia." Unfortunately I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses.


GIERASIK

… Could someone help me to explain the meaning if any of the surname Gierasik.

This is a diminutive form of the name first name Gieras or Gierasz, so that it would mean something like "little Gieras" or "son of Gieras." That first name arose as a short form or nickname of the Polish forms of such first names such as Gerard or Gerald, possibly even Gertrude. These names generally started as Germanic names from pagan days, when instead of naming children after Christian saints, parents gave them native names of good omen; thus Gerard comes from Germanic roots ger, "spear" + hart, "strong" = "may he be strong in use of the spear," in other words, "may he be a valiant warrior." Or Gerald is from ger + walt-, "rule," "spear ruler," "may he rule with the spear." In Polish the combination Ge- tends to become Gie-, so we see such forms as Gieralt and Gierard; most scholars seem to think Gerard is the one Gieras came from. The process of forming a new name or nickame by taking the first part of a popular name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes is seen in English, too, e. g., "Teddy" from "Theodore." So Gierasik would be a sort of Polish equivalent to "son of Jerry" in English.

That's what Polish scholars mention. To me it also seems possible the name might occasionally come from Gierasym, a Polish form of the Ukrainian name Harasym, from Greek gerasimos, from a root meaning "prize, award." Probably among ethnic Poles, however, the connection with "Gerard" or "Gerald" would hold true more often.

As of 1990 there were only 37 Polish citizens named Gierasik, living in the provinces of Warsaw (17), Białystok (2), Bydgoszcz (6, Gdansk (7), and Skierniewice (5). Unfortunately I don't have access to further data such as first names, addresses, etc. What I've given here is all I have.


BRUDNICKI

… I am searching for information on the Polish name Brudnicki.

This name is one of many Polish surnames that indicate a family's connection with a place of similar name; we would expect Brudnicki to mean something like "one from Brudnice or Brudnica." There are at least three places in Poland that could generate this surname, Brudnice in Ciechanow province, Brudnice in Płock province, and a village that no longer exists, Dramino Brudnycze in Goleszyn parish of Sierpc county. There may have been more that have since been renamed or disappeared, but persons connected with these three villages could easily have ended up with the name Brudnicki, "one from Brudnice." The ultimate root of the place names is brud, "dirt, filth," but the surname would probably not mean "dirty one, filthy one" but rather "one from Brudnice," and that place, in turn, got its name from that root. It's worth noting that the Brudnice in Ciechanow province is thought to have been called Brodnica originally, so it's possible in some cases this surname might be a variant of Brodnicki ("one from Brodnica," and there are at least 8 towns and villages by that name); but it would be stretching things to assume that line in regard to a particular Brudicki family without a lot more evidence.

As of 1990 there were 1,123 Polish citizens named Brudnicki, of whom the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Konin (91), Lodz (62), Pila (222), Radom (79), Szczecin (76), Warsaw (69), and Wloclawek (99), with smaller numbers in a great many other provinces. So there's nothing really helpful about the frequency and distribution pattern of the name; it's seen all over the country. But generally you'd expect it started out as referring to a place named Brudnica, Brodnica, or Brudnice, with the latter as the most likely connection.


CICHOWSKI -- MIKULSKI -- NAPIERKOWSKI -- TOBACZEWSKI

… I started this for my niece, but I've found myself wanting to learn more. Is there any way you can help me find any information on my grandparents' names. All four came from Poland. We'd like to know their history, if any. Names are as follows: Cichowski, Tobaczewski, Napierkowski, Mikulski.

Names ending in -owski and -ewski usually started as references to a connection between a family and a place with a similar name. Thus Cichowski probably means "one from Cichów or Cichowo or Cichy"; there are at least two villages named Cichów, a couple named Cichowo, as well as the village of Cichy in Suwałki province. These place names in turn come from the adjective cichy, "quiet, still, calm." As of 1990 there were 3,435 Polish citizens named Cichowski, and there is no way to know which particular place a given Cichowski family came from without detailed research establishing exactly which part of Poland they came from.

Mikulski is the most common of the names you mentioned, as of 1990 there were 9,693 Poles named Mikulski, living all over the country. It comes from a variant form of the first name Mikołaj = Nicholas. The name may have started meaning "kin of Nicholas," or it may have referred to a place named for a Nicholas, for instance, there are at least two villages named Mikulice, and the surname might also refer to them. So obviously there isn't one Mikulski family, there are lots of different families that ended up with this name because they were named for a prominent member named Mikula or came from a place named for such a person. One of the U. S. Senators from Maryland is Barbara Mikulski, and she played a major role in Poland’s acceptance into NATO.

As of 1990 there were 218 Poles named Napierkowski, scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Leszno (43), Ostrołęka (63), and Poznan (49). This surname might refer to is Napierki in Olsztyn province, and that place name derives from the root napierać, to press, urge, advance.

Tobaczewski presumably refers to a place named something like Tobaczewo or Tobaczew. I can't find any places by those names, but these surnames typically developed centuries ago, and since then the places they referred to may have disappeared, been absorbed by other communities, or changed their name. The name probably comes from a short form or nickname of the Biblical first name Tobias, so that Tobaczewski may have meant "kin of Tobias" or "one from the place of Tobias." The surname is pretty rare, as of 1990 there were only 21 Poles by this name, living in the provinces of Szczecin (12) and Zielona Gora (9). I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses.


PADVAISKAS -- PODVAISKAS -- PODWOJSKI

… My maternal grandmother, Helena Olszewska (1894-1964), came from a town called "Ruda" according to the naturalization papers of her husband Frank Podwoiski (1894-1954). She allegedly arrived in the U.S. in 1909, but I have not been able to find her on any passenger list. I did find his name for 1912, and he was Lithuanian descent{Pudvolskas??}. Any ideas where "Ruda" is/was???? "A small town near the border; close by there was a forest with many mushrooms", is the family legend of her origins.

I am afraid I can't help you much. Olszewska is simply a feminine form of Olszewski, that's considered the standard form of the name, and it is an extremely common one, borne by 44,638 Poles as of 1990. It just means "one from Olszew or Olszewa or Olszewo," and those place names mean "place of the alder trees." As for Ruda, there are at least 50 villages by that name on my maps, and probably more too small to show up on my maps, so I'm afraid that's no help either; the word ruda means "ore," and this name was often given to any little community that originated as a place for mining ore or working with metal.

Podwoiski is probably Podwojski in standard spelling. As of 1990 there were 156 Poles by that name, scattered all over Poland; it comes from the word podwojski, "court crier, beadle," according to Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut. According to the best work available on Lithuanian surnames, Podvaiskas or Padvaiskas is the Lithuanian form, and it comes from that Polish word podwojski. There are and long have been a great many Poles living in Lithuania -- that's where my wife's Polish relatives live. So even though her husband came from Lithuania, he may have been a Pole by blood, or else was a Lithuanian who took a Polish name; for a long time the Lithuanian nobility considered it more fashionable to go by Polish names, and that preference filtered on down to the peasant as well, so this is feasible.

I'm sorry I couldn't help more, but the truth is 95% of Polish names don't offer any real help with tracing the family. If you know a lot about where the family lived, sometimes a surname will give you a clue to some background; but if all you have is the surname, very seldom does it lead you to a specific place or time.


GĄGOROWSKI

… Recently, after I had sent in to GenPol a probably too long post about a recent bit of information I'd received, concerning in part, the name Gagorwoski" I received a message suggesting that I write you. Can you tell me anything about this name?

Well, none of my sources say anything about this name, but as of 1990 there were 473 Polish citizens named Gągorowski, using ą to stand for the Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it and pronounced much like on in French bon. They were scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (51), Kielce (110), and Wroclaw (70). So this is a legitimate, established name.

The probable derivation is from the Polish word gągor, a variant or dialect word meaning "gander" (comparable to the standard terms gęga, "goose," and gąsior, "gander"). The name presumably started out meaning "of, from, pertaining to the [place/kin] of the gander(s)," either in the sense "one from Gągorów or Gągorowo" or "kin of the gander" (referring to a goose-herder?). I can't find any mention of a village by these names, but surnames typically developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, been absorbed by other communities, or something of the sort.


MAJKOWSKI -- SZCZEPAŃSKI

… In both cases - my wife's and mine - these belong to grandparents from Przasnysz. Any background and meanings would be appreciated.

Szczepański (in Polish spelled with an accent over the n and pronounced roughly "shcheh-PINE-skee") is an adjective in form, meaning "of, from, related to Szczepan," which is one of the Polish forms of the name "Stephen." So in many cases this name means simply "kin of Szczepan," in some other cases it might mean "one from the place of Szczepan" where that place was once owned or founded by a prominent Szczepan and bears a name such as Szczepanki or Szczepanowo, something like that. It's a very common name, as of 1990 there were 31,208 Polish citizens named Szczepański, living all over the country.

Majkowski is less common, but still pretty common -- as of 1990 there were 5,085 Majkowski's in Poland. This name is also adjectival in origin, meaning roughly "of, from, pertaining to the __ of Majek," where you fill in the blank with word so obvious it doesn't need to be spelled out, usually either "place" or "kin." So Majkowski could mean "kin of Majek," but especially "one from Majk, Majki, Majków." There are several places in Poland that have these names, and the surname is common all over the country, so I'm afraid this name doesn't give much in the way of clues as to where a family came from. However, since you have information leading to the Przasnysz area, it makes sense to suggest the surname referred to one of two villages in Ostrołęka province, not far from Przasnysz. Majki-Tykiewki is the name of a village about 25 km. due east of Przasnysz, and Majk is about the same distance northeast of Przasnysz. It's not certain the surname refers to one of these places, but it seems a pretty decent bet... The Majk- root comes from an old first name derived from maj, "May," probably given a child in memory of the month he was born in.


BIERFASS -- LAUBERFELD – LÖWENTHAL -- ORLING -- TEPPER

… I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the following names I am searching in South-Eastern Poland: Lo"wenthal, Tepper (or any related names, such as Toepfer, Topper), Lauberfeld, Orling, and Bierfass.

As I'm sure you realize, all these names are of Germanic origin, which is not unusual -- large numbers of Germans, and of Jews who spoke German or Yiddish, settled all over Poland, including the southeastern part of the country. I have sources such as Alexander Beider's Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland and his similar work for the Russian Empire, plus books on German names, and they give some insights into the meanings of these names. But the only data I have on frequency and distribution of names in Poland comes from 1990 data, and I'm afraid the Holocaust and post-World War II relocation of Germans from Poland to East Germany greatly distort that data. Thus Teper is the only one of these names borne by any Polish citizens as of 1990; there were 1,038 Teper's, living all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (247), Kielce (68), Krakow (55), Lublin (91), Nowy Sacz (74), and Warsaw (56), and smaller numbers in virtually every other province. Before 1939 there may well have been people with the other names living in Poland, but I have no way of determining how many there were or where they might have lived.

Here's what I came up with on the meanings of the names:

Bierfass: comes from the German words for "beer" and "barrel," thus might refer to someone who made barrels or was otherwise connected with brewing and storing or selling beer. The name could also be used, presumably, as a kind of insulting nickname for a person who drank a lot of beer or was rather fat, shaped like a beer barrel.

Lauberfeld: probably comes from Laub, "leaf, foliage, arbor" + Feld, "field," and thus referred to a place the family lived, literally "leaf field."

Löwenthal: comes from the German words for "lion" and "valley," and presumably referred originally to a place the family came from or lived. As of 1990 there were 9 Poles who used the Polish phonetic spelling of Lewental, living in the provinces of Krakow (6) and Walbrzych (3) -- I'm afraid I have no access to further details such as first names or addresses.

Orling: I could find nothing on this name. The root Orl- appears in Jewish names sometimes as a form derived from the first name "Aaron," and this might be relevant here. The root Orl- also appears in names of Polish origin as a form of the word for "eagle," but that usage is inconsistent with the form of this name.

Tepper: this and the other variants of the name you mention all come either from German Töpfer or the Yiddish equivalent teper, "potter."


JANICZEK

… If you have the time, I'm curious about my maiden name, Janiczek.

Janiczek means basically "son of little John." Jan is the Polish form of the name "John," and if you add the patronymic suffix -icz to it you have Janicz, "son of John." But Poles love to add suffixes, and once the name Janicz existed it was only a matter of time before we had Janiczek, formed by adding a diminutive suffix, -ek, to that name. So it's Jan + -icz- + -ek = Janiczek, "son of the son of John," or "little John's son." This surname appears in Polish legal records as far back as 1567. As of 1990 there were 1,520 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country -- after all, the name could get started anywhere they spoke Polish and there were guy's name "Jan" who had sons.


JABŁOŃSKI -- MUDRY

… I would like to find out more about the orgins of my last name (Mudry). [removed] My mother's maiden name is Jablonska and I've been told that my grandfather Stanislaw Jablonski might have had noble roots.

In the Slavic languages the root mudr- means "wise, clever, intelligent"; we see the adjective mudry with that meaning in Russian and Ukrainian. The vowel changes slightly in some of the Slavic languages, thus it is moudry in Czech, and in Polish it takes the form of the nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it, pronounced much like "own" -- on-line we write is as mądry to represent the nasal vowel. So in all the Slavic languages the name means pretty much the same thing. Furthermore, the actual form of the name gives a general hint where it originated. If your ancestors had been ethnic Poles, or had lived in a predominantly Polish linguistic environment, we would expect the name to be Mądry. The fact that it is Mudry suggests a Russian or Belarusian or Ukrainian influence -- possibly also Czech with modification. There are several places called Brzeg in Poland, so I don't know which area your family came from, but it's not at all rare to see non-Polish versions of Slavic names in Poland. To a Pole Mudry sounds a little foreign, but still Slavic and thus not hard to understand or requiring change.

As of 1990 there were 146 Polish citizens named Mudry, and 44 more with the feminine form of the name Mudra. Of the Mudry's, the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice (13), Opole (35), Wroclaw (21), and Zieona Gora (13). I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, this is all I have.

Jabłoński is an exceedingly common name from the root jabłoń, "apple-tree" (the ł stands for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w, and the ń stands for the Polish accented n); the name is pronounced roughly "yah-BWOIN-skee" in Polish. As of 1990 there were 46,728 Poles by that name, living in large numbers all over the country. There probably were Jabłoński's of noble blood, but I'm afraid I have no information on that.


KINIC -- RUTKOWSKI

(referring to a previous disagreement on Rutkowski):

… Thanks. OK, but still think that both explanations are correct and claiming that only one is valid is an oversimplification.

Ah, I think I understand better now what you wrote. (In case it is easier for you to read Polish, I repeat my comments below in Polish. I read Polish better than I write, but Poles tell me my Polish is not bad, so I hope you will understand it.)

On the Web-page I have to discuss names in general, I don't have enough time or space to discuss them in detail. I did not mean to exclude derivation of Rutkowski from rutka (according to Mr. Rutkowski, a term for a maiden gathering rue). I meant only that in most cases the surname probably comes from names of places such as Rutki or Rutkowo. However sometimes Rutkowski surely can come directly from rutka, but more often the surname comes from the place names. But what do the place names come from? Probably from rutka! Surely these places were called that because there were rutki there. So yes, Rutkowski can come from rutka, directly or indirectly. Most often, the surname indicates derivation from the place name, and the place name can come from rutka. (I cannot exclude possible derivation from the first name Rut, and even sometimes from Rudkowski). Or sometimes Rutkowski can come directly from rutka. The one thing that’s certain is that it refers to some kind of connection with rue -- perhaps with the place where it grew or was gathered, or perhaps with the girls who gathered it.

… Apart from them do you know something about my mother's name "Kinic" ???

In his book Nazwiska Polaków Prof. Kazimierz Rymut says names with Kin-, including Kinic, come from the old Polish verb kinąć, "grow, boil, seethe" (rosnać, kipieć). Other Polish onomastics experts mention that it might also come sometimes from "Kin" as a short form of the first name Konrad. So Kinic could mean "son of Konrad," or it can mean "son of one who grows, boils, seethes." In 1990 there were 34 Poles named Kinic, living in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 4, Gdansk 3, Kalisz 2, Katowice 3, Koszalin 4, Lodz 2, Poznan 12, Sieradz 1, Szczecin 2, Wloclawek 1.

[PO POLSKU]

Ah, ja wierze, ze teraz rozumiem lepiej to, co Pan napisal. (Powtarzam swoje notatki tu po polsku, jesli to jest latwiej. Czytam po polsku lepiej, niz pisze, ale Polacy powiedziaja, ze moja polszczyzna nie jest najgorsza, wiec mam nadzieje, ze Pan to rozumie).

Nie mam czasu i miejsca na Web-stronie dla szczegolowego omowienia nazwisk. Nie chcialem wykluczyc derywacji nazwiska Rutkowski z wyrazu rutka. Chcialem tylko powiedziec, ze w wiekszosci przypadkow to nazwiska prawdopodobnie pochodzi od nazw miejscowosci jak n. p. Rutki, Rutkowo. Czasami Rutkowski zapewne moze pochodzic od rutka, ale ja wierze, ze czesciej to nazwisko pochodzi od nazw miejscowosci. A skad pochodza te nazwy miejscowosci? Prawdopodobnie od rutka! Zapewne te wsi tak sie nazywaly, gdyz tam byly rutki. Wiec mozemy powiedzic, ze Rutkowski moze pochodzic od rutka, posrednio lub bezposrednio. Naczesciej nazwiska odnosi sie do nazw miejscowosci, i nazwy miejscowosci pochodza od wyrazu rutka. (Takze nie moge wykluczyc derywacji z zenskiego imiona Rut, a nawet z nazwiska Rudkowski). Ale czasami jest mozliwe, ze Rutkowski pochodzi bezposrednio od rutka. Tylko to pewne, ze nazwisko to odnosi sie do jakiegos zwiazku z ruta – do miejsca, gdzie ruta rosnala, lub gdzie dziewczyny rute zbierali, lub do dziewczyn, zbierajacych rute.

W swej ksiazce Nazwiskach Polakow prof. Kazimierz Rymut daje zbior nazwisk od postawy Kin-, w tych Kinic, a kin- pochodzi od staropolskiego wyrazu kinąć, "rosnąć, kipieć." Inni polscy onomasci daja takze mozliwa derywacje od imiona Kin- jako skroconej formy imiona Konrad. Wiec Kinic moze znaczyc "syn Konrada," ale takze moze znaczyc "syn rosnacego, kipiacego, kiwnacego." W r. 1990 Polacy nazwiska Kinic liczyli 34, w wojewodztwach: bielskim 4, gdanskim 3, kaliskim 2, katowickim 3, koszalinskim 4, lodzkim 2, poznanskim 12, sieradzkim 1, szczecinskim 2, wloclawskim 1.

Man nadzieje, ze te notatki pomagaja Panu, i zycze Panu najlepszego szczescia w badaniach.


KASPARAVICIUS -- KASPERAVICIUS -- KASPEROWICZ

… As stated above I would appreciate if you could provide me with any information on this surname (Kasperowicz). The name originates I believe from the area Wilno which was once part of Poland.

This is a pretty easy one. The suffix -owicz means "son of" (the same suffix is also used in Russian and other Slavic languages, only the spelling changes -- most often by our phonetic values it is rendered -ovich), and Kasper is the first name we write as "Casper." This is not that common a name in English-speaking countries, but it is reasonably common in Europe, because by tradition Casper was the name of one of the Three Magi or Wise Men who visited the baby Jesus shortly after his birth (tradition says the other two were named Melchior and Baltazar). So the surname just means "son of Casper."

This surname is moderately common in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 1,759 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country, but especially common in northeastern Poland, near the border with Lithuania. My data only covers Poland in its current boundaries, so I don't have exact figures on people by this name in Lithuania -- but many ethnic Poles did live, and still live, in Lithuania, especially near the area of Wilno (now Vilnius). This surname is also reasonably common in Lithuania, but in the forms Kasparavicius and Kasperavicius, which are just Lithuanian renderings of Kasperowicz. If you have relatives still in Lithuania, chances are that's how the spell the name -- "Kasperowicz" is a little too obviously Polish and therefore foreign, Lithuanians prefer to spell the name their way.


TRZASKOMA

… Curious to know if you've got any information on the surname Trzaskoma.

This is a rather unusual name in that it appears to come from the root trzaska, "wood chip," or the related verb trzaskać, "to whack, whip, smack," but you don't often see -oma added as a suffix to Polish roots. Still, the name appears in old Polish legal documents as far back as 1436, and Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut lists it under names coming from the roots mentioned above, so apparently there's good reason to think that's what it derives from. As of 1990 there were 504 Polish citizens named Trzaskoma, with the majority living in the province of Warsaw (361) and smaller numbers (22 or fewer) in a number of other provinces.


JEZIORKOWSKI

… My surname is Jeziorkowski. I was wondering if you could tell me more about it.

The basic root of this name is jezioro, "lake." It breaks down as Jezior- + -k- + -owski, with -k- representing a diminutive suffix ("little lake") and -owski an adjectival suffix meaning "of, from, pertaining to the place of," so that the name as a whole parses as meaning "one from the place of the little lakes." In most cases, however, -owski names refer to a connection between a person or family and a specific place or places with similar names. In this case, we'd expect Jeziorkowski to mean, practically speaking, "one from Jeziorko or Jeziorki," with those place names meaning essentially "little lakes." There are at least a dozen villages named Jeziorki and at least seven more named Jeziorko, and the surname could refer to any or all of them, so I'm afraid the name by itself doesn't do much to clarify exactly where the family came from. If, however, you have a little luck with your research and find your family came from a specific area of Poland, and then you discover a Jeziorko or Jeziorki somewhere nearby, chances are reasonably good that's the place the name originally referred to. The surname is pronounced roughly "yeah-zhore-KOFF-skee" in Polish -- the "zhore" sounds like English "shore," but with the initial sound much like "s" in "pleasure."

As of 1990 there were 264 Polish citizens by this name, scattered all over Poland but with larger numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (54), Poznan (59), and Zamosc (32). I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses.


WARZYŃSKI

… Your book gives the meaning "to prepare (food)" for the surname Warzynski and I would like to know if you can give me any more information on the source of the name. Is it prevalent in Poland today? My ancestor came from Zerniki/Oborniki.

Well, the point is that names beginning with War- or Warz- usually trace back to the root war, "something hot," or warzyć, "to cook, prepare food." However, along the way suffixes were added to produce various names of people and places, so that we'd expect Warzyński to come from such names (here I'm using ń to stand for the Polish accented n; the name is pronounced something like "wah-ZHIN-skee," where "ZHIN" rhymes with English "shin" but the first sound is like the "s" in "pleasure"). In general the name Warzyński probably meant "person from Warzyn, Warzyny," and those place names in turn derived from that root -- perhaps these were places known for their cooking, or were founded or owned by a fellow with a name from that root. Some places that might produce this surname are the villages of Warzyn in Kielce province and Warzyń-Kmiecy and Warzyń-Skóry in Płock province, and Warzno in Gdansk province. People from those places could very well end up being called Warzyński.

I don't have data on exactly how those places ended up with these names, what the connection with the root warz- was. The Polish Language Institute is putting out a 10-volume series on the origins of place names, but so far they've only gotten up to the D's, so it'll be a while before they get to the volume that discusses places beginning with Warz-.

This is a moderately common surname in Poland, as of 1990 there were 1,007 Poles named Warzyński. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (87), Bydgoszcz (50), Katowice (108), Kielce (118), Piotrkow (83), Pila (89), and Radom (74), and smaller numbers in many other provinces. There were only 2 in Poznan province, which is where Oborniki and Zerniki are located (there are lots of Zerniki's, but that's the only area where I find an Oborniki and a Zerniki near each other). So if your ancestors came from that area, there don't seem to be too many left there now.


DOBRZYŃSKI

… In your spare time could you tell me about the Dobrzynski surname?

This is one of those surnames on which there's really not a lot to tell. It generally refers to origin in a town or village called Dobrzyn, meaning something like "one from Dobrzyn," and there are at least 9 places by that name in Poland. The surname is pretty common, as of 1990 there were 8,215 Poles named Dobrzyński (I use ń to stand for the Polish n with an accent over it). So unfortunately the name is too common, and there are too many places it could derive from, to give much in the way of details; a Dobrzyński could come from almost anywhere in Poland, and there are undoubtedly many separate Dobrzyński families that all acquired the name independently. Your best bet is to see if you can turn up info on the area in Poland your ancestors came from, then look to see if there's a Dobrzyn anywhere near by -- if so, chances are that's the place the name originally referred to.


KIEWRA

… Hi, I found your web page & was wondering if you had any quick thoughts on our surname of Kiewra

I'm sorry I couldn't answer your note sooner. I've been horribly busy lately, and haven't had much time for answering name inquiries. But I did look through my sources some time ago for information, and found that none of them mentioned this name. I was waiting for another book to come in, which, I hoped, might shed some light. But unfortunately, it didn't. So I simply have to admit I don't have a clue what this name comes from. My gut feeling is that it might be Ukrainian, but even my Ukrainian sources don't mention it.

The one thing I can tell you is that the name, while not common, is not unknown in Poland. As of 1990 there were 196 Polish citizens named Kiewra, and another 94 named Kiewro. Neither name showed any particular concentration in one place, although both seem more common in western Poland, in the areas formerly ruled by Germany but returned to Poland after World War II. This is not inconsistent with Ukrainian origin, because after World War II huge numbers of ethnic Ukrainians were forced to relocate from southeastern Poland (which used to include much of western Ukraine) to those "recovered lands" (as the Poles call them) in western Poland. If we had data from before World War II (but unfortunately we don't), I would make a pretty sizable bet the name would show up almost exclusively in eastern Poland and western Ukraine.

I'm sorry I couldn't help more -- you might visit www.infoukes.com, investigate their resources, and see if anyone there can at least confirm or refute my suspicion that the name is Ukrainian. If it is, who knows, maybe someone there can tell you something useful... You might also try writing the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute -- there's more info in the introduction to this Webpage.


ADAMOWICZ – PERKOWSKI

… I was wondering if you could tell me the origins and/or meanings of the surnames Adamowicz and Perkowski?

Adamowicz is a simple one, it means "son of Adam" -- that suffix -owicz shows up in most Slavic languages, although in the others it's usually spelled -ovich or something similar; -owicz is a distinctively Polish spelling. As of 1990 there were 7,583 Poles named Adamowicz, so it's a pretty common name, found all over the country.

Perkowski is probably like most other names ending in -owski, usually they refer to a connection between a person or family and a particular place with a similar name; we'd expect Perkowski to have started as meaning "one from Perki or Perkowo or Perkowice." Unfortunately, there are several villages in Poland that could yield this surname, including a Perki in Płock province, several settlements in Łomża province with two names of which the first is Perki (e. g., Perki-Lachy), Perkowice in Biala Podlaska province, and Perkowo in Leszno province. People coming from any of these places could easily end up with the surname Perkowski, and without detailed information on where a given Perkowski family came from in Poland, it's impossible to match them up with any one of those places.

As of 1990 there were 5,264 Poles named Perkowski, so this, too, is a fairly common name. The name was most common in the provinces of Białystok (1,235), Łomża (951), and Suwałki (272), so it is somewhat concentrated in the northeastern part of Poland, near the borders with Lithuania and Belarus. However, it is not exclusive to those areas, you do run into the name in decent numbers almost anywhere in Poland.

 

 

 

 Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.   


KRECZMER -- KRETSCHMER

… I would be most grateful if you could give me any information on the polish surname Kreczmer. My father is originally from Poland Poznan and I am trying find out more about this surname. I.e its meaning and if this is a common or unusal name!I am also tring to locate other Kreczmers on the net, so any information you have as to how I could go about this would be gratefully appreciated.

Kreczmer is a variant form of the name Karczmarz, which comes from karczmarz, "innkeeper." This is the source of a number of very common Polish surnames, including Kaczmarz, Kaczmarek, Kaczmarczyk, etc. The form Kreczmer is especially likely to be associated with Jews, by connection with the Yiddish word krechmer, which obviously comes from karczmarz. The name also appears in the more German spelling Kretschmer. I don't think either form is exclusively Jewish; non-Jewish Germans could bear this name. However, in Poland at least, it was often true that tavern-owners and innkeepers were Jewish, so that the name is identified with Jews more than anyone else.

As of 1990 there were 826 Kreczmer's in Poland (68 of them living in the province of Poznan), as opposed to 180 Kretschmer's; by comparison, there were 23,521 Kaczmarczyks, 59,403 Kaczmarek's, 2,297 Karczmarczyks, etc. So among Poles, names from the native form of the word are extremely common; names from the German or Yiddish forms are less so, but still far from rare.


JURGELIONIS

… I wanted to see if you had any information on the surname Jurgelionus (or maybe Jurgelionis). The name was "Americanized" to Yurgeles during the Ellis Island experience occuring approximately 1914-1918. Due to the fear of ethnicity that pervaded that time period I have no records, oral or written, as to family history.

Actually this is a Lithuanian name, originally Jurgelionis. It comes from the first name Jurga, which is the Lithuanian form of "George," and the suffixes just mean "son of," so the name means "son of George" or "son of little George." This may seem odd, but actually it's not at all rare to see Polish and Lithuanian names confused, because for a long time Poland and Lithuania were united as one country, the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania, and the people and languages mixed to some extent. You have ethnic Poles living in what is now Lithuania (my wife's relatives, for instance, live near Alytus), and you have ethnic Lithuanians living in what is now Poland. People from western Europe and America are generally not aware that there is even a difference between Poles and Lithuanians (but for God's sake never tell a Pole or a Lithuanian that! despite their past history together, they don't always get along too well).

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Jurgelionus or Jurgeliois, but there were 21 Polish citizens named Jurgielanis, all living in the province of Suwałki in northeast Poland, near the border with Lithuania; and there were 491 Poles named Jurgiel, which is just a Polish rendering of Lithuanian Jurgelis.


RADWAŃSKI

… I am just beginning to explore a long time interest in family heraldry. I would appreciate any info you might have on the surname of Radwanski. Thank you.

Radwański comes from the ancient Polish first name Radwan, which is also the name of a coat of arms. This is thought to come from the old Polish verb radować, "to make glad, cause to rejoice." As of 1990 there were 3,832 Radwański's in Poland, living in large numbers all over the country, so I'm afraid without specific data on a given family it's impossible to tell from the name alone where they came from.

Since this is the name of a Polish coat of arms, and at least some Radwanski's probably got their surname because they bore those arms, it might be worth your while to contact Leonard J. Suligowski, 218A N. Henry St. Brooklyn, NY 11222. He doesn't do genealogical research -- he's a heraldic artist, Director of Heraldry for the Polish Nobility Association Foundation, and editor of the PNAF Journal "White Eagle." He has an extensive library of armorials and other books on Polish heraldry, and he charges very reasonable fees to search his library for info on noble families. If he finds material, it would probably be more detailed than anything I have at my disposal. So I really think your best bet would be to contact him and see if there's any way to connect your family with any noble Radwański's.


KORNASZEWSKI

… If I can impose on you to do the same for my mothers maiden name I would doubly appreciate it. Her maiden name was Kornaszewski.

Structurally speaking, this name is an adjective (like all names ending in -ewski or -owski), meaning literally "of, from, related to the __ of Kornasz," where that blank is filled in with a term obvious enough that it didn't need to be expressed -- usually either "kin" or "place." So in practice the name started as meaning either "kin of Kornasz" or "one from Kornaszew or Kornaszewo or Kornaszewice," and those place names, in turn, mean "the place of Kornasz." We see the name Kornasz used in records at least as far back as 1558, and its origin is unclear. It may derive either from the root korn-, "humble, obedient, submissive," or from the word kornik, "bark beetle"; but it might also come from the old word kornel, a kind of chalcedony, or a nickname for someone with the name Korneliusz, "Cornelius." The Polish experts feel there isn't enough data available to say for sure which of these origins applies; my gut feeling is that it probably was a first name meaning "the humble one," or else the nickname for Cornelius.

I can't find any place named Kornaszew (or Kornaszewo, etc.), but that seems the most likely origin of this surname. Surnames developed centuries ago, and since then the places they referred to could have disappeared, changed names, and so on; so quite often we can't find the places they referred to, unless we get lucky and dig up mention of them in old records. So I think the surname probably meant "person from Kornaszew/o," but possibly also it just meant "Kornasz's kin."

As of 1990 there were 548 Polish citizens named Kornaszewski, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (197) and Radom (62), and smaller numbers in many other provinces. There doesn't appear to be any one area the name's associated with, although obviously there is a concentration of people by this name in the area near Warsaw.


FURLIT -- RYDZIŃSKI -- SMOLAK -- ZDROJOWY

… Could you tell me if you have anything for the following surnames: Rydzinski, Smolak, Furlit, Zdrojowy.

I'm afraid my sources come up empty on Furlit -- there was no one by that name in Poland as of 1990 (there were 9 Furlik's, all in Krosno province), and none of my books mention it. The only thing that comes to mind is the similarity in sound to an Italian name I've heard, Forlitti -- some Italians did settle in Poland, so it's not out of the question that the name is Italian. But that's strictly a guess, and the question arises whether the name has been mangled and was originally spelled some other way.

Rydziński probably comes from the root rydz, "agaric, a kind of edible mushroom," or perhaps from rydzy, "reddish-gold color." One of those is surely the ultimate root, but this particular surname probably referred to a place with a name from those roots, such as Rydzyna in Leszno province, Rydzynki in Piotrkow province, Rydzyno in Płock province, Rydzyny in Lodz province, etc. As you can see, there are several villages with names that could generate this surname, meaning "one from Rydzyn, Rydzyno, etc." I note that as of 1990 there were 388 Polish citizens named Rydziński; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (49) and Torun (200), with a few scattered in other provinces. That distribution pattern makes me wonder if this name is primarily associated with the Kashubs, a Slavic ethnic group related to the Poles but with their own culture and language who live in northwestern Poland. You might wish to investigate this possible link by visiting the Webpage http://feefhs.org/kana.

Smolak comes from the root smola, "tar, pitch," or from smolić, "to dirty"; presumably a smolak was a fellow who worked with tar or pitch, or else a rather dirty fellow. This is a common name, as of 1990 there were 2,295 Smolak's in Poland. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Gdansk 100, Katowice 130, Lublin 453, Wroclaw 150, and Warsaw 347, with smaller numbers all over the country.

Zdrojowy surely comes from the root zdrój, "spring, spa," or from numerous places named Zdrój or Zdroje from that root, presumably because they were near springs. This particular name is rather rare, as of 1990 there were only 118 Zdrojowy's in Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Kalisz (45) and Poznan (30) and a few scattered in other provinces. Other names from the same root are more common, e. g. Zdrojewski (3,825).

By the way, I don't have further details on where people by these names live, such as first names and addresses -- the source I use has only a breakdown by province for each name, nothing else.


IKALEWICZ -- SYTNIK

… I would like to find the family history of Ikalewicz and Sytnik.

Someone appears to be misleading people about what I can do -- I'm getting more and more notes like this. I can't tell anyone anything about their family history. I can only address the question of what a name means and where in Poland it is most common. Sometimes that information provides people with a clue or lead they can follow in tracing their roots, sometimes it doesn't.

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Ikalewicz, but it's not unusual to find that a name that did once exist has since died out, possibly because the whole family emigrated. The sufix -ewicz means "son of," so the name means "son of Ikała or Ikało." As of 1990 there were 14 Polish citizens named Ikała, all living in the province of Pila in northwestern Poland; there were also 4 named Ikało, all living in the province of Koszalin, in the same general area. I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses, I'm afraid this data is all I have. Names ending in –ała or –ało usually mean one who constantly exhibited the action or feature denoted by the root that starts the name, in this case ik-. This appears to come from the rather rare verb ikać, "to hiccup," so Ikala or Ikalo probably started as a name for someone who hiccuped often, and Ikalewicz would refer to his son.

Sytnik appears to come from the root syty, "well-fed, sated," or the related word sytny, "nourishing, satiating." Presumably the name referred to one who appeared well-fed, perhaps a bit on the chubby side. As of 1990 there were 172 Sytnik's in Poland; larger numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice (17), Krakow (10), Legnica (18), Leszno (13), Opole (20), Szczecin (20), Wroclaw (31), and there were fewer than 10 in several other provinces. Those provinces with the largest numbers are all in western Poland, in the area formerly ruled by Germany, and especially in southwestern Poland, the region known as Silesia.


SZACH

… I would appreciate any info you could provide on Szach. I noticed on your website that you have a similar name, Szoch. Anyway, the word means "check" in Polish (from chess). The story I hear from my relatives is that it was changed to "Shark" when my grandfather entered the army in the U.S., and the recruiter couldn't pronounce his name, so he changed it.

Well, that sort of change did happen all the time, so it's certainly plausible that's how the name changed form.

None of my sources discuss the origin of this name, at least as used by Christians -- Jews used it partly because of the connection with Polish szachy and German Schach, "chess," and partly because it was short for a Hebrew expression meaning "from the lips of the priest," and was the pen name of a prominent Vilnius rabbi. When used by Christians, it probably comes from Persian shah, either directly or by way of the term for chess, which originated from the Persian expression shah mat, "the king is dead."

But I don't think we can rule out another possible derivation: a Polish nickname for first names beginning with Sa- or Sza-. Poles loved to take the first couple of sounds of popular names, drop the rest, and add suffixes (sort of like English "Teddy" from "Theodore"). There are some Polish or Ukrainian names such as Szawel ("Saul") and Sawa that could, theoretically, undergo this treatment and come out as Szach. I don't have any proof this happened, but it happened to so many other names (Jan -> Jach, Stanislaw -> Stach) that I think it has to be considered possible. And to be honest, the Polish a and o sound so much alike that they often switch, so Szach could sometimes be a variant of Szoch... Still, the sound of the expression szach is so connected with "shah" or "chess" that I think that's the association most likely to be relevant in the majority of cases.

As of 1990 there were 218 Polish citizens named Szach, scattered in small numbers all over Poland, so there's no one area we can point to and say, "Ah, that's where all the Szach's came from."


PRZYBYŁKO

… I'm wondering if I could ask you about a Polish spelling. Our grandfather's sister supposedly married someone with the last name: Pryzybylko(taken from a personal phone book, not official documents). However, no such spelled name is listed in the US phone directories, etc. Some people, not relatives, have suggested the correct name could be Przybylko.(without the 3rd letter Y). There about about 30 instances of this name in the US. However, my husband cautions me that this could be a different family. What do you think? We are trying to find this missing sister.

I applaud your husband for not jumping to conclusions -- it's always best to start by assuming the form of the name as given is right until you obtain convincing evidence to the contrary. But I think in this case it is justifiable to conclude the name was originally Przybyłko (using ł to stand for the Polish l with a slash through it). In Polish the combination Pryzy- is very unusual, whereas Przy- is extremely common. As of 1990 there were 547 Polish citizens named Przybyłko, but not a one named Pryzybyłko. And I have seen exactly this sort of thing happen before, where an extra -y- sneaks in. So I really think you can assume the name was Przybyłko before non-Poles got confused and added one y too many... The name, by the way, comes from a root meaning "arrive," and usually was given to a family that had recently arrived in the village, that is, a newcomer. You find it all over Poland, but it's more common in southcentral and southeastern Poland, especially Tarnow province, where 113 Przybyłko's lived as of 1990.


BENINDA – BIENIENDA

… My family name is Beninda, My grandfather, Stanley, arrived in America approx. 1912. My father was not sure, but he thought the name might of had an extra I in it. I am trying to research my roots and could any suggestions on the correct spelling.

This is a pretty rare name, no matter how you spell it. As of 1990 there was no on in Poland with the spelling Beninda. There were 23 named Bienienda, all living in Olsztyn province in northcentral Poland; there were 21 named Bienięda (ę is how we represent on-line the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced much like en), living in the provinces of Gorzow (1), Lublin (2), Radom (9), Tarnobrzeg (9); and 3 named Bienięnda, all in Tarnobrzeg province in southeastern Poland. All these names are pronounced more or less the same way, like "ben-YEN-dah" or "byen-YEN-dah," and we often see variation in spelling with Ben- vs. Bien- and -ęda vs. -enda. In other words, it is perfectly correct to regard all these as mere spelling variants of the same name.

This name is thought by Polish experts to derive from the first name Benedykt, in English "Benedict." Bienięda is regarded as the "standard" spelling, and the name appears in Polish legal records (in archaic spellings) as far back as 1222, so it's an old name. The Poles often formed nicknames or short forms of names by taking the first 2 or 3 letters, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes (somewhat like "Teddy" from "Theodore" in English), so the progression is Benedkyt -> Ben- or Bien- + -ęda = Bienięda or Benięda. It started as a sort of nickname or short name like "Benny" in English, and "Benny" or "son of Ben" is about the closest we can come to a translation. It is very common to see such first names or nicknames become established as surnames.


JASZCZ

… I was interested in getting information about the surname Jaszcz.

It could have developed two different ways. It could derive from the term jaszcz, which is a name for a kind of fish, the ruff (Acerina cernua). It can also have developed as a short form or nickname from first names beginning with Ja-, such as Jan (John), Jakub (Jacob), etc., kind of like "Jack" in English. In the case of any individual family, it's difficult to say for sure which of these two derivations applies, whether from the fish or the first name. As of 1990 there were 748 Polish citizens named Jaszcz, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (113) in northwestern Poland, and Lublin (139) and Tarnow (118) provinces in southeastern Poland.


DOLEŻEK -- FURDAL

… My grandfather's last name is Dolezek, the "z" accented with a dot over it. I would love to find some insight as to the origin of this name. I vaguely remember hearing the mention that my great-grandparent(s) came from either Czechoslowakia or one of the countries bordering Poland in a similar fashion. Also, the surname Furdal appears in my family tree.

The key question here is whether the name is Polish or Czech. The name Doleżek (I use ż to stand for the z with a dot over it) is a legitimate Polish name, coming from the verb doleżeć meaning "to lie in bed for quite a while, especially while recovering from illness." So if the name appears among ethnic Poles, that's the likely origin. But there's no question we see such names as Dolezal and Dolezek among Czechs. They could come from that same root -- many roots are similar in Czech and Polish -- but I note there is also a term in Czech dolezat', "to fawn on someone." I don't have enough info on Czech names to say for sure which is applicable here, or whether the ż vs. z is a key factor in the meaning. I can say Doleżek is not a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were only 126 Polish citizens by that name. They lived scattered all over the country, with no real concentration in any one part of Poland.

I couldn't find anything definitive on the derivation of Furdal in my sources, but it seems likely it comes from the terms furda and furdal, both meaning essentially "trifle, bagatelle, thing of little value or weight" and seen in both Polish and Ukrainian. As of 1990 there were 317 Polish citizens named Furdal, living scattered all over Poland but with the largest number by far, 171, living in the province of Lublin in southeastern Poland.


SOLAK

… As a school project I have been asked to research the meaning and geographic origin of my surname Solak. Through much research I have only been able to determine that the name possibly originated in western Poland due to the -ak suffix. Also, that sol in Latin means "sun". I also have found the city of Nowa Sol located in western Poland and wondered if it had any significance. I would appreciate any assistance you can give. Not only for the purpose of school, but now my personal interest to know the meaning of my surname has been peaked.

Well, the -ak suffix appears in names all over Poland, not just the western part. Some Polish names come from Latin roots, but generally they derive from Slavic roots, and the root sol has to do with "salt" in the Slavic languages, so that's the root to concentrate on.

Basically Solak isn't a very specific name, it means something like "the salt guy," and just indicates that people gave someone this name because of a perceived connection with salt. Perhaps he helped mine salt -- this was a major occupation in medieval Poland -- or he may have sold salt, or he may have used a lot of salt in his food. The name just isn't specific enough to let us define the connection more precisely. The term solarz was used more often for a salt dealer, and Solarz is a common Polish surname (there used to be a congressman by that name, I'm not sure if he's still in office), so I tend to doubt solak would be used in that sense. I think we have to be satisfied with "salt guy, someone connected with salt."

One other possible kind of derivation should be mentioned: from names of places. There is a river Sola in Poland (its name appears to refer to the fact that its water was salty), and Solak could have developed in some cases as indicating that a person or family lived near or on that river. The surname might also have referred to people who came from villages such as Sól in Bielsko-Biala province or Sól in Zamosc province. The village you found, Nowa Sól ("new salt") in Zielona Gora province, might also have some Solak's who came from there.

It's frustrating that we can't pin down one derivation and say with certainty "This it it." But with many names we find that there isn't just one derivation, a specific name could have developed several different ways; and without detailed information on an individual family's past there's no way to know which derivation applies to it. In other words, we can't assume all the Solak's in Poland got that name the same way, or even that they're all part of the same family; there could easily be numerous separate families that ended up with this name independently. And since surnames typically were established during the 15th-18th centuries, in many cases there are no records that go back far enough to settle the matter.

Solak is a moderately common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 1,718 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, but the largest concentration is in the provinces of Tarnow (598) and Zamosc (208) in southeastern Poland. So the name can be found anywhere in Poland, but is particularly common in the southeastern part.

A final note: the root sol- means "salt" in most Slavic languages, and the suffix -ak is not used only by Poles, so we can't say this name has to be exclusively Polish. You could run into it among Czechs and Russians and Ukrainians, too, and possibly others. I have no data on that. But I do think it probably is Polish in most cases.


CYMBAL -- HAJDER -- KONIECZNY -- SYMBAL -- SZCZECH

… I have read with interest the facts you have provided on many polish surnames, and wonder if you have any information on some from my family, all of which I find to be fairly rare: Konieczny, Szczech, Symbal (or symbol), and Haider.

Haider is probably a variant of Hajder (since they're pronounced the same), and derives from the German name Heider, one who lived on a Heide (heath, moor). A great many ethnic Germans have always lived in Poland, so it's not unusual to come across names from German borne by people living in Poland. As of 1990 there were 576 Poles who used the spelling Hajder, and it is most common in western Poland, long ruled by the Germans, especially in the provinces of Katowice (104), Poznan (82), and Rzeszow (52), with smaller numbers in many other provinces. The spelling Haider is rare in modern Poland, only 24 Poles used that form, living in the provinces of Białystok (2), Katowice (15), and Opole (7). In older spellings i and j were often switched, so it seems likely more folks used to spell the name Haider but have since come to use the standard spelling Hajder, which is more in line with modern Polish phonetics. Unfortunately I don't have access to more data such as the first names and addresses of any of those Haider's and Hajder's, what I've given here is all I have.

According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, Konieczny comes from an archaic word konieczny meaning "final, last," from the root koniec, "end." Now, centuries after names were established, it can be difficult to determine exactly why a particular name got linked with a particular family; often the most we can do is explain what the basic root meant, and speculate on the reason that root became a name. Perhaps Konieczny referred to someone who lived at the end of a road or on the outskirts of a village, something like that. It is a fairly common name in Poland, where as of 1990 there were 14,126 Polish citizens by this name.

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland with the name Symbal or Symbol, and none of my sources mention this name. An educated guess is that it is a variant of Cymbal (pronounced TSYIM-ball); it is not unusual to see the ts sound of Polish c symplified to an a sound in some areas. Cymbal appears to come from the word cymbal, "dulcimer; also (referring to people) a dolt." So the name may have started as a nickname for someone who played the dulcimer, or else someone who got the slang nickname meaning "dolt, blockhead."

Szczech is thought to come from the archaic word szczesny, "happy, fortunate," which was also sometimes used as a first name, a Polish equivalent of Latin Felix, which meant the same thing. Poles often formed nicknames or short forms of first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes such as -ch; so the closest we can come to a "translation" of this name is "Felix, son of Felix," or "the happy one, the fortunate one." As of 1990 there were 1,571 Poles by this name.


EWERTOWSKI -- KŁOSOWSKI

… It would be most helpful if you could supply me with any information on Ewertowski and Klosowski.

Names ending in -owski usually refer to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name, or sometimes a person with a similar name. Thus Kłosowski, for instance -- ł stands for the Polish slashed l, pronounced like our w -- means literally "of, from, pertaining to the __ of Kłos(es)," where that blank can be filled in with some word that was obvious enough it didn't need to be spelled out. Usually the missing word is "kin" or "place," so that the surname would mean, in effect, "kin of Kłos(es)" or "one from the place of Kłos(es)." Kłos could be a first name, but in this case I doubt it is (unless it's Kloss, a German variant of Klaus from Niklaus, "Nicholas") -- the basic root involved here is probably kłos, "ear of corn."

Thus Kłosowski probably referred to a family's coming from of several villages named Kłosy or Kłosów or Kłosowo. As I say, there are several villages with those names, so without further data on a specific family it's impossible to say which of them the surname refers to in a given instance. The surname breaks down as meaning "one from Kłosów or Kłosy or Kłosowo," and that in turn breaks down as "place of the corn." Kłosowski is a pretty common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 6,697 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country.

Similarly, Ewertowski might mean "one from Ewertów or Ewertowo," but I can find no mention of any such places in my sources. It's possible there have been places named Ewertów or Ewertowo and they've since been renamed or disappeared, but in this case "kin of Ewert" makes as much sense as "one from the place of Ewert." Ewert is an old German personal name, which also appears in such forms as Evert and Evers. There have always been large numbers of Germans living in Poland, so it's not unusual to see surnames derived from German names. As of 1990 there were 1,229 Ewertowski's living in Poland. They could be found all over the country, but the largest numbers were in the provinces of Olsztyn (317), Pila (109) and Torun (279), in north central and northwestern Poland.


MAZIARSKI -- MAZIARZ -- MAZIERZ -- MAZIERSKI

… If you should have the time, would you please tell me anything you can find related to the surname Mazierski.

Mazierski is almost certainly from the noun mazierz, which is a variant of maziarz, "tar-burner." As such it is one of many surnames derived from terms for occupations. I must admit I don't know that much about this occupation, which was somehow involved with burning wood to distill pitch or tar -- but I see mention of it all the time in old sources, so up until a century or two ago it was clearly a pretty common way to earn a living. The standard form, as I say, is maziarz, and the adjectival form is maziarski, which means literally "of, from, pertaining to the tar-burner"; as a surname it would mean basically "kin of the tar-burner." We also see the surname Mazierz and the associated adjectival form Mazierski, and these would be the same name, it's just pronounced and spelled slightly differently in some areas, perhaps much as Americans write "color" and Brits write "colour."

In some cases the surname might also refer to origin in a place named something like Maziarze (for instance, there is a village by that name in Radom province). In other words, Maziarski or Mazierski might also have started as meaning "one from Maziarze" -- and obviously a place by that name was so called because of a connection with tar-burners. So either way the surname refers to that occupation -- in one case it would mean "kin of the tar-burner," in the other case "one from the place of the tar-burner."

As of 1990 there were 146 Polish citizens named Mazierski, scattered in numerous provinces; the largest single concentration, 55, was in the province of Wloclawek in central Poland. Just for contrast, there were 4 Poles named Mazierz, as opposed to 349 named Maziarski, 4,691 named Maziarz, and 656 named Maziarczyk ("son of the tar-burner").


BISKUPIAK

… Any thoughts on the surname Biskupiak? Would it relate to a particular area of Poland?

The name comes from biskup, "bishop," and just means a person in some way connected with a bishop. It might refer to kin of a bishop, a bishop's servant, or people who worked on lands belonging to a bishop -- until a few centuries ago, bishops and higher clergy owned large estates, so this isn't as far-fetched or unusual as it might sound. Often the -iak suffix means "son of," but it seems rather unlikely, in a devoutly Catholic country like Poland, that anyone would go around with a name meaning "son of a bishop" (although Lord knows there probably were a few of those around!). But the name doesn't really allow us to define the relationship more precisely -- it just means "bishop's person" in one way or another.

As of 1990 there were 215 Polish citizens named Biskupiak; they were scattered all over the country. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (53) in northwestern Poland, Lodz (28) in central Poland, and Wroclaw (23) in south central Poland. So you can't really say there's any one part of the country with which this name is generally associated.


FINK -- HONIGMAN

… My father’s mother's name was Fink, but that probably is too common to pursue. My mother's last name was Honigman, her family came from Lodz. Any hints on that?

Fink is indeed a very common name. Despite the relocation of millions of ethnic Germans from Poland at the end of World War II, there are still 373 Fink's and 210 Finke's in Poland. The name comes from the German word for "finch," and I would imagine there are thousands of people by that name in Germany. It is borne by Christians and Jews, and probably was applied originally either to a bird-catcher, someone who lived in an area with many finches, or someone with a bright, cheerful disposition that reminded people of a finch.

Honigman is also German, obviously, and means literally "honey man." It might have referred to a person who kept bees or produced or sold honey, or even symbolically to a person with a sweet personality. In some parts of Germany "Honig" can also come from variants of the name Heinrich, "Henry," according to German name experts. As of 1990 there was no one named Honigman in Germany, but there were 8 named Honikman, which is just a Polish phonetic rendering (Honigman actually is pronounced in German as if it were written Honikman); they lived in the provinces of Gorzow (7) and Lodz (1).


GURGUL

… I realized that I do not know the origin of my surname Gurgul. All I know that it is not uncommon in the province of Tarnow, and that there is an area in Austria called Ober-gurgle. If you have any other info regarding this name it would be greatly appreciated.

When I did my book on Polish surnames, this one gave me a lot of trouble. I couldn't ignore it -- as of 1990 there were 1,980 Polish citizens named Gurgul, so it's rather common. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice (165), Krakow (333), Nowy Sacz (180), and Tarnów (750) -- plus smaller numbers in many other provinces -- so it is most common in south central and southeastern Poland. But I could find no clear info on the name's derivation.

I noted in my book that there is a Polish term gurgole meaning "women's clothing," and that might be connected; but that strikes me as weak and far-fetched, although it is possible a person who made or sold women's clothes might end up with such a name. The name does sound rather similar to German Görgel, which is a sort of nickname from Georg, "George" -- thus it might have started as a nickname for a fellow named George or his son. German-derived names are not at all uncommon among Poles, because many Germans have lived in Poland over the centuries.

A book I recently acquired on names in southcentral Poland may shed some light. It discusses the name Gorgol, saying it comes from gorgolić, "to grumble, mumble, complain," and adds "compare Gurgol," a name found in a Polish legal record from 1415. It is not far-fetched to say Gurgul could very well come from that root.

I suspect we may be talking about two different names here: a German name from Georg and a Polish name from the word for "mumble, complain." There were and are a lot of Germans in the areas where Gurgul is common in Poland, including Tarnow province, so I can't really say one is more likely than the other. But the Polish author who wrote the book I just mentioned feels the connection with gorgolić is relevant for Poles, and I am inclined to agree. And either "George" or "mumble" strikes me as more likely than a connection with gurgole, "women's clothing" (although with surnames you never say "never").


MOSZCZYŃSKI

… A long time ago I was able to look through a copy of your Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings book and got totally lost on one family name. I have found out a bit about most of my husband’s Polish ancestors, but his great-grandfathers surname Moszczynski sure is a tough one to figure out.

I know what you mean. Some names are nice and clear-cut, like Kowalski from kowal, "smith," or Jankowski from Janków or Jankowo, "the place of Janek." Other names are a lot harder, and Moszczynski is one of them. In Polish it is Moszczyński (accent over the n), pronounced roughly like "mosh-CHIN-skee."

There is no short, sweet answer, but I can say that in most cases it comes from the name of a place, such as Mosty or Moszczenica or Moszczenno, and (naturally) there are several villages with those names. So this is a surname that you really can't get anywhere with until you have pretty good info on exactly where the family comes from. Then if you look at that area and find a place with a name like Moszczenica or Moszcze, chances are that's the place... In most cases these place names came from nicknames of first names, especially Moszko, which can from Mojżesz (Moses) or from some very old pagan first names such as Mojsław. Often what happened is a person named Moszko (or something similar) founded a village or owned an estate, and it came to be named after him, then people who came from there were named after it, and that's how you go from Mojsław or Mojżesz -> Moszko -> Moszczenica -> Moszczyński. As you can see, it's not exactly an obvious progression, but that's one way this name could get started.

… Also....you mention another book which has a breakdown of where people are living in Poland based on their surname. I would appreciate if you would be willing to share that data with me on the Moszczynski surname. It might aid me in my research if I actually knew where any lived. Unfortunately my husbands grandfather is old and no longer remembers where his father comes from.

As of 1990 there were 3,253 Polish citizens named Moszczyński. There are people by that name in virtually every province of Poland, but here is a list of the provinces with larger numbers (more than 100): Warsaw (383), Ciechanow (178), Gdansk (162), Katowice (118), Lodz (342), Olsztyn (458), Płock (125), Torun (130), Wloclawek (119), and Wroclaw (105). So the name is most common in north central and central Poland, but not to the extent that it really gives much in the way of solid leads. I know that may be disappointing, but it's typical -- I'd estimate no more than 10% of Polish surnames, and maybe only 5%, give any kind of clue to their origin that's even minimally helpful. Most of the time they mean either "son of Joe" or "kin of the carpenter" or "guy from X" where there are 25 places named X.

I realize this probably isn't a lot of help, but maybe somewhere along the line it will do you some good. I hope so, and I wish you the best of luck with your research.


HAŁAS

… I would like any information on the Halas surname. I have encountered a brick wall with this polish family of mine. any information would be appreciated.

The name is spelled Hałas in Polish -- the ł is how we represent on-line the Polish l with a line through it, which is pronounced like our w, so that this name sounds like "HAH-wass." It comes from the Polish word hałas, which means "noise, outcry." It's a fairly common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 3,853 Polish citizens named Hałas, another 1,242 named Hałasa, and even 348 named Chałas (the ch is pronounced the same as h in Polish, so you could see the name spelled either way). Poles named Hałas lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (342), Katowice (344), Lublin (315), Poznan (49), and Zamosc (274). Unfortunately, that just means there's no one part of the country the name is associated with, a Hałas could come from anywhere in Poland.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission. 


KOCHNIARCZYK

… I am interested in researching my family name, Kochniarczyk, specifically in the year 1910 when my grandfather, Marek, immigrated to the US, to be followed by my grandmother Regina Kochniarczyk, nee Pajdzik, and my father Stanley who was 2 years old in 1912....

This is a difficult name, because I can't find any mention of it in my sources. I can tell you that as of 1990 there were 55 Polish citizens named Kochniarczyk; they lived in the provinces of Kielce (6), Krakow (9), Krosno (5), Legnica (1), Lodz (1), Nowy Sacz (8), Poznan (8), Sieradz (2), Tarnów (9), Walbrzych (6). This means it is a fairly rare name, and is not limited to just one area -- Poznan province is in western Poland, Nowy Sacz and Krakow in south central Poland, Tarnów and Krosno in southeastern Poland. (I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, all I have is this breakdown of where they lived by province).

As for the meaning, one part is clear -- the suffix -czyk means "son of," so it is a patronymic name, "son of X." The question is, what does that X, Kochniar-, mean? I suspect it is an unusual word meaning "cook"; kuchnia means "kitchen" in Polish, Koch means "cook" in German, and the suffix -iarz in Polish is a lot like -er in English, and that suggests kochniarz could be a dialect or rare word meaning "cooker" = "one who cooks." So my gut feeling is that this surname means "son of the cook." But I can't find any sources that confirm this, and unless I come across something more definite, it will have to remain an educated guess.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission. 


TAŃSKI

… Are you familiar with the name Tansky. We believe it's from Warsaw.

In Polish this would be spelled Tański, with ń representing the Polish n with an accent over it, which modifies the a to where it sounds almost like "TINE-skee." As of 1990 there were 2,553 Polish citizens by this name, including 237 living in the province of Warsaw; other provinces with large numbers of Tański's were Ciechanow (359), Olsztyn (376), and Ostrołęka (359). It seems to be most common in the northeastern part of Poland, although you find people by this name all over the country.

The derivation of this name is hard to pin down, because there are several possibilities. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut lists a number of names beginning with Tan- in his book, saying they generally come from either tani, "cheap, inexpensive," or taniec, "dance." But another source mentions that it can come from an old first name Tan, seen in old compound names such as Tanard and Tancar. Another expert mentions it as possibly coming from a short form or nickname of Kajetan, a rare first name in this country but not so rare in Europe -- compare French Gaetan, Italian Gaetano, etc.

And, to be honest, we can't rule out origin from nicknames for Antoni (Anthony) and Atanazy (Athanasius) -- it's not rare at all for Poles to take just one syllable of a popular first name, drop the rest, and make a new name or nickname by adding suffixes (sort of like "Teddy" in English from "Edward" or "Theodore"). I think the link with "Anthony" is especially worth considering, even though none of my sources mention it, because northeastern Poland often has a tendency to use the sound of a instead of o -- partly due to Belarusian and Lithuanian influence -- and in Lithuanian Tanas is a nickname for Antanas, the Lith. form of "Anthony." With all the Tański's in northeastern Poland, it's quite possible some of them got the name by way of Tanas or something simiar.

So we can't really say it comes only from this word or that word -- it's quite possible the surname Tański developed from all of these sources. In one family's case, it might come from the root meaning "cheap," in another's from a nickname (kind of like "Tony" in English), and so on.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission. 


BURDZEL -- STRZAŁKOWSKI

… My ggrandfather's surname was Burdzel. I am assured he was Polish but I can find nothing about this name at all. Do you have any information on this name?

As of 1990 there were 225 Polish citizens named Burdzel, of whom by far the greatest number, 148, lived in the province of Tarnobrzeg in southeastern Poland. There were smaller numbers scattered in other provinces, including 23 more in Rzeszów province (also in SE Poland), but Tarnobrzeg is definitely the area where the name seems to be concentrated. There were also 14 named Burdziel in Rzeszów province, and that is probably a variant form of the same name. Unfortunately I don't have access to further info on the Burdzel's and Burdziel's, such as first names or addresses.

As for the derivation, well, often these are a bit embarrassing -- the most obvious link here is with burdel, "brothel." However, that doesn't have to be the origin of this name. Although the primary meaning of burdel (from Latin borda or bordelum, compare Italian bordello) is "brothel," the term also came to be used for any old, decrepit building, so the name might have started as a nickname for someone who lived in or owned such a building. According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, names like this can also come from the root burda, "brawl, disturbance of the peace." As such, Burdel or Burdzel may well have originated as a nickname for someone who raised hell from time to time. Not necessary a complimentary name, but better than "brothel"!

My grandmother's maiden name was Strzalkowski. I can find nothing on this name either. Can you help?

Names ending in X-owski usually break down as meaning "of, from, pertaining to the _ of X," where that blank is filled in with an understood word, usually "kin" or "place." In this case the X is the root strzałka, "arrow," or strzel-, "to shoot." So while this surname might refer to the kin of a person who made or used arrows, or who had a nickname Strzałka or Strzałek because he was a great archer or was straight and thin as an arrow, the probable origin in most cases was "one who comes from Strzałki or Strzałków or Strzałkowo," and those place names, in turn, would mean "place of the arrows." Perhaps these places were known for producing or using arrows -- all we can really be sure of is that a name like this got started because of some connection with arrows. In most cases, I would think it simply meant "person from Strzałki/Strzałków/Strzałkowo." Unfortunately there are several places by those names, so without further information there's no way to know which one this surname referred to in any one family's case. There probably isn't one big Strzałkowski family, but rather numerous ones who got the name independently because they came from a community with one of the names mentioned.

This is a fairly common surname, as of 1990 there were 4,455 Strzałkowski's in Poland. The name is found all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (758), Białystok (162), Bydgoszcz (171), Lodz (162), Płock (233), and Radom (342). The inescapable conclusion is that the name is not concentrated in any one area, a Strzałkowski family could come from almost anywhere in Poland. (By the way, I'd estimate this is true in at least 90% of all cases -- most Polish surnames just don't offer much in the way of specific clues. Burdzel is an exception in that it is primarily associated with one province.)

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission. 


BUBCZYK

… I was looking for the name Bubczyk and the meaning. It was my grandfathers surname. He came from Plevnik Russia/Poland County of Przasnysz now in the Province of Ostrołęka, Poland. Thank you very much. Christian Bubczyk chef3@juno.com.

The suffix -czyk usually means "son of," and the root bub-, according to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, is buba, "something that frightens," also used in the meaning "idiot." So I'm afraid the choices are "son of the scary guy, son of the scared guy," or else "son of the idiot." I know these aren't very complimentary, but I can assure you, compared to some names I've seen, they're not bad. I just had to tell a lady her great-grandfather's name appears to come from a word for "brothel"!

Bubczyk is not a very common name, as of 1990 there were 73 Polish citizens by that name. They lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 9, Chelm 38, Gdansk 1, Katowice 4, Lublin 18, Zamosc 3. While it's a bit surprising none show up in Ostrołęka province, this is not unusual -- I often find a particular name doesn't show up in the area where you'd expect it, perhaps because the name died out in Poland after a lot of the family emigrated, or due to subsequent wars and other hardships. I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as the first names and addresses of those Bubczyk's, what I've given here is all I have.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission. 


BRZESZCZAK -- LERYCH

… First, my father's family name is Lerych, and in the family tradition it originated somewhere in Germany. The odd thing is that apparently my great-grandfather used (or had a document issued in) the name Relich (which, I believe, is actually not an uncommon German name). I suppose that the two names could have been reversed phonetically, but I can't tell which is the original one since I do not have any documents predating the Lerych version. (Could it be French: Le Riche?).

I agree that in terms of linguistic and ethnic origin, Lerych is probably German -- it doesn't really "sound" Polish, if you know what I mean. By phonetics, we would expect this to come from something like Lerich or Lehrich in German. Looking through my sources to see if any of them mention this name, I find that Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon mentions Lerich under the entry for Lerch, "lark," a name typically applied to catchers and sellers of birds (but names from birds' names were also given to people whose clothes reminded them of a lark's coloring, or whose voices or movements somehow reminded them of a lark). Alexander Beider's book on Surnames of Jews in the Kingdom of Poland also cites this derivation, lerych from German Lerch, Lerche. (That does not mean the name is necessarily Jewish, many such names were used by both Christians and Jews.)

But I note that Bahlow also mentions in regard to the family name Lerich a possible connection with the German root ler, "swamp." If that is applicable, Lerich/Lerych might refer not to the lark but to the place where a family lived, somewhere near swamplands -- there are many, many names with this meaning, in German and Polish. I think the "lark" derivation is the more likely in most cases, but we cannot rule out the possibility that in some cases it originated as a name for someone living in or near swampy land.

As I'm sure you know, it is not at all unusual to find German-derived names among Poles (there are thousands of Hoffman's in Poland today). Large numbers of Germans have always lived in Poland; in the Middle Ages, many Germans fleeing war and economic distress in their homeland were invited to come settle in Poland as skilled farmers and craftsmen. And of course after Poland was partitioned many Germans came uninvited to what is now northern western Poland, to take over the best land and promote the German vision of finding living space [Lebensraum] in land east of Germany (often referred to as the Drang nach Osten, "drive to the east"]).

As for Relich vs. Lerich, it is not uncommon to see the switch from L-R to R-L in names. A recent issue of Rodziny, the Journal of the Polish Genealogical Society of America, has an article in which a member discusses the names Rolbiecki vs. Lorbiecki, a name found mostly among the Kaszubs, and concludes they are the same name, with Lorbiecki being the preferred form among Kaszubs and Rolbiecki more commonly used by Poles. So the variation between Lerich and Relich is not such an odd phenomenon; it still seems to me Lerich/Lerych is the original form, with Relich a later, dialectal variant.

As of 1990 there were only 13 Poles with the name Lerych, living in the provinces of Warsaw (10) and Skierniewice (3). There were also 6 Leryk's, which is surely a variant of the same name, all living in Skierniewice province. (Unfortunately I do not have access to further data such as first names and addresses, what I have given here is all I have.) This compares with 417 Lerka's, 81 Lerek's, and 489 Lerch's. The amazing thing is that there are 234 Relich's, living in many different provinces but with larger numbers in those of Gorzow (25), Jelenia Gora (20), Katowice (34), Opole (25), and Zielona Gora (44) -- all provinces in western Poland or Silesia. Without much more extensive research I cannot say how many of them bear that name as a variant of the name Lerych and how many derive Relich from something like religa, "old horse, ungainly fellow."

This is a very interesting subject, and if you would like to learn more, perhaps it would be worthwhile to contact the Pracownia Antroponimiczna, Instytut Jezyka Polskiego, ul. Straszewskiego 27, 31-113 KRAKOW. They generally charge no more than $10-20 to check their sources and see if they have information on the origin of a specific name. These are the best experts I know of on such matters, and while they can correspond in English, with you that will not be necessary! I think there's a very good chance they would be able to add to what I've said and give you some good insights on the origin of this name and the exact relationship between it and Relich.

Second, my mother's family name is Brzeszczak. Again, the family tradition maintains the first Brzeszczak was a knight who came to Poland from Hungary with king Louis and settled down there. The family, as far as I can tell, has always lived in the general vicinity of Warsaw. I suppose "Brzeszczak" could be derived from brzeszczot or the city of Brzesc (Brest), as well as any Hungarian name like Berescaky (?) or something.

As of 1990 there were 260 Brzeszczak's in Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (113), Czestochowa (80), and Radom (22), and a few in several other provinces. According to Prof. Kazimierz Rymut's Nazwiska Polaków, Brzeszczak comes ultimately from the root brzost, "birch tree," but we would usually expect it to have started as meaning "one from Brześć or Brzesko" or some similar place name, and there are quite a few places with names that qualify (all eventually deriving from brzost), so that the surname would mean "one from the place of birches."

I don't have any information on specific families, so I cannot comment on your family tradition, except to say it is certainly feasible. There are many such cases documented. It might be the knight came from Hungary, where he had a name that sounded similar and was modified by Poles to Brzeszczak, or he might have borne another name entirely and later took the name Brzeszcak because he owned an estate or town or village named Brześć or Brzesko. But it would take someone with sources on Polish heraldry to tell you that. You might contact Leonard Suligowski, 218A N. Henry St., Brooklyn, NY 11222, a heraldic artist with an extensive library on Polish nobility. He might be able to find in his sources some information that would shed light on the family's origin.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission. 


PIEKARCZYK

… I was wondering if you have any information on the name Piekarczyk... That was my Grandfather's name before it was changed to Baker. I was told that Piekarczyk translates to "little baker", but I don't know if that is true.

Yes, that is the literal meaning of Piekarczyk. The word piekarz is Polish for "baker," and the suffix -czyk can mean "little one," and in surnames it often means "son of." There is a term piekarczyk, "boy working at a bakery," according to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut. So "little baker" is a fairly literal translation, and as a surname Piekarczyk probably was applied to a baker's son or assistant -- to a considerable extent the two meanings would overlap, since you'd generally expect the baker's son to help his father in the family business.

This is a moderately common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 2,876 Polish citizens named Piekarczyk. When you think about the meaning of the name, it could be used anywhere they spoke Polish and bakers had sons, i.e., anywhere in Poland, and in fact there are Piekarczyk's living all over the country. However the largest numbers of people by this name lived in southcentral and southeastern Poland, in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (148), Katowice (572), Krakow (278), Lublin (275), Nowy Sacz (195), and Tarnów (260). I wish the data would let us be more specific, because that's a lot of area to search, but that's what the numbers say, and I pass it on in case it might prove useful. (I don't have any further details such as first names and addresses, just a total of how many there were by any specific name and a breakdown of how many lived in each province).

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission. 


KRAKOWSKI

… In using some of the information you provide your viewers, I noticed that no record of my last name - Krakowski - could be found. Originally, the name was Krakovski or Krakovsky but it apparently changed over time. What can you tell me about it?

Well, as of 1990 there were over 800,000 surnames borne by Poles, to say nothing of those that have died out in Poland after families emigrated. Now granted, a lot of those names are minor variants -- kind of like "Johnson" vs. "Jonsson" in English -- and most of them are very rare. But the sheer numbers may explain why there are still a few (a few thousand, in fact) I haven't gotten to yet! That's why I post my E-mail address there, so folks can contact me for info on the many that aren't listed.

The original spelling of your name would be Krakowski -- Poles don't use the letter v, they use w for that sound, but obviously when emigrants left Poland the spelling could easily change to Krakovski or Krakovsky to better fit English phonetic values and make the name easier to pronounce. This is one of the more common names, as of 1990 there were 6,062 Polish citizens named Krakowski. They lived all over the country, with larger numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (285), Bydgoszcz (260), Kalisz (315), Katowice (309), Konin (218), Lodz (281), Poznan (317), Sieradz (254), Suwałki (252), and Tarnow (556). It's interesting that the name is connected with the city of Krakow, yet Krakow province only has 124 Krakowski's -- this is the kind of little twist you run into all the time with names.

Names ending in -ski are adjectival in origin, they mean "of, from, pertaining to, connected with X" where X is the first part of the name. In this case, the surname would mean little more than "person from Kraków or Krakowo or Krakowek" -- in other words, more than one place name could generate this surname. However, in the overwhelming majority of cases we'd expect Krakowski to mean "one from Kraków," referring to the major city in southcentral Poland. But some Krakowski's might come not from that Kraków, but from the one in Sieradz province, or even possibly from Krakowek in Bydgoszcz province. That's one of the big problems with surnames derived from place names -- in Poland very few place names are unique. If there's one, there's usually at least 3 or 4, sometimes 30 or 40! So as I say, you'd expect most Krakowski's got that name because they came from the famous Kraków -- but there are probably exceptions, a few who go back to those other places.

Kraków/Krakowo/Krakowek actually all mean more or less the same thing, "the [place] of Krak." Krak was the name of the legendary founder of Kraków, but there were probably other folks named Krak, he's just the only one we ever heard of. The root of the name is krak, "crow." So Krakowski literally breaks down to "one from Kraków/Krakowo/Krakowek" = "one from the place of Krak" or "one from the place of the crow."

Unfortunately, this name is so common and is found in so many parts of Poland that it doesn't offer you too much in the way of solid leads or clues to help trace the family. This is actually true of probably 90-95% of Polish surnames -- they just don't tell you enough to help much. I know folks are sometimes disappointed I can't offer them more assistance, but that's just the way it is.

 Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.   


Surname 7 Combined File

OLENDER - OLĘDER

...My maiden surname is Olander, formerly Olender. I know nothing about my heritage except that my Great-Grandparents immigrated from Poland years ago. I am interested to learn as much as I can about this name. 

In Polish there is a letter written as an E with a tail under it; this letter is pronounced much line "en" in most cases. Almost any time you see a Polish name with an "EN" preceding a consonant, it will usually turn out that it can also be spelled in Polish with this letter Ę. So the name you're asking about is Olender or Olęder, pronounced roughly "oh-LEND-air." 

This name comes from German Holländer, "Dutchman," and is a term used by Poles to refer to the German and Dutch colonists who came to settle in Poland over the centuries, often at the express invitation of nobles who valued their skills in crafts and farming and wanted them to settle on their land and increase their revenues. If you pronounce German Holländer (roughly "HOLE-end-air") you can hear the similarity in sound; Olender or Olęder is just a slightly Polonized version of this term. In fact, there are a number of places in Poland called "Olędry" because they started out as settlements founded by these Germans and Dutch immigrants. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,961 Polish citizens named Olender. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 227, Katowice 279, Lublin 262, Olsztyn 303, Ostrołęka 486, and Suwałki 244. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data just shows that the name is found all over Poland, but is particularly common in northeastern and eastern Poland. 

There were also 80 Poles named Olęder, with the largest number living in the provinces of Chelm (14), Gdansk (12), Radom (16), and Siedlce (21). This is a bit unusual in that when you have names that can be spelled with either Ę or EN, the form with Ę is usually the more common or standard form. I was actually a little surprised to see that Olender is so much more common than Olęder; I would have expected it to be the other way around. But with surnames, you always have surprises!

If you'd like to learn a little more about these Holländers, there is a translation of an article on the subject at this Web address:

../../history/dutch_populace.htm 


DZIATKOWICZ

... please see if you can find information on the name dziatkowicz.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 65 Polish citizens named Dziatkowicz. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 22, Nowy Sacz 26, Zamosc 10. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data indicates the name is scattered in small numbers all over Poland, since Bydgoszcz is in the northwest, Nowy Sacz is in southcentral Poland, and Zamosc is in southeastern Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it is a variant of the name Dziadkowicz; that name is actually pronounced as if the second D were a T, so that it can easily be spelled phonetically Dziatkowicz; both names sound like "jot-KO-vich," so that Dziadkowicz and Dziatkowicz are essentially just different ways of spelling the same name. 

The suffix -owicz means "son of," so the name means literally "son of Dziatko or Dziadko." That, in turn, is an old first name (which has also come to be used as a surname) coming from the root dziadek, "grandfather, old man"; it may have been used in its literal meaning, but it may also have come from nicknames or short forms of ancient Polish pagan names such as Dziadumil, "dear to grandfather," or Milodziad, "dear grandfather." The suffix -ek or -ko is diminutive, meaning "little" or "son of." 

So Dziatkowicz can be interpreted two ways: 1) as "son of the little grandfather" or "son of grandfather's son," or 2) as "son of Dziatko," which in turn can be a name meaning "little grandfather, son of grandfather," but can also be a nickname from those ancient names I referred to earlier, Dziadumil, Milodziad, or something similar.


PONIEWAZ

... I would like to have information on the Poniewaz surname as what it may mean and where in Poland that it was found.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 417 Polish citizens named Ponieważ. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Ciechanow 36, Lublin 198, Olsztyn 32; the rest were scattered in small numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data indicates the name is found all over Poland but is concentrated in two areas, one near Lublin in east central Poland, the other in the area north of Warsaw.

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "pon-YEAH-vosh." None of my sources discuss its origin, and it's a little perplexing. There is a word in Polish ponieważ, and it seems likely a surname that matches it so closely must be connected with it. But the word is a conjunction, meaning "inasmuch as, although." I suppose it's possible the surname began as a kind of nickname making fun of someone who was always using that word, but that seems pretty tenuous. 

It's also possible the surname comes from the archaic verb ponieważyc', "to hold in contempt," and referred to a person with a snotty attitude, or one who was regarded with contempt. I also cannot rule out some connection with the Lithuanian city of Panevezys, which is called Poniewież in Polish. So I have several possibilities, but none of them is obviously correct; and without more facts, I can't establish which is right.

Since I don't have the time or resources to do more detailed research on names, all I can give is "quick and dirty" analysis. If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.

If you do write the Instytut, I would be very interested in hearing what they have to say, so I can include the information in the next edition of my book on Polish surnames, and thus pass it on to others interested in this name.


WEYNA

... Hello, My name is Dianne Weyna and this is supposed to be a polish last name. I have heard my name means "war" in polish and have also met a person named Wojna in which he also said his name meant "war". I am wondering if you have ever heard of this name before in Poland, or any ideas as to what it derivation is. I did not find this name on your list. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 277 Polish citizens named Weyna. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 175, and Gdansk 24; the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. There were also 26 Poles who spelled the name Wejna, all living somewhere in the province of Bydgoszcz. This data tells us the name is found primarily in northwestern Poland, especially in the area around Bydgoszcz.

This name is a hard one to figure, because there are too many possibilities. The Polish word for "war" is wojna, pronounced "VOY-nah," whereas Weyna is pronounced "VAY-nah." Could it be a variant from that word for "war"? Yes, it's possible. But it seems a little too much of a stretch to accept without some sort of corroboration.

It might also come from the Polish word wejna, which means roughly "Look at that!" It could have started as a nickname for one who was always going around saying that. Also possible is derivation from German Wein, "wine," or Weiner, "waggoner, carter." All these are possible, but I have no information that would let me pin it down and say "This is the right one in your case." Only extensive detail on the family's background would shed light on the historical, linguistic, social, and geographic context in which the name developed and came to be associated with your family.

That's all I can tell you with resources at hand. If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.


BUDA

... The family name is Buda. my parents both came from the town of Scherps (sp). any information on family name would be appreciated.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1424. It can come from several sources. Names beginning Bud- can be short forms of ancient pagan names such as Budzislaw, where the first part comes from the root budz-, "to build." Or such names can come from that root, meaning something along the lines of "one who builds." 

But most likely this name comes directly from the noun buda, "stall, shed." It might refer to a worker who went into the forest, set up a small shed to work from, and proceeded to clear land or cut down trees for other uses, or some other kind of laborer who worked out of a shed. It can also refer to one who set up a small stall in a marketplace and sold goods out of it. I can't be sure, but that's probably what the name refers to here, an ancestor who sold inexpensive goods from a stall in the marketplace.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,444 Polish citizens named Buda. They lived all over Poland, with no really helpful concentration in any one area. 

"Scherps" may be a phonetic spelling of the Polish town Sierpc, which sounds like "sherpts." Sierpc is perhaps 30 km. or so north of the city of Płock, a little north of the center of the country. If so, this name is unusually rare in that area -- as of 1990 there were only 10 Polish citizens by that name living in the province of Płock. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find them. 


KORZEŃSKI - KORZYŃSKI

... I would greatly appreciate any help with my family name: Korzynski. Apparently, it is rather rare, there are only a few of us here in America, and I can't get any of the remaining older family members to give me any information about our origins except that they think we are from Białystok. Thank you for your help in this matter. Paul.

In Polish the name would be spelled Korzyński. It would be pronounced roughly "ko-ZHIN-skee." Two of my sources give this name as a variant of Korzeński, which comes from the basic root korzeń, "root." The name might just mean "of the root," referring perhaps to one who dealt in roots as a source of food or materials, or to one who lived in an area where roots were especially easy to find. 

But I think more often it would refer to the name of a place, and the place, in turn, got its name because of a perceived connection with roots. Thus my sources mention Korzeński/Korzyński as referring to such places as Korzenna in Grybow district, Korzeń in Gąbin district, and Korzeniec in Warka district. So there isn't just one place the surname might refer to. Only successful genealogical research might enable one to find exactly where in Poland a family by this name came from, and then would shed light on which of the possible places it originally referred to in their particular case.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 287 Polish citizens named Korzyński. They were scattered all over the provinces of Poland, although the largest number, 37, lived in the province of Białystok. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name can come from anywhere in Poland, but if your info suggests a link with Białystok, that is quite plausible. (By the way, the number of Korzeński's in Poland was 188, also widely scattered.)


ARĘDARSKI - ARENDARSKI - HARENDARSKI

... I was wondering if you would be able to help me out with any information on the name Arendarski. I haven't been able to find anything even near it and I am really interested in find out the history of my name.

Polish scholars say this name comes from the noun arendarz, "lease-holder, publican." That term started out meaning "one who leases a property," but since the kind of property most often held in that kind of lease was either a tavern or a mill, the term gradually came to be more closely associated with those properties, especially taverns. So it could refer to one who leased any property, but was especially likely to refer to one who leased a tavern from a nobleman who actually held the title to it (the nobles actually owned most property).

The -ski is adjectival, so that the name means literally "of, from, connected with, pertaining to the lease-holder." In practice it would usually mean either "kin of the lease-holder" or "one from the place of the leaseholder." I can't find any places offhand with names that would fit (such as Arendarz, Arendarze, etc.), so I suspect most of the time, practically speaking, the name would boil down to "kin of the tavern-keeper." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 924 Polish citizens named Arendarski. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice (136) and Kielce (326). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

One last thing I should mention. The noun arendarz has been used in other, slightly different forms, and those forms are reflected in surnames that can be regarded as variants of the basic name Arendarski. Sometimes you see the -en- replaced by the Polish nasal vowel written as an -e- with a tail under it, because that vowel is pronounced much like "en." Sometimes the name also has an initial H stuck onto it. So don't be surprised if you happen to run into variant forms of the name such as Arędarski or Harędarski or Harendarski. Consistent spelling of surnames is a comparatively recent development, and in records you often see names spelled a number of different ways. 


MURDZA

... Would you have any information as to the meaning and origin of the surname Murdza.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 516 Polish citizens named Murdza. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 48, Kielce 40, Krakow 39, Tarnobrzeg 100, and Tarnów 31. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the southeastern and south-central part of the country, in the region Poles call Malopolska, "Little Poland," which used to be ruled by Austria as the western half of the crown land of Galicia.

None of my name sources mention this one, so all I can do is make an educated guess on the meaning. But I notice that murdza is mentioned in an extensive Polish-language dictionary as a variation of murza, a dialect term meaning "dirty, disheveled fellow." Also of interest as possibly relevant are the Ukrainian terms murga, "dirty fellow, black ox, churlish person"; murda, "sheep with black circles around its eyes"; and murza, "dirty-faced child." The common thread in all these cases is some association with blackness or dirt, and that's why I think the Polish dialect term murdza/murza may be relevant -- it would suggest the name started as a nickname for one whose appearance was rather dirty. Not the most complimentary name in the world, I admit; but compared to some Polish names I've seen, it's really not that insulting.


CURYŁO - CZURYŁO - SYRYŁO

... Mr. Hoffman I am running down my Family Line and I seen your Area, maybe you can help? The name is Curylo, father was John Stanley, don't know Granddad or Great-Granddad. Also some of the nom de plumes, I have come across are: Czurylo - Cyrylo - Crylo - Syrylo's. I have been in touch with the only KNOWN Family in Poland, Michalska from Mogilno, e. of Posen. Any info you can get me would be Greatly Appreciated. 

The short answer is, this name means "Cyril," deriving from various forms of that name, from Greek Kyrillos, from a word meaning "of the lord, belonging to the lord" (if you're Catholic and old enough, you may remember the prayer "Kyrie eleison" in the old Latin Mass -- that phrase is actually Greek, and kyrios is Greek for "lord"). This name came into different languages in different forms. In English it's Cyril, in modern Polish it's Cyryl, in modern Ukrainian it's Kyrylo. But in earlier times, before it became standardized in Polish as Cyryl, it also appeared sometimes as Curylo, Czurylo, Kiryl, etc. These forms existed in the Middle Ages, about the time surnames were starting to develop, and came to be used as surnames as well. So the name means basically "kin of Cyril." The various spellings are not unusual, this name has several sounds that are subject to variation in spelling.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,463 Polish citizens named Curyło (the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W). There were 162 named Cyrul, 92 named Cyryl, 2 named Cyryło, and 6783 named Czuryło. They lived all over Poland, so one cannot just look at the name and say, "Oh, a family by that name must have come from this place right here." People by these names could come from almost anywhere, although they're somewhat more likely to come from southeastern Poland and western Ukraine.

You might find interesting the note I've pasted in below, which I recently sent to another researcher looking into the same basic name.


... Working on my mother's ancestry for 6 years now, I found more information and living relatives through the internet, which is still very new to me, than I've found through writing letters etc. Any information you can give me about the name Syrylo or possibly Cyrylo will be a great help to me. It is my mother's maiden name and for years all my leads never amounted to anything.

Without an absolutely certain form of the name, there are limits to the information I can give, and how sure I can be that it's accurate. Syrylo and Cyrylo could be two very different names, of different origins. However, I think it likely Syrylo and Cyrylo are variants of the same basic name, from Cyryl, which is a form of the first name "Cyril." Cyrylo would be pronounced roughly "tsi-RILL-oh," and that initial TS sound can easily be simplified to a plain S. So the most likely derivation of the surname is that it originally was a kind of short way of saying "Cyril's kin." Cyril is an honored name among Slavs because it was Sts. Cyril and his brother Methodius who originally brought Christianity to the Slavs; we see his name used a great deal as a first name among Poles and other Slavs, and any first name could easily give rise to a surname in the way I mentioned, as a kind of short way of referring to a family as "Cyril's kin."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 92 Polish citizens with the surname Cyryl, and 2 named Cyryło (the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W), one living somewhere in Wroclaw province, the other in Tarnów province. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

There were 55 named Syryło, living in the following provinces: Katowice 4, Krakow 2, Przemysl 46, Rzeszow 3. This shows the name is found mainly in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine. This is interesting because Syryło or Cyryło is kind of a hybrid between the Polish form of that first name, Cyryl, and the Ukrainian form, Kyryllo.

As I say, it's possible the name could derive from something else, including the noun syr, "cheese." Without detailed research into the family' past, there's no way to know for sure. But I feel pretty confident the name does in fact come from the first name "Cyril," and most likely indicates origin somewhere in southeastern Poland, or possibly Ukraine.


STASIEŃKO

... Very, very interesting site, I enjoy reading it. Could you tell me how and where the name Stasienko was developed or derived from

Stasieńko, pronounced roughly "stah-SHENK-o," comes from a nickname for the first name Stanisław, which is usually rendered Stanislaus in Latin and English. It comes from ancient Slavic roots (used not just by Poles but also Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, etc.) meaning "be, become" and "fame, glory," so that giving a child this name expressed the parents' hope it would grow up to be famous and glorious. 

Poles and Ukrainians often formed nicknames by taking first names, keeping the first few sounds, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So from Stanislaw they took Sta-, added the suffix -s (with an accent over it), to give the nickname Staś (sounds like "stosh" to English-speakers), which is still a very common nickname for males named Stanisław. Once the name Staś existed, it could have suffixes added to it, and -enko is basically a diminutive, so that Stasienko means something like "little Staś, son of Staś." 

The suffix -enko is used by Poles, but is more often associated with Ukrainians; this surname may have originated among Ukrainians rather than Poles, although that's not absolutely certain. Because Poles ruled Ukraine for a long time, it was often regarded as Polish territory and people from there were called "Poles." That explains why it might be regarded as a Polish surname even if the people bearing it had roots in Ukraine rather than Poland.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 234 Polish citizens named Stasieńko (with an accent over the n). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Przemysl 67, and Wroclaw 64. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data shows us the name is found primarily in southern Poland. It's very possible those 64 Stasienkos in Wroclaw province lived farther east, nearer the Ukrainian border, before World War II, because after that war millions were forced to relocate from east to west. If we had data from before 1939, I strongly suspect you'd see this name mainly in southeastern Poland. But we don't have data from then, and I have no data on how common the name is in Ukraine these days.


CZAPSKI

... I have been directed to address through a relative that is working on a family tree with me. I am trying to located information on my mother's side of the family. Could you please check out for me information and meaning for the name Czapski. It was my mother's maiden name. I'm not sure what area of Poland they originated from. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,577 Polish citizens named Czapski. The name is found all over Poland, with no particular concentration in any one area, so that a family named Czapski could have come from anywhere.

Generally you'd expect this name derives ultimately from the term czapa or czapka, "cap." Czapski just means "of, from, connected with, pertaining to the cap," and thus might have started as a name for one who wore or made caps, or his kin. It might also come from the name of a place where the family lived centuries ago, when surnames were developing, a place with a name beginning Czap-. 

I should add, however, that some sources say the name can refer to places named Czapla and Czaple, which actually come from the noun czapla, "heron." If all went according to the rules, the surname referring to these places should be Czaplski or Czapelski; but apparently sometimes the L got dropped, so that it could sometimes end up as Czapski. In any case, there are too many possibilities to know which place the name refers to in a given instance without detailed research into a given family's background. (This is the case with most Polish surnames referring to the names of places.)


MROZIŃSKI - RADZIŃSKI

... My name is Patricia Sweeney. My maiden name was Radzinsky (Radzinski). My mother's name was Mrozinski. The Mrozinski's came from Warsaw, Poland. Do you have any other information? 

In Polish Radzinski is spelled with an accent over the N; so the name is spelled Radziński and pronounced roughly "raw-JEEN-skee." It refers to the name of a place where the family lived at some point several centuries ago. Unfortunately, due to changes in spelling and pronunciation over the years, the surname could refer to any of several places with different names, such as Radzie and Radzyn and Radzyny. Without detailed info on the family, there is no way to know which place the name refers to in a given instance. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 830 Polish citizens named Radziński. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Mroziński, pronounced roughly "m'raw-ZHEEN-skee," also refers to the name of a place beginning with Mroz-, from the root meaning "frost." The place name would mean something like "the frosty place" or "place of the frosty one," and Mroziński would mean "one from the frosty place or the place of the frosty one." As of 1990 there were 4,083 Poles named Mroziński, and they, too, lived all over Poland, with no concentration in any one area that's any help in tracing a family.


KOLBA, KOŁBA, KOLBE

... My last name is 'Kolba', myself and my family are from Poland. I've heard that this surname is of Austrian origin, though I've been unable to confirm this as there are many Polish people who have this name. However, I've yet to find anyone who is Austrian with this name. Basically, I just want to know whether my name is Polish, Austrian, or whatever. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 251 Polish citizens named Kolba. There was no significant concentration in any one part of Poland, a Kolba could come from anywhere. 

There were 326 more Poles who spelled the name with a slash through the L, and which is pronounced like our "w," so that Kołba would sound like "KO-bah" with a distinct W sound at the end of the first syllable. The largest number, 140, lived in the province of Kielce, with the rest scattered all over. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. There were also 127 Polish citizens by the name Kolbe, scattered all over Poland.

Unfortunately, with many names there is no way to determine the meaning, or even the language of origin, without detailed genealogical research. That's because the same words and names can develop in different languages independently. Thus if Kolba or Kołba is of Polish origin, it would probably come from the noun kolba, which means "anything roughly round in shape, such as a butt end, cob, spadix, flask (used in chemistry, for instance)." But the same word, of completely different origin, was also used an archaic term for "quarrel, fight, tourney, tournament" -- it came from the Czech word kolba. 

Kolba could just as easily be a Polonized spelling of the German name Kolbe, which German name expert Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon defines as "a club used in battle, cudgel"; he adds that in East German and Silesian dialect it can mean "head of hair." Many, many ethnic Germans came to live in Poland over the centuries, so we find names of clear Germanic origin all over Poland, often borne by people who'd punch you out if you suggested they were German!

So this is the problem -- without detailed info on a family's background, there's no way to know if their name came from the word for something rounded, or from the archaic word for "fight, tourney," or from the German word for "cudgel" or "head of hair." The only way to find out is to dig through the oldest records one can find, in hopes of noticing some note somewhere that sheds light on the derivation. If, for instance, the early family members bore German first names or were Protestant, that would tend to support the German derivation. If their names were purely Polish and they themselves were Roman Catholic, that would argue against a connection with the German word and point toward one of the other meanings. 

I should add that there was a Polish saint named Rev. Maksymilian Kolbe (born Rajmund Kolbe), who was martyred at Auschwitz during World War II. He was canonized in 1982 by Pope John Paul II. If you say the name Kolba or Kolbe to most Poles, he is the one they would probably think of immediately. I'm not sure where he was born, but he attended the seminary in Lvov, which is now in Ukraine, and I believe this territory was included in Galicia, the part of the old Polish Commonwealth seized and ruled by Austria from the late 1700's to World War I. He was born in 1894, so one could say with perfect accuracy that he was Austrian, even though he considered himself, and is considered by others, a Pole.

I'm sorry I can't answer your question about the ethnic or linguistic identity of the name, but there's no point pretending to you that the answer's clear when it isn't. It could be of German or Czech or Polish linguistic origin, and there are probably other possibilities I haven't even thought of. As for national identity, in view of the partitioning of Poland and the fact that it was ruled for a long time by Germany, Russia, and Austria, determining even that becomes a challenge.


OLEJNICZAK

Any information about the name Olejniczak?

It is pronounced roughly "oh-lay-NEE-chock," and comes from the archaic term olejnik, "oil container; one who makes or sells or works with oil" (referring to olive oil, sunflower seed oil, etc., rather than petroleum). The -czak suffix means "son of," so the surname means more or less "son of the oilman." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 17,327 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one region.

 

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

MIELAK

… My name is Jason Mielak, and I am inquiring whether you have any information about the meaning or history of the name Mielak. I had ancestors who came over to America at the end of the 19th century from Tarnow, Poland.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 28 Polish citizens named Mielak. They lived in the following provinces: Czestochowa 2, Radom 9, Tarnow 17. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this data does indicate the name is found most often in southeastern Poland, especially near Tarnow. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1425, and comes from the root seen in the verb mleć, "to mill," and the noun mielnik, "miller." The suffix -ak is used as a diminutive to show some close connection with the word it is attached to, so Mielak would probably mean something like "little miller, son of the mill guy." It would be pronounced roughly "M'YELL-ock." 


GRZYB - POPIOŁCZAK

… I am interested in finding out more information about two surnames. The first one is Popolchak.  This was my mother's maiden name. Her mother's maiden name was something like Gryzp, or Gribbe. I've seen it those two ways on two documents: the first (1953), on my mother's Certificate of Age from her church, required for marriage, and the second way (1967), on the death certificate for her brother.  

It's almost certain both of these spellings are mangled forms of the original names, if the names were Polish. Popolchak makes no sense as a Polish name, but is probably a phonetic spelling of Popiołczak, which would be pronounced roughly "pope-YO-chock," with a distinct W sound at the end of the second syllable. (The slashed L pronounced like our W). As for Gryzp or Gribbe, my best guess is that it would be a mangled form of Polish Grzyb, pronounced roughly "g'zhipp" (using "zh" to stand for the sound of "zh" in Zhivago, or the "s" in "measure"). I could be wrong in both cases, but those are the forms that strike me as most likely -- and in cases where folks don't supply me with firm, verified, correct name forms, educated guesses are all I can offer. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 9 Polish citizens named Popiołczak. They lived in the provinces of Katowice, 5, and Legnica, 4, in what is now southwestern Poland, an area long ruled by Germany. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

This name would come from the noun popioł, "ash, cinder." The -czak suffix means "son of, kin of," so the surname probably started out meaning "son of the cinder guy." 

As for Grzyb, it's very simple: it comes from the noun grzyb, meaning "mushroom." As of 1990 there were 11,045 Poles by that name, with large numbers all over Poland. A family by that name could come from anywhere. (There were entries for Gryzp or Gribbe). 


GWIZDOWSKI - ZECMAN

… My paternal grandfather Gwizdowski was born in Gwizdow, Galicia in 1880. I have located two towns of this name in southern Poland that are within 50km of each other. I am guessing that the southern most of these is the one most likely to be within the Galician district at the time.

I have found only a few scattered occurrences of the Gwizdowski surname.  Perhaps a small handful in Poland, another small handful in Germany, Austria and France, and my own family in America along with another Gwizdowski "tribe" in a different state. I wonder if the town of Gwizdow would have derived it's name from the family, or would the family have taken it's name from the town?  Perhaps it is impossible to say? My maternal grandfather Zecman remains the most enigmatic of my ancestors.  All I know is that he claimed to be Russian-Polish on his 1910 Census and 1918 Draft registration.  I believe his wife - my grandmother - was from the area of Pyzdry, about 100km west of Warsaw, and assume that he must be from that area as well.

Generally surnames ending in -owski refer to place names. There are at least four places the surname Gwizdowski could refer to. One no longer insists, a Gwizdów in Miedzno district of Czestochowa province; but it did presumably exist back when surnames were developing, and thus Gwizdowski could have started as a way of referring to one from there. Also there's a Gwizdów in Lezajsk district of Rzeszów province, and also one in Modliborzyce district of Tarnobrzeg province -- I imagine these are the two you found. There was also a Pogwizdów that apparently was once called Gwizdów, but the multi-volume set from which I'm taking this info hasn't gotten up to the P's yet, so I can't tell you more about that. 

As a rule you'd expect the surname Gwizdowski to come from the name of the place. The basic root gwizd- means "to whistle," and one source explains that a place might come to be named Gwizdów because it was located in an area open and bare, so that all you heard there was the whistling of the wind. But apparently some records do show Gwizd as a personal name -- perhaps originally a nickname for one who whistled -- and it's conceivable Gwizdowski could have started as a way of saying "kin of the Whistler." 

I'm afraid only very successful, detailed research into a specific family's history might uncover facts that would establish the exact origin of the surname. As a rule we'd expect names in the form X-owski to mean "one from X," and thus from places with names like X-ów or X-owo or X-y or X-owice. So I would normally figure the surname just referred to a family from one of those places named Gwizdów. But there could be exceptions. Only solid research would settle the matter, one way or the other. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 162 Polish citizens named Gwizdowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 13, Bielsko-Biala 10, Kielce 16, Krakow 30, Legnica 16, Tarnobrzeg 18. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

As of 1990 there was only 1 Pole listed in the Surname Directory named Zecman, living somewhere in Warsaw province -- again, I have no info on exactly where. Names ending in -man are usually of German origin, and I feel fairly certain this is a Polonized spelling of a German name; it certainly sounds German. Exactly what the German name was is hard to say. German Setzmann would be the most likely phonetic equivalent, because that initial S is pronounced like Z, and German TZ is spelled C by Poles; so German Setzmann would be spelled Zecman by Poles. But I can't find any info on that name, and it's not the only possibility. The German name could conceivably have been Sitzmann or Saetzmann or Zetzmann or Zitzmann, etc. There are so many possibilities that the only really good way to find out the original name is in an old record. 

If Setzmann was the original, the root setz- means "set, place, put." A similar Yiddish name, Zetzer, can mean "typesetter, compositor," also "one who puts bread into the oven." So the name might have meant "man who sets or places or puts something." But as I say, there are other possibilities. 


STRĄK - STRONK

… My mother's maiden name is Stronk.  She was told by her mother that the last name was changed here in America, but she didn't know what it was changed from.  All the relatives from my mother's side of the family are deceased.  I can't seem to get any info anywhere on what the previous name could have been.  I am also uncertain as to when the change happened.  I am under the impression that the change happened here in Illinois, US before my grandfather was born, which was about 1900. Can you give me any help?

Without detailed research into the specific family's history, I can't say anything for sure. And I don't do genealogical research, just observations on the origins of names. 

I can say this. If you have reason to believe the family was Polish, the name may originally have been Strąk. The Polish nasal vowel A with a tail under it is pronounced somewhat like "own." Thus Strąk is pronounced roughly like Stronk, and we often see names with Ą also spelled with ON. So it is perfectly plausible Stronk is a phonetic spelling of Polish Strąk

That name is thought to come from the noun strąk, "pea, pod, hull." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,922 Polish citizens named Strąk. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 281, Czestochowa 155, Katowice 182, and Kielce 108. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates the name is found all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one area; a Strąk family could come from anywhere. 

There were also 122 Poles who spelled it Stronk; the largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 19, Czestochowa 20, Katowice 54, and Kielce 13. 


GLISZCZYŃSKI

… What a wonderful thing that you might do this!  I would appreciate any information about my family name:  Currently we use Glisczinski, however, it seems as though my great-grandparents used Gliszczynski or a variation.  From what I have read, does it make sense that the name implies we came from a town named something like Glesno?

There are a couple possible original forms in Polish. One is Hliszczyński, pronounced roughly "glish-CHIN-skee." But Gliściński (accent over the first S and the N) is also quite possible; that name is pronounced roughly "gleesh-CHEEN-skee." Either of these could have been Anglicized into the form you're using; but it seems more likely Gliszczyński is the relevant form in your case. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions both names in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says Gliszczyński comes from the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place with a name such as Gliszcz. He mentions in particular a village Gliszcz, Sicienko district, Bydgoszcz province. Gliszczyński makes perfect sense as meaning "one from Gliszcz." 

He says Gliściński, however, comes from the noun glista, which is a term for a kind of worm, the nema. Thus Gliściński would mean literally "of a glista"; it can also indicate origin in a place called Glista or Gliscin or something similar. 

Without detailed research into a specific family, there's no way to know for sure which derivation is appropriate, or which place the name refers to. I can only supply "quick and dirty" analysis, and leave it to you to do research which will fill in the blanks. With a little luck you'll uncover facts which will establish the correct origin. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 84 Polish citizens named Gliściński. They lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Lodz 29, Olsztyn 13, and Piotrkow 14. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

As for Gliszczyński, there were 1,986 Poles by that name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 306, Gdansk 208, Lodz 108, Piotrkow 137, Slupsk 258, and Wroclaw 216. So this name is found all over Poland, especially western Poland. 

I should add that the names Gliszczyński and Gliściński sound similar, and it is entirely possible they have been confused in some cases. In other words, you may very well find the same family called Gliszczyński in one record, Gliściński in another. Ideally, this shouldn't happen -- they are two distinct names with different pronunciations. But in an imperfect world names are sometimes confused, and it wouldn't surprise me if these were sometimes. 


DZIEWULSKI

 

… Curious if you have any information on Dziewulski surname

The name is pronounced roughly "jeh-VOOL-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,524 Polish citizens named Dziewulski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 478, Chelm 123, Lublin 186, Ostrołęka 151, and Siedlce 482. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it refers to the name of a place where a family so named lived at some point centuries ago. One good candidate is Dziewule near Zbuczyn Poduchowny in former Siedlce province; there may be others, but that's the one Rymut specifically mentions. Certainly "one from Dziewule" makes perfect sense as the original meaning of Dziewulski


KUBIACZYK

… Let me know something about surname Kubiaczyk. How many people live in Poland with that surname? Where? What's origin of it?

It comes ultimately from Kuba, a short form or nickname of the first name Jakub (in English "Jacob"). Most likely this particular surname developed by adding the suffix -yk to Kubiak = Kubiaczyk, meaning "kin of Kubiak, son of Kubiak." That name Kubiak, in turn, meant "son of Kuba (=Jakub), kin of Kuba." So Kubiaczyk means basically "son of Kuba's son" or "kin of Kuba's sons." In other words, all it tells us is that this family had an ancestor named Kuba. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 860 Polish citizens named Kubiaczyk. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Kalisz 86, Katowice 44, Konin 43, Lodz 56, Poznan 214, Sieradz 90, Wroclaw 45. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but tends to be most common in the western part of the country. 


FUJARCZUK - PRYPUTNICKI

… I wonder if you could tell me what these two names mean. I hope they are spelled right because they have been translated by English-speaking Canadians. The names are Fujarchuk and Pryputnicki.  These people were originally from Galicia.

Actually, these names are probably Ukrainian, which makes sense -- the eastern half of Galicia was what is now western Ukraine.

The -chuk suffix (spelled -czuk by Poles) means "son of," and typically appears on names of Eastern Slavic origin (i. e., Belarusian, Russian, or Ukrainian). The term fujara means "piper, one who plays a shepherd's pipe or fife" or, in a transferred sense, "a useless, helpless, ne'er-do-well." So the surname Fujarchuk (or Fujarczuk if spelled by Poles) would mean "son of the piper" or "son of the ne'er-do-well." 

Pryputnicki is definitely Ukrainian, and would refer to the name of a place the family came from at some point centuries ago. It means roughly "one from X" where X is a place name beginning Pryputni-. Only research into a specific family would establish exactly which place this is, as there may be many little villages with names that qualify. 


GLEBA - GŁĘBA - KRYCKA - ANKIEWICZ

… The first is Gleba. At first it seems to be an exact translation of the Polish word for "earth" or "land", but after reading a few entries on your page about "Glembin" it may have originally referred to "cabbage" and could have been twisted to get away from the connotation to "cabbage head". Also, in the English dictionary "gleba" referrs to the soft, fleshy part under a mushroom where the spores grow.  So regardless it seems to either refer to a profession or looks and not a village name. . .would you comment on this further?

There are two different Polish names that must be distinguished. Gleb or Gleba with normal L and normal E and pronounced roughly "GLEH-bah," may come from the term "soil," from Latin glaeba. The root meaning "stalk" or "depths" has a slash through the L and a tail under the E , which means Głęba is pronounced roughly "G'WEM-bah." In some forms it has the nasal A instead, which I indicate as Ą, so that gląb is pronounced roughly "g'womp." 

These are totally different words in Polish, and the difference is crucial. You have to establish which root your name comes from. If your name was originally Gleba with normal L and E, it probably comes from the word for "soil" and the cabbage head and fleshy part of the mushroom has nothing to do with it. 

I consider it likely your name was Gleba, not Głęba, because Głęba is a much, much rarer name. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 774 Polish citizens named Gleba. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Łomża 92, Olsztyn 174, Ostrołęka 179, and Suwałki 95. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates that name is found primarily in northeastern Poland. There were 3 Polish citizens named Głęb, and no data on any named Głęba. So I believe you can concentrate on the "soil" derivation. The exact nature of the connection between a given family and this word is something that could be determined only through detailed genealogical research into that particular family's past. 

… The second is Krycka.  This is a lot less common in the US than Gleba and may have been twisted for easier pronunciation or to get away from bad connotations. It seems to have Ukrainian origin and reading your entries the root "Kriv" means "crooked" and Krzykwa refers to "storm". Is this name related in any way?  I have not discounted that it could refer to a village name. . .would you comment on this?

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it can come from several different roots. It can come from the participle kryty, "covered" (which also means "covered" and "secret" in Ukrainian) or from dialect kryca, "wrought iron," or from the Ukrainian first name Hryts (derived ultimately from the same name we use as "Gregory"), or from the German name Kritz, or even the noun kryczka, a term for "cabbage." I would add that in Ukrainian kritsya means "steel"; and krytka can mean "unmarried woman." So there are a lot of possibilities. Genealogical research into a specific family would be the only hope of finding information that would establish which derivation was applicable in that particular family's case. It's not likely the name would be connected with the roots meaning "crooked" or "storm," however. 

As of 1990 there were 630 Poles named Krycki (pronounced roughly "KRIT-skee"), of which Krycka can be the feminine form. They were scattered all over Poland, with no concentration in any one area. There were also 2,283 Poles named Kryczka, which in some areas could be pronounced and therefore sometimes spelled Krycka ("KRITCH-kah"); they, too, were scattered all over. There were also 16 Poles who spelled the name Kryćka, using the accented C; they lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 2, Katowice 1, Piortkow 8, Radom 5. 

… The last is Ankiewicz. This seems to be the least common of the three in the US and I could find no similar references on your web page.

The suffix -ewicz means "son of," and the first part of the name can come from diminutives of Anna or Jan. So the name means "son of little Anna" or "son of little John." Polish surnames generally come from male rather than female names, so the more likely derivation is "son of John," but we can't rule the other one out completely. As of 1990 there were 707 Polish citizens named Ankiewicz (pronounced roughly "onk-YEAH-vich"). The largest numbers were in the following provinces: Warsaw 41, Ciechanow 121, Gdansk 65, Olsztyn 139, and Torun 58.


MIKOŁAJEWSKI

… I wish to know any Info on the name Mikolajewski. My heritage wasn't taught to me and I wish to build it again for my future children since my brother and I are the only males left to carry the name on.  Thank you for your time.

In Polish the name we call "Nicholas" takes the form Mikołaj. The Polish L with a slash through it, is pronounced like our W, and Mikołaj sounds like "mee-KO-why." 

The suffix -ski is adjectival, meaning "of, from, connected with, pertaining to." The suffix -ew- is possessive. So Mikołajewski, pronounced roughly "mee-ko-why-YEFF-skee," means literally "of, from, connected with, pertaining to the _ of Nicholas." In practice that blank is filled in with something so obvious it doesn't need to be spelled out, usually either "family, kin" or "place." So most times you see Mikołajewski it started out meaning either "kin of Nicholas" or "one from the place of Nicholas." Surnames ending in -owski and -ewski are especially likely to refer to names or places, such as Mikołajew, Mikołajewo, Mikołajewice, sometimes also Mikołajki, Mikołajow, etc. There are a lot of place names this surname can come from, and there are a lot of villages in Poland by those names. 

So all we know from the surname itself is that it means either "kin of Nicholas" or "one from Nicholas's place," and the latter could be any of a large number of places in Poland with names beginning Mikołaj- because of some historical association with a fellow by that name. Only genealogical research into the history of a specific family might uncover facts that would help establish exactly what place the surname refers to in their particular case. This Mikołajewski family might come from here, that one might come from there, and so on. There is no way to tell without tracing each family. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,189 Polish citizens named Mikołajewski. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one place -- which is to be expected, since there are places by those names all over Poland.

 

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.     


SZWEDA - WASIKOWSKI - WĄSIKOWSKI 

… Origin and meaning of my name Szweda and the name of Wasikowski. My granddaughter is doing a genealogy  of her name in school.  

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,554 Polish citizens named Szweda. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 421, Gdansk 838, and Katowice 1,737. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, but is particularly common in southcentral Poland, with another sizable concentration in the northcentral to northwestern part of the country. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun Szwed, "Swede." People from virtually all European countries resettled in Poland over the centuries (and vice versa), and there was a particularly big influx of Swedes in the mid 1600's, when Sweden invaded Poland. So this is not a particularly rare name. It might have originally applied to an actual Swedish immigrant, but I suppose it might also have been used as a nickname for one who looked Swedish, i. e., tall, blond, with a ruddy complexion. The name is pronounced roughly "SHVADE-ah." 

As for Wasikowski, in Polish it is pronounced "vah-she-KOFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the Slownik nazwisk, there were 180 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw, 76, and Szczecin, 39. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it, along with many other surnames beginning Was-, derives from nicknames of first names beginning with Wa-, such as Wawrzyniec (Lawrence), Iwan (John), Wasyl (Basil), etc. Poles often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So they would take Wa- from those first names, drop the rest, add -s, and that gave the nickname Was. Add the suffix -ik and you have a name meaning basically "kin of Was, son of Was, one connected to Was." 

The -owski means "of, from," so this surname just indicates that an ancestor was kin of, or came from a place owned or founded by, a man with a nickname from a first name beginning Wa-. Without detailed research into a specific family's history there's no way to know any more about it. Generally, though, surnames in the form X-owski come from a place name beginning X, so we'd expect this to mean "one from Wasiki or Wasikow or Wasikowo" or some place with a similar name. 

I should add that there is another name in Polish spelled Wąsikowski with a tail under the A. When people by that name came to English-speaking countries, the tail was often just dropped, leaving the name spelled Wasikowski. This name is pronounced roughly "von-shee-KOFF-skee." As of 1990 there were 867 Poles by that name; the largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 169, Bydgoszcz, 152, Krakow 79, Torun 68. It comes from the word wąs, "moustache," and means something like "kin of the guy with the moustache" or "one from the place of the guy with the moustache," i. e., Wąsiki or Wąsików or Wąsikowo, etc. 


GĄGOLA - GĄGOLEWICZ - GONGOLA - GONGOLEWICZ

… I am interested in my mother's maiden name: Gongolewicz. I have "met" online someone who is interested in his family name: Gongola. I understand that -ewicz means "son of".  I hope you can help both of us.

The names in question are usually spelled in Polish Gągola and Gągolewicz, using the nasal vowel written as an A with a tail under it. This letter is usually pronounced much like “own,” or as in French bon, and thus names with that letter are often spelled phonetically with on. But in most cases the standard or "correct" spelling is with the nasal vowel I'm representing as Ą. Thus Gągola is pronounced roughly "gone-GO-lah," and Gągolewicz is "gone-go-LAY-vich." 

The -ewicz suffix does mean "son of," and Gągol- comes from the noun gęga (another nasal vowel, an E with a tail under it, pronounced roughly "en"). That noun means "goose," and a related noun is gągor, a dialect term meaning "gander." So Gągola probably started as a nickname meaning something like "Goosey," and Gągolewicz would have originally referred to the son or kin of one who bore that nickname. "Goosey" sounds rather silly in English, but in Polish it's not necessarily ridiculous. It could be an affectionate nickname for one who tended geese, bred and raised them, lived in an area where there were a lot of geese, sold them, or somehow made a noise or had a way of walking that reminded people of a goose. Nicknames are often very ingenious, and these names developed a long time ago, so there's no way to say exactly what the name signified in a given instance. The most we can do is note what it means and then make plausible suggestions on the nature of the association that caused people to start calling someone by that name. 

I should add, however, that in Polish there are two L's, one normal and one with a slash through it, pronounced like our W. There is also a term gągoł that means "a kind of duck or duck-like bird," Latin name clangula glaucion (apparently the duck called the "golden-eye" in English is a member of this family). So in some instances the surname might refer to a perceived connection between a person and this duck. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), here's how many Polish citizens bore the names Gągol, Gągola, Gągolewicz, Gągoł, Gągoła, Gongola, and Gongolewicz

Gągol: 300; largest numbers in the following provinces: Krakow 50, Lublin 33, Siedlce 33, Slupsk 51
Gągola: 225; largest numbers in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 26, Nowy Sacz 30, Tarnobrzeg 21, Tarnow 42
Gągolewicz: 39, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 3, Elblag 1, Gdansk 13, Lodz 7, Piotrkow 9, Szczecin 6
Gągoł: 302; largest numbers in the provinces of Lublin, 187, and Torun, 22
Gągoła: 0 [this means the name was in the database but data was incomplete, so we don't know how many there were or where they lived -- presumably there was only 1, and the form may well be a misspelling of one of the other forms]
Gongola: 18, living in the following provinces: Krakow 1, Rzeszow 5, Szczecin 1, Tarnobrzeg 11
Gongolewicz: 6, in the following provinces: Białystok 1, Gdansk 4, Lodz 1 

Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

As you can see, it's of some importance to determine the original spelling of the name in Polish. It was probably Gągola, if the numbers are any indication, and thus came from the word for "goose." But it could be a form of Gągoł, in which case the meaning and distribution are different. 


KOZŁOWSKI - ZAWACKI - ZAWADZKI - ZAWASKI

….. Hello I am a 19 year old college student inquiring about the history of my name.  I was the queen of the Polish American Cultural Club last year and have since been looking for information about the origin of my name.  My family name is Zawaski. Any info on this name would be appreciated.  My mother's maiden name was Kozlowski - any info on this name would also be great.

In Polish the name Kozlowski is written with a slash through the L. The surname is pronounced roughly "koz-WOFF-skee." It is one of the most common Polish surnames; as of 1990 there were 72,368 Poles by this name, living in large numbers all over Poland. So we can't point to any one area and say "That's where a Kozłowski family came from"; people by this name could come from anywhere in Poland. 

The name means "one from Kozłowo" or other, similar place names from the root kozioł, "he-goat." In other words, it means literally "of the he-goat," but usually referred to places with names from that root, places named Kozłowo or Kozłów or something similar. The problem is there are a great many places in Poland by those names, so without the kind of detailed background information produced by successful genealogical research, there is no way to know which place the surname refers to in a given instance. 

Zawaski is almost certainly a variant of the name more often spelled Zawadzki or Zawacki. Both those names are pronounced roughly "zah-VOTT-skee." They come from the noun zawada that means "obstacle, impediment," and in archaic usage "fortress," because soldiers often set up fortified positions in places where some natural feature of the land would block the way for enemy armies and make them vulnerable to attack. The surname Zawadzki or Zawacki means "of the zawada," and thus could refer to a person somehow connected with such an obstacle or fortress. 

More likely, however, the name refers to a family's coming from any of a number of places named Zawada or Zawady because of a connection with such an obstacle or fortress. There are literally dozens of places by those names, and the surname could refer to any of them. Only genealogical research into the history of a specific family might enable one to determine which of those places the name refers to in their particular case. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were no Polish citizens named Zawaski, but there were 35,225 named Zawadzki and another 751 named Zawacki. They lived all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one area. So a family by these names could come from almost anywhere in Poland.


BARYCZ - OWCZARZAK 

... I am looking for any information on the surnames Owczarzak or Barycz. Thank You. 

Owczarzak is pronounced roughly "off-CHAH-zhock," and consists of the noun owczarz, "shepherd," plus the diminutive suffix -ak. So it would mean literally "little shepherd," but more often as a surname would be used in the sense of "shepherd's son, shepherd's kin." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,340 Polish citizens named Owczarzak. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 476, Konin 93, Pila 105, Piotrkow 105, Płock 125, and Poznan 861. So this name tends to be most common in central to western Poland. 

As for Barycz, pronounced roughly "BAR-itch," Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1412 and can come from the noun barycz, "marketplace, trading center," or from any of several places named Barycz, or from the personal name Barycz (which would mean basically "son of Bar"), or from a Proto-Slavic root barych that mean "bog, marsh." So there isn't just one possible derivation, but several; it would take detailed research into a specific family' history to find any clues as to which one was applicable in their particular case. 

As of 1990 there were 92 Polish citizens named Barycz, scattered all over Poland but with some concentration in the southcentral provinces of Bielsko-Biala (12) and Krakow (26). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 


BLICHARZ 

... Could you tell me what the name Blicharz might mean? 

According to Rymut's book on Polish surnames, Blicharz and Blecharz are both names coming from the noun blicharz or blecharz. It is a term for an occupation, a "bleacher." A Blicharz family presumably got that name because it had an ancestor who bleached or whitened cloth or clothes. Rymut says it appears in records as early as 1561. By English phonetic values Blicharz would sound kind of like "BLEE-hosh," but the "ch" sound is a bit more guttural than English H, yet less guttural than German "ch" in "Bach." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,446 Polish citizens named Blicharz. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Biala Podlask 136, Lublin 198, Rzeszow 135, Tarnow 170, and Zamosc, 560. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, but is particularly common in the southeastern quarter of the country. 

Blecharz, by contrast, was the name of only 251 Polish citizens, with the largest number, 128, in the province of Krakow, and the rest scattered in small numbers all over Poland, especially southwestern Poland. I'm not positive, but this distribution suggests the word for "bleacher" was pronounced one way (with a short E sound) in southcentral to southwestern Poland, and another way (with the longer EE sound written in Polish as I) in eastern and southeastern Poland. 

Incidentally, "bleacher" is an example of an English word that has come to mean something entirely different from what it once meant. At one time it was used primarily to mean "one who bleaches clothes." These days you never hear this word, but the plural form "bleachers" is common. It means "an often unroofed outdoor grandstand for seating spectators" -- rows of seating, sometimes outside, sometimes in a gymnasium, for people to sit on as they watch a sports event or other activity. Apparently it came to mean that by comparison to the bleaching effect the sun has on linens hanging outside to dry. 


BRONICKI 

... I am trying to learn anything about the name: Bronicki. Do you know anything about its origin or anything else?  

In Polish Bronicki is pronounced roughly "bron-EET-skee." This name would usually refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place with a name beginning Bronic-. If they were noble, they owned an estate there; if they were peasants, they lived and worked there, or had occasion to do business there frequently. This name can also be a variant form of the very similar surnames Broniecki or Bronecki -- names that close were often confused -- in which case places with names beginning Broniec- or Bronec- or even Bronka or Bronki could also be involved. 

There are several places in Poland and the neighboring countries this surname could refer to. Genealogical research is the only way to pin down which one your particular Bronickis came from. If you can locate the area they came from, you can search in that specific area instead of all over eastern Europe. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 758 Polish citizens named Bronicki. There was no one area in which they were concentrated; a Bronicki family could come from practically anywhere. 

I'm afraid the vast majority of Polish surnames just don't give you much in the way of useful clues as to exactly where a given family came from. I estimate fewer than 5% are concentrated in any one area, or have some aspect of their meaning that helps you trace them. 


BROZIŃSKI - BROŻYŃSKI - PIETRAS 

... I am looking for information on the following surnames: Pietras & Brozinska. Any information you could provide on the origins and meanings would be greatly appreciated. These are the names of my paternal grandparents who immigrated to Canada in the early part of the last century. I am attempting to do a family genealogy. Unfortunately, their personal paper were thrown away years ago and I am starting from scratch. 

Pietras, pronounced roughly "P'YET-ross," is a moderately common surname by Polish standards. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 9,007 Polish citizens by that name, as well as another 806 named Pietraś (using the tilde ~ to indicate the accent over the S) and another 1,022 with the similar form Pietrasz (both those names sound roughly like "P'YET-rosh"). All three names come from the first name Piotr, the Polish version of the first name "Peter." They would mean little more than "Peter's kin," indicating that somewhere along the line there was an ancestor named Piotr or Pietr (Peter). As with most surnames derived from popular first names, this one is common all over the country; the name itself gives no clue where a specific family named Pietras would have come from. 

Brozińska is a feminine form of Broziński (accent over the N) -- most Polish names ending in -ski change the ending to -ska when referring to a female. That name is pronounced roughly "bro-ZHEEN-skee." As of 1990 there were 92 Polish citizens by that name. They were scattered all over Poland, with the largest concentration, 43, in the southeastern province of Tarnobrzeg. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

A very similar name, Brożyński (with a dot over the Z and an accent over the N) is pronounced "bro-ZHIN-skee," and is therefore very, very similar in pronunciation. Considering how variable spelling used to be, it is entirely possible you might see the same family called Broziński one time, Brożyński the next. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions both names in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. Broziński most likely comes from a short form of the first name Ambroży, the Polish form of "Ambrose." Brożyński can come from the same origin, or it can come from the noun bróg, "stack, rick, haystack." So the name could mean "kin of Ambrose" or "one from Ambrose's place," or it could mean "one from the place of the haystacks." Only detailed research into a specific family's background might uncover information that would let one establish more; the name itself just doesn't tell us more than that. 


CHWALKIEWICZ - FALK[E] - FALKIEWICZ 

[Posted to Herbarz-L in response to erroneous comments about the origin of the name Falkiewicz] 

In his book Nazwiska Polakow, volume 1 (Instytut Jezyka Polskiego PAN, Krakow, 1999) Kazimierz Rymut lists a number of Polish surnames from the root Chwal-, then comments "z dawnym malopolsko-mazowieckim przejsciem chw- w f-" and proceeds to list a number of surnames beginning Falk-, including Falkiewicz. Thus in Malopolska and in Mazowsze there was long ago a tendency to simplify the consonant cluster chw- in names to f-. Chwalkiewicz/Falkiewicz may be the best known example of this phenomenon, but there are others: Chwailbog vs. Falibog, Chwast vs. Fast, Chwiała vs. Fiała, etc. (Incidentally, a number of different Polish onomasts have noted this tendency of Chw- to simplify to F-, not just Rymut. From what I can tell, it is generally accepted as a proven hypothesis among Polish name scholars.) 

The patronymic Chwalkiewicz would have meant "son of Chwalek or Chwalka or Chwalko." Those names, in  turn, began in most cases as affectionate diminutives of ancient Slavic dithematic names which, in Polish, took the forms Chwalisław (praise-renown), Chwalimir (praise-peace), Chwalibog (praise-god), etc. A name such as Chwalek or Chwalko could also develop directly from the noun chwala, "praise," or the root of the verb chwalić, "to praise," so that Chwalek or Chwalko could have originally meant something like "little praiseworthy one, son of the praiseworthy one" or "little one who praises, son of the one who praises." But in most cases it is thought they began as nicknames or short forms of those ancient names Chwalisław, Chwalimir, etc., just as "Eddie" developed from "Edward" in English by truncation of the original name and addition of a diminutive suffix. 

So it is perfectly appropriate to interpret Falkiewicz as "son of Falek/Falka/Falko = Chwalek/Chwalka/Chwalko." In such cases the name would indicate origin in Malopolska or Mazowsze... Of course it's true a name ending in -ewicz can refer to a place name; that is not out of the question, by any means. But the prime hypothesis in such a case is that the name means what it appears to mean, "son of Falek or Falka or Falko." One should turn to toponyms only if the patronymic derivation proves inapplicable. 

Names origins are seldom as simple as they appear, however, and as wrote in his original question, Falkiewicz could indeed come from a German root. Rymut has an entry for Falk, "od niem[ieckiej] nazw[ej] os[obowej]

Falk(e), ta od śrwniem. [średnio-wysoko-niemieckiego (Middle High German)] falche, 'sokół,' lub od im[ion] słowiańskich na Chwal-." Thus in addition to the link with Chwal-, Falk or Falke can exist as a name of German origin meaning "falcon," much as Sokół can exist as a Slavic name meaning "falcon." Falkiewicz could be an instance where that Germanic name came into use among Slavs, and the patronymic suffix -ewicz was later added to indicate "son of the falcon." While one must be careful about postulating the addition of Slavic suffixes to German roots, there is no question that did happen at times, when people of German descent lived and worked in a Polish linguistic environment. If a German was named Falke and lived among Poles who grew accustomed to his name, his descendants might well come to be called Falkiewicz by his neighbors. 

I don't know on what basis the original questioner says Falkiewicz is of German origin. If he did so on the basis of sound genealogical research, and thus had good reason to make this assumption, we can only accept what he says and proceed from there. But it would be wise to remind ourselves that Falkiewicz cannot be ASSUMED to come from the German name unless one has evidence to that effect. All things being equal, we'd normally expect Falkiewicz to be Polish, a variant of Chwalkiewicz. But if the evidence is there that the name does derive from German Falk- and not Polish Chwalk-, that is certainly a tenable position to take.


DEREŃ - DEREŃSKI 

... I have a question regarding the origin of my maternal grandfather's name.  He traveled with his parents from Poland to the United States around 1896.  The surname he used as an adult was Deren (Daren on a SS form).  One of my aunts said that he may have changed his name as a young man and that the family name was something such as Derensky. Can you shed any light on the origin of this name?

 In Polish the basic name is Dereń, with an accent over the N, pronounced roughly "DARE-rain." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,974 Polish citizens named Dereń. They lived all over Poland, but with the largest numbers in the southern part of the country, especially the provinces of Krosno (191), Opole (313), Rzeszow (156), Tarnobrzeg (281), Tarnow (180), and Walbrzych (331). I'm afraid this doesn't shed too much light, however, on where a specific family by this name might have come from. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun dereń, "dogwood (Cornus mas), dogberry." Thus the name probably started as a nickname for an ancestor whom people associated with the dogwood for some reason. Perhaps he lived in an area where there were a lot of dogwoods. In any case, we can feel sure there was some link that was obvious enough to make the name seem appropriate. 

Dereński is a pretty rare name these days -- as of 1990 there were only 17 Polish citizens by that name. The numbers suggest Dereń should be treated as the main form of the name. But I'd add that you should keep your eyes open for either form. Poles instinctively recognize Dereń and Dereński as closely related names -- one means "dogwood," the other means "of the dogwood." So if a person or family was called Dereń, it would be pretty common to refer to them or their kin also as Dereński, or even Dereniewicz (son of Dereń) or Dereniowski (of the Dereńs). Of all those names only Dereń is very common today. But until the last century or two there wasn't any great emphasis on using the same form of a surname consistently, and in most Polish villages everybody knew everybody else, so there wasn't all that much attention paid to surnames. 

In other words, odd as it seems to us, you might see the same family called Dereń in one record, Dereński in another, Dereniewicz in another, and so on. The Poles all recognized the people involved, and the names were all so closely related that they saw no reason to act like some Prussian screaming "You vill use ze same name every time or ve vill punish you!" That frame of mind was foreign to Poles. They didn't make a big deal out of surname consistency. Thus your Dereń might well have been  called Dereński sometimes. But at least in modern usage Dereń is the main form of the name.

   

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  


DĄBROWSKI - DOBROWSKI - DOMBROWSKI - MARUD - MARUDA - MARUT

... My name is Donna Campbell (nee:  Marud).  I'm curious to know about the last names Marud and Dobrowski.

None of my sources mention the derivation of Marud, but I think there's a pretty good chance it comes from the term maruda, seen in both Polish and Ukrainian and meaning "procrastinator, dawdler, dull (irresolute or tedious) person, grumbler." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 224 Polish citizens named Marud, plus another 233 named Maruda. They lived all over Poland, with no really significant concentration in any one area, although the largest number of both names lived in the southeastern province of Radom (42 Maruds and 37 Marudas). 

The name Marut, borne by 1,754 Polish citizens, may sometimes come from this same word, although it can also have developed from other roots. Marud would be pronounced roughly "MAH-root" (which is why Marut is a plausible alternative spelling), and Maruda would sound more like "mah-ROO-dah." 

Dobrowski, pronounced roughly "dob-ROFF-skee," is a rare name; as of 1990 there were only 18 Polish citizens by that name, scattered all over the country. Dobrowski could come from the names of villages such as Dobrow, Dobrowo, etc., of which there are several. The only way to determine which one a given family was connected with at some point centuries ago would be through genealogical research that focused on exactly what part of the country that particular family came from. 

I should add that Dobrowski could also be a simplified form of the name usually seen as Dombrowski or Dąbrowski, using the Polish nasal vowel written as an A with a tail under it and pronounced usually like "on," but before B or P like "om." In other words, Dąbrowski and Dombrowski are two slightly different ways of spelling the same name, pronounced roughly "dome-BROFF-skee." That could sometimes be simplified by dropping the nasal "om" sound, leaving Dobrowski. So while this name certainly could mean "one from Dobrow or Dobrowo," I can't overlook the possibility that it's a variant of Dąbrowski. That is a very common name, just meaning "one from the place of the oak grove," and both forms of the name are common all over Poland, as are places named Dąbrowa ("oak grove"). 


DOMIN - NIEWIADOMSKI

... Before his immigration from Poland, my great-great-great grandfather's last name was that of Niewiadomski, or Niewiaduemski, (something of that nature), which was changed to "Nevadomski." My grandmother's maiden name is Domin, however I do not know the original variation: she is Polish as well. I haven't the slightest idea what either name means or the family history behind them. If you could make inquiries regarding their meanings, I'd be eternally grateful.

It's highly likely the name was Niewiadomski, which is pronounced roughly "n'yev-yah-DOM-skee," and comes from the adjective niewiadomy, "unknown." Niewiadomski means literally "of the unknown one." It's hard to say exactly what this would mean in a given case, but the name could, for instance, refer to the kin of one about whom his neighbors knew very little. In most villages everyone knew everyone else, so a mystery man who moved into the area might be called the "unknown one," and his descendants might bear this name. Or the name might be given to the kin of a man whose father was unknown, i. e., an illegitimate child, or to the kin of a foundling of unknown parentage. It's hard to say precisely how the name got started, since in different cases it might have gotten started different ways. All we can say for sure is that it means "[kin] of the unknown." 

However, if one did detailed and successful genealogical research on a given Niewiadomski family, one MIGHT find documents that give a clue what the name originally meant. There are no guarantees, but that would be just about the only way to establish exactly how and why this name came to be associated with a given family. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 13,220 Polish citizens named Niewiadomski. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area. Very few Polish surnames give us any useful clue as to exactly where a given family by that name came from, and this is no exception. Families by this name could come from practically anywhere in Poland. 

As for Domin, it is pronounced roughly "DOUGH-meen" (first syllable rhymes with "go"). As of 1990 there were 3,145 Polish citizens by that name, and they, too, lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area. This shows that Domin could be the original name; that is, at least, a legitimate Polish surname. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1403, and began as a short form of the first name Dominik, which comes from Latin dominicus, "of the lord." So all this surname indicates is that an ancestor was named Dominik, or Domin for short. 

The name may have been changed after the family came to America. But if it was, I'm not psychic and I have no way of knowing what it was originally; there are many, many possibilities, including Dominski, Dominiak, Dominiec, Dominik, Dominikowski, Dominiuk, Dumin, Duminski, etc. Only successful genealogical research might uncover documents that would establish what the name originally was. 


DRAZDAUSKAS - DROZDOWSKI

... I am interested in only one document at this point and that is the one of Antonina Drazdauskaite (perfect Lithuanian spelling today_, however I feel perhaps on records then, where she was born, her name is corrupted by Russian or more likely, Polish. The information I know is:

Antonina Deazdauskaite
Father: Juozas Drazdauskas

Actually the name is probably Polish or Belarusian in origin and has been modified to suit Lithuanian linguistic preferences. In other words, it was probably Drozdowski, and Lithuanians changed that to Drazdauskas. The ending -aite simply means that was her maiden name; surnames ending in -us in Lithuanian change to -aite when referring to unmarried females.

Drozdowski is a fairly common name, borne by some 9,476 Polish citizens as of 1990, living all over Poland. It means basically "one from the place of the thrush," referring to any of a number of places named Drozdów, Drozdowo, etc. It is pronounced roughly "droz-DOFF-skee" in Polish. 

Since Polish and Russian have been the languages of record in Lithuania for most of the last three centuries, the name probably would appear in records in either Russian or Polish form. So I would expect it to appear as Drozdowski or, in feminine form, Drozdowska or Drozdowszczanka. I'm afraid I have no idea how to convey the Cyrillic spelling that would be used in Russian. But the good news is that workers in the Archives are used to dealing with name forms like these. They would almost certainly recognize Drazdauskas as a Lithuanian form of Drozdowski, and would recognize the Russian spelling of the name, as well, if they see it. So I'm hopeful that they will be able to give you real assistance in your search. 


GAŁKOWSKI - SZCZEPKOWSKI - SOKOLIŃSKI

... I am trying to help my husband find out about his heritage and family. I would like any info on: Galkowski, Szczepkowski, Sokolinska. Any info appreciated.

Regarding Szczepkowski, Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surname of Poles]. He says it can come from two different roots: 1) that seen in the noun szczep, "tribe, sowing, seedling, log" and szczepa, "chip, sliver"; or 2) the first name Szczepan, "Stephen." Either way, it breaks down as Szczep + -k- + -owski. The -k- is from the diminutive suffix -ek or -ko, and -owski is a suffix meaning "of, from." So the name means either "of, from the X of the little tribe/sowing, etc." or "of, from the X of little Stephen." Usually that X is a word obvious enough it didn't have to be mentioned, either "kin" or "place." 

That's as to the literal meaning and derivation. In practice, most of the time you'd expect Szczepkowski started out meaning "one from Szczepki or Szczepkowo." There are several villages in Poland by those names, which come in turn from the roots mentioned above, and this surname could refer to origin in any of them. If the family was noble, they owned the villages or estates by these names; if they weren't noble, they probably worked the land there. There was a time centuries ago when -ski names were the exclusive property of the nobility, formed from the names of their estates. But since the 1600's such names have come to mean little more than "of, from such-and-such a place." 

As of 1990 there were 2,381 Polish citizens named Szczepkowski. There was no one place or area with which the name is particularly associated, a family named Szczepkowski could have come from virtually anywhere in Poland. 

The surname Galkowski is usually spelled in Polish with a slash through the L. Gałkowski is pronounced roughly "gaw-KOFF-skee." As of 1990 there were 2,529 Polish citizens named by that name. 

As I said, surnames in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. So we'd expect this surname to mean "one from Gałki, or Gałkow, or Gałkowo" -- something like that. There are a number of villages by those names in Poland, and without detailed research into a specific family's past there is no possible way to tell which one they came from. Your research, however, might enable you to do so. 

Sokolińska is simply the feminine form of Sokoliński (accent over the N) and is pronounced roughly "so-ko-LEEN-skee." As of 1990 there were 664 Polish citizens named by that name, living all over Poland with no concentration in any one area. (Incidentally, that's the norm -- I estimate fewer than 5% of all Polish surnames are concentrated in any one area, to the point that a researcher can afford to focus on that area.) 


GOMOKE - GOMOLKA - GOMÓŁKA - GOMUŁKA - GUMUŁKA

... I am doing some genealogy research for my aunt.  She is of Polish decent, and the last name that she is inquiring about is: Gomolka (apparently the "L" within the name had a slash or squiggle through it).  Her family used the spelling Gomoke since they have been in the United States.  I was wondering if you had any information on these names so that I could let her know if I have found anything. 

In Polish this name is spelled with the slashed L and with an accent over the second O. Thus when I spell it Gomółka, that means you'd write it with an accent over the 2nd O and a slash through the L. The accented o sounds like "oo" in "book," and the Ł sounds like our W, so Gomółka  sounds like "go-MOOW-kah." 

You can see how "Gomoke" would be a plausible phonetic spelling of this name for people speaking English, and that probably explains why the spelling was changed. Immigrants often simplified or changed their names to make them easier for Americans to deal with, or to help them "fit in" better and seem less "foreign." 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the basic root seen in the word gomoła, "without corners or edges," but more particularly from the noun gomółka, which can mean "a roundish lump of something soft" but is especially used as a term for a kind of homemade round cheese. Presumably the name began as a nickname for an ancestor whom people associated with this kind of cheese for one reason or another -- perhaps he made this cheese, or was very fond of it, or his shape somehow reminded people of it (I suppose a chubby, round-bodied fellow could conceivably be called this as a humorous nickname). 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,750 Polish citizens named Gomółka. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Biala Podlaska 250, Kalisz 233, Katowice 285, and Nowy Sacz 106. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates that the name is most common in southcentral to southwestern Poland, with another significant concentration in the area near the border of Poland with Belarus and Ukraine. But the name is not concentrated anywhere to the point we can assume a family by that name came from such-and-such a place. Only genealogical research might turn up info that would enable one to say that with certainty. 

One last point: this name also appears sometimes spelled as Gomułka or Gumułka. That's because the Polish accented O is pronounced the same as U, and this sometimes causes names to be spelled phonetically with O or U. So you might see the same family referred to in one record as Gomółka, in another as Gomułka, and in another as Gumułka. Spellings in older records are often very inconsistent, so that almost any phonetically possible spelling may show up. It can be helpful to know this so you don't automatically assume those other spellings are necessarily different families; sometimes they are, but not necessarily always. 


GRUŹLEWSKI

... Does anyone know the meaning of the surname Gruzlewski?

In Polish this name is normally spelled with an accent over the Z, and is pronounced roughly "groozh-LEFF-skee." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the archaic noun gruzla, which mean "ulcer, growth, blister." Gruźlewski means literally "of the ulcer, growth, blister," and presumably began as a name for the kin of someone who had a disfiguring ulcer or growth or blister. 

Names ending in -ewski often come from place names, so that Gruźlewski could also mean "one from Gruźle, Gruźlew, Gruźlewo," etc. But I can't find any places by those names. It's possible they were or are too small to show up on most maps; or the name may have changed over the centuries; or they may have disappeared, or have been swallowed up by other communities. It's impossible to say without knowing exactly where a given family came from and studying the history of that area in detail. So this surname could mean "one from Gruźle/Gruźlew/Gruźlewo," but it may have simply meant "kin of the guy with the big blister." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 358 Polish citizens named Gruźlewski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Ciechanow 29, Gdansk 25, Olsztyn 37, Torun 178; the rest were scattered in tiny numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this data indicates the name is found most often in northcentral Poland. 


JASIEŃSKI - JASIŃSKI - JASHINSKI

... I'm hoping you can help me with the meaning of my surname:  Jashinski.  I've found almost nothing on this or any other spelling of the name.  Would you be so kind as to e-mail me back with whatever you can find?

Since Polish doesn't use the letter combination -sh-, it's immediately clear we're dealing either with a non-Polish name or a name that is Polish but has been Anglicized. Without a lot more info there's no way I can say for sure, but it's reasonable to believe this probably is a slightly modified version of the Polish name JASIŃSKI (an N with an accent over it). It is pronounced roughly "yah-SHEEN-skee." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of  Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 35,545 Polish citizens named Jasiński, living all over the country. The name is not associated with any one part of Poland, a Jasinski could come from practically anywhere. It's also pretty clear there isn't just one huge Jasinski family, but rather a number of separate families that came by the name independently. 

In his book on Polish surnames Prof. Kazimierz Rymut says Jasiński is connected in many cases with the first name Jan (John), or with other first names beginning with Ja- (such as Jakub, Jaromir, etc.). The Jas- comes from nicknames or short forms of Jan, Jakub, etc.; the -in- is a possessive suffix; and -ski is an adjectival ending, meaning "of, from, connected with, pertaining to." So Jasiński breaks down as meaning "one of, belonging to, connected with Jas." It might refer to kin of a fellow with that name, or to people coming from a place owned by such a fellow. 

However, we can't rule out a connection in some cases with the old Polish term jasin, in more modern Polish jasion or jesion, "ash tree," or any of the numerous villages named Jasien, Jasiona, etc. These places could generate the surname Jasieński which could then be simplified to Jasiński. So this connection is also one that must be considered when dealing with this surname. 

Only genealogical research might uncover information that would shed light on exactly how the name came to be associated with a specific family. With one Jasiński family the surname might refer to an ancestor who was a relative of a guy named Jas; with another it might refer to origin in a place named Jasin or Jasien. The name could develop in different ways, so all I can do is give general info on its most basic meaning, and leave it to individual researchers to fill in the details as they discover them. 


KOTŁOWSKI - RODE - TREPPA

...Almost exactly one year ago, on 06-May-2000, you replied to my questions about our great-grandparents names Trepski or Trepki, and Katlowski... Anyhow, these new records still give variations, but not quite so widely different. Our great-grandmother was apparently a Trepp, or Treppa, or Treppe. And very oddly, on three of the birth-baptism records, her last name was consistently shown as Rode! ... Inspection of the LDS films showed many Rode (and some "Rhode") in that area through the years of the films contents, about 1830-1880.  In her records, she was shown first as Trepp etc, then Rode, then I think for the last one or two kids she was again shown with the name Treppe or such.  What is that all about?  Our knowledge of her age, marriage and Kotlowski kids' birthdates strongly indicates that she had never been married before, and that Kotlowski was her only husband.  Although I suppose it would be possible for her to have been married for a year or maybe 2, when she was quite young (under age 18 or 20). 

Actually, it'd be a miracle if there weren't some variation in the records. What you describe is definitely par for the course. 

There's just no way I can tell you what significance that has. People run into this sort of thing all the time, and the explanations can be many and varied. What they have in common is, if you ever do discover what it's all about, you realize there was no way to have predicted it reliably. You might have had a good notion what the explanation was, but the only way to be sure is by finding evidence in the records. And I'm sorry to say in many cases people never do figure out what the heck was going on. 

... Our great-grandfather, as you had suspected was a Kotlowski, although the church also spelled it as Kottlowski (with two "t") and  Kotlewski (with an "e"). Would I be asking too much to ask for your definitions and origins for these (3?) names, as high-lighted above?  Your previous email had touched on Kotlowski, but you had replied mostly in regard to the name Katlowski, with an "a".

Kotłowski (the slashed L is pronounced like our W) is pronounced roughly "cot-WOFF-skee." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], and adds that Kotlewski and Katlewski are both forms also seen of the same name; Poles don't normally double letters, so Kottlowski is probably a German-influenced spelling. All these spellings are well within the bounds of normal variation of name forms. 

According to Rymut this surname, like most ending in -owski and -ewski, refers to the name of a place with which the family was associated at some point centuries ago. One good candidate is Kotlewy, Dobryszyce district of Piotrkow province; but there certainly could be others. The surname could come from almost any place with a name beginning Kotlow- or Kotlew-. Those names, in turn, probably come from the noun kocioł, "boiler, kettle," so that Kotlowski would mean "one from the place of the kettle." 

But that's really a secondary issue; the main point is that this surname probably refers to the name of a place where the family lived long ago. If you'd like to see maps of some of the possible candidates, go to this Website: 

    http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm  

Enter "Kotl" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of various places in Poland with names starting Kotl-. You can skip the ones that don't begin Kotle- or Kotlo- or Kotly-, as those three forms are the only ones likely to generate a name Kotłowski. For each place, click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc. 

This will show you there are several possible places the surname might refer to. All things being equal, we'd expect the one nearest to Gdansk and Oliwa to be the best candidate, but that's making assumptions that prove unjustified. Unfortunately, unless your family was noble and owned an estate at Kotlowo or Kotlewy or whatever, it's unlikely any surviving records go back far enough to let you make a positive connection. Still, it may give you something to go on. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,269 Polish citizens named Kotłowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 1,059, Slupsk 261, Lublin 187, and Torun 98. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this data suggests your Kotłowskis come from the area where the name is most common. 

Trepp, Treppa, and Treppe are all variants of the same basic name. It might be from Polish trepa, "stairstep," or trepy, "clogs." But those spellings suggest German influence, and I'm sure Polish trepa comes from the German noun Treppe anyway -- it means "step, stair." And trepy surely comes from German Trippen, which are clogs, a kind of wooden shoe. So the most likely interpretation is that the family was of German origin -- hardly rare in western Poland! -- and an ancestor was associated with clogs. Perhaps he made them, perhaps he wore them, perhaps there was some other connection less obvious to us today. 

Rode is also a German spelling, sometimes seen as Rhode; in Polish it would be spelled phonetically Roda, and that makes me think this name, too, should be interpreted as German. In German Rode is usually a variation of standard German rot, "red," and thus a Rode was one with red hair. If the name were Polish it would have something to do with the root rod- meaning "birth, family." But if it's consistently spelled Rode, that's a pretty good hint that it was German, and suggests an ancestor was red-haired. 

As of 1990 there were 222 Polish citizens named Trepa (15 in Gdansk province), and 114 named Treppa (104 of whom lived in Gdansk province); there was one named Treppe, also somewhere in Gdansk province. There were 634 named Rode; they lived all over Poland, but the larger numbers were in the provinces of Bydgoszcz, 95; Gdansk, 85; and Katowice, 81. I should add that some 4 million people of German descent fled Poland after World War II to resettle in what was then East Germany, so the stats from 1990 on distribution and frequency of names of German origin are not really all that representative of the situation before World War II.

   

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 


WLAZŁOWSKI

... Please help! I have been wondering about the origin of my surname Wlazlowski and would appreciate any information at all. 

In Polish Wlazlowski would normally be spelled with a slash through the second L. That letter is pronounced like our W, while Polish W is pronounced like our V. So the name sounds like "vloz-WOFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 502 Polish citizens named Wlazłowski. There was no one area in which the name was concentrated; a family by this name could live almost anywhere in Poland. 

The basic root of this name is probably the noun wlazło, which Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut defines as "ubiquitous person, meddler, uninvited guest." So it's possible the surname might mean "kin of the meddler." But most of the time the suffix -owski refers to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago. In other words, it means "one from Wlazłowo" or some similar name beginning Wlazł-. Thus the surname could be interpreted as "one from the place of the meddler."

I can't find any places with names beginning Wlazł- on modern maps, but that's not unusual. Polish surnames often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago.


KOCIENIEWSKI - KOCINIEWSKI - KUBISIAK - KUBISZAK

Last time we analyzed the surname Kocieniewski you thought it might be from the root Kot or even a reference to kitten. However, you also thought it could have been derived from a place name. Since then I have done my homework and found references to a couple of places that start with Kocie nearby. One is a village to the west called Kocien Wielke and another to the north called Kociewie.

The longer I study Polish names, the clearer it becomes that names ending in -ewski usually -- not always, but usually -- derive from names of places. The name Kocieniewski would therefore mean in most cases "one from X" where X is a name something like Kocien or Kocieniew or Kocieniewo. One source that discusses the name Kocieński says Kociński is a spelling variation of that name, so I think you're right -- Kocien- or Kocin- is the same thing, possibly developing because of a spelling error, or even because of a slight difference in the way people pronounced the name. Thus the surname could also refer to places with names beginning Kocin-.

None of my sources discuss this specific name, so I can't pin its derivation down with certainty. But you know the region your ancestors came from, which simplifies things -- we can pay more attention to places somewhere near there, as odds are the family name refers to a place fairly nearby. Kocien Wielki seems to me a very good candidate. As a rule we'd expect that name to yield the surnames Kocienski or Kocinski, but it wouldn't be unusual for Kocieniewski to come from it as well. Literally, Kocieniewski would translate more or less as "of, from the _ of the Kociens." That fits pretty well with Kocien Wielki. But I suggest you keep looking: often if there's a place named X, one finds other places nearby with names in the form X-ewo or X-y, and then surnames such as X-ewski can easily develop from those names. So Kocien might be the right place, or it might point to a smaller place nearby with a name like Kocienie or Kocieniewo.

I wish I could tell you what those place names mean, but I have no information on that. The Polish Language Institute is publishing a series that gives lots of info on the meanings and origins of place names, but so far they've only got as far as the letter I. So it may be another year or two before they get to the K's and I can see what their research indicates about the basic meaning of place names beginning Kocien- or Kocin-.

In addition I read an article in the PGSA Journal that referenced a group of people from centuries ago known as the Kociewacs or something on that order. I can't find anything on the internet about them however. I think you may have even been involved with that article. It even included a map with that name located just to the northwest of my ancestral towns. I have not been able to find that article again. It was from a couple of years ago. 

That's not likely to be relevant. The root of the name would be either Kocien- or Kocin-, and that -n- is an integral part of the name. The other name (I think it was Kociewacy) would have nothing to do with it, except in that it may have come ultimately from the same linguistic root.

I know your book includes Kociniewski but not Kocieniewski. My spelling, Kocieniewski is the older of the two names from my research. I can trace it back to the early to mid 1700's. It seemed like the Kociniewski spelling developed around the early 1800's in an adjacent town. My guess is that it was an error that just stuck, so as to differentiate two distinct branches of the family. I tend to think the two names are related and may try and prove it some day through my research.

As I said, I think you're right. We often see such spelling variants, forms with -in- and -ien-. That's very common, and can have a lot to do with the way people pronounced the names.

Let me know if you have any new opinions on my surname. Also how can I check if there is a coat of arms for my family? As you can see I enjoy doing the research so just point me in the right direction when you get a chance. I am not in any hurry. Just looking for some ideas and hoping to borrow some of your expertise. Thank You.

I can't tell you a thing about coats of arms. But you might be able to learn more if you post a question to the mailing list Herbarz-L. It is frequented by gentlemen with access to various armorials and libraries, and very often they are able to provide some information on specific noble families and their coats of arms.

To subscribe (which costs nothing), send an E-mail message with just the word SUBSCRIBE to this address:

HERBARZ-L-request@rootsweb.com

No one reads this note -- a computer will process it automatically, add you to the mailing list, and send you a brief note explaining procedures. Then you can post a note to the list itself, where it will be read by the members, at this address:

HERBARZ-L@rootsweb.com

I also have another family name not covered in your book, Kubiszak. This was my great grandmother's maiden name. 

That is basically the same name as Kubisiak, and is pronounced almost the same, much like "koo-BEE-shock." The "sh" sound of SZ is a little chunkier than the sound of SI, which is lighter, more hissing, with the tongue arched higher in the mouth. The -ak here is almost certainly a suffix meaning "little, son of," and Kubiś and Kubisz are both nicknames from Jakub. So Kubisiak or Kubiszak would both mean something like "Jake's son, Jake's kin."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4 Polish citizens named Kubiszak, living somewhere in the provinces of Torun. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this suggests Kubiszak is just a rare variant, found in the Torun area, of the more common name Kubisiak.


GOTFRYD

... I am interested in more information than it seems is readily available from here. My grandfather, Joseph Gotfryd, came from the area somewhere around Jaslo in the province of Galicia somewhere around the turn of the century. At that time, of course, the area was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  I have been contacted by Gotfryds in Belgium and in New york, each seeking to know if we are related. The Gotfryds in Belgium seem to be ethnic Poles, while the Gotfryds in New York are jewish, having come from Spain during the Inquisition. They changed their names to Gotfryd. Why? What is the derivation of Gotfryd, which seems Scandinavian/Germanic, and then is a given name?  My parents and I believe that we are ethnically Slavic/Polish and are Roman Catholic.

Gotfryd is a Polish phonetic spelling of a name of Germanic origin, seen in modern German as Gottfried, and in English as Godfrey and Jeffrey. It comes from ancient Germanic roots meaning "god" and "peace," modeled after pagan names that combined two basic words as a kind of prophecy or name of good omen for a child; naming a child Gottfried expressed the parents' hope it would grow up to live in God's peace, or something like that. 

Some of these two-part names, such as Alexander (from Greek, "defender of men") and Polish Stanisław ("may he become famous/glorious) date back to pagan times, and thus have no hint of Christianity about them. I'm not sure if Gottfried is that ancient; if it is, it originally referred to the peace of the gods or peace in the gods. What's certain is that its use in the last thousand years or so would be colored by Christian beliefs, expressing a hope that one would have peace in God. 

However, the basic sentiment expressed is compatible with Jewish beliefs -- Jews have many names that use the Hebrew roots for "God" or "peace," so that Jewish parents might feel this was a suitable vernacular name for their child. I would expect it in most cases to be associated with Christians, but as I say, some Jews might find it appropriate as well -- particularly Jews who did not want to compromise their faith but were willing to use a name that didn't sound so foreign or alien to Christians. Such a name helped them fit in a little better, but was acceptable because the basic idea behind the name's meaning is one Jews would find proper and decent. Many Jews spoke German or Yiddish, which is based on an old dialect of German, so it wasn't unusual for them to use German-sounding names or names similar to those borne by German Christians, so long as the meaning of the name was not offensive to their beliefs.

I cannot tell you why any particular family would change its name to Gotfryd; that requires research into the individual family's background. There could be a thousand reasons for taking this name, and I don't have the time or resources to do the kind of detailed study necessary to shed light on the change.

It's not at all unusual for surnames to come from first names; consider English names like "Edwards" or "Davidson" or "Peters." Usually they started out as a way of saying "kin of so-and-so," and thus Gotfryd might originally have been a way of referring to a family as "Gotfryd's kin." There are a great many names of Polish origin that were formed from first names.

Over the centuries Germans and Poles interacted to a great extent -- millions of Germans settled in Poland to escape war and trouble in Germany, or because they were invited to come settle unused land. So we see German names among Poles and Polish names among Germans; German names are particularly common in western Poland, in the areas seized by Germany during the partitions, and also in southeastern Poland, where many Germans settled over the centuries. Initially German names would feel "foreign" to Poles and we'd see them used only by immigrants from the lands west of Poland; but as time went on many German names were Polonized and came to be used by Poles, such as Henryk (German Heinrich, English Henry). 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 583 Polish citizens named Gotfryd. The largest numbers lived in the southeastern provinces of Tarnów, 165, and Krosno, 79 (which is the province Jaslo was in as of 1990); the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

So the bottom line is, Gotfryd is of Germanic origin, and that particular form is probably most common among descendants of German Christians living among Poles. But it wouldn't be strange to find it among native Poles as well, especially in southeastern Poland, due to the large numbers of Germans who settled there over the centuries. Some German-speaking Jews might also find it an acceptable name because its meaning was compatible with their beliefs and heritage (although many would refuse to use it because it wasn't Jewish enough). It began as a first name, but came to be used as a surname much as many other first names came to be used that way, as a kind of verbal shorthand for "kin of X." There would not be one big Gotfryd family, but rather a number of separate ones that came to use the name independently under different circumstances.


ANIOŁOWSKI

... Hello! I was looking at your website and didn't see any of the names of my relatives from Poland on there. My grandmother's maiden name was Pawłowska, and my last name is Aniołowski. I know Pawłowski is a fairly common name (at least in the Chicago area), but I have not been able to find many other Aniołowskis besides the ones I am related to in Chicago. Do you know what areas of Poland these names are common in, and what they could mean? 

Pawłowski (pronounced roughly "pahv-WOFF-skee") is a very common name. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 52,744 Polish citizens named Pawłowski, living in large numbers all over Poland. So I'm afraid we can't point to any one area and say the name is more common there than elsewhere; families by this name could come from anywhere in Poland.

The name refers to the name of a place the family came from at some point centuries ago, places with names like Pawłów and Pawłowo, which just mean "Paul's place" and were usually named after someone who owned or founded them. The problem is there are a great many places in Poland with names that fit, so the surname doesn't provide any useful clue whatsoever as to where a particular Pawłowski family came from. Only genealogical research might allow one to determine which particular Pawłów or Pawłowo or Pawłowice (etc.) a given family took its name from.

Aniołowski ("on-yo-WOFF-skee") is a little different. As you say, it's much less common. As of 1990 there were 257 Polish citizens named Aniołowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 35, Elblag 37, Gdansk 23, Suwałki 49, and Torun 73. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found mainly in the northcentral and northeastern quarter of Poland. 

This, too, would come from the name of a place, but there are fewer candidates than with Pawłowski. I can find only three places in modern Poland that make sense as possible sources of this name. One is called Aniołów and was in Lodz province (according to the provincial arrangement in force 1975-1998). Another Aniołów is just north of the city of Czestochowa and is apparently part of that city now. There is also a Aniołowo that was in Elblag province. Both these names mean "[place] of the angels" or perhaps "of Angel" if that was used as a first name for one who owned or founded the settlements. 

I should add these aren't necessarily the only candidates. Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc. So in a given case the surname might refer to some other "Angel's place" besides the two I've mentioned. But the geographic distribution suggests chances are very good many, if not most Aniołowskis derive their name from one of these places.

If you'd like to see a map of where Aniołowo is located, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm 

Enter "Aniol" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list showing one place in Poland with a name starting Aniol-, ANIOLOWO, 5408 1936, 142.3 miles NNW of Warsaw. Click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc.

I don't know why that site doesn't show either Aniolow. The one in Lodz province is 5 km. west of Zgierz, and you can see a map of that area by using the same procedure described above to find Zgierz. It will work for Czestochowa, too, although as I say, apparently they don't show the places with names beginning Aniol- on those maps. (You might also use this site to check out how many places there are with names beginning Pawlow-, and you'll understand why Pawłowski is a much more difficult name to deal with!).


BUCZKO - WIELOCH - WIERZCHOWSKI

... Can you translate the following names? I found some similarities in your site, but don't know if the translations are the same: Wierzchowski, Buczko, Wielock.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,263 Polish citizens named Wierzchowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 314, Biala Podlaska 401, Ciechanow 222, Lublin 404, Siedlce 240, Torun 394. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, especially in the east and southeast, but not to the point one can be sure a given family with this name must have come from there -- it could come from anywhere in Poland.

Names in the form X-owski almost always come from the names of places where the family lived centuries ago. We'd expect Wierzchowski (pronounced roughly "v'yezh-HOFF-skee") to come from places names beginning Wierzch-, from the noun wierzch, "top, summit, peak." The surname could refer to places named Wierzchy or Wierzchów or Wierzchowo, all meaning more or less "place of the peak, place of the summit." There are quite a few places in Poland with these names, so there's no way to tell just from the surname which place it refers to in a given family's case. Only detailed genealogical research might narrow the focus down to a specific area, at which point one might be able to point to a specific settlement near one's ancestors' home and say "This is probably the place they were named after."

As of 1990 there were 1,076 Polish citizens named Buczko ("BOOCH-ko"), with the largest numbers living in the following provinces: Przemysl 108, Suwałki 72, Zamosc 233. So while the name is found all over Poland, it is particularly common in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the country. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], saying it appears in records as far back as 1349 and can derive from the noun buk, "beech tree" -- so that it could mean something like "little beech," perhaps referring to one who worked with beech wood or lived near an impressive stand of beech trees. But it can also come from the verb buczeć, "to hum, drone, buzz," and especially from the dialect noun buczek, "crybaby, one always crying about something." Either basic root could apply, and only the most detailed research might determine exactly which one is relevant in a given family's case.

Wielock is not a name found in Poland today, and is probably a misspelling or variation of Wieloch ("V'YELL-okh," with the final sound a guttural as in German "Bach"). As of 1990 there were 1,387 Polish citizens named Wieloch, living all over the country, with no concentration in any one area. 

This name can come from the root wiel- meaning "much, many," but exactly how it derives from it is not so easy to say. It might also have begun as a kind of nickname for various ancient Polish pagan names beginning with the archaic root wiel- meaning "to order," such as Wielimir or Wielisław; if so, it's just a nickname and doesn't mean much more than "kin of Wielimir or Wielisław." If it comes from the root meaning "much," it might mean something like "one who has a lot." There is a noun wieloch that means "very high, very great person," and it's possible the name started out with that meaning, either used directly or ironically ("Oh, here comes the big shot!"). Again, hard to say without extensive research into a family's history. Rymut says this name appears in records as far back as 1497, so it's been around a long time.


KUSZEWSKI

I have checked the Polishroots surname web site and I can't find any information about the name Kuszewska, if you can get any information about my family name I would be very grateful. 

The -ska in this case is a feminine ending, so the standard form of the name would be Kuszewski. A male would be called Kuszewski, a female Kuszewska. So Kuszewski is the form we need to look at.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 985 Polish citizens named Kuszewski. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw, 115, and Kielce, 253; the rest were scattered in smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Names in the form X-ewski almost always come from the names of places where the family lived centuries ago. We'd expect Kuszewski (pronounced roughly "koo-SHEFF-skee") to come from places names beginning Kusz-, which can come from the noun kusza, "crossbow," or from a short form of the first name Jakusz, which is in turn a nickname for Jakub (Jacob). The surname could refer to places named Kuszy or Kuszew or Kuszewo, all meaning more or less "place of the crossbow" or "place of Jakusz." There are several places in Poland with these names, so there's no way to tell just from the surname which place it refers to in a given family's case. Only detailed genealogical research might narrow the focus down to a specific area, at which point one might be able to point to a specific settlement near one's ancestors' home and say "This is probably the place they were named after."


KACZANEK - KACZENIAK - KATZANEK

Hello! I just completed a family tree project of both my husband's side of the family and mine. His can be traced back about 500 years to England, Ireland and Scotland ... and mine fizzles out after about 100 years. I know that my grandfather came from Poland, the town of Brest-Litovsk, and emigrated to the US around the turn of the century. His name was changed at Ellis Island.
But here is my question to you: In the few documents I have that have his name on them, his surname is spelled differently each time. If I were to give you the spellings I have, are you able to just look at them and tell me which is a correct Polish spelling? Then at least I can have a definite surname to work with!
Here are the choices:
Katzenek
Katzanik
Katzonik
Katzenak
........and other combinations!
Which do you think is a Polish spelling? Thanks for your time!


I'd like to help you, but none of these is a correct Polish spelling. Poles don't use the letter combination TZ; they write that sound with the letter C. Usually names with TZ are German or English modifications of the original Polish name. My experience with such changes suggests the original name might have been Kacanek, Kacanik, Kacenik, Kaconik, or something similar. Also very possible are Kaczanek, Kaczanik, Kaczenik, Kaczonik; Germans in particular were prone to turn Polish C and CZ into TZ. Since most Poles emigrated by way of German ports, usually Bremen or Hamburg, it was not unusual for this contact with German officials to be reflected in the way the surname was spelled.

The problem is, none of those names is very common. I looked in the 10-volume Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland" -- which uses data from a 1990 government database on 94% of the population of Poland to list surnames, tell how many people bore those names, and how many lived in each province -- and the only one I found was Kaczanek. As of 1990 there were 18 Poles named Kaczanek, living in the following provinces: Czestochowa 1, Katowice 4, and Opole 13. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

There were 30 Poles named Kaczeniak, so that's a possibility too. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 4, Koszalin 3, Legnica 7, Slupsk 2, Tarnobrzeg 14.

Historically, similar names such as Kacanik and Kocanek and Koczonek appear in the records, but they seem to have died out in modern Poland. At least Kaczanek and Kaczeniak still exist, albeit in small numbers.

As I say, these names are pretty rare, so I have to wonder if the original name was something else that I haven't been able to reconstruct. That is a very real possibility. But numbers don't necessarily mean much, and Kaczanek and Kaczeniak do, at least, make sense in terms of phonetics and spelling; so you might try looking for those forms. According to Polish name experts, both would derive from the term kaczan, "cabbage stump, cob," presumably used at first as a nickname.


CEMPA - CĘPA - CIEMPA - CIĘPA - CZEMPA - CZĘPA

... I am attempting to locate any information while tracing my family history. My rather recently passed away, as has my grandfather, and I have no one left to provide me with any useful information on the surname "Ciempa". If there is any information you can provide that would assist me in my search, I would be most grateful. 

With this name it's important to realize there are several sounds in it that can be spelled two ways, so the name might be spelled different ways. The sound combination "emp" in Polish may be spelled that way, but the "em" can also be spelled with the nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it. So Ciempa and Ciępa are both possible spellings. Also, the CI in Polish is a soft "ch" sound, whereas CZ is how they spell a harder, chunkier "ch." Ideally the two sounds should never be confused -- Poles distinguish them easily -- but in fact they sometimes are, because they sound similar. Thus with dialect influence, or simply misspelling or mishearing a name, Cz- instead of Ci- is also possible. So Czępa and Czempa could come into play as well. All these names would be pronounced roughly "CHEM-pah."

Also, in some dialects of Polish we sometimes see the "ch" sound of CZ alternate with the "ts" sound spelled C. So we can't rule out Cempa and Cępa (pronounced "TSEM-pah").

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 74 Polish citizens named Ciempa. They lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 2, Katowice 7, Krakow 9, Krosno 18, Rzeszow 5, Tarnów 9, Walbrzych 15, Wroclaw 9. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data shows that the name was most common in southern Poland. It may be before World War II it was found primarily in southeastern Poland, but after that war millions were forced to relocate from eastern Poland to the western part of the country. So it may be the name was originally found mostly in the southeast; but we don't have data to let us say that for sure.

There were 14 Poles named Ciępa, living in the following provinces: Kielce 6, Legnica 2, Rzeszow 4, Walbrzych 2. 

There were no Poles named Czępa, and 73 named Czempa, living in the following provinces: Gdansk 3, Katowice 63, Opole 7.

As of 1990 there were 561 Poles named Cempa, with the largest number, 303, living in Nowy Sacz province, in southcentral Poland; the rest were scattered all over in much smaller numbers. There were 25 named Cępa, in the provinces of Krakow (3), Rzeszow (7), Tarnow (15).

The common thread here is that all these names are most common in southcentral and southeastern Poland. This region was ruled by Austria from roughly 1795-1918, along with the western half of Ukraine, and was called Galicia. It seems to me pretty likely this name is associated mainly with the territory of former Galicia. I would make note of all these spellings, because it is entirely possible you might see any of them during the course of your research.

I have only one source that mentions any of these forms. It's a book specializing in names of southcentral Poland, and it suggests Czępa and Cępa both come from a verb cępieć or czępieć, which means "to squat, to labor over something, to doze off while sitting down." I can't find anything on cięp- or ciemp-, except one source that mentions another name beginning Cięp- that is a variation of a name beginning Częp-. 

With all this, I think it's at least plausible to say these are all variations of the same basic name, and probably began as a nickname for one who often squatted, or dozed while sitting. This is by no means certain, but it hangs together, and is consistent with the information I was able to find. 


BIEGOŃ - BIEGUN

... I was wondering if you could shed some light my last name and its possible variations: Biegun or Biegon. The name on the Wall of Honor at Ellis Island is Biegun but I've seen the name spelled Biegon on my grandparents' steamer trunk and also my father's birth certificate and marriage certificate. I ran into a Society for Bieguns, et al for Canada that had these and other variations. I don't speak or read French or Polish, so I couldn't read the history behind all the names or the function of the society. 
The Wall of Honor says my grandfather was from Warsaw, but I realize that might have been were he left from to come to the States. My father said his father was Austrian but my grandparents spoke Polish. They're buried in a Polish cemetery in outlying Niles, Illinois. 
Another interesting fact is that my grandparents are the only two Bieguns on the Ellis Island listing, but there's gobs of Bieguns in the U.S. and I also discovered, Canada. 


As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,874 Polish citizens named Biegun. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 1,155; Katowice 162; Krakow 129. The rest lived in much smaller numbers scattered all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

What this data tells us is that this name is highly concentrated in southcentral Poland, which was on the western edge of the territory seized by Austria during the partitions. It comprised part of the Austrian province of Galicia, which ran from a little west of Krakow east to cover much of Ukraine. Most persons who came from this area were ethnic Poles or Ukrainians, but for official purposes they were classified as citizens of Austria or Austria-Hungary.

The name is pronounced something like "B'YEGG-oon." There is also a name Biegoń with an accent over the N, pronounced roughly "B'YEGG-oin." It was found mainly in the same areas as Biegun, and can be regarded as meaning virtually the same thing. These names sound similar enough that they could easily be confused, so that the same family might easily show up in records as Biegun one time and Biegon another. Technically they can be distinct names, but they mean the same basic thing and, as I said, could well be variations of the same name.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Biegun in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. It comes from a verb meaning "to run," and biegun means more or less "the runner." In modern Polish it is also used in the meanings of "(North or South) Pole," also "rocker"; but in names, which developed centuries ago, "runner" is probably the relevant definition. We'd expect the name started as a kind of nickname for one who was noted for his ability to run, or perhaps one who ran away at some crucial moment. More than that we can't say.


STRAŻ

My name is Scott Straz and I saw your site on the internet. I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the Polish name Straz. 

In Polish this name is generally spelled with a dot over the Z. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 132 Polish citizens named Stra
ż
. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 38, Krakow 23, Rzeszow 13. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is not very common, and is found all over Poland, mainly in the south.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun stra
ż, "guard, sentry," related to the archaic noun straża, "vigil, alert." So the name probably began as a way of referring to one who stood guard in case of enemy attack, fire, and other dangers. In modern Polish the word straż is still used to mean "guard," and the fire department is called the straż pożarna, the municipal police are the straż miejska, and so forth. So the meaning hasn't changed a great deal, except that the noun these days is used as a collective term for the members of a group who guard against fires, crime, etc., whereas when used as a name it would refer to an individual who performed such duties.

 

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

FILIPKOWSKI - TYSZKA

... I've just begun to search for my origins. Paternally -- Tyszka and maternally Filipkowski. Any information would be helpful. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,805 Polish citizens named Tyszka. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 148, Łomża 533, Ostrołęka 840, Suwałki 135, and Warsaw 374. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is most common in northcentral and especially northeastern Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1427 and came from a kind of nickname for first names beginning with Ty-, especially Tymoteusz (Timothy). Poles often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So they would take the Ty- from Tymoteusz, drop the rest, add -sz- to give a basic nickname, then add a diminutive such as -ek or -ka or -ko; the process is kind of like the one that gave us "Teddy" from Theodore. So to the extent you can say Tyszka means anything, it would mean "little Tim, Timmy," or something like that. It is pronounced roughly "TISH-kah."

As for Filipkowski ("fee-leep-KOFF-skee"), as of 1990 there were 2,656 Poles by that name. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of: Białystok 104, Gdansk 165, Katowice 109, Łomża 819, Olsztyn 193, Ostrołęka 103, Suwałki 478, and Warsaw 128. So the name is found all over the country but is most common in the northcentral part.

Surnames ending in -owski usually refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago. We'd expect Filipkowski to mean "one from Filipki or Filipków or Filipkowo" or some similar place name, all of which mean more or less the same thing, "[place] of Phil (little Philip)." Rymut notes that the place this name is most likely to refer to is Filipki in Łomża province, Kolno gmina, and in view of the name's distribution pattern, I think he's right. But it's worth mentioning that the surname just means literally "of the _ of little Philip," and thus in some cases it could conceivably mean "kin of Phil" or "one from Phil's place." In some cases the surname could refer to some other little farm or settlement known locally as Filipki or Filipków or Filipkowo, too small to show up on maps. Still, that Filipki is the most likely candidate, especially if you find your ancestors came from that general region.


KALĘBA - KALEMBA

...I was just curious if you could dig up any info on the name Kalemba Anything would be appreciated.

In Polish when you see -EM- before a consonant, it is usually a variation of the same name spelled not with -EM- but with the nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it. So we would expect the name to be spelled Kalęba. That nasal vowel is pronounced like "em" when it comes before a B, so that Kalęba is pronounced "kah-LEM-bah." Thus Kalęba and Kalemba both make sense as reasonable ways of spelling this name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 145 Polish citizens named Kalęba. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 29, Krakow 75. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this data tells us the name is found mainly in southcentral Poland.

What's odd is that usually the standard spelling is more common than the phonetic one, but as of 1990 there were 2,640 Poles who spelled the name Kalemba! The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice, 495, Krakow 330, Poznan 418. So this form of the name is also common in southcentral Poland, but also in the western part of the country. But in fact, the name is found in smaller numbers all over Poland; so a Kalemba could come from almost anywhere. There's nothing about the name itself that points toward any particular region of the country as a place of origin.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1494, and comes from a dialect word kalęba that meant "thin old cow," and was also used colloquially to mean "fat woman." I'm not sure exactly how such a name got started as a surname, but it was probably by way of a nickname. In studying names I've come to realize humans can be very inventive when it comes to giving nicknames. And often a particular name makes perfect sense if you knew the guy or were there when it started, but otherwise it makes no sense. So with names given centuries ago we often have no way of figuring out exactly what they meant. About all we can say is what the word meant that the name came from, and then make plausible suggestions as to what the connection was that caused that name to "stick" to a particular guy and his family.


CZERMAK - PĘKALSKI - PENKALSKI

I saw the question and your response to the name Peczkowski - Penczkowski. My first question: is my name (Penkalski) a derivative , or is it from a different root? My second question regards my grandmother's maiden name, Czermak. Can you give any insight into the origin of this surname? 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 598 Polish citizens named Czermak. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 112, Katowice 48, Tarnow 116, Wroclaw 71. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the southcentral to southeastern part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1417 and comes from an archaic Polish word czermak, a red-winged bird. Another source mentions a possible link with the archaic word czerm, "worm, grub," and yet another points out the link to the Czech word ĉermak, meaning "redstart, a common European songbird," a term also used sometimes to refer to the devil (because of the association with the color red). There are many Polish names derived from words for birds, and I think that's the most likely connection with this name. It may have originated as a nickname because a person lived in a place where there were many of these birds, or he could imitate their singing, or his clothes reminded people of the birds' coloring -- almost any perceived similarity or connection could lead to such a nickname, which could then "stick" as a surname.

The name Penkalski would more often be spelled in Polish not with -en- but with the nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it; it is pronounced much like EN, and thus names with Ę were often spelled phonetically with EN. So the standard Polish spelling of this name would be Pękalski, with Penkalski a less common but still reasonable spelling. Both would sound more or less like "pen-CALL-skee."

As of 1990 there were 350 Polish citizens named Penkalski, as opposed to 1,799 Pękalski's. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 180, Kielce 378, Przemysl 125, Tarnobrzeg 111, Wroclaw 250. So this name is found all over Poland but is also seen mostly in the southeastern part of the country.

This name comes from the same basic root as Pęczkowski, but that doesn't mean much; one root can generate a great many different names with different meanings, without implying anything more than a linguistic connection that is almost incidental. I think the most likely derivation for Pękalski is as an adjective from the noun pękal, "squat fellow, one with a big belly"; thus it would mean "kin of the squat fellow, kin of the paunchy fellow." It's also possible it comes from nicknames for ancient Polish names beginning with the root Pęk-, such as Pękosław; Pękal or Pękała could come from such names, in which case the surname just means "kin of Pękal" or "one from the place of Pękal." Only detailed research into a specific family's past might uncover enough info to establish exactly when the name developed and exactly what it meant. But I think "kin of the squat fellow, fellow with a big gut" is most likely how it got started.


DUNAJSKI - GADZAŁA - GADŻAŁA - ODACHOWSKI

Hello, I have been working on my family genealogy for some time now, I was hoping you may have some information concerning the following surnames: Dunajski, Odachowski, Kodsidak and Gadzala or Godzado. Any information would be extremely appreciated.

Dunaj (pronounced roughly like a combination of the English words "do" and "nigh") is the Polish name for the Danube river, from a Slavic root meaning "deep water." DUNAJSKI "doo-NIGH-skee") just means "of the Danube." It probably began as a name for someone who lived near the Danube or some other large river referred to as a dunaj, perhaps by way of comparison with the Danube. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,526 Polish citizens named Dunajski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 488, Olsztyn 120, and Torun 154 (odd, since none of those cities are anywhere near the Danube!). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

As of 1990 there were 415 Polish citizens named Odachowski (pronounced roughly "oh-dah-HOFF-skee"). The largest numbers lived in the northeastern provinces of Białystok, 140, and Łomża, 101; the rest were scattered in smaller numbers all over Poland. Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. We'd expect Odachowski to mean "one from Odachów or Odachowo" or some similar name. 

I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual. The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may now be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. It's also very possible a slight vowel change is involved and the surname refers to any of several places now called Odechów or Odechowo, such as two villages named Odechów, in Konin and in Radom provinces (according to the 1975-1998 provincial setup).

As for Gadzala or Godzada, the latter looks and sounds odd, and no one by that name lived in Poland as of 1990, so I think Gadzala is more likely correct. In Polish it is usually spelled with a slash through the L. Gadzała is pronounced roughly "god-ZAH-wah." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], saying it appears in records as far back as 1440. He says named beginning Gad- usually come either from the verb gadac', "to talk," or from the noun gad, "reptile," also used colloquially to mean "worthless fellow." Gadzała might come from the latter meaning, but the suffix -ała often is added to verb roots to mean "one always doing _." So I think Gadzała most likely started out meaning "one who talks a lot," though that is just a guess (and it might also mean "one always acting like a reptile" -- I can't rule that out).

As of 1990 there were 678 Polish citizens named Gadzała, with the largest numbers living in the following provinces: Chelm 86, Krosno 71, and Lublin 158. So while the name is found all over Poland, it is most common in the southeastern part of the country. 

I should add that Rymut also mentions a name Gadżała (the dotted Z is pronounced like "zh" in "Zhivago"), from a Ukrainian dialect term that means "ankle." There were 90 Polish citizens named Gadżała in 1990, scattered all over (probably because of post-World War II forced relocations). This might be applicable in your case, since the dot over the Z and the slash through the L would be lost when the family immigrated to an English-speaking country. So the name probably means either "one who talks a lot" or "ankle," perhaps referring to one who had nice-looking ankles.

Kodsidak is a problem. None of my sources mention it, it doesn't look or sound right, and as of 1990 no one in Poland bore this name. That usually means either the name was very rare and died out after the family emigrated, or the spelling has been distorted somewhere along the line. I can't think of any name that could end up as Kodsidak. The only thing I can suggest is to keep doing research until you find a document with a reliable spelling and a name of the place of origin. If you find that, let me know and I'll see if I have anything on that name. 


CZARNECKI

Please provide some information on my Mother's maiden name: Czarnecki. Thanks for your help. I've been reading all the material you have put up on the internet and it is a greatly appreciated service. 

Czarnecki is pronounced roughly "char-NET-skee" in Polish. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 32,525 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one part of the country; a family named Czarnecki could come from anywhere.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it would usually refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place with a name beginning Czarn-, from the root czarny, "black." The name is especially likely to refer to the village of Czarnca in Kielce province, Wloszczowa district, but you can't really count on that -- there are too many other cases where it referred to any of a number of villages named Czarne, Czarne, etc. 

I'm afraid that, as with most Polish surnames, the name itself just doesn't provide much in the way of useful leads for tracing a family, even though it refers to the name of a specific place. There are usually just too many places the name might refer to. The only way to determine anything with certainty is by way of genealogical research. Once you trace your ancestors to the specific area they came from, then you may be able to make a plausible connection with some nearby place with a name beginning Czarn-. But you have to narrow the search area down; as long as it could cover anywhere in Poland, you don't have much hope of success.


GRZYMAŁOWSKI

I am searching for the name Grzymalowski. Do you have any record of that name? 

In Polish this name is spelled with a slash through the L. Grzymałowski is pronounced roughly "g'zhih-mah-WOFF-skee."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 88 Polish citizens by this name. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 8, Ciechanow 18, Gorzow 19, Ostrołęka 10, Radom 7, Skierniewice 2, Suwałki 22, Wroclaw 2. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says names beginning Grzym- usually come either from nicknames for the old Polish first name Pielgrzym ("pilgrim") or from the root seen in the verb grzmieć, "to thunder," used either as a verb root or as a name component in ancient pagan names such as Grzymisław, which means literally "thunder-fame." 

But in most cases we'd expect Grzymałowski to come from the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place with a name along the lines of Grzymały or Grzymałowo. Such place names, in turn, would derive from the roots mention above, so that the names originally meant something like "place of Pilgrim" or "place of thunder, place of Grzymała (the one of thundering renown)." There are a number of places in Poland with names that fit, including several Grzymałys and at least one Grzymałów, all of which could generate this surname. Without detailed info on a specific family, there's no way to know which place the surname refers to in their particular case. Fortunately, if you do some research and have a little luck, you may uncover info that will shed light on this question. 


SCHULIST - SZULIST

... I am doing research into my family whose name has been misspelled for generations. It has three current spelling in North America including: Shulist, Schulist, and what may be more original Szulist. I have been unable to find your book in our library network and Chapters (Canada's equivalent to Amazon.com) is now tracking it down. In the event that the name is not covered in the book what could you tell me about it?

You're right that the original Polish spelling was probably Szulist. The other spellings are phonetic, in that people speaking other languages (English for Shulist and German for Schulist) attempted to spell the name the way it sounded to them, using the phonetic values they were used to. Polish SZ is pronounced much like our "sh" and German "sch," so all three spellings are pronounced the same, much like "SHOE-list."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 714 Polish citizens named Szulist. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 513, Slupsk 107. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data indicates the name is highly concentrated in north-central to northwestern Poland, in the area west and south of Gdansk.

There were also 23 Poles who spelled this name the German way, Schulist. They lived in the provinces of Elblag (8), Gdansk (11), and Szczecin (8) -- all in north-central to northwestern Poland, in the area that formerly comprised the German Empire's provinces of Pomerania, West Prussia, and East Prussia.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it is one of the many names that developed from nicknames or short forms of ancient Polish pagan names beginning with the root Sul-, from an archaic verb meaning "promise." Thus ancient Poles created names such as Sulislaw, literally "promise-glory," and Sulimir, "promise-peace." Like most Indo-European peoples, the ancient Poles tended to give their children names of good omen, so that calling a child Sulislaw meant something like "may he fulfill the promise of glory," i. e., "may he turn out to be glorious and renowned." The Poles often made nicknames of those ancient names, much as we turned "Edward" into "Eddie," by taking the first part of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. Thus Sulislaw or Sulimir gives Suli-, and the suffix -st was added to give Sulist or Sulista. 

In Polish we often see names beginning with S often have variant forms beginning with Sz-, as the plain S sound turned into an "sh" sound; similarly names beginning with Sz- often have variants with S-. What's interesting is that in this case the form with Sz- seems to predominate; Sulist or Sulista is very rare.

The geographical distribution of this name suggests it may be associated primarily with the Kaszubs, a Slavic people who are closely related to the Poles but have their own customs and language (very similar to Polish in most respects). I could be wrong about this, but from what I've seen in the past I believe this name is found primarily among the Kaszubs, who live in the area near Gdansk, Slupsk, and north of Bydgoszcz -- which is where this name is most common. So you might want to learn more about the Kaszubs and see if this offers any leads. This Website has some information:

http://feefhs.org/kana/frg-kana.html 


PRAWDZIŃSKI

... Do you have a meaning or origin for the name Prawdzienski? I understand relatives in Poland do not use the -ski extension.

To get to your name ... , the basic root prawda means "truth," the stem of which is prawd-. The suffix usually added to this name is -iński, with accompanying softening of the root's final -d to -dzi-. So Prawdzin means literally "of truth," possibly used as a name for "a man of truth, a truthful man," or possibly referring to a place with a name derived from prawda. Prawdziński means literally "of the _ of truth." Prawdziński might refer to the kin of a man named Prawdzin, or to people coming from a place named Prawda, Prawdzin, Prawdziny, etc. As I said earlier, Prawdzieński is just a variant of Prawdziński. I would not ascribe any particular significance to the alternate spelling without evidence of such significance; dialect or regional differences in pronunciation can easily account for it.

When I can find a place with a name that fits, I tend to go with that simply because surnames tend to come from something concrete rather than abstract; there are exceptions, but my experience suggests Prawdziński is more likely to mean "one from the place called Prawda" than "kin of the truthful man." The only way to know for sure which rendering is appropriate is to do thorough genealogical research, which might uncover some record that sheds light on the exact derivation. In other words, Prawdziński could mean "kin of the truthful one," but it can also mean "one from Prawda, Prawdzin, Prawdziny," etc.; and the odds are that the latter is more likely to be the right rendering. Still, one can't be positive without genealogical research.

In any case, I found two places in Poland with a name that fits. It may be there were or are others that qualify. Surnames originated centuries ago, often referring to names that were used by the locals for a hill or field or settlement, names that are highly unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer; sometimes these places have been absorbed by other communities, or have disappeared, or have been renamed. So these two Prawda's may not be the only candidates; but they're the only ones I could find.

If you'd like to see maps of these places, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm 

Enter "Prawd" as the name of the place you're looking for, and make sure you specify to search using the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex. Click on "Start the Search." In a moment you'll get a list of places with names that begin with sounds that match "Prawd" phonetically. Scroll on down to the ones in Poland and click on the coordinates for the two named Prawda: PRAWDA 5157 2156 N Poland 44.7 miles ESE of Warsaw, and PRAWDA 5138 1928 N Poland 77.9 miles WSW of Warsaw. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 14 Polish citizens named Prawdzin. They lived in the following provinces: Jelenia Gora 12, Wroclaw 2. There were also 11 named Prawdziński, living in the following provinces: Krakow 5, Lodz 1, Zielona Gora 5. There was no listing of anyone named Prawdzieński. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, and I can't tell you how to get that info. The Polish government in general is very protective of its citizens' privacy and does not facilitate access to information on living Polish citizens.

This data further muddles the question of whether Prawdzin means "truthful one" or "one of Prawda" and Prawdziński means "kin of the truthful one" or just "one from Prawda." The people with these names are scattered all over; that doesn't necessarily mean they were never connected with those places called Prawda, but it's not convincing evidence in favor of that hypothesis, either. 

And that's where I have to stop, because I've said all I can say. The only way to settle the matter, as I said before, is to do detailed genealogical research that reveals the historical, linguistic, cultural, and geographical context in which the name developed and became attached to your specific family. It's even possible (though, in view of the data, unlikely) that the name developed independently with different families; your Prawdziński's got the name as "kin of the truth-teller," and another set of Prawdziński's got it the other way, as simply "ones from Prawda." But without hard evidence I can't settle the matter.


STUCZYŃSKI - SZTUCYZŃSKI - WOŹNICKI 

I read with interest your derivation for Wozniak. My name is Woznicki. Is there a difference? Also, anything on Stuczynski?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,744 Polish citizens named Woźnicki. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Lodz 219, Płock 328, and Warsaw 601. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is particularly common in central Poland.

Woźnicki is pronounced roughly "vozh-NEET-skee." It comes from the same basic root as Wozniak -- woz-, "convey, transport (especially by cart)." But generally would refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago. Thus we'd expect it to mean "one from Woźniki or Woźnica or Woźnice." On modern maps I find one Woźnice and a lot of Woźniki's, so the surname would generally mean the family came from one of those villages; but without detailed genealogical research into a specific family's background, there's no way to know which one. The places, in turn, would take their names from some connection with carts, cart-drivers (woźnica is a term meaning "cart-driver," and this name is an adjective that could come from that noun), cart-horses (woźnik, and the name can also come from that), etc. As I say, there is a linguistic connection with Wozniak in that both come from that basic root meaning, but in practice there wouldn't necessarily be any blood connection between the two names. Woźnicki is a name in its own right. 

Stuczyński (accent over the N), pronounced roughly "stoo-CHIN-skee," was the surname of 774 Poles as of 1990. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 97, Konin 70, Krakow 60, Torun 101. This data tells us this name, too, is found all over the country, with some concentration in northcentral to northwestern Poland. It would almost certainly come from the root seen in sztuka, "piece, play, art," and sztuczyna, "a miserable piece." Names and words with S and SZ often alternate, so it's not odd that Stuczyński might come from a word beginning with sz-. In fact, Sztuczyński ("shtoo-CHIN-skee") is a perfectly plausible variant of this surname; but for some reason it's less common, borne by only 80 Poles as of 1990, in the same general area as Stuczyński.

This might have started as a nickname for one who got stuck with a really pathetic piece of something, or produced rather miserable products, something like that. Or it might refer to a place with a name along the lines of Sztucz- or Stucz- or Sztuk- or Stuk-. Without a lot more detail on the individual family bearing the name, there's really no way to be sure.


ZBYDNIEWSKI - ZBYDNIOWSKI - ZBYTNIEWSKI

I would like to know if you can tell me anything about my family name, Zbytniewski. I know that my great-great-grandmother used the name with an A on the end rather than ski, but I don't know anything about the name or the origin. 

Well, to start with, most (not all, most) names ending in -ska are feminine forms of names which have standard forms ending in -ski (it's admittedly rather chauvinistic, but that's the way the Polish language developed). So a male with this name would be called Zybtniewski, and a female would be Zbytniewska; this is an integral part of the Polish language, one that Poles recognize instinctively. After immigrating to English-speaking countries, they found their new language could not deal with this feature, so they dropped it. The point is simply that the standard form of the name, the one we should look for, is Zbytniewski. It is pronounced roughly "z'bit-N'YEFF-skee."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 566 Polish citizens named Zbytniewski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 51, Konin 51, Lublin 84, Poznan 57, Tarnobrzeg 87. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over the country, but appears in two slight concentrations, one in southeastern Poland (the areas near Lublin and Tarnobrzeg) and one in western to northwestern Poland (the other provinces cited). 

Incidentally, there were also 26 Polish citizens named Zbydniewski, all but 5 living in the province of Tarnobrzeg. There were also 27 named Zbydniowski, 19 of whom lived in Tarnobrzeg province. The reason this may be relevant is that in Polish the D sometimes changes pronunciation to sound like T, and in these names that happens with Zbyd-. It is written Zbyd-, but actually pronounced as if it were Zbyt-. The spelling of names in Polish has, until fairly recently, been somewhat inconsistent; names were often spelled phonetically, going strictly by sound instead of by "the rules." What this means is Zbydniewski, Zbydniowski, and Zbytniewski are all potentially different forms of the same basic name. If so, you need to know this -- if you research your family, it's possible you might run into any or all of these spellings. But of them all, Zbytniewski is clearly the most common spelling these days, and thus by default the standard spelling.

Names in the form X-ewski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. Thus we'd expect this name to mean "one from Zbytniew or Zbytniewo" or some similar place name. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual. The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may now be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago.

The interesting thing is, I see two places named Zbydniów, one in Tarnobrzeg province (as the provinces were organized 1975-1998), the other in Tarnow province, both in southeastern Poland. Recalling what I said about D sounding like T, you'll see immediately that it's very possible these are the places the surname refers to (the change of -iów to -iew- is not troublesome, that happens often). It would not be at all odd if either the place name or the surname has changed spelling over the ages. I don't have any sources that discuss the original forms of these village names, so I don't know whether they were originally Zbytniów and the -t- changed to -d- over time, or if they were always Zbydniów and it's the surname in which the -d- changed to -t- (in most cases; as we see, there are still some who bear the name with -d- instead of -t-). Either way, I think chances are very good these two place names are what the surname derived from.

The distribution of the surname supports this, to some extent; the names seem to show up most often in southeastern Poland. As for the concentration in the west, it could be the family or families came from southeastern Poland and relocated there at some point in the past. It could also be they were forced to move there after World War II, when millions were forcibly relocated from east to west. For that matter, maybe there is or was another place in the west with a name beginning Zbyd- or Zbyt-I don't have data that would settle this. But if you do some genealogical research and have any success at it, you may uncover facts that will shed light on this.


CETNAR - JAROSZ

I am looking for information about the surname Cetnar. I was told that the family came from Pilzno, Poland. To the best of my knowledge the name has never been shorten. The GGG grandfather was married to a lady from Jaslo, Poland. Her surname was Jarosz. Thanks, Jackie

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 431 Polish citizens named Cetnar. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 38, Krosno 84, Rzeszow 42, Tarnow 73, and Wroclaw 38. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is most common in southcentral to southeastern Poland, which includes the area of Pilzno.

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "TSET-nahr." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun cetnar, also seen as centnar, a term for a unit of weight, in English "quintal, hundredweight, 100 kilograms." Exactly how and why that came to be a surname is hard to say; surnames developed centuries ago, and often there are no surviving records that tell us exactly how a name got started. Presumably it began as a nickname for one who dealt with such weights in his work, or even a person who looked as if he only weighed 100 kilograms or pounds. It comes ultimately from Latin centenarius, "of, relating to one hundred."

Jarosz ("YAH-rosh") may have started as a nickname of older pagan compound names such as Jaroslaw, where the first part is an ancient root meaning "harsh, severe," or in some cases "robust, young." But some scholars think the specific names Jaroch and Jarosz came from a variant of the Slavic version of "Jerome." So the name probably meant originally something like "kin of Jerome." As of 1990 there were 20,694 Poles by this name, living in large numbers all over the country.

If you'd like more info on Jaslo and Pilzno, you can visit these Websites to see my translations of gazetteer entries on those towns:

http://www.pgst.org/jaslo.htm 

http://www.pgst.org/pilzno.htm 


MOCHADLO - MOCZADŁO

... I am a high school student, doing a report on my geneology. My last name is Mocadlo, but I have been told it was originally Moczadlo. Joseph Moczadlo worked in Poznan before coming to the U.S, and that is all that I know about our origins, in terms of location. I have contacted Dr. Regina Moczadlo, whose name I discovered on a search engine. She told me that she too has no information about our family, since WWII destroyed documents. She now lives in Germany. 

I think I can help a little. In Polish the name would be spelled Moczadło -- the Polish letter written as an L with a slash through it and pronounced like our "w." The Polish combination cz is pronounced like our "ch" in "church," so that Moczadło is pronounced roughly "moch-ODD-woe" (rhyming with "go, Claude, go"). Polish name experts say it comes from the noun moczadło, which means "swamp, damp area, submersible device." So it probably referred originally to a person or family who lived in a swampy area -- there are many, many such names in Polish and other European languages. The basic root is mocz-, which means "wetness, dampness, moisture" -- the noun mocz has come to mean "urine," but at one time it just referred to any kind of wetness or moisture.

In certain areas of Poland there is a dialect tendency to turn the "ch" sound spelled CZ by Poles into the sound they spell C, which sounds like the ts in "cats." So in some areas the name might be pronounced more like "mote-SOD-woe," and thus spelled phonetically Mocadło. But the standard form is Moczadło.

As of 1990 there were 349 Poles by this name; it was most common in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (76), Olsztyn (30), and Torun (85), in northcentral and northeastern Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. I should add that Poznan is in western Poland, whereas the areas I mentioned above are farther north. But the Bydgoszcz area was once part of Provinz Posen (Poznan province), the name the Germans gave this region when they ruled it (during most of the 19th century and up to World War I). Most immigrants could not speak English well or at all, and thus had trouble making themselves understood. When asked where they came from, they didn't try to say "I'm from the village of Plochniczno Szczedrowskie" (a name I made up, by the way) because there's no way any American official ever heard of this place. So instead they gave the name of the nearest large city. I'm explaining this because it's possible your ancestor didn't actually live in the city of Poznan itself, but in a village or town somewhere within the region of which Poznan was the biggest city. If you research this, don't be surprised if it turns out your ancestor wasn't actually from Poznan; this happened a lot. On the other hand, Poznan's a big city, and a lot of people did live there, so maybe that is where he came from.

I'm sending a copy of this note to a gentleman named Jim Presenkowski, because last year he asked about the name Mochadlo. My brain must have been somewhere else that day --but for some reason it never dawned on me that may well be a phonetic spelling of Moczadło (sorry, Jim!). I wanted him to read this note in case it might be helpful, and also because it is very possible the name he's researching is the same one you're asking about, and maybe you can compare notes to your mutual benefit. When I can bring together people researching the same thing, I like to do so. If it turns out you have no connections, no harm is done; if you do have connections, it may help both of you.


JUCHNO - MALICKI

... Malicki (Vincent) from Rzeprennik Strzyzewski region of Poland; Juchno - or - Yuchno - or - Uchno- or - Iuchno. Thank you. Appreciate any help or any brief amount of time you can manage. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 7,750 Polish citizens named Malicki. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 609, Katowice 419, Kielce 683, Poznan 682, Warsaw 604, Wroclaw 313, and Zielona Gora 339. Basically what this data tells us is that the name is found all over Poland, with no particular concentration in any one area.

Oddly, the Surname Directory shows only 12 Malickis in Tarnow province, which is the province Rzepiennik Strzezowski was in under the 1975-1998 setup. I wish I could tell you how to get first names and addresses of the Malickis in that province, but I don't have access to any further data, just a breakdown by province. You might be able to contact the PGS-Connecticut/Northeast to see if they have copies of the Tarnow province phone directory. If so, for a moderate fee they can check to see if a specific name is listed, and if so, tell you the address given. It's a long shot, but it's the only way I can think of you might get an address, short of writing to the parish church that serves that area and asking if the priest can help you get in touch with relatives.

Malicki is pronounced roughly "mah-LEET-skee," and would generally refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago -- places with names like Malica or Malice. I can't find any places named Malica offhand, but there are at least five villages named Malice. The only way to know which one is referred to in a given family's case is by genealogical research that would pin down exactly where the family came from in Poland and then allow one to search for places named Malice or something similar in the area.

Juchno is tough because the J and CH stand for sounds that can be spelled different ways, and because this name could develop in several different ways. The J is pronounced like our Y, and the CH is a guttural, kind of a mild version of the "ch" in German "Bach" -- the name sounds like "YOOKH-no." Thus, depending on the language of the official who wrote down the name, it could be spelled Juchno (Polish), Iuchno, Yuchno, Yukhno, etc. 

In theory it could come from the Polish word jucha, "gore; rascal." But it usually started as a kind of nickname formed from various first names beginning with the J, such as Józef (Joseph), Joachim, Juchim (a Ukrainian name from the Greek name Euthymios), and Juryj (Ukrainian form of "George," pronounced the same as Russian "Yuri"). Poles and Ukrainians often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So they would take the Jo- or Ju- sound from those names, drop the rest, and add suffixes such as -ch-, plus further suffixes such as -no. That's how this name started, Ju- + -ch- no. It amounts to no more than a nickname, with no real meaning in and of itself, kind of like "Teddy" is a nickname from "Theodore." Teddy doesn't mean anything, but comes from a name that did mean something originally (in Greek Theodoros means "gift of the gods"). Juchno is a nickname from a number of different names.

As of 1990 there were 283 Polish citizens named Juchno, scattered all over the country, with no real concentration in any one area. One might also run into this name in Ukraine, but there it would be spelled in Cyrillic, which would look kind of like this:
Юхно

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

 

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  


 

ŁYSEK

... My Grandfather immigrated to America in the the 1910s, I think. He is listed on the 1930 census as Frank Lysek. He at first went to Pennsylvania to work in the coal mines with his brother but moved to Florida and homesteaded there. I had some info once that our name may have been changed when he Immigrated from "Woesek?". I would like to know what the name means and what town or county he came from.

It's pretty unlikely the surname was changed from Woesek. That spelling is totally foreign to Polish, whereas Lysek is perfectly natural and normal. The thing is, in Polish that L is almost certainly not the normal L but the "hard" L written as an L with a slash through it and pronounced like our W. The name Łysek sounds kind of like "WISS-eck" -- perhaps that "Woesek" was someone's attempt to describe how the name is pronounced in Polish, and someone got confused. In any event, it's exceedingly unlikely any Pole would be named Woesek in the first place, let along change it to Lysek. I can't think of any language in which Woesek would be a normal name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,313 Polish citizens named Łysek. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 148, Katowice 168, Kielce 153, and Krakow 285. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is seen all over Poland but is most common in the south central part of the country. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1481, and comes from the noun łysek, which means "bald person." The adjective łysy means "bald," and łysek is a noun formed from the same root. So it's highly likely this started out as a nickname for a fellow who was bald, and somewhere along the way the name "stuck" and became a surname.


KWIATKOWSKI

Any special familiarity for the last name Kwiatkowski? Please share.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 62,629 Polish citizens named Kwiatkowski. They lived in large numbers all over the country; a Kwiatkowski family could come from literally anywhere in Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He said it refers to any of a number of places with names such as Kwiatkowice, Kwiatków, Kwiatki, etc. Those names, in turn, derive from the Polish root kwiat, "flower." The suffix -ek is a diminutive, so Kwiatek means literally "little flower." Adding the suffix -owski to make Kwiatkowski makes it mean literally "of, from, pertaining to the _ of the little flower," where the blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't have to be spelled out -- usually either "kin" or "place." 

Thus Kwiatkowski could mean "kin of the guy nicknamed Little Flower." But most of the time -owski names refer to specific places, so that the surname is properly interpreted as "one from the place of the little flowers" or "one from the place of the guy nicknamed Little Flower" -- and there are lots of villages and settlements that qualify. The only way to determine which one is relevant in a given family's case is by genealogical research that establishes exactly where that family came from, and sheds light on the circumstances under which this name happened to become associated with that family.

A rule of thumb -- not always correct, but often true -- is that if you trace your ancestors to a particular area in Poland, and see a village or settlement nearby with a name beginning Kwiatk-, chances are quite good that's the place the surname originally referred to. It doesn't always work out that way, but very often it does. 


KRZYŻANOWSKI

While browsing your site I didn't see Krzyzanowski listed. From what I can tell there are a lot of Krzyzanowski's around the world (US, Canada, and Poland). I was hoping you might have some information about the Krzyzanowski surname. I believe that it has some reference to Kross, Cross, or Crucifix in it?

The ultimate root is krzyż, "cross" (Ithe Polish dotted Z is pronounced much like "zh" in "Zhivago"). But usually names ending in -owski derive from the names of places where the families once lived, centuries ago. We'd expect this surname to mean "one from Krzyżanów or Krzyżanowo" or some other place with a name beginning Krzyżan-. That place name, in turn, is what derives from the word for "cross." So the place names mean something like "place of the cross" or "place of the man of the cross," and the surname means "one from the place of the cross/place of the man of the cross." So all the surname really means is that at some point centuries ago your ancestor came from any of a number of villages called Krzyżanów or Krzyżanowo or Krzyżanowice, named for some connection with crosses.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 12,027 Polish citizens named Krzyżanowski. They lived all over Poland (probably because there are places with the names I mentioned all over Poland); there was no one area with which the name was particularly associated. So I'm afraid the only way to determine which place a given Krzyżanowski family took its name from is through successful genealogical research. Once you manage to pin down the exact area the family came from, at that point you may be able to find something that helps you establish "They took their name from this nearby place right here, with a name beginning Krzyżan-." Determining that is beyond the scope of what I can do -- but it may be something you can do!

... As you can tell from my email address I was lucky enough to get 

http://www.krzyzanowski.com  

Now I'd like to share that with other Krzyzanowski's around the world by providing links to their home pages and family trees. The site started off and is still mainly just to benefit my own family with many pictures within the photo galleries. I'm not out to gain anything so anything you find would be appreciated and I will freely share that information on my web site along with a link to your web site.

I'll be glad to include word of this in my reply posted on-line, so that other Krzyzanowskis can learn of your site and visit it!


ŻURAWIK

... I am interested in learning more about my mother's family. Her parents (my grandparents) left Poland as young teenagers around the turn of the century. I do not know (nor does my mother) from which part of Poland they came. My grandfather's last name is Zurawik. When they met and married in Chicago, they became Bruno and Josephine Zurawik. Any light you might be able to shed would be appreciated! 

In Polish this name is usually spelled with a dot over the Z. That letter is pronounced more or less like "zh" in "Zhivago," so the name sounds like "zhoo-RAH-veek." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 882 Polish citizens named Żurawik. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice 237, Konin 229; the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is not really associated with any one area of Poland, although it appears more often in the area south and west of the center of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun Żuraw, "crane" (the bird). The suffix -ik is kind of a general one meaning "connected with," and in surnames often can be interpreted as "kin of, son of." So basically the name means "son of the crane." Most likely it started out as a reference to the kin of one whose nickname was Żuraw, "the crane." 


KUDERSKI

... I am researching the names Sawicki and Kuderski. I would appreciate any information you might have about these surnames. Thank you.

Another researcher asked me about Sawicki, and I can add nothing to what I said in my response, so I've pasted it in at the end of this note. 

As for Kuderski, in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles] Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut says names beginning Kuder- generally come from the root seen in the noun kudry, "shag, mop of hair," so that Kuderski could mean "kin of the mop-top." He mentions that such names can also come from the dialect term kudra, "backwater, lake," so that the name might also mean "one from the backwater." 

It is especially likely this name refers to the name of a place where the family once lived, and that name, in turn, derives from the roots shown above. If this is so, we'd expect the place to be named Kudry or something similar. There is at least one place in Poland named Kudry, and it could be the surname means "one from Kudry." The place name, in turn, might mean "place of the mop-top" or "place of the backwater." Only detailed research into the family's background might uncover documents that would shed light on the exact derivation.

If you'd like to see a map showing this places, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm 

Enter "kudr" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of various places in Poland with names starting Kudr-. Several of them could possibly be connected with this name, but I'd concentrate on Kudry, 5145 2307 N Poland 96.4 miles ESE of Warsaw. Click on the blue numbers 5145 2307(latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 379 Polish citizens named Kuderski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Białystok 86, Suwałki 33, and Warsaw 46. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This distribution suggests origin in what is now eastern Poland, which might be consistent with derivation from that place name Kudry.


SAWICKI

... I am in search of the origins of the Sawicki surname. I have searched the web and have found little. Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.

Sawicki is a rather common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 31,808 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country. It is adjectival, meaning either "of Sawic or Sawicz" or "from Sawica or Sawice or Sawicze" (or some other place with a similar name).

All those names come from the same basic root, Sawic- or Sawicz-. The suffixes -ic and -icz mean "son of," so Sawic or Sawicz means "son of Sawa." The surname Sawicki comes from it, and can mean either "of the kin of Sawa's sons," or "one from Sawica, Sawice, etc.," which in turn mean "[place] of the son(s) of Sawa." According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut in his book Nazwiska Polaków, Sawa is the Polish spelling of a Biblical name, from Aramaic saba, "old man"; other experts, e. g., Jozef Bubak in Księga naszych imion, say it is from a Hebrew word for "servitude, slavery." 

The first name Sawa or Sava (as it would be spelled in English) is more common among Eastern Slavs than Poles, to the point that we'd expect a family named Sawicz to have come, originally, from eastern Poland or the land east of Poland's current borders: Ukraine or Belarus, now independent countries but for centuries part of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania. But Sawa and names formed from it have spread over the centuries, so that we see a village named Sawica in Olsztyn province and a village named Sawice in Siedlce province. These days the surname Sawicki is seen all over Poland; but it still much more common in the eastern provinces. And while I have no data for Ukraine, I strongly suspect it would be fairly common among Ukrainians (but spelled in Cyrillic, of course). 


ŁYSZCZARZ - ŁYSZCZASZ

... Am interested in knowing what my last name means. My name is Lyszczasz in America we use the last name Lystash. Do not really know about my family I think my family came from Krakow.

In Polish this name would be spelled with an L with a slash through it,  which is pronounced like our W. The way Poles pronounce the name would sound to us like "WISH-chosh." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 18 Polish citizens named Łyszczasz. They lived in the following provinces: Czestochowa 3, Poznan 9, Sieradz 2, Tarnow 1, Wroclaw 3. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Saying the name out loud, I realized that it is pronounced the same as another name, Łyszczarz; the combination rz is usually pronounced like the "s" in "pleasure," but at the end of words it is pronounced more like "sh" in "ship." So Łyszczasz is almost certainly just a phonetically spelled variant of the surname Łyszczarz. That means the name we are looking for is probably Łyszczarz, and in your research you should keep your eyes open for either spelling.

As of 1990 there were 1,406 Poles by that name, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Czestochowa 175, Katowice 166, Krakow 69, Poznan 72, Rzeszow 136, Tarnobrzeg 81, and Tarnow 126. So while the name is found all over Poland, it is most common in the southcentral to southeast part of the country -- this is the area that was seized by the Austrian Empire during the partitions in the late 18th century, and was ruled by them until after World War I as a province of Austria called Galicia.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the word łyŻka (slash through the L, dot over the Z), which means "spoon." A łyszczarz was one who made spoons. So this name is one of many in Polish that came from terms denoting an ancestor's occupation.


DUDKOWSKI

... Do you know the Polish name Dudkowski? Please respond Jacque 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,914 Polish citizens named Dudkowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 206, Lublin 154, Lodz 107, and Płock 209. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us there is no one part of Poland with which this name is associated; a Dudkowski could come from almost anywhere, especially the central and eastern part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the basic root dudek, "hoopoe" (a kind of bird), also used colloquially to mean "nincompoop." Dudkowski means literally "of the _ of the hoopoes," and usually the blank, which represents a word so obvious it didn't have to be spelled out, would be either "kin" or "place." Thus the surname could mean "kin of the nincompoop" or "kin of the hoopoe" (with dudek obviously used as a nickname). But I think far more often it would refer to any of a number of places named Dudki. In other words, the surname probably means "one from Dudki" = "one from the place of the hoopoes." There are at least 6 places by that name in Poland. Without the kind of detailed info on a specific family that genealogical research can provide, there is no way to know which one a given family took its name from.


WOJEWÓDKA

... Can you tell me where the Polish name Wojewodka originated from?

In Polish the term wojewoda means "voivode, palatine," a term used for the governor and "leader of warriors" (that's what it means literally) in charge of large areas under the king. In modern Polish the term for his jurisdiction, województwo, is still used to mean "province," one of the areas into which the country is divided, like states in the U.S. The term wojewódka is a diminutive, meaning "little voivode," or perhaps referring to a female relative of a voivode. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions the name Wojewódka in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying it appears in records as far back as 1399. The name is pronounced roughly "vo-yeah-VOOT-kah."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 751 Polish citizens named Wojewódka. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 117, Katowice 54, Krosno 50, Radom 61, Sieradz 57, and Wroclaw 60. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. What this data tells us is that the name is found all over Poland, so a family by this name could have come from anywhere in that country -- there's no way to tell, just from the name, what part of Poland a Wojewódka came from.


CISEK

... saw YOUR WEB PAGE AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT THE NAME OF CISEK.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,401 Polish citizens named Cisek. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 288, Przemysl 254, Rzeszow 1,011, Zamosc 315. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is most common in the southern part of Poland, and especially the southeast.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says Cisek appears in records as far back as 1428, and comes from the noun cis, "yew-tree," or possibly the adjective cisy, "tawny." Just looking at the form of the word, however, with that diminutive suffix -ek, the most likely interpretation is "little yew." That suggests the name started as a kind of nickname for one whom people somehow perceived as connected with yews. He may have lived near a conspicuous yew, or worked with yew wood, or wore clothes that were colored like the tree, etc. With names that originated this long ago, there's no way to know exactly how the name got started, unless one is fortunate enough to uncover old documents that shed light on how it came to be associated with a particular person or family. Generally all we can do is note what the name means and then make reasonable suggestions as to the nature of the connection.


KARANEWSKI - KARANOWSKI - SKORODA

... I wanted to know if you have information on the surname Karanewska. It was my great-grandmother's maiden name. Also, would you happen to know anything about the surname Skoroda. 

Karanewska is a feminine form; the standard form would be Karanewski. As of 1990, however, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were no Polish citizens named Karanewski. There were 41 named Karanowski, and -ewski and -owski are suffixes closely related, so that one might consider Karanewski merely a variant form of Karanowski. The largest numbers of those 41 Karanowskis lived in northeastern Poland, in the provinces of Białystok (13) and Suwałki (9). Unfortunately I don't have access to more details such as first names or addresses, and can't tell you how to get such info.

If the name does in fact begin with Karan- (instead of being a variation of a name beginning with some other root, such as Koron-), the ultimate root of the name is probably that seen in the verb karać, "to punish," and the participle karany, "punished," especially in the sense of one who has been convicted legally and fined or otherwise punished. Thus Karanewski could be interpreted as "kin of the one punished" or "one from the place of the one punished." Usually names ending in -ewski and -owski refer to place names, so that I'd expect the name actually to mean "one from Karanewo" or some similar place name, which in turn would derive from karany. I can't find any places with appropriate names on modern maps, but that's not unusual. Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may now be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago.

I should say, however, that I have sometimes seen A and O switched in names, so I can't rule out the possibility that this is a variation of a name such as Koronowski. That's a possibility worth keeping in mind as you research.

Skoroda is also pretty rare. As of 1990 there were only 51 Poles named Skoroda, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Ostrołęka, 23, and Katowice, 14. 

None of my sources on names mention Skoroda or any likely variant. I see in my dictionary, however, that skoroda is a popular term for woodruff, an herb (genus Asperula). It is entirely plausible that such a term might come to be a personal name -- there are many names in Polish and other Slavic languages derived from words for flowers or herbs. Perhaps an ancestral Skoroda used this herb, or knew where to find it, or supplied people with it, or wore clothes with colors that reminded people of it. All these centuries later it's hard to say exactly what the association was; all we can do is say what the word means and then make plausible suggestions.


KAPINOS

... I am interested in any information on the surname Kapinos

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 698 Polish citizens named Kapinos. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 110, Rzeszow 133, and Tarnow 179; the rest were scattered in small numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found mainly in southcentral to southeastern Poland.

According to Polish name experts, this surname developed as a combination of two Polish roots, from kapać, "to drip," and nos, "nose." So I'm afraid what it means is "drippy nose," and thus is one of the many surnames referring to a trait or characteristic of an individual. It probably began as a nickname for a person whose nose ran quite a bit, and gradually came to be applied as a surname to his kin. Not the most complimentary name in the world, I admit, but by Polish standards it's not bad. I've seen some names that are so insulting and nasty they make this one look like a compliment!

 

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

OTOCKI

... I have been looking for information about the last name of my late grandfather who came to the United States from Poland when he was just thirteen. I am writing to see if you might be able to answer one simple question before I pursue a detailed inquiry. Is the last name "Otocki" 100% Polish? I cannot seem to find it anywhere and I am wondering if perhaps the name may have another orgin. A "yes or no" answer or appropriate re-direction in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Otocki is definitely a Polish name. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 744 Polish citizens named Otocki. The largest number, 188, lived in the province of Lodz in central Poland; the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

In Polish Otocki would be pronounced roughly "ah-TOT-skee." One of my books mentions this name as deriving from a place name, Otok, in the district of Sieradz, and says it appears in records from the 1st half of the 14th century. In other words, it originally meant "lord of Otok," since Polish nobles often took their surnames from the name of their estate. Later on, as surnames spread throughout Polish society, peasants took them too, and a name like Otocki came to mean nothing more than "one from Otok."

I should add, however, that that one Otok in Sieradz district is not the only place in Poland with this name, and the surname could refer to it or the others. The only way to tell which place the name refers to in a given family's case is by way of genealogical research.

 

If you'd like to see maps showing at least some of these places, go to this Website: http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm

Enter "Otok" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of various places in Poland with names starting Otok-. For each one, click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc.


MAJUSIAK

... Hi I was wondering if you had any info. on my surname, Majusiak, I would like to find out some general info, and what my family crest or coat of arms is. Thank you and I appreciate your time.

In Polish the name is pronounced roughly "mah-YOOSH-yock." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 89 Polish citizens named Majusiak. They lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 12, Gorzow 4, Jelena Gora 3, Kalisz 69, Leszno 1. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. From this data we can see that the name is most common in an area just a little southwest of the center of Poland.

As for the origin of the name, one of my sources mentions it, saying that it could have two derivations. It could come from Latin maius, "May," and in fact there are a lot of fairly common Polish surnames from the Polish word meaning the same thing, maj (e. g., Majewski, Majkowski). So such a derivation is plausible; in that case the name would mean something like "kin of the May guy," referring to someone called Majus because there he was perceived as having some connection with May -- perhaps he was born in May, or converted to Catholicism in that month, or had some special duty or obligation to perform in May.

The other possibility is a connection with the Latin term magus, "Persian priest, wise man, sorcerer." In Polish the Latin G was often modified to J (pronounced like our Y), so this, too, is plausible. The exact nature of the connection with one of the Magi is hard to say. One possibility is that an ancestor played one of the Magi in a Christmas play. Often that's how improbable names connected with Biblical characters got started; a person might be called by that name because he'd played that role in one of the morality plays staged on special feasts. So one of your ancestors may have played one of the Three Wise Men in such a play. But of course, it's also possible you had an ancestor who came to Poland from the Middle East and was regarded as an exotic fellow, perhaps even a Magus.

Surnames generally developed centuries ago, and in most cases there's nothing written that's survived to tell us exactly how they originated. About all we can do is note the basic meaning and then make plausible suggestions. So your name probably means either "kin of the May guy" or "kin of the one who reminded people of one of the Magi, or played that role in a Nativity play."

As for family coats of arms, you must understand they were restricted to the nobility -- these companies that send out mailings saying "Here's your coat of arms" are con men. Only detailed genealogical research can establish whether or not a particular family was, in fact, entitled to bear a coat of arms. Having the same surname as a noble family doesn't even prove it, because as surnames spread through Polish society, many that were once used exclusively by nobles came to be used by peasants as well. The only way, I'm afraid, is to trace your family to a specific place and time, then see if they show up in registers of nobles. If they do, it's great news, as records on noble families usually go back centuries further than those on peasants. But of course, the peasants were the majority. -- though if you trace your roots back enough generations, the odds increase you'll find intermarriage with nobles somewhere along the line.


DEPTUŁA

... I'm trying to find the origin of the surname Deptula. I can not find any reference to it anywhere. Could you please help, with some information? 

In Polish this name is spelled with a slash through the L. Thus the name is Deptuła and is pronounced roughly "depp-TOO-wah." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,783 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over Poland, but the largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Olsztyn 777, Ostrołęka 1,397, Warsaw 257. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates the name is most common in northeastern Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says names beginning Dept- come from the verb deptać (accent over the C), which means "to tread on," or the dialect noun depta, "dawdler." As a rule names in the form X-uła mean "one always doing X, one always demonstrating the trait X." So Deptuła probably began as a kind of nickname for one always treading on something, or one always dawdling around. I would think the second interpretation is more likely to be applicable to a surname. So I think most likely this name means you had an ancestor who was perceived by others as a dawdler -- or else the name was meant ironically, the way guys named "Tiny" are usually huge, so a might also have been one who never dawdled. These names developed centuries ago, and all this time later all we can do is give the basic meaning, then make reasonable suggestions on what the name might have meant originally in a given context.


GNIECH

... Have you run across the name GNIECH? The most I know is it came out of Prussia

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 72 Polish citizens named Gniech. They lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 70, Konin 1, Suwałki 1. So the name is definitely concentrated in the area of Gdansk, which was formerly ruled by Prussia. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

As for the name's origin, Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Gniech in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it began as a kind of nickname or affectionate short form for ancient Polish first names such as Gniewomir, literally "wrath-peace," or possibly others beginning with Gnie-. In other words, these names existed long, long ago, before the Poles converted to Christianity, made up of two roots that produced a name of favorable omen for the child so named. There were names with the first part gniew from a word meaning "anger, wrath." But just as we produce nicknames like Teddy from Theodore, Poles began creating nicknames like Gniech from those longer names. Eventually the nicknames came to be names in their own right, and then became surnames. So having a surname Gniech suggests nothing more than that somewhere along the line you had an ancestor by that name.


TREUTLER

Where can I find out how many Treutler's are still living in Poland.Seen something like this in a forum and the data is from 1990

The source in question is the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," ISBN 83-85579-25-7, which was compiled from data covering about 94% of the population of Poland as of 1990. That data was provided by the PESEL Government Information Center, which administers certain social programs and thus deals with virtually all Polish citizens. According to it, as of 1990 there were 14 Polish citizens named Treutler. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 2, Bydgoszcz 3, Czestochowa 1, Krakow 6, Opole 2. (Please note that this is based on the setup of provinces in force from 1975 to 1998; they have since been changed.)

Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. The PESEL Center does not allow researchers access to its data, in the interests of protecting Polish citizens' privacy. The one source that might help researchers find a specific individual or family was mentioned in the July 2000 issue of the Polish-American Journal. In that issue the PAJ Answerman suggested one can find individuals or families "by contacting the one office in Poland that has on file the addresses of all people currently living in Poland: Centralne Biuro Adresowe, ul. Kazimierzowska 60, 02-543 Warsaw, POLAND." I have no idea whether this works or not, I've never tried it. But I thought it worth passing on, in case it might help you.

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.


RYDZ

I am researching the background of my grandfather, Simon Lisear Rydz, who was born in Slesen, near Kalish, in 1853 and migrated to England in the 1880's. I have noticed your answer to a previous enquirer under the name Rydzewski. The family is Jewish and I am curious to know if this name is commonly Jewish, especially as the pre-war head of state bore the name Rydz-Smigly and it seems unlikely that a person of Jewish descent would have held that office in those years. I plan to visit Slesen shortly to see what I can discover there.

You're right that it would be unlikely for a person of Jewish descent to hold such an office... There are a lot of surnames that are borne almost exclusively by Jews, and others borne almost exclusively by Christians. Rydz falls into the category of those that could be borne by either. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], and says that it comes from the root seen in the noun rydz, an edible species of agaric, Lactarius deliciosus. Another expert says it can come from the adjective rydzy, "reddish-gold color." A Jewish expert, Alexander Beider, mentions the agaric but not the "reddish-gold color" in his book on Jewish surnames from the Kingdom of Poland.

Frankly, I suspect the color might be a factor when the name appears among Jewish families, simply because the adjective might refer to reddish hair, which I understand is found far more among Jews than ethnic Poles. I cannot be sure -- this is simply speculation -- but it would make for a plausible connection. Still, a name like Rydz might just as easily refer to an ancestor's liking that agaric, or cooking often with it, or selling it, or living in an area where it was common. Without detailed research into a family's background, there's no way to be sure which derivation is relevant in their particular case. The most I can say is that this name is borne by Christians and Jews, since there is no factor that would limit it to one or the other. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,564 Polish citizens named Rydz (pronounced roughly "Rits"). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 143, Katowice 118, Kielce 203, Krakow 131, Lublin 198, Lodz 198, Radom 124, and Tarnow 108. Only 33 lived in the province of Kalisz. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. What this data tells us is that the name is found all over Poland; it is not associated with any one area. 

Have you looked to see if there are other researchers studying this name? You can try the following searchable database:

http://www.jewishgen.org/jgff/ 

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.


MRZYGŁÓD

… After conversation with my friend I have been given another spelling, it is Mrzyglo. Perhaps this will have more luck, if you have the time could you check this name for me.

This is a step in the right direction. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), here were the following numbers of Polish citizens with names beginning Mrzyglo-, with a total for all of Poland and a breakdown by province:

MRZYGLOD: 9, all in Katowice province
MRZYGLÓD: 1, in Jelenia Gora province
MRZYGŁOCKI: 189; Warsaw 14, Bydgoszcz 6, Czestochowa 2, Gdansk 26, Gorzow 16, Jelenia Gora 22, Katowice 4, Krakow 4, Opole 34, Slupsk 1, Szczecin 3, Walbrzych 11, Zielona Gora 36
MRZYGŁOD: 10; Bielsko-Biala 2, Katowice 5, Lodz 1, Torun 1, Walbrzych 1
MRZYGŁODZIK: 30, all in Katowice province
MRZYGŁODZKI: 19; Jelenia Gora 1, Katowice 1, Krakow 14, Lodz 1, Opole 2
MRZYGŁOWSKI: 8; Olsztyn 6, Slupsk 2
MRZYGŁÓD: 1,989, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 637, Katowice 228, Krakow 87, Tarnow 265
MRZYGŁUD: 1, Kielce province
MRZYGOD: 7, all in Katowice province
MRZYGÓD: 1, Walbrzych province
MRZYGUT: 4, all in Katowice province

The Polish slashed L, pronounced like our W. the accented o sounds like "oo" in "book." The RZ combination sounds like "zh" in "Zhivago," or like "s" in "measure." So Mrzygłód sounds like "M'ZHIGG-woot," MRZYGŁOCKI sounds like "m'zhigg-WOT-skee," and so on.

All these names except Mrzygłowski are variant forms of one name, of which the standard spelling is Mrzygłód. This comes from a noun mrzygłód, which means "starveling, miser." The surname can also refer to places named Mrzygłód, of which there are at least two (one in Czestochowa province, the other in Krosno province), or to Mrzygłódka in Czestochowa province. You'll note the names above tend to appear all over Poland, but Mrzygłód appears mainly in Bielsko-Biala, Katowice, and Tarnow provinces -- in other words, in the area from southcentral to southeastern Poland. People by these names don't have to come from there, but that's where they tend to be most common.

The term mrzygłód comes from a combination of the verb mrzeć, "to die," and the noun głód, "hunger," so that it means literally "die-hunger, starve." In fact there is a common expression in Polish, mrzeć głodem, "to die of hunger, starve." Presumably Mrzygłód began as a nickname for one who ate very little, was very thin, perhaps because he was very tight with his money.

Now Mrzygłód is quite a handful to say if you're not used to speaking Polish, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was simplified a little along the way, if only by dropping the diacritical marks and the final d. So I'm guessing your friend's name is an Americanized form of Mrzygłód, meaning an ancestor was a miser or a starveling.

I can't find any other Polish word or root that begins mrzyg-, so I think this is most likely to be right. At least it's the best I can do with the information available to me. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.


KOTEWA - KOTWA

… I was curious about the surname Kotewa which was my ex husband's name. His grandparents were the first immigrants and I was thinking that maybe they shortened it at Ellis Island.

First I should mention it's a myth that names were often changed at Ellis Island. The officials there simply went by the names on the passenger lists given them by arriving ships' officers. Obviously with human error some inadvertent modification may have happened. The overwhelming majority of name changes, however, occurred before and especially after arrival in America. It usually turns out the name was changed when the new immigrants realized their names sounded too foreign and were making it hard for them to fit in. Also, census officials and other officials tended to massacre Polish names, and sometimes the mangled forms stuck because they were written down on paper. In any case, when a name was changed -- and many, many were, often past all recognition -- it usually happened after Ellis Island. 

It's hard to say whether Kotewa was changed or not. That name is found in Poland, but it's rather rare. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 33 Polish citizens named Kotewa. They lived in the following provinces: Czestochowa 6, Pila 27. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

This name probably derives from the noun kotwa, "anchor," which also appears in some areas in the form kotew. So Kotewa is almost certainly a variant of that noun, and originally was a nickname for one associated somehow with anchors -- perhaps an ancestor made or sold them, or was a seaman. It's tough to say exactly what the nature of the association was, but it's pretty likely the name started out meaning "anchor guy." 

Incidentally, Kotwa is a more common name, borne by some 463 Poles as of 1990. Kotwica, from the same root, is even more common, borne by 2,824 Poles, but that's not a factor here. Kotwa could have been the original form of the name, with Kotewa a modification made after the family arrived in the U. S. Or Kotewa could be a form that originated in Poland, as a variant between Kotwa and Kotew. Tough to say without detailed research into the family's history.


MAŚLANKA - MAŚLONKA

… I just found your web site and saw that you are able to do surname research. Is it possible that you research two names? My mother's maiden name and my father's name? The two names are Kasprzak and the other is Maslonka.

In Polish Maslonka is usually written with an accent over the S, which I indicate online as Ś; it is pronounced roughly "mosh-LONE-kah." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 123 Polish citizens named Maślonka. They lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 33, Bydgoszcz 23, Czestochowa 1, Gdansk 3, Kalisz 3, Katowice 15, Krakow 1, Legnica 6, Leszno 17, Opole 3, Pila 15, Poznan 1, Wroclaw 1, Zielona Gora 1. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

None of my sources mention this particular name, but I think we can safely regard it as a variant of Maślanka, a name borne by 6,371 Poles as of 1990 and coming from the noun maślanka, "buttermilk," or the adjective maślany, "buttered," or the noun masło (Ł = the Polish slashed L, pronounced like our W), "butter." So it seems likely Maślanka, and its variant Maślonka, originally were applied as nicknames to people associated with something buttery. Perhaps they made butter, or sold it, or their complexion or color was butter-like; with nicknames it can be very hard to figure out, if you weren't there, exactly what the association was that originally caused people to associate a particular person or family with a particular nickname. 

As for Kasprzak, it is pronounced roughly "KOSP-zhock." It means literally "little Casper, son of Casper," and there were 16,744 Poles by that name in 1990. As with most surnames from popular first names, this one is common all over the country. There isn't one big Kasprzak family, but dozens or hundreds of individual ones that all came by the name independently, because around the time surnames were being established, a Kasper or Kacper was prominent enough that his kin were referred to by his name. 


PLEBAN

… I’d like to know the meaning of Pleban. Is it Polish, I’m not sure? 

I can't say it is exclusively Polish -- it is possible this name could develop independently in another language. But Pleban is definitely a name used by Poles. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 713 Polish citizens named Pleban. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 130, Katowice 62, Rzeszow 55, Tarnow 44, Skierniewice 176. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun pleban, "parish priest, village priest, curate." Presumably it was originally applied to the kin of a local priest or someone closely connected with him. It is pronounced roughly "PLEH-bonn."


GDOWSKI

… Would you be able to give me information on the Polish surname Gdowski, I am trying to research about my family and also the family crest. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1614, and in some instances might derive from gdowa, a dialect term for "widow." So in some instances it might mean "kin of the widow, one from the place of the widow." 

But as a rule names ending -owski come from the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago. We would expect Gdowski to mean "one from Gdy or Gdów or Gdowo" or something similar. Rymut mentions that this surname is particularly likely to derive from the name of the town Gdów, southeast of Krakow. So while the derivations mentioned earlier might prove relevant in some cases, for most folks named Gdowski the name would just mean "one from Gdów." 

If you'd like to see a map showing where Gdów is, go to this Website: 

    http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm 

Enter "Gdow" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of places in Poland with names starting Gdow-. It's a short list, and the second one is the one most likely to be relevant. Click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc. 

As for family coats of arms, you must understand they were restricted to the nobility -- these companies that send out mailings saying "Here's your coat of arms" are con men. Only detailed genealogical research can establish whether or not a particular family was, in fact, entitled to bear a coat of arms. Having the same surname as a noble family doesn't even prove it, because as surnames spread through Polish society, many that were once used exclusively by nobles came to be used by peasants as well. The only way, I'm afraid, is to trace your family to a specific place and time, then see if they show up in registers of nobles. If they do, it's great news, as records on noble families usually go back centuries further than those on peasants. But of course, the peasants were the majority. 

You might be able to learn more if you post a question to the mailing list Herbarz-L. It is frequented by gentlemen with access to various armorials and libraries, and very often they are able to provide some information on specific noble families and their coats of arms. 

To subscribe (which costs nothing), send an E-mail message with just the word SUBSCRIBE to this address: 

     HERBARZ-L-request@rootsweb.com  

No one reads this note -- a computer will process it automatically, add you to the mailing list, and send you a brief note explaining procedures. Then you can post a note to the list itself, where it will be read by the members, at this address: 

   HERBARZ-L@rootsweb.com

If there was a noble family named Gdowski, chances are good someone on the list can offer a little more info. 


OSAŁKOWSKI - PAWŁOWSKI - PRUSS

… My grandmother had said "On her side one of the ancestors was the right-hand man to the king" and that we are Pruss. It was her parents that migrated here. She was born in 1913, surname Osalkowski. My grandfather on the other hand came here as a 6-month-old infant with his parents, that would have been approx. July 1902, surname Pawlowski.

Using the Polish L with a slash through it, Pawłowski (pronounced roughly "pahv-WOFF-skee") is a very common name. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 52,744 Polish citizens named Pawłowski, living in large numbers all over Poland. So I'm afraid we can't point to any one area and say the name is more common there than elsewhere; families by this name could come from anywhere in Poland. 

The name refers to the name of a place the family came from at some point centuries ago, places with names like Pawłów and Pawłowo, which just mean "Paul's place" and were usually named after someone who owned or founded them. The problem is there are a great many places in Poland with names that fit, so the surname doesn't provide any useful clue whatsoever as to where a particular Pawłowski family came from. Only genealogical research might allow one to determine which particular Pawłów or Pawłowo or Pawłowice (etc.) a given family took its name from. 

It's also not out of the question that Pawłowski could just mean "kin of Paweł." The form Pawłowski is adjectival and just means "of the _ of Paweł," where that blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't have to be spelled out. Usually it's "place," but in some instances it can be "kin." So we'd expect the name usually to mean "one from the place of Paweł" and thus refer to places named Pawłow-. But "one of the kin of Paweł" is also possible. 

As for Pruss, it just means "Prussian," and it's a common name, since East and West Prussia were located in territory now part of Poland. As of 1990 there were 6,505 Poles named Prus, another 1,176 with the same name but spelled Pruś, with an accent over the S (so that it sounds a bit more like "proosh"), plus 442 who spelled it Pruss. There are numerous other forms of this same basic name, including Preuss and Prajs. People by these names lived all over Poland, although of course they were particularly numerous in areas ruled or colonized by Germans. So the name itself doesn't offer any useful leads; it just means you had an ancestor who was Prussian. 

In Polish Osalkowski is usually spelled with a slash through the L, so the name sounds like "oh-sowk-OFF-skee." As of 1990 there were 18 Polish citizens named Osałkowski, living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (13) and Pila (5). 

None of my sources mention this name, but surnames in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place where the family came from centuries ago. Thus we'd expect this surname to mean "one from Osałki or Osałkowo" or some similar place name beginning Osałk-. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual. The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may now be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. It's also quite possible the place name or surname, or both, have changed somewhat over the centuries. I'm afraid only genealogical research might uncover facts that would clear up exactly what place the surname originally referred to. 


WRĘBIAK

… Just checked your book for a newfound ancestral surname but could find nothing. My gggg grandmother was Anastazya Wrębiak. The family was from Tereszpol, of woj. Zamosc. Any information on this surname would, as always, be appreciated and revered...

In Polish this name is spelled with the nasal E written as an E with a tail under it. Normally pronounced much like “en,” before a b or p it is pronounced more like “em,” so that Wrębiak sounds like “V’REMB-yock.” 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 324 Polish citizens named Wrębiak. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gorzow 26, Legnica 35, Zamosc 118. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this suggests the area your ancestors came from is the main place where you find folks by this name. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the root seen in the verb wrąbać, "to guzzle, wolf down," and the noun wrąb, "incision, notch." The -[i]ak suffix is diminutive, often meaning "son of" or "one always doing X," so Wrębiak could mean "son of the guy who wolfs his food down" or "little notch" or something equally inscrutable. It may be one of those instances where the name's relevance was perfectly obvious to anyone who knew the person, but you had to be there. 


CZECH

… I was wondering if you could tell me the origin of the surname Czech. I know that my grandparents came to America from Poland, but I'm curious if I'm part Czechoslovakian? I have found this surname on some websites as Polish, therefore I truly hope you can answer my question!

I'm afraid it's not that simple. Some Polish names come from one and only derivation: Kowalski comes from kowal, "smith," and that's about all there is to it. Other names could develop independently in more than one way, and the only means by which one can determine which derivation is relevant in his particular ancestors' case is genealogical research, which might uncover some old document that mentions something enlightening. 

In Polish Czech is the word meaning "person from Bohemia," and it is entirely possible the name indicates you had an ancestor who was called this because he was a Czech. In fact, that Cz- spelling is Polish; Czechs or Bohemians use a C with a little v over it to indicate the "ch" sound that Poles spell as "cz," so that the Czech word for "Czech" is actually Ĉech. 

But among Poles this surname can also come from a kind of nickname or affectionate short form for a number of ancient Polish first names beginning with Cze-, such as Czesław. Poles often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So they would take Cze- from Czesław, drop the rest, and add the guttural -ch. The result, Czech, would sound kind of like our word "check," but the final sound isn't a K, it's a light guttural somewhat like "ch" in German "Bach" or Scottish "loch." 

So the name can have more than one meaning, and it's very hard to say which one applies in your ancestors' case. I'd think odds are good the name refers to an ancestor who came from the area now covered by the Czech Republic. But there's no denying the name can also come from that nickname for Czesław or other old names beginning Cze-

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 15,305 Polish citizens named Czech. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one part of the country. So a family named Czech could come from anywhere -- although obviously, if the name does refer to the ethnic group, at some point, centuries ago, an ancestor must have come from the lands south of Poland.

 

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Wroblewski

i am having trouble on finding the meaning of my surname. it is Wroblewski

 

In Polish this name is normally spelled with an accent over the O, WRÓBLEWSKI, pronounced roughly "v'roob-LEFF-skee." It's one of the more common surnames -- according to a Polish government agency database, as of 1990 there were over 36,000 Polish citizens by this name. People by this name lived all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area.

 

The name comes ultimately from the noun wróbel, "sparrow." But as Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut notes in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], this surname, which appears in records as early as 1394, usually refers to a family connection with a place named Wróblewo or Wróblowice or something similar. Those names would mean "[place] of sparrows" or "[place] of the sons of the Sparrow," perhaps referring to an owner or founder of a settlement or estate nicknamed Wróbel. There also places in Poland named Wróble and Wróblew and Wróblowa. All in all there are more than a dozen villages and settlements this surname could refer to, all bearing names that indicate some connection with sparrows, or with an owner or founder nicknamed "Sparrow" for some reason.

 

Since there are a number of places this surname can refer to, there's no way to tell from the name alone which village or settlement a given family came from. Your Wróblewskis might come from one place, someone else's from another. The only way to establish which place the name refers to is by tracing the family history as far back as possible. If you can determine exactly where your ancestors came from, it might then become possible to connect them with a specific place named Wróblewo or Wróblowice or Wróble or Wróblew or something similar.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Polakowski - Rawa - Tomaszewski - Wawrukiewicz

... In your book on Polish surnames, could you please let me know if you included the surnames: Polakowski, Rawa, Tomaszewski & Wawrukiewicz? I DON'T want to know what you said about them; just if they're covered.

 

All those names are reasonably common, except Wawrukiewicz (only 57 Poles by that name as of 1990). All are mentioned in the book. Ignore the rest of this paragraph if you wish, but I don't mind telling you that Wawrukiewicz means son of Wawruk, and Wawruk is a sort of eastern Slavic nickname for Lawrence, so Wawrukiewicz means more or less son of Larry, and probably originated in eastern Poland or western Ukraine. The other three are basically formed from place names: Rawa (the name of 1,041 Poles as of 1990) is the name of a couple of villages and towns (also the name of a coat of arms); the others most likely started as meaning something like guy from Polakow or Polakowo (there are several possibilities, and in 1990 there were 3,133 Poles named Polakowski) and guy from Tomaszew or Tomaszewo (again, many possibilities, which explains why there were 38,139 Poles named Tomaszewski in 1990). Note that Polakow/o/a just means place of the Pole[s], and Tomaszew/o/a just means Thomas's place.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Polkoski - Szelęgiewicz - Szelengewich

...I am attempting research on my family and need information on the names of Polkoski and Szelengewich (which appears in the form of many spellings within the family). It seems no one could remember how to spell the darn thing and it became more mangled in each generation. I don't see the name on your list. The first spelling provided is the spelling from my grandmother's immigration booklet, so I don't know if it was a spelling from a tired immigration officer or her own. If you can help I would appreciate it. I know that your time is valuable and so many of us need help.

 

Polkoski is probably a variant of Polkowski, a name borne by 3,156 Polish citizens as of 1990, living all over Poland, but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (828), Łomża (374), Siedlce (342) and Suwałki (256). In many parts of Poland that w (which in that particular suffix sounds like an f) is pronounced indistinctly or not at all, so it isn't at all unusual to see names ending in -owski sometimes show up with -oski. As of 1990 there were only 4 Polkoskis in Poland (all living in Siedlce province, east of Warsaw). In the case of your particular family the name might have been Polkoski or it might have been Polkowski and just got spelled that way because of the way it was pronounced -- the numbers suggest the latter is more likely. The name is very common, and means little more than "person or family owning, coming from, or otherwise associated with a place called Polko or Polkow or Polkowo or Polkowice." There are quite a few places by those names, which explains why the surname deriving from them is so common.

 

Szelengewich is almost certainly an Anglicization (and not a drastic one!) of the Polish surname spelled several ways, of which the closest match is Szelengiewicz (pronounced "shel-en-GYE-vich"). As of 1990 there were 25 Poles by this name, all living in the province of Tarnobrzeg. But virtually identical is Szelęgiewicz (the Polish nasal e is written with a tail under it, pronounced roughly the same as en), and there were 59 Poles by that name, living in the provinces of Warsaw (6), Bydgoszcz (1), Elblag (6), Krakow (3), Krosno (1), Lublin (2), Poznan (1), Rzeszow (1), Szczecin (4), Tarnobrzeg (29), Wroclaw (5). In both cases the name is by far most common in Tarnobrzeg province, in southeastern Poland, not too far from the border with Ukraine.

 

Both these names come from the term szeląg, an old Polish silver coin; here I'm using ą to stand for the Polish nasal a, also written with a tail under it and pronounced much like on. In Polish the nasal vowels ą and ę are felt to be related, and it's not at all rare to see them switched in names. So if there's a name Szelągiewicz (and there is, borne by 300 Poles as of 1990) it, too, might be regarded as related to your name. It gets hard to tell when these variants are distinct names in their own right and when they're just slightly different forms of the same name -- sometimes a person's "correct" name might be Szelągiewicz, but he was sometimes called Szelęgiewicz because of dialect tendencies or other factors... Still, I notice Szelągiewicz is not all that common in Tarnobrzeg province, it's most common in central and western Poland, so without further info I'd have to say it's plausible that Szelęgiewicz is right in your family's case and that they most likely came from southeastern Poland -- if they came from central or western Poland the name would probably be spelled with the nasal a, not the nasal e... It's dangerous trying to draw conclusions from one little letter, but going by what info I have this is what seems most likely.

 

By the way, -ewicz is a suffix meaning "son of," so the name means "son of the silver coin." Presumably in this case szeląg was not so much the coin but a nickname for a fellow, maybe one who helped mint coins or was always anxious to collect coins (i.e., it might be a clever way of calling somebody a skinflint). People can be awfully ingenious when it comes to names, so we can't always say with certainty how a particular name got started. The best we can do is figure out what it means "by the book" and then use our imaginations to suggest explanations.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Poteralski

...I am just beginning to research the Polish background of the name Poteralski. Any info you could provide on where to start looking would be helpful.

 

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut says the surname POTERALSKI comes from the root potera or potyra, disregard, ill-treatment, and the verb poterac', to hold in disregard or contempt. The name is not rare in Poland, but not extremely common either: as of 1990 there were some 272 Poles by this name, living all over the country. There were a few Poteralskis in many provinces, but the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (39), Katowice (23), Radom (18), Sieradz (20), and especially Piotrkow Trybunalski (100). This suggests that the name is most often found in an area south and west of Warsaw, but it doesn't really narrow things down enough to be extremely useful -- it's like listing a few counties in the U. S., helpful but still leaving an awful lot of ground to cover.

 

Unfortunately, this isn't unusual for Polish surnames. Comparatively few offer any really helpful clues on where a family is likely to have come from. If you have the surname but no details on when and where ancestors were born, you're not likely to get far; but if you have a fairly good notion of where your ancestors came from, then sometimes surnames will give you a lead that helps you focus on a specific area.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Psotka

...I ran across your book on the Polish web and wondered what you knew about the Psotka name. A distant relative in Slovakia says we are descended from a count of Tarnowiec (Tarnowiecka) whose name was Zach.

 

This is an interesting name, because this name is quite rare in Poland. A similar name, Psota is not uncommon -- with 321 bearers as of 1990, it's not very common, but certainly not rare. The largest concentration of Poles by that name, Psota, (244) lives in the province of Katowice, not too far from the Czech and Slovak border... But the list I have shows only 1 Psotka, living in Krakow province (also in far southern Poland). Unfortunately my source does not give first names or addresses, and it only covered 94% of the population as of 1990, so there may be a few other Psotka's here and there, but in any case I can't tell you exactly where they would be. In any case, the name's rarity in Poland suggests it's probably not a native Polish name; I'd have to wonder if it is Czech or Slovak in origin, surely if it were Polish there'd be more Psotka's in Poland! (Although even that isn't necessarily true, there are some unquestionably Polish names that have died out in the homeland, only to be carried on in other countries like the U.S.).

 

The basic root of this name is a root seen in many other Slavic languages, pies or ps-, meaning "dog." But it also sounds much like the root in such words as psuć, "spoil, ruin, waste," and I wonder if that comes into play? Psota means basically "prank, trick, joke," but in older Polish it also could mean "adultery, lust" and almost kind of sexual activity that was frowned on by the Church (i.e., most kinds you can think of). I think the basic idea behind all this is that such-and-such is "dog activity," where the notion of "dog" is often connected with something kind of prankish but also nasty: thus in Polish the curse "Psiakrew," literally "dog's blood," kind of a semi-vulgar thing to say; but again, that root meaning "ruin, spoil" might also influence the meaning with a whiff of something rotten, foul. In any case, psotka would be the diminutive of that noun, so as you say, it could mean "a little prank, a little joke," and when applied to a person might well be a nickname meaning "prankster." Not a particularly flattering nickname, I know, but a lot better than some others in Polish!

 

If it is primarily of Czech or Slovak origin, there would still be a basic similarity in meaning, but there might be some special connotation I don't know about.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Pułaski - Puławski

...I read your message from the GenPol discussion group and would like to ask you, if you have deeper information in the surname Pulawski. I am aware that Pulawski means someone from or of the place called Pulawy. Now both a town and a region in Poland are named Pulawy. Is it normal that people took names after their region, or did they only take names after towns and villages. I am thinking that perhaps a distant ancestor of mine was from the town of Pulawy, it maybe even was his estate. Do you have any information on that?

 

The names Puławski and Pułaski are confusing, because they derive originally from different words, but those words are apparently related in origin, both from a root meaning marshy terrain. Yet the surnames are sometimes used interchangeably. It was not at all uncommon for people to take names based on the names of regions, although of course more specific names based on towns and villages are more common. Puławski is a common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 2,193 Poles by that name; the largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (376), Łomża (108), Ostrołęka (327), and Sieradz (139), with many other provinces having fewer than 100 inhabitants by that name. Pułaski is far less common, only 124, in the provinces of Warsaw (20), Elblag 10, Łomża (12), Lodz (11), Olsztyn (10), Ostrołęka 12, Siedlce 12, and Szczecin 14, and a few others with less than 10.

 

I am afraid I do not have enough information on Pulawski families to help you determine whether your ancestor was from Pulawy. It is certainly quite possible, even probable; but I have no data that would prove anything. The interesting thing is that the name Pulaski comes from the place name Pulazie -- the family of Kazimierz Pulaski had their ancestral home at Pulazie Swierze, about 8 km. southeast of Wysokie Mazowieckie in what is now Łomża province. This is some distance away from Pulawy. In theory, the Pulaski name is distinct from Pulawski and should never be confused with it. Yet I have seen documents relating to that family in which the name is clearly given as Puławski! This makes it very hard to keep straight who belongs to what name and where the name came from.

 

I heard about some people who were trying to research Pulaski's background -- that's where I saw the documents -- but I never received an address for them. There was an article on Pulaski's birth written by Jan Zaleski in an issue of The Eaglet, the newsletter of the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan -- Mr. Zaleski might also be able to give you some information. You can write him at this address: PGS-MI, c/o Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI48202.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Radzymiński

...I have not been able to acquire your book Polish Surnames, so I'd like to ask you if you cover the name Radzyminski or know any information. I know that there is a town in Poland near Warsaw called Radzymin that is most likely connected to the name, but I don't know any more than that.

It's a virtual certainty that the surname Radzyminski started out meaning person from or somehow connected with the towns of Radzymin. (Besides Radzymin near Warsaw, there's also a town or village by the same name in Ciechanow province, and there may be other, smaller places by that name that don't show up on my map). The root is distinctive enough to leave little doubt of that. Those towns, in turn, got their name from an abbreviated form of old Polish names such as Radzimir, which could mean one who's glad of peace or peaceful advisor. So at one time there was a fellow named Radzima (abbreviation of Radzimir) who founded or owned or was prominent in those towns, which took their name from him. Then in turn later on when surnames were being adapted, Radzyminski was a good way of distinguishing a family who came from there. Historically both the towns' name and the surname have alternated y and i, so that Radzimin- and Radzymin- are both common, and the spelling difference doesn't really mean much.

As of 1990 there were 479 Polish citizens named Radzyminski, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (83), Ciechanow (44), Elblag (44), Gdansk (37), Olsztyn (40), and Pila (32). The name Radziminski was about as common, with 419 bearers; they were most common in the provinces of Warsaw (66), Bydgoszcz (34), Ciechanow (33), Gdansk (47), Olsztyn (40), and Torun (109). If there's any really useful pattern there, it eludes me. It seems most likely that there were a number of different families who hailed from one or other of the Radzymins who were named for the towns, and as they spread the name spread.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Rosiewicz

...My grandfather was born Jan Waclaw Rosiewicz. He changed his name to John W. Smith shortly after moving to the United States. He died long before I was born. Can you give me any information on the origin of this name? I believe he was from Eastern Poland.

 

Rosiewicz is a rather difficult name because it could derive from a number of different sources. If we play it straight and analyze it just as it appears, Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut says Rosiewicz comes from the root rosa, dew. The -iewicz ending means son of, and son of dew doesn't seem too sensible at first, but I suppose Rosa could be used as a nickname, in which case the son of part is not so odd.

 

The problem is, there are other, similar-sounding rooms this might come from. For instance, there is the feminine name Rose, which appears in various languages as Rosa, Roza, might be relevant; in Polish it's Róz|a, accent over the o, dot over the z, prnounced roughly ROOH-zhuh. Son of Roza makes good sense, and it's not impossible for Rosiewicz to come from that name. Also, Poles and Ukrainians often took the first syllable of common first names and added suffixes to it to form nicknames, so that Ros- could come from first names such as Roscislaw, Robert, Roch, etc. If so, Rosiewicz would mean son of Ros, and Ros could be short for any of several names. Rymut doesn't discuss these possible derivations, but to me they seem well worth considering.

 

As of 1990 there were 231 Polish citizens named Rosiewicz. Here is a breakdown of where they live by province:

 

ROSIEWICZ: 231; Warsaw 19, Białystok 6, Bielsko-Biala 4, Ciechanow 19, Gdansk 11, Gorzow 21, Jelenia Gora 1, Kalisz 16, Katowice 5, Kielce 1, Koszalin 1, Krakow 16, Olsztyn 20, Poznan 1, Radom 7, Rzeszow 11, Szczecin 8, Tarnobrzeg 31, Wroclaw 31, Zielona Gora 2

 

Remember, this means there were, for instance, 19 people by that name in Warsaw province, not just in the city of Warsaw. I wish I could give you more details such as addresses and first names, but the Polish government agency that controls the database from which the Polish Surname Directory was compiled will not release more info. What I give above is all that's available. All that data tells us is that this name appears all over Poland, north, south, east and west.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Rzeszutko - Stąpor - Stompor - Żeszótko

Here is information on the distribution for the names you asked about:

 

RZESZUTKO: 894; Warsaw 21, Bielsko-Biala 67, Bydgoszcz 8, Ciechanow 2, Elblag 14, Gdansk 22, Gorzow 3, Jelenia Gora 4, Katowice 71, Kielce 4, Krakow 48, Krosno 3, Legnica 15, Leszno 2, Łomża 2, Lublin 27, Nowy Sacz 2, Olsztyn 6, Opole 26, Pila 3, Poznan 16, Przemysl 14, Rzeszow 59, Slupsk 7, Szczecin 32, Tarnobrzeg 97, Tarnow 215, Torun 1, Walbrzych 12, Wroclaw 27, Zamosc 46, Zielona Gora 18

 

This name has several sounds that can be spelled more than one way, so it's not surprising that more than one spelling of the name is possible. Keep your eyes open for the spelling Rzeszótko -- in 1990 there were 374 Poles who spelled the name that way, with the largest numbers in Bielsko-Biala (42), Krakow (72), Nowy Sacz (52), and Tarnow (45) provinces. The spellings Żeszutko and Żeszótko are also phonetically similar and therefore possible; they seem to be rare these days, but you might run into those spellings in old records... It's interesting that a slightly different form of this name, Rzeszutek, is even more common -- 1,763 Poles as of 1990!

 

As for Stąpor, it is normally spelled in Polish with the nasal a, which sounds like om in this case -- so the name is pronounced as if it were spelled Stompor. So sometimes you will see it spelled Stąpor, sometimes Stompor, and in this country as Stapor without the tail on the A. Here are the numbers for the spellings Stąpor and Stompor in Poland as of 1990.

 

STĄPOR: 663; Warsaw 34, Biala Podlaska 3, Bielsko-Biala 6, Bydgoszcz 5, Chelm 4, Czestochowa 20, Elblag 17, Gdansk 27, Jelenia Gora 22, Kalisz 1, Katowice 68, Kielce 70, Koszalin 9, Krakow 13, Krosno 4, Legnica 19, Lodz 12, Nowy Sacz 8, Opole 3, Pila 3, Poznan 1, Przemysl 2, Radom 123, Rzeszow 98, Slupsk 2, Szczecin 6, Tarnobrzeg 15, Tarnow 18, Torun 1, Walbrzych 24, Wroclaw 23, Zielona Gora 2

 

STOMPOR: 273; Warsaw 37, Bielsko-Biala 3, Ciechanow 2, Elblag 4, Gdansk 3, Katowice 42, Kielce 84, Legnica 1, Lodz 19, Lublin 2, Olsztyn 4, Płock 10, Radom 49, Rzeszow 2, Tarnobrzeg 2, Zielona Gora 9

 

...I am at something of a loss in tracing Polish ancestry earlier then the late 1700s. Have you published or do you know of a book that might give me some ideas?

 

Tracing ancestry before the late 1700's can be tough because in a lot of cases, records just don't exist -- especially if your ancestors weren't noble. In theory one can trace peasant ancestors back to, say, the late 1600's, but in fact a lot of parishes didn't start keeping track of peasants' births, deaths, and marriages until later. Also, it seems every time you read the history of a parish in Poland there'll be mention of the church burning down, sometimes twice or three times, till they finally were able to build them of stone or brick -- and usually when there was a fire, the records went up in smoke too. And of course you have to factor in the ravages of war. So there just may not be much in the way of surviving records to find.

 

Rosemary Chorzempa's Polish Roots mentions some search strategies that people tell me they find helpful. The LDS's research guide on Poland might be useful, too. Other than that, I don't know of much in print. I know a couple of qualified authors are working on books that will probably be very helpful, but it's hard to say when those books will finally be finished. So except for Rosemary's book, and possibly the chapter on Poland in Angus Baxter's In Search of Your European Roots, I don't know of much that has appeared in print that would really help you. There are many good articles in the PGSA's Bulletins and Journal, of course, but that's not exactly what you're looking for. Sorry I couldn't help!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Samovitz - Simovitz - Somovitz

...I got your address thru the GenPol newslist. I need some help, I have been doing genealogy research for the past two years. I have been unable to find any information in Poland on my grandfather family, due to not knowing the actual spelling of their name. My grandfather David arrived in the US about 1885. For the next thirty years records show them using the following names: Somovitz, Simovitz, Samovitz. In 1915 they changed the name to Seaman. In 1908 my great-grandmother was buried under the name of Sumovitz. The family is from the area between Łomża and Białystok, Poland. I hope you can give me some idea of how the name would have been written in the old country.

 

Well, the last part of the name is not difficult. -ovitz is a Germanized spelling of the common Polish (and Belarusian and Russian) suffix -owicz, which means son of. Much of Poland was ruled for long periods by Germans, and most Poles emigrated through German ports and thus had their papers filled out by Germans; so it's not unusual to see Polish names spelled according to German phonetic values. We can say with some confidence that in the old country the name originally ended with -owicz, and the other spelling is surely a result of later German (or possibly English) influence.

 

But the first part is harder, and I really can't give you a definitive answer. Samowicz, Simowicz, Somowicz, and Sumowicz are all possible, but none of those is a common name by any stretch of the imagination. Of them all, Samowicz is the one that strikes me as most likely; it would mean son of Sam, literally, with Sam- being a nickname or shortened form of other name, possibly Samuel or any of several ancient Slavic names with the root sam- (meaning alone, oneself).

 

As of 1990 there were only 13 Polish citizens named Samowicz; 6 lived in Warsaw province, 2 in Elblag province (not too far west of the Białystok/Łomża area), 1 in Katowice province, and 4 in Lodz province. As of 1990 there were only 2 Poles named Simowicz (1 in Bielsko-Biala province, 1 in Katowice province, so both are in southern Poland, quite some distance from your ancestral area). There was no listing for Somowicz or Sumowicz at all. So if we go by the numbers, it would seem Samowicz is the most likely form. Polish a and o sound rather similar and are often confused, so it's not at all hard to imagine how Samowicz might sometimes come to be spelled Somowicz; it's a little harder to understand how Simowicz and Sumowicz came about, but let's face it, vowels are not reliable when we look at the ways Polish names can vary in spelling, especially under foreign influence.

 

One other factor worth mentioning is that in Polish the simple s sound often gets confused with the sz (which sounds like our "sh"), especially in the part of the country you're talking about. So it is quite possible that the name was originally Szamowicz (borne by 15 Polish citizens as of 1990, 3 in Legnica province and 12 in Olstzyn province, which is also in northeastern Poland) or Szumowicz (115 bearers as of 1990, including 7 in Białystok province and 6 in Łomża province). One thing that speaks against this is that German can represent the sz sound -- a Polish name Szumowicz would tend to become Schumovitz in German spelling. But again, in that part of Poland there is a dialect tendency to pronounce sz as s, so it could have been pronounced like Sumowicz and spelled Sumovitz by Germans even though the proper Polish form was Szumowicz.

 

In summary, I'd have to say Samowicz seems the most likely form, but I can't positively rule out the others, and I feel Szamowicz and Szumowicz need to be taken into account too. I would approach it by saying Let's look for Samowicz first, and deal with the others only if that form leads nowhere.

 

By the way, have you heard of the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, aka PGS-Connecticut? The reason I ask is a great many of its members come from the Białystok-Łomża area, so they may be able to give you some really good insights and leads. It's certainly worth a try. You can write them at this address: PGS-NE, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053. It is even possible that the president, Jonathan Shea (whom I consider the most knowledgeable man in the country regarding Polish genealogy) will recognize the name and be able to give you some idea where exactly to look. I can't promise that, but I've seen Jonathan do that often enough to know he's a good man to have on your side in such a quest. If you'd like to learn more, visit their website.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Seliga - Szeliga

...I would appreciate any information on my maiden surname, Seliga ... It has been rumored in our family that the name may have been changed during immigration to the US, possibly from Szeliga.

 

Seliga is a rather common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were some 1,501 Poles by that name; they lived all over the country, but the largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (372), Lodz (162), Radom (152), and Skierniewice (355), and thus in the center of Poland. If that spelling is correct, I would think it probably derives from the German word selig, blessed, fortunate. But it is entirely possible that this is a variant form of the name Szeliga, an extremely common name (4,562 Poles as of 1990). There is some question about the origin of Szeliga, some experts suspect it derives from German Schell(ig), a noisy person. Szeliga is also the name of a prominent coat of arms in Poland, which may have something to do with its popularity as a surname.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Skorny

...I would love to find out any information that you might have about the name Skorny.

As of 1990 there were only 72 Poles named Skorny, living in the provinces of Warsaw (2), Bielsko-Biala (1), Gdansk (1), Katowice (8), Koszalin (1), Krakow (5), Legnica (2), Opole (5), Slupsk (19), Walbrzych (3), Wroclaw (25). There are a couple of roots this name might come from. Many names beginning with skór- (i.e., with an accent over the o, making it sound like "oo" in "cook") derive from the word meaning "skin, hide," and some common surnames come from this, including Skóra (7,187 Poles by that name), Skórka (2,167), Skórnicki (390) -- but the name Skórny doesn't show up in the list, so I guess as of 1990 there were no Poles by that name. That doesn't mean there never was, some names have died out after members emigrated. Anyway, if the name Skórny (which is an adjective meaning "of, pertaining to the skin") originally had that accent but it was dropped after the family left Poland, that's the root that's probably relevant -- perhaps an ancestor worked with skins or hides. But there's also the root skor- meaning "swift, quick," and there is a dialect word skorny (no accent) that means "swift, quick" -- that also makes sense as a term for a guy who did things quickly. It can be very hard to tell which root a particular name comes from, and this is such a case. You'd need records from Poland to suggest which of the two is the more likely derivation.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



 

 

Solarek

...I believe that I previously asked you for the distribution of the surname Solarek by province, which was provided. However, despite my best efforts, I cannot find the message which details this distribution. Will you be so kind as to reproduce this information?

Oh, I don't think that would be too much trouble. Here it is:

SOLAREK: 1,089; Warsaw 58, Biala Podlaska 1, Bielsko-Biala 13, Bydgoszcz 57, Gdansk 19, Gorzow 12, Jelenia Gora 11, Kalisz 39, Katowice 38, Konin 10, Koszalin 21, Legnica 23, Leszno 1, Lodz 246, Pila 8, Piotrkow 13, Płock 6, Poznan 148, Radom 8, Rzeszow 3, Siedlce 1, Sieradz 136, Skierniewice 100, Szczecin 27, Walbrzych 20, Wloclawek 1, Wroclaw 32, Zamosc 1, Zielona Gora 36

Looks like Lodz, Poznan, Sieradz, and Skierniewce provinces are the real hotbeds as far as this name goes: kind of a narrow band right in the center of the country.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Stawski

...I am currently researching my family history and any info you can provide on the origin or meaning of my surname would be greatly appreciated. My surname is Stawski and my relatives came from the Warsaw area in the early 1900's.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut lists two basic roots that can give rise to this surname: one is the word staw, which can mean pond or joint, and the other is the verb stawać się, to become. Of these, I imagine the noun in the meaning of pond is most often related to surnames in Staw-, because in many European languages we see surnames derived from words denoting bodies of water -- usually because a person lived near one, or lived in a community named for one. There are, for instance, at least 5 Polish villages named Staw, 3 named Stawek, 7 named Stawki, and 2 named Stawy -- and the surname Stawski could easily have started out as signifying that a person came from, owned, or otherwise was connected with any of them! So while we can make a pretty good guess what the name started out meaning, it's impossible to tell just from the name which particular pond or place of the pond a given Stawski family was connected with.

As is usually the case with a surname that could have gotten started in many different places, Stawski is a rather common name. As of 1990 there were some 3,962 Polish citizens named Stawski. Looking over the numbers, I see no real pattern to their distribution; the provinces that have the largest numbers (Warsaw 267, Bydgoszcz 271, Kalisz 223, Lublin 226, Lodz 320, Poznan 353, Torun 324) are simply provinces with larger populations.

I know this probably isn't a lot of help to you, but I hope you may at least get a little satisfaction from knowing what the name means and how it probably got started. I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Świerczewski

...I am interested in Swierczewski which is my name. Can you assist with possible source for information?

Most Polish names ending in -ewski or -owski are from place names ending in -ew, -ewo, -ow-, -owo, that sort of thing. In this case I would expect the name Swierczewski to have started as meaning "person from Swiercze or Swierczewo" or "person who often traveled to Swiercze/Swierczewo," or if the family was noble, "owner of Swiercze or Swierczewo." Unfortunately, there are several villages in Poland with names that would work, including Swierczewo in Szczecin province, Swiercze in Czestochowa province, and several places name Swierczow -- all could yield the name Swierczewski. Those places, in turn, probably got their names from some association with crickets (świerszcz) or spruce trees (świerk).

This is a very common name in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 2,338 Poles named Swierczewski. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (669), Ciechanow (80), Czestochowa (87), Katowice (93), Lodz (88), Ostrołęka (82), and Siedlce (251). I wish I could give you more details, such as first names and addresses, but the total for Poland and the breakdown by province is the only info I have access to.

So that is a little information on the name; but without detailed research on where your family came from and such factors, it's impossible to say anything more definite than that the surname almost certainly indicates the family came from a place named Swiercze or Swierczewo or Swierczow.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission
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Szymula

...Could you please tell me the origin of my maiden name, Szymula?

Szymula is one of many names formed from the standard first name Szymon = English Simon. Poles love to take the first few sounds of a first name, cut off the rest, then add a bewildering variety of prefixes. Many of these prefixes don't have any real meaning we can give in English -- let's just say that where English has only one common suffix to add to names, the long e sound (as in Johnny, Davey, Mikey, Eddy) Polish has dozens. -Ula is one of those. It's more common in the eastern part of the country than the west, but it's hard to pin down any more closely than that.

As of 1990 there were 1,154 Polish citizens named Szymula. They lived all over the country, but the largest numbers were in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (72), Jelenia Gora (70), Krakow (184), Lublin (191), Rzeszow (47), and Tarnobrzeg (132) -- most of which are in the southern and southeastern part of Poland, which is more or less to be expected.

Other than to say that the name originated as a kind of nickname for Simon and that it is most common in the south and southeastern part of Poland, there's not too much that can be said about this name. But for what it's worth, I hope this is some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Fudalej

...I've always been thinking about origin of my name and heard many theories concerning where it had come from, but actually never came across any good source of reference. Could you, please, give me more details about my surname or refer me to the source I can find this information?

I can find no Polish root fud-, but in his book Nazwiska Polakow Polish surname expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Fudala among several names common in Poland but actually of Rumanian origin -- as he puts it, "Nazwiskami genetycznie rumunskich sa np. Bachleda, Bachled, Bizior, Durda, Kudas, Fudala, Hareza." It seems likely Fudalej derives from that name. Rymut does not mention the meaning of this root in Rumanian, but I notice that there are in Rumanian such words as fudul, which means "proud," fudulie, "pride, haughtiness," and a verb fuduli (a se) meaning "to bridle up, strut, flaunt." I am not positive this root is the source of the surname, but it seems plausible -- perhaps used much as Poles use the root of buta (= pycha, "pride") and bucić się, (= pysznić się, "to preen") in the names Buta, Butkiewicz, etc.

As of 1990 there were 747 Polish citizens named Fudalej, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (30), Katowice (71), Kielce (171), Krakow (157), and Tarnow (83) and smaller numbers (less than 30) in most other provinces. By comparison, there were 1,422 Poles named Fudala, 1,992 named Fudali and 1,668 named Fudała. Unfortunately the database from which this information was compiled belongs to the Rzadowe Centrum Informacyjne PESEL, which does not make further data such as first names, addresses, etc. available to researchers, so the above data is all I have access to.

I believe Rumanian fudul is likely to be the source of this name, but if you would like to get the opinion of the best experts in the field, I suggest writing to the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Wańczyk - Wińczyk

...My fiancee has shown an interest in finding her Polish roots so I thought a good start might be to find out the origin of the Surname of Wanczyk or may have been spelled Winczyk at one time , we are not completely sure. Thank you in advance!

Wanczyk and Winczyk are both perfectly good surnames. Wańczyk (using ń to represent the n with an accent over it) was the name of 690 Polish citizens as of 1990, living all over the country, but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Czestochowa (84), Nowy Sacz (164), Rzeszow (43), Walbrzych (8), and Wroclaw (41). These provinces are all in southcentral and southwestern Poland, in its current boundaries... As to its origins, -czyk is a suffix usually meaning son of, and Wan- is a name root from the first name Iwan (Ivan), the East Slavic equivalent of Polish Jan (= English John). When I say East Slavic, I mean basically the languages Belarussian, Russian, and especially Ukrainian. So Wańczyk is essentially an East Slavic name meaning the same as English Johnson!

If you're not familiar with the history of Poland, you might wonder what a name of East Slavic origin is doing in Poland. But for centuries Poland ruled much of Belarus and Ukraine, and the peoples mixed, to the extent that purely Polish names are often found in Ukraine, and Ukrainian names are often found in Poland; the closer you get to Poland's eastern borders, the more often you run into names of East Slavic origin. To mix things up more, after World War II Poland's boundaries were shifted westward, so that it no longer ruled Belarus and western Ukraine. And many people of Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Lithuanian origin whose loyalty was questionable were forced to pack up and move, by the millions, to western Poland, to resettle the lands millions of Germans had been deported from. Ukrainians blame the Poles bitterly for this -- personally, I think dear old Uncle Joe Stalin is the real villain. Anyway, because of this we see names that are clearly of Ukrainian and Lithuanian derivation in western Poland, all the way across the country from where you'd expect to find them! The reason they're there now is the post-war relocation -- before 1945 Ukrainian names were far less common, at least in western Poland. (As I said, what are now the eastern provinces of Poland have always been a mixed bag, in terms of language and names.)

Wińczyk is a far less common. As of 1990 there were 52 Polish citizens by that name, living in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (2), Gorzow (28), Jelenia Gora (2), Katowice (3), Konin (2), Lodz (1), Torun (14). I don't see any real pattern to that distribution, except that the name is found almost exclusively in western Poland. The probable derivation is from Wincenty = Vincent, so that Wińczyk would mean roughly Vinnie's son. The root win- also can derive from the words for guilt, fault and vine, wine, but the suffix -czyk, meaning son of, strongly suggests derivation from a first name, and that's why I think son of Vincent is the likely meaning.

Now, that's all true if these are separate names, and you're just not sure which spelling is correct. But I should add that there is a way Winczyk could just be a variant spelling of Wańczyk. In Polish the combination -ań- sounds almost like English ine, so that Wańczyk sounds almost like vine-chick (Polish w is pronounced like our v). An English-speaking official, for instance, who heard a Pole (or Ukrainian) say My name is Wańczyk just might have written down Winczyk because he was confused by the sounds. This is kind of far-fetched, but it is possible, and I thought I should mention it -- especially because Wińczyk in its own right is such a rare name. I can't help thinking the odds are the name should be Wańczyk.

I hope your fiancée finds this information interesting. And of course if she wants to learn more -- well, she could always get my book! (Sorry, an author quickly learns never to pass up a chance to plug his books!).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Lampa - Setara

...Limited knowledge of family points to a Count Thomas Podolski from somewhere in Galicia migrating sometime during 1870-1880's. Moved to Winona , Minnesota & married Mary Wicka. Also interested in origins of Lampa & Setara also migrated to Little Falls, Minnesota before moving on to western North Dakota & easter Montana homesteads. Thanx for any help you can provide at your leisure.

I'm afraid when it comes to Polish nobility I'm badly out of my element -- I have very sources on it, and know next to nothing about it. However, there is an organization some have told me they found helpful, the Polish Nobility Association Foundation, Villa Anneslie, 529 Dunkirk Rd., Anneslie, MD 21212-2014. If they can't help you, I don't know who can.

Also, have you checked out the
Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota? It seems to me they might be able to assist you. If you'd like to learn more about them, check out their Website.

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, Lampa most likely comes from the noun lampa, "lamp," or perhaps in some cases from a nickname for Lambert,a moderately common first name in eastern Europe. As of 1990 there were 697 Polish citizens named Lampa, with the largest numbers by far showing up in the provinces of Czestochowa (309), Katowice (160), and Krakow (69) -- all three provinces are in far southcentral Poland.

As for Setara, neither Rymut nor any other of my sources mentions a likely derivation for this name -- even the dictionary has no native Polish word beginning with setar- or any likely variant (there is the word seter, but it's a loan word from English, meaning "setter," the dog breed). As of 1990 there were 160 Poles with this name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Jelenia Gora (18), Krakow (13), Rzeszow (27), Slupsk (13), and Tarnow (51), a pattern that suggests the name is most common in far southeastern Poland, near the Ukrainian border. This raises the distinct possibility that the name is not of Polish linguistic origin, but rather Ukrainian or Slovak. If so, perhaps you could find some leads at the website
www.infoukes.com -- I think they have some sort of surname board or search facility.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Cieslak - Gacek

...Please provide any info on the Gacek surname. I understand that the name means "bat" so will the name be interpreted as a bat keeper? Also, do you have any background on the name Cieslak?

None of my sources state definitively what Gacek comes from, but it seems highly likely to derive from the word gacek, meaning "bat" (the animal). It might have originated as a nickname because someone somehow reminded people of a bat, or lived in an area where there were bats, or, as you say, kept bats; at this point it is difficult to analyze backwards and determine precisely how the name arose, but we can reasonably assume it came from the term for bat, and we can make reasonable assumptions on how the name might have gotten started. It is a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 4,749 Polish citizens named Gacek, living all over the country. In fact, I have a letter on my desk right now from a lady in England named Gacek. I'm afraid the name offers no clues that help suggest where a family by that name might have originated.

Cieślak is one of many names deriving from the term cieśla, "carpenter." Most likely this originally started as meaning "carpenter's son." This is an extremely common name in Polish -- as of 1990 there were 26,889 Poles by this name. Since this name could arise anywhere Polish was spoken and carpenters had sons, it is not surprising that the name appears in large numbers all over the country, with no apparent pattern to the distribution.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bronkala - Brzakala - Brzonkala

...I have been searching for quite some time for any reference to my maiden name Bronkala or Brzonkala (both spellings are listed on my Grandfather's death certificate). I haven't a clue as to where my ancestors may have come from in Poland. I'm hoping if I understood what the name meant, I would be able to discover their place of origin.

In a case like this the best procedure is to try, if possible, to determine the standard form of the name, as that helps clarify what root it derived from. I have a 10-volume set of books that lists every surname borne by Poles as of 1990 (well, almost every name -- the database lacked info on 6% of the population, but 94% is pretty good); it gives the name, the total number of Poles by that name, and a breakdown of where they lived by province. (It gives no further info such as first names, addresses, ages, so unfortunately I can't help with that). Looking in that directory for the likely forms of this name, here's what I found:

Bronkala: 10, all in Katowice province

Brzonkala: 0 (which means there was at least one, but the data file was missing info)

Brąkała: 1, living in the province of Nowy Sacz (the ą refers to the Polish nasal a, pronounced like "on"; the ł refers to the Polish slashed l, which is pronounced much like our w)

Brząkała: 772, living all over Poland, but with the largest numbers (more than 50) in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (54), Kalisz (208), Katowice (58), Opole (52), and Pila (83)

This suggests that Brząkała is the "standard" form of the name -- the others are all variants; they are pronounced more or less the same, so that if you take into account regional variations in pronunciation, they all make sense as slightly different forms of the same name. Brząkała is most common in western Poland and especially southwestern Poland (Kalisz, Katowice and Opole provinces); I don't see any really useful pattern to the distribution, except that Kalisz province has a large enough concentration to deserve particular attention.

Having established that Brząkała is probably the standard form of the name, I looked in Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut's book Nazwiska Polakow, and found that he does mention this name as having derived from the basic root seen in the words brzęk, "rattle, clang," and brzęczeć, "to rattle, clang, make a rattling noise" -- the ę refers to the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced much like "en," and it's not uncommon for the two nasal vowels ą and ę to change places with each other in names and words.

The suffix -ała usually means "one who typifies or is always displaying the characteristic denoted by the first part of the word," so Brząkała would mean "one always rattling, clanging." A closely related word, brzękałka, is a musical instrument that makes such a sound. So there was something about a clang or rattling sound that people associated with a particular fellow, so that they gave him this nickname and it eventually stuck as a surname. Perhaps he was always making noise, or ringing a bell, something like that; centuries later it's hard for us to say just exactly how the name arose, but we can be fairly certain it was something along those lines.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kajdasz - Strenk

...I finally got my copy of your book on Polish Surnames. I and my family had fun flipping through and finding what silly names our friends have...

From the feedback I get, quite a few folks have fun doing that. Lord knows, there are some bizarre and funny names to be found!

...Anyway I was wondering about the geographic distribution of some ancestral names: Kajdasz ... and Strenk ...Since both of these names seem to be infrequent, it would probably be helpful to find out if there are any concentrations of these names in particular provinces.

A perfectly logical idea, and sometimes such info does provide a clue.

As of 1990 there were 217 Polish citizens named Kajdasz; the distribution breakdown is short, so I'll quote the whole thing -- remember this is by province, not just in the cities named but in the provinces of which they are the capital: Bydgoszcz (33), Elblag (8), Gorzow (10), Jelenia Gora (1), Kalisz (4), Katowice (51), Poznan (91), Sieradz (3), Szczecin (2), Torun (8), Wroclaw (6). In this case Poznan and Katowice provinces seem to be the focal points -- I'm not sure that helps much, but it might be worth knowing. Interestingly, the name Kajdas, without the final z, is more common -- as of 1990 there were 624 of them, with more than half in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (234) and Katowice (141), and much smaller numbers in the other provinces.

There were only 68 Poles named Strenk, with the breakdown as follows: Bydgoszcz (19), Gdansk (12), Koszalin (14), Poznan (8), Torun (10), Zielona Gora (5). But due to the nasal en sound, this name could also easily be spelled Stręk (where ę is the nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it), and as of 1990 there were 1,212 Poles named Stręk, living all over the country but with the largest numbers in the provinces of: Bydgoszcz (108), Krakow (246), Poznan (119), Rzeszow (109), and Tarnow (212). Again, I don't know how much of a pattern there is there, but now that you have the data perhaps you will be able to make some sense of it.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Czajka - Grucza

...Would you please tell me about two more Polish surnames? Pretty please?

No need to beg, I enjoy doing this, as long as people are reasonable -- I get upset when someone sends me a list of 12 names and expects complete family histories. But a reasonable request like yours, I'm only too happy to do.

...I would like to know about Grucza and Czajka.

Czajka, according to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, comes from the term czaja or czajka, "lapwing" (a bird, sort of like a gull), or from the verb root in czajać, "to lie in wait for." I would think Czajkawould usually come from the bird rather than the verb -- there are many popular Polish surnames derived from names of birds. It's tough to say exactly why such a name got started; it was probably a nickname. Perhaps something about a fellow reminded people of a lapwing, or he kept lapwings, or lapwings were common in the area where he lived. This is an extremely common name, as of 1990 there were some 16,245 Czajka's living in Poland; I see no real pattern to the distribution, the most Czajkas live in the provinces with the largest populations, which suggests it is more or less evenly distributed. There are quite a few other popular names from the same root, especially Czajkowski, which is the Polish way of spelling the name of the popular composer Tchaikovsky (he was Russian, but that spelling is German-influenced, I guess because his name became known to Europeans mainly through German conductors and experts on classical music).

Grucza, according to Rymut, can come from gruca, "oats, groats," or from grucza, "bump, swelling." In Polish the c and cz often switch, depending on dialect pronunciations and other factors, so we can't say for sure the name came from the word for "bump" rather than the word for "oats." This name is not so common, as of 1990 there were only 198 Poles named Grucza (as opposed to 3,924 named Gruca!). The distribution by province was: Warsaw (8), Elblag (13), Gdansk (124), Katowice (27), Legnica (2), Slupsk (12), Torun (12), so the Gdansk area is the big one for this name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Bartocha

...Since many years I research the base of my name: Bartocha. I found some persons in Polland, but in my opinion Bartocha is not a real Polish name. The fact is, that in Spain a lot of families called Bartoscha and Patoja. The pronunciation seems like Bartocha..., isn't it...

[Note: since Bartocha's first language is German, and I needed some practice in German, I answered the note in that language -- but an English-language version follows].

Vermutlich sprechen Sie Deutsch, wenn ich mich nicht irre -- vielleicht ist es Ihnen leichter, wenn ich auf Deutsch schreibe? Mein Deutsch ist nicht fehlerlos -- vor 15 Jahren sprach ich Deutsch viel besser. Es ist aber mir angenehm, zuweilen auf Deutsch zu schreiben, und hoffentlich koennen Sie mich verstehen. Falls Sie lieber meine Bemerkungen auf Englisch laesen, so folgt eine englische Uebersetzung.

Wenn man Namen studiert, so findet man, dass Namen oft auftauchen, die aehnlich klingen, aber aus ganz verschiedenen Wurzeln stammen. Zum Beispiel, der Familienname Ruck kann offenbar deutsch sein, aber er kann auch eine deutsche phonetische Schreibung des polnischen Namens Róg sein -- man spricht beide Namen identisch aus, ist es also oft schwer, den richtigen Ursprung des Namens festzustellen. Es gibt viele anderen Beispiele: Rolle und Rola, Bock und Bok, usw. Man braucht nur an den Namen des ungarischen Komponisten Bela Bartok denken, um zu sehen, dass Ihr Name nicht unbedingt polnischer Herkunft sein muss.

Aber die Endung -ocha macht mich im voraus geneigt, zu glauben, dass der Name Bartocha polnisch ist. Man sieht selten (oder nie?) deutschen Namen mit dieser Endung. Namen mit Bart- koennen offenbar vom deutschen Wort Bart kommen, auch von einem Spitznamen fuer Bartholomaeus; in seinem Deutschen Namenlexikon bespricht Hans Bahlow einige deutschen Namen mit Bart-. Aber Bartocha erwaehnt er nicht. Im Jahre 1990 gab es 1,055 Polen mit dem Familiennamen Bartocha -- leider habe ich keine statistischen Angaben fuer Deutschland. Ich finde es unwahrscheinlich, dass ein Name deutscher Herkunft diese Endung -ocha haben wuerde. Bei Polen ist der Name andrerseits ziemlich gewoehnlich (zwar nur als Familienname -- im Jahre 1994 gab es keine Polen mit dem Vornamen Bartocha, und nur eine Polin mit dem aehnlichen Vornamen Bartosza).

Es ist interessant, dass es spanischen Familiennamen wie Patoja und Bartoscha gibt. Aber die Deutschen und die Polen haben so lange in unmittelbarer Naehe gewohnt, und haben sich so gemischt, dass ich eine deutsch-polnische Verbindung fuer wahrscheinlicher halten muss, als eine spanisch-deutsche. Natuerlich kann man selten ganz sicher sein, wenn es Namen angeht -- es speilen so viele Moeglichkeiten und Einzelheiten in der Namengebung eine Rolle. Aber meiner Meinung nach ist Bartocha in einer polnischen sprachlichen Umgebung entstehen -- vielleicht als Kurzform fuer Bartholomaeus, vielliecht in Verbindung mit dem Ausdruck barta, Beil.

Uebrigens, wenn Sie nichts dagegen haben, so schlage ich vor, dass diese Bemerkungen auf dem offentlichen "listserv" GENPOL erscheinen. Wir haben nur selten Notizen auf deutsch, und ich moechte zeigen, dass auch Deutsche, nicht nur Polen und Amerikaner, willkommen sind!

Ich hoffe, dass meine Bemerkungen Ihnen helfen, und ich wuensche Ihnen Erfolg in Ihren Forschungen!

****

English version:

I am assuming you speak German, if I'm not mistaken, and perhaps it would be easier for you if I wrote in German? My German is not perfect -- 15 years ago I spoke it far better. But I enjoy writing in German from time to time, and I hope you can understand me. If you would rather read my comments in English, a translation follows.

When one studies names, one often finds names that sound similar but come from completely different roots. For instance, the surname Ruck can obviously be German, but it can also be a German phonetic spelling of the Polish name Róg -- both names are pronounced the same, so it is often hard to establish the correct origin. There are many other examples, Rolle vs. Rola, Bock vs. Bok, etc. One need only think of the name of the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok to see that your name does not absolutely have to be of Polish origin.

But the ending -ocha makes me inclined to believe the name Bartocha is Polish. One seldom (even never?) sees German names with this ending. Names with Bart- can obviously come from the German word Bart, "beard," also from a nickname for "Bartholomew"; in his Dictionary of German Names Hans Bahlow discusses several German names beginning with Bart-. But he does not mention Bartocha. In 1990 there were 1,055 Poles with the surname Bartocha; unfortunately I have no statistics for Germany. I find it unlikely that a name of German origin would have this ending -ocha. Among Poles, on the other hand, it is fairly common (although only as a surname -- in 1994 there were no Poles with the first name Bartocha, and only one female Pole with the similar name Bartosza).

It is interesting that there are Spanish surnames such as Patoja and Bartoscha. But the Germans and Poles have lived so long in close proximity, and have mixed so much, that I must consider a German-Polish connection more probable than a German-Spanish one. Naturally one can seldom be absolutely sure when it comes to names, there are so many possibilities and circumstances that can play a role in naming. But in my opinion Bartocha arose in a Polish linguistic environment -- perhaps as a short form for Bartholomew, perhaps in connection with the term barta, "battle-axe."

By the way, if you have no objections, I propose posting these comments to the public listserv GENPOL. We seldom have notes in German, and I would like to show that Germans are welcome there, too, not just Poles and Americans!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Osowsk i- Tomiczek

...I have just started to research my family history. The family names are Tomiczek and Osowski. Anything you know about the meaning of these names would be appreciated.

Osowski is a fairly common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 4,971 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (417), Gdansk (690), Katowice (210), Warsaw (339), but there are numerous other provinces with 100+ Osowskis. Generally names ending in -owski arose as references to a place from which a person or family came, or had owned (if they were noble), and it's likely this name refers to any of numerous places named Osow, Osowo, Osowa, Ossowo, etc. That's why the name is so common, there are many villages with names that could yield a surname Osowski, so the surname is common and spread all over Poland. So unfortunately this surname, like most Polish names, doesn't shed much light on exactly where the family came from: there are just too many Osowskis, in too many places.

Tomiczek is less common, but still not rare: as of 1990 there were 1,348 Tomiczeks in Poland. The name is most common in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (649) and Katowice (385), with smaller numbers scattered all over Poland. That distribution pattern is interesting, because the name is by far most common in those two provinces in southcentral Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. In fact, I suspect the name may be more Czech than Polish. It clearly is a diminutive of a name such as Tomik, which in turn comes from Tomasz (Thomas) and means "little Tom, Tommy." Tomiczek would mean something like "Tommy's son." There are many names that mean that in both Polish and Czech, but Polish would lean more towards forms such as Tomczak or Tomczyk -- that -iczek looks and sounds to me like a Polish rendering of Czech -iĉek. So looking at the geographical distribution and the linguistic form, I suspect this is a Polonized version of a Czech name. Many Czechs lived in Poland, so that's not an outrageous suggestion. In any case, whether of Polish or Czech origin, it means something like "Tommy's son."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Pochoryło - Pohoryło

[Note: this is a follow-up to the notes under POHORYŁO]

...I spent some time this week at our local town hall - and the first two recordings of this name are as follows: Pochoryło (Pochorylo)... Does this spelling of the name change the above? We do believe John Pohorylo was from Przemysl as you indicate above. Also there is a story about how they could not understand him and they wrote down the name Bonhill - at Ellis Island maybe?? It is interesting how names change, huh!?

The ch/h doesn't necessarily change anything. The Pochor- root could indicate derivation from a root meaning "ill, sick," but I think the evidence still favors the derivation I mentioned earlier. In Polish h and ch are pronounced exactly the same, so the Ukrainian name Pohorylo could easily be spelled Pochoryło by Poles, in fact I'd expect it to be. If there was firm evidence the family had no link with Ukraine I would change my mind, but the link Pohorylo/Pochorylo = Pogorzel- is pretty convincing.

As of 1990 there were 5 Poles named Pochoryło, all living in Wroclaw province. There was also a Pochoriło living in Lodz province. All these are just spelling variants of the same name, pronounced roughly "poe-ho-RI-woe" (that RI would be the sound in "rid," not a long i as in "ride").

I've heard a lot of stories about names being changed at Ellis Island, but you know, lately I've been hearing that that was actually rare. There was paperwork and documentation on the immigrants, ship lists and such, based on documents filled out in Europe, so usually the immigrants survived Ellis Island with their names relatively intact; of course misspellings and misunderstandings happened, but they may have been less rare than most folks think. As you trace the paper trail you may be able to spot the exact point when the name was misunderstood and changed -- odds are it happened after Ellis Island, when your ancestors started mixing with Americans who didn't understand the name's pronunciation and had no paperwork to refer to.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Bański - Grondzki - Kwapień - Pohoryło

...I am researching all the Polish names in my family - Grondzki, Izydor - (from Pultusk, Poland), Banska, Eva - (from Warsaw I think), Pohorylo, John (From ???), and Kwapien (and Forgiel), Sophie - from Dioecesis: Tarnow, Paroecia: Olesno and Decanatus: Dabrone Tarnswsks (Do you know where any of the Kwapien places are I cannot find them on Maps).

First of all, the Kwapien places: that is Latin, saying Tarnow Diocese, Olesno parish, Deanery of Dabrowa Tarnowska. In other words, the records were drawn up at the parish of Olesno, which is about 5 km. northest of Dabrowa Tarnowska, a town north of Tarnow in the modern-day province in Tarnow in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine. It was normal for one parish church to serve a number of villages, so it's not clear whether your ancestors came from Olesno itself or another nearby village -- but this info certainly is important, as it pinpoints the area within a few kilometers. And for the purpose of finding records, knowing the right parish is of great importance.

Now, as to the surnames. Bańska is just a feminine form of Bański, the latter would be the standard form. Bański (the n with an accent over it, is a softened n not unlike that in "pine" or "onion") is a moderately common name, as of 1990 there were some 772 Poles with this name, living all over the country; the largest concentrations were in the provinces of Warsaw (119), Czestochowa (120), and Katowice (132), no other province had as many as 100. The surname probably alludes to a connection with places named Bania, Banie, Bańska, something like that, and there are several such places in Poland, which is why I can't say, "This name comes from this place, right here, and no other." The main root of these names appears to be the term bania, meaning "whirlpool, pit." So the surname would mean basically "person from Bania or Banie or Bańska."

Grondzki is another way of spelling Grądzki, where the ą stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it and pronounced (usually) like on -- so Grądzki sounds a lot like Grondzki, and that explains why it is sometimes spelled that way. This name would generally refer to a connection with a place called Grądy, of which there are quite a few in Poland. The root grąd means "elevation", so it's a name that could be applied to a settlement in a hilly area. The spelling Grondzki is rather rare in Poland, as of 1990 there were only 30 Poles by this name, in the provinces of Warsaw (13), Białystok (7), Lodz (8), Ostrołęka (1), Sieradz (1). But the spelling Grądzki is quite common, with 2,535 Poles by that name; they live all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (384), Białystok (257), Łomża (375), Ostrołęka (200), and Suwałki (274), and smaller numbers in many others. Thus the name means basically person from or connected with Grądy, and the frequency of the name is probably due to the fact that there are so many places by that name, and therefore so many places the name could get started. When researching, you want to look for either spelling, Grondzki or Grądzki, as they could be switched quite easily.

Kwapień is a moderately common name. As of 1990 there were 716 Poles by this name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (162), Kielce (137), Krakow (137), Tarnow (63), and other provinces with fewer than 25 inhabitants by that name. Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut says this name comes from the roots kwap, "soft feathers," or kwapić się, "to be in a hurry." I strongly suspect the name Kwapień usually started as a nickname for a fellow always in a rush.

Pohorylo is very interesting. It is a Ukrainian name in origin, from an adjective meaning one who's been burned out, who lost everything in a fire - - the same root gives names like Pogorzelski in Polish (Polish g = Ukr. h, Polish rz = Ukr. r, etc.). It's not unusual to find Ukrainian names in Poland and Polish names in Ukraine, the people have mixed quite a bit over the centuries. But Pohorylo is rare in Poland these days; as of 1990 there were only 36 Poles by that name. They lived in the provinces of Warsaw (2), Jelenia Gora (4), Katowice (1), Legnica (1), Przemysl (4), Szczecin (10), Wroclaw (10), Zielona Gora (4). You'll note that some of these provinces are far from Ukraine, but that is partially due to forced relocations after World War II.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Rzucidlo - Sucidlo

I wonder if you can help me find the correct spelling of my Polish Grandfather's name. I have searched the internet using all variations of the name with no luck. The anglicized name is "Sucidlo".

 

The database at http://www.herby.com.pl/indexslo.html is a valuble tool because it lists surnames borne by about 93% of Polish citizens as of 1990, and it can be searched with "wild cards." That is, you can approximate a spelling by using ? to stand for any one letter, * for any combination of letters.

In this case, I tried a search for *C*D?O, as those struck me as the letters in the name most likely to be accurate. There were a lot of names that fit that pattern, most of why are almost certainly irrelevant to your question. But one did strike me: RZUCIDLO (with a slash through the L, giving it the sound of our W). It is pronounced roughly "zhoo-CHID-woe," which is fairly close to what you describe. It could easily end up being mangled to SUCIDLO by English speakers. And it's a moderately common surname by Polish standards, borne by some 1,041 Poles as of 1990.

I can't be sure that's the name you want, but of the names that fit the basic pattern you describe, it's the one that strikes me as the best fit. You might try searching for it and see if that leads anywhere.

You can see more recent and accurate data on the name's distribution in Poland here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/rzucid%25C5%2582o.html

The name shows up most often in southeastern Poland, especially the area in and around the city of Rzeszow.

I tried a search for RZUCIDLO's arriving at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1909 at stevemorse.org, using the Gold Form (http://stevemorse.org/ellis2/ellisgold.html). There's no guarantee the name was spelled right on the manifests, but I figure you have to start somewhere. There were 33 immigrants with that name listed during that period. I notice many of them came from Swilcza, Austria, which is now Swilcza in southeastern Poland, in Rzeszow county. I don't know whether that's a help -- it may be a wild goose chase. But I notice the Rzeszow area is where this name shows up most often in Poland. So it's not outrageous to guess your ancestors, if RZUCIDLO is the right name, may have come from that general area.

That name, according to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut's book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], comes from the verb rzucic', which means "to throw, fling." Surnames in the form X-idlo or X-ydlo usually mean "the thing you do X with, a tool that helps do X." I'm guessing RZUCIDLO started as a nickname for one who threw well, or perhaps one who used something to help him throw.

The meaning of a surname doesn't often help much with actual research. My suggestion is to go to http://www.herby.com.pl/indexslo.html and in the box near the top, type in *C*D?O, then click on the box that says "Szukaj." You'll get a list of names that fit this basic pattern. With luck, one of them might jog your memory. Or maybe you'll just confirm my hunch that RZUCIDLO is the best match. Then you might try searching for specific names on the Gold Form at Steve Morse's site. With luck, you just may find your immigrant ancestor.

Good luck!

William F. "Fred" Hoffman
Author, Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings
www.fredhoff.com

 

Copyright ©2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Krzewicki - Krzywicki - Mierzejewski

... Regarding the Krzewicki name. One person I contacted said it was originally spelled Krzywicki, but they changed it because there was a childhood disease spelled the same way! Must have been some disease!

I'm sure the reference is to krzywica, rachitis or rickets; the adjectival form of that word is krzywiczy, not krzywicki, but of course the latter word does sound like it has a connection to the disease, and that could easily be enough to make one want to change it. Krzyw- is a Polish root meaning "bent, crooked," as in the name of King Bolesław Krzywousty, "Boleslaus with the crooked mouth." Your source may be right, but as of 1990 there were 2,905 Polish citizens named Krzywicki, so the link with the disease didn't induce everyone to change that name!

Confusion of krzyw- and krzew-, or changing from one to the other, is not unlikely, we do often see e and y confused in the spelling of Polish names. It can matter, however, which one was originally right, as krzew- is a root meaning "shrub," whereas krzyw-, as I said, means "bent, crooked." Both Krzywicki and Krzewicki probably derive from place names -- there are several Krzywica's and Krzywice's in Poland, and I noticed in the Slownik Geograficzny that there is at least one place named Krzewice. If your research lets you settle the matter of what the original form was, it could be significant, in that it might give you a clue as to your ancestors' place of origin. You're kind of lucky, there are only a few places with applicable names, a lot better than some names that could derive from any of 50 villages!

...I am always interested to read the messages from those who want to know what their names mean, and where they originated, but it seems to me that it's TOO easy to say, "OK, my name comes from Mierzejew, so that means my Mierzejewskis must live there!" I think that could really throw some researchers off the track. I think of the time wasted checking every Mierzejewo in Poland, looking for MY Mierzejewski family. Wouldn't that kind of be working backwards? Mine lived in Ukraine! I would never have found them that way! Good thing I had his passport and military records! But that does NOT tell me where he was born, only where he was living at the time he was discharged from the army, and the time he left for America. I think many people fall into that kind of thing, setting themselves back many, many years!

You are absolutely right! I try to stress this to people, that you must not say "Here's my name, there's a place that sounds right, they must have come from there." The chances of making an incorrect association are way too high for that kind of procedure! The right way to go is to do the dirty work of combing through records (which is what most people want to avoid, that's why they hope their surname will provide a shortcut), establish exactly what part of Poland your people came from, and then look for a suitable place name in that area. Even then you may be misled, but the odds are much, much better. Doing it the other way is begging for disaster! I'm glad you understand this, many people don't.

... Oh well, I will keep plodding along, and trying to find my Mierzejewski grandfather!

Everyone wants a shortcut, and I don't blame anyone for that - who wouldn't take a shortcut if one's available? But plodding is the way to go! I've known several people who weren't exactly the brightest folks in the world, but they just kept on, never gave up, and ended up with magnificent results. Brains and ingenuity help, but I think the real key to success is plain old perseverance. So don't ever stop plodding!

And by the way, you probably know this, but Mierzejewski probably started meaning something like "person from Mierzejewo (e. g., Mierzejewo in Leszno and Olsztyn provinces)," and those places surely got their names from the term mierzeja, "spit, sand-bar." The surname is quite common, with 8,481 Poles by that name as of 1990. I believe there was a noble family by that name - if I'm not mistaken, Jonathan Shea (president of the PGS-Northeast) has some Mierzejewski ancestors who were noble.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Cerkivica - Kunza - Kunze

... I hesitate to ask you this, but after using your 2nd edition I'm still lost on my great grandfather's name. His name was Kunza and his brother was Kunze. My gg Joseph Kunza was "supposedly " born in Cerkivica, West Prussia according to one of his son's birth certificates. I have been painstakingly going through LDS films on any and all villages, towns etc. that even slightly resemble Cerkivica to no avail as of yet... Any suggestions as to a maybe longer name with Kunz in it, or something that might have been Americanized to Kunza/e?

You never say "never" with surnames, but I'd be surprised if Kunza or Kunze was an Americanized version of a longer name. The name originated as a German nickname for "Conrad," as Dave said, and it's short enough, and easy enough to spell -- although with some variation, Kunz, Kunza, Kunze, Kunc, Kuntz, etc. -- that it doesn't seem a likely candidate for mangling. I would expect you'd find the name in records in a recognizable form... If memory serves, there was a Kunz or Kunze who was a big wheel in Chicago's Polish-American political circles back in the early part of this century. I'm not implying he was a relative, the name is too common to assume that, but it does prove the name is one Poles, Germans, and Americans found fairly easy to deal with.

Cerkivica, however, is somewhat mangled. Most likely the Polish name is either Cerekwica or Cerkwica. There are several places by that name in Poland. The Euro-Reiseatalas shows a Cerekwica that might have been in or near West Prussia: it is now in Bydgoszcz province, about 8-10 km. southwest of Znin. I'm not sure this is the right one, however; it may have been far enough south to be in Poznan province rather than West Prussia -- my historical maps aren't quite detailed enough to let me be sure. Still, it's worth mentioning.

Other sources mention a Cerekwica or Cerkwica, called Zirkwitz by the Germans, in Flatow district (Polish name Złotów) of West Prussia. One records a Gross Zirkwitz (Big Zirkwitz) and a Klein Zirkwitz (Little Zirkwitz), both in Flatow district. Gross Zirkwitz had Protestant and Catholic records kept at Kamin (Kamień Krajeński); Klein Zirkwitz had Protestant records kept at Zempelburg (Polish name Sępolno), Catholic records at Kamin. On modern maps these places are called Mała Cerkwica (= Klein Zirkwitz) and Duża Cerkwica (= Gross Zirkwitz), and they're in Bydgoszcz province, just a few km. east of Kamień Krajeński. The Euro-Reiseatlas shows Duża Cerkwica as having its own parish church, but none of my other sources mention this. I suppose Kamin/Kamień Krajeński is where you should look first.

When you have more than one place with a name that might fit the evidence, it's tough to guess which one is right. But I think either Mała or Duża Cerkwica is likely to be the place you want; the name is very close to the form you have, both are in the territory that was West Prussia, whereas most of the other places by that name were not. That's where I'd start looking.

I hope this info turns out to be some help to you, and that I haven't sent you on a wild goose chase!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
 

Lemiesz - Lemish

Note forwarded to me by Laurence Krupnak

Larry Krupnak, you're amazing!

I would not have commented, until I read your explanation, and yes, I know that lemiesz in Polish stands for that metal part of the plough that cuts the furrow, it is sharpened from time to time, its name in Rusnak/Ukrainian from the Carpathian Mountains is "Lemisz" if written using the latin alphabet, but it sounds as "lemish" in English.

That saying "To forge ploughs from swords" refers really to lemiesz (in Polish).

If it were not for your comment, that light bulb would have never gone off!

Reminds me of my neighbor whose name iz Zaludek, if he didn't tell me that it came from the Slovak zholudek which stands for one's stomach, I would've never surmized that on my own, even though I know the world itself, in Polish that's zholondek but spelled with a lot of diatritics.

... I have a friend at work who goes by the surname of LEMISH. I just wanted to pose a general question to you. During your investigations into umbilico-ancestry, have you ever come across this surname ? ANd if so, is the surname of UKRAINIAN, BYELARUSSIAN, JEWISH or OTHER origin ?

... I realize that this is an inexact question, but I (and my friend) would appreciate any information from yourself or any other list members. -- Andriy

Hello Andriy:

... Thanks for contacting me.

I will offer my knowledge about the surname Lemish, although please note that I am not an expert onomatologist. I am sure other people in the genealogy group may have some insights or specific knowledge. In particular, I will ask Walter Maksimovich (Lemko Vladek) to offer his knowledge and proposals. In addition, a close friend of mine, William Hoffman, is one of the world's finest onomatologist. He is not a member of the Infoukes Genealogy Mailing list, so I will seek his expertise and pass along anything that I can obtain from him.

RE: Lemish

... The surname could have been derived from either an object or a personal trait. A lemish is a ploughshare, that is the part of the moldboard plough that cuts the furrow. The surname could have also be based on the trait of being slow, awkward, or clumsy.

... I have observed the suffix "-ish" most often in surnames of people from Byelorussia and Karpatska Rus', paricularly Uhro-Rus'. You would have to perform genealogical research to determine whether Longwin Lemish and your friend at work are Rusnaks, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Jewish, etc. The surname Lemish also appears in Poland, but it is spelled Lemiesz.

... I consulted Alexander Beider's two monumental works on Jewish Surnames (from the Russian Empire). The surname Lemish/Lemesh was found in the following shtetls and areas: Slutsk, Lyutsin, Sventsyany, Grodno, Dvinsk, and Velizh.

... I have several of William Hoffman's books, and he does not have the suffix "-ish" defined....so I'll have to ask him about this!

Lavrentij Krupnak

Note: just by way of clarification, I could add nothing to this answer to the question about "Lemish." The suffix -isz (which sounds like "-ish" in English) is used in Polish, but I could find no really useful info about its meaning or usage. I will keep my eyes open for such info, and will add it to the next revision of my book, whenever that may be. -- Fred Hoffman.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Lisewski

... My G.Grandmother's maiden name was Lisewski. From what I've read in your book and from the discussion on the Gen-Pol, many names ending with 'ski' are taken from a place. I have found birth records of her children in the small village of Miloslaw, Poznan, Poland. There is a town on the Polish map about 50-60 miles away from Miloslaw called Lisewo. In your opinion, would it be worth looking into to find my ancestors. It seems almost too easy! Was it uncommon in the mid 1800's to see people from different villages of any considerable distance to be getting married. Gosh....getting 50 or 60 miles without a car seems like quite a feat to me!!! I'm just spoiled by progress I suppose. If you have the time, I'd sure appreciate your thoughts and insight on this matter. And thank you once again for your wonderful book. It has really opened up a whole new outlook for me on researching my family line.

I'm very glad you enjoyed my book. I put a lot of work into it, and it's enormously rewarding when people tell me my efforts weren't wasted and the book did them some good.

As for Lisewski, in most cases you would definitely expect it to have started as meaning "person from Lisew/Lisewo" or a similar name. The bad part is that there are quite a few places in Poland named Lisew and Lisewo, so it can be awfully tough determining which one is "yours."

The one you've found could well be the right one. 50-60 miles was a pretty decent distance before the days of easy transportation, so obviously a Lisewo that's closer would seem a better bet. But I have seen enough records to know that that distance is definitely not too great. In marriage records you often see people ending up together whose original homes were farther apart than that (although obviously in the majority of cases they came from villages very close to each other). But is the distance from Miloslaw to Lisewo enough to rule out a Lisewski origin there? No.

Unfortunately, it may be hard to prove one way or the other. Surnames were generally becoming fairly well established among peasants by the 1600's, and in some cases even earlier; but most of the time it's impossible to find records dealing with peasants that go back farther than, say, 1700 or 1750. In other words, there's usually a gap of a century or two between when the name was established and when it starts showing up in any records.

Also, by the nature of things, Lisewski would be a good name for a family only after it left Lisewo. Names were supposed to help distinguish folks, so strictly from a logical point of view it seems unlikely the family would have started going by that name until they moved elsewhere, at which point "the folks from Lisewo" would be a sensible name. So even if your ancestors do appear in Lisewo records, I'm not sure how good the chances are you'll be able to tell who they are, because they may not have been called "Lisewski" at that point. How will you recognize them without the surname to help?

I know it sounds as if I'm trying to discourage you, and that's really not my intention. But I don't want to inspire big hopes, only to have them dashed later; so I try to give people the whole picture. In this case, that means pointing out: 1) that there are a lot of Lisew's and Lisewo's in Poland, there may be tiny ones closer to Miloslaw than the one you've found; and 2) even if it is the right Lisewo, I wouldn't bet the farm on your being able to find any records that help you... Still, you never know till you try. I would be delighted to hear that this does turn out to be the right place and that you find early records of your family! And it could happen, it does happen sometimes. The way I see it, you might as well take a look at the Lisewo records -- if you do find something, the payoff would be fantastic! Just realize going in that it's a bit of a long shot.

I hope this info helps you make an informed judgment on whether this line of research is worth following. That's all I can do, really - try to give people info that will help them make good decisions. And when someone writes back and says some piece of info I gave them was the key to a breakthrough, I'm almost as happy as they are!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chesonias - Degutis - Naujasodis


From: David Zincavage

... I believe my grandfather Boleslaw DEGUTIS

Circa 1985, 143 persons of that name in Lithuania. Thought to refer to the occupation of making tar,
degutas is "tar" in Lithuanian.

... came from Naujasodis, Trakai, Lithuania. His father was August Degutis, and his mother was Bertha Chesonias.

ĆESONIS (69) a patronymic from Czesław.

... Does anybody know anything about Naujasodis?

The name would mean "new garden."

DZ

 

Dziuma - Mohylowski - Rzegotka - Zahemski - Żegota

... I went through the book looking for names in my family, and was able to track only two of them: Hudziak and Ryczko. I am especially interested in my last name, Mohylowski, which I was unable to find, and frankly have never come across...

Mohylowski almost certainly originated as meaning "person from Mohylew," which is the name of a major city in what is now Belarus; the city's name is also spelled Mogilev, Magilev, Mohilev, etc. There were 22 Poles names Mohylowski as of 1990, and 144 named Mogilewski, so it is a fairly rare name among Poles. Of the 22, 11 lived in Bydgoszcz province, 5 in Konin prov., 3 in Legnica prov., and 3 in Torun prov.

... Another family name is Dziuma, and my grandfather's (above) sister married a man by that name...


As of 1990 there were 45 Poles named Dziuma, living in the following provinces: Gdansk 7, Katowice 4, Legnica 9, Pila 17, Przemysl 3, Wroclaw 3, Zielona Gora 2. I can find no root or other source for this name, and I suspect it may not be Polish in origin.

... The name Rzegotka, my grandmother's maiden name, I don't recall seeing in your book either. ...

As of 1990 there were 19 Poles named Rzegotka, living in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala 11, Krakow 6, and Nowy Sacz 2 -- all in southern Poland, near the border with the Czech and Slovak republics. This specific name is not mentioned in the book, but Rzegocki is, and the two are surely related. Names beginning with rzegot- or żegot- apparently come from ancient roots meaning "burn" or "stab," and the name Żegota is attested as far back as 1212. The -ka is just a diminutive ending, so that Rzegotka would mean "little Rzegota/Zegota."

... The last name, Zahemski, is the name of the man who adopted my grandmother here in the New York area. There are a few Zahemskis in the Passaic, NJ area, but I don't recall seeing it in your book. ...

Like the other names, this one does not appear in the book because it is so rare. 1990 government databases list no Polish citizen by this name. However, h and ch are pronounced exactly the same in Polish, so the spelling Zachemski is also relevant, and as of 1990 there were 21 Poles by that name, all living in the province of Nowy Sacz, in south central Poland. I have to wonder if this is a mangled form of some other name, because I can find no Polish root that Zachemski would come from.

You know, it could be we're dealing with a variant of a more common name, affected by dialect, mispronuncation, misspelling, something. The za- part makes perfect sense, it's a prefix and a preposition meaning "past, beyond, on the other side of." It's possible, for instance, that this name was originally something like Zachełmski, meaning "from the other side of Chełm," or "person from Zachełmie," the name of several villages that were "beyond, past Chełm." This makes sense too because that ł is pronounced so softly that sometimes it is just dropped, which would yield something sounding very like "Zachemski." Also, a name Zachemba appears in the Surname Directory (very rare, only 8 bearers), and when the suffix -ski is added on that b sound would tend to disappear, again yielding "Zachemski." That name doesn't appear in the Directory either, but to me either Zachełmski or Zachembski sounds "more Polish" than Zachemski.

I wish I could have included every name in my book, but as I explain in it, there are literally hundreds of thousands of Polish surnames, most borne by only a few people. Since I had only a finite amount of room for discussing names, I tried to concentrate on the most common ones. For people who want to know about names that aren't listed in my book, I mention (on p. 177 in the 2nd edition, p. 137 in the 1st) the Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow -- they're the best source of info on Polish names I know of. I highly recommend them, as they have excellent sources, can correspond in English, and charge very reasonable fees: $20 is usually enough to cover 1-3 names.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
 

Muławski - Szymański

... I think my friend is from a lost tribe in Poland. Just kidding! He has done a lot of footwork for me with my family in Poland and I would like to return the favor by finding out about his. His surname is Muławski. We have been unsuccessful finding anyone in Poland or the States who will even answer our emails and snail mails. Any help you may provide would be appreciated.

Muławski is one I'm not absolutely certain about, but its ultimate root appears to be muł, "mule," also the same word can mean "slime, mud, silt." There is also a word muławka that might be relevant, it's a kind of fish more commonly called the kózka in Polish, cobitis taenia - I can't find the English name for it. This does not appear to be a common name in Poland; the Surname Directory doesn't list Muławski at all, and says Mulawski was borne by only 17 Polish citizens, in these provinces: Warsaw 1, Gorzow 1, Jelenia Gora 1, Katowice 1, Koszalin 1, Legnica 5, Lublin 2, Suwałki 2, Szczecin 1, Zielona Gora 2. This bothers me a little, I wonder if some data was omitted? There is no listing for any name in muł- at all, and I'd have thought there should be at least a few!?

Anyway, the roots I gave above are for the ultimate root of the name. I suspect it might derive directly from a place name (which in turn got its name from one of those roots). For instance, there's a village Muławki in Suwałki province. A connection with this, or another place with a similar name, might have been the original reason a person got this name.

... Also, could you tell me anything about my surname: Szymański?


That one's easy. It comes from the Polish form of the name Simon - in standard Polish Szymon, but also seen in other forms including Szyman. As with most surnames derived from common first names, this one is common all over the country; as of 1990 there were 84,527 Szymański's in Poland! My daughter went to school with a Nicole Szymanski in Brookfield, CT. As Polish names go, this one's right up there with Smith. And by the way, it would be pronounced by Poles sort of like "shi-MINE-skee"; the accent over the N softens it and affects the vowel in front of it, much as Poznań is pronounced almost like "POZ-nine."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Nadarzyński

... I don't know if you remember me, I wrote to you back in November of 1996 in regard to my maiden name Mostkiewicz. I was so excited thinking I saw the name in your book, but my husband pointed out there was no "t" I wrote to you in desperation, and knowing how busy you must be with your books and the PGSA, I did not think I would receive a answer. You were so helpful, even telling me there were only seventeen with that name as of 1990 and the provinces.

Yes, I remember you, and I'm glad my answer came as a pleasant surprise! I can't always answer folks' notes, but if I have the time and am able to come up with something that might be informative, I always try to do so.

... Needless to say I need your help again, and would appreciate anything you may know about the name Nadurzynski or Nadarzynski or Nadurzynska (Czeslawa) first name ! My oldest brother was Chester so I assume he was named after my Mother. I have not seen this name any where! ... I was told by my brother that my Mother had two brothers here, and one visited when I was very young from Clevelend, and he spelled it Nadazinski so it would be easy to say when he came here. After all these spellings, I think I know why I did not mention my Mother's name in my first letter to you *smile*

It's tough to say for sure which form of the name is correct, because both Nadarzyński and Nadurzyński are theoretically possible names. However, I note as of 1990 there was no one named Nadurzyński in Poland, whereas there were 385 Poles named Nadarzyński -- so, while that isn't conclusive, it suggests that's the right form of the name. In trying to read written records, an a can often look very similar to u, so it's not hard to imagine how the -u- form got started. As for Nadaziński, its pronounciation is very, very similar to Nadarzyński -- the difference is slight, and it's not rare to see names spelled with either -rzynski or -zinski. The first sounds like "nah-dah-ZHIN-skee," the second more like "nah-dah-ZHEEN-skee," a very subtle difference. I suspect Nadarzyński is the correct form, with Nadaziński a plausible alternate spelling.

The most likely origin of this name is "person from Nadarzyn" or a similar-sounding place. There is a village Nadarzyn in Warsaw province, not all that far away from Płock, so this could well be the place of origin -- and offhand I can't find any other place that seems to qualify. It's not 100% sure, but I think chances are fairly good Nadarzyn is the place this family came from, and the name alludes to that origin.

As I said, in 1990 there were some 385 Poles with this name. There were small numbers all over Poland, with the largest concentrations in the province of: Warsaw (22), Bydgoszcz (28), Ciechanow (47), Elblag (53), Koszalin (23), Lodz (42), and Torun (45). The largest numbers tend to show up in provinces in central Poland -- Warsaw, Ciechanow, Lodz, and Torun provinces are all fairly close to each other -- so that is consistent with origin from Nadarzyn. I really think we're on the right track with this.

Of course, examining records from Nadarzyn may not help. For one thing, surnames were often established by 1600, whereas most records go back no farther than 1700 (unless you're dealing with nobility), so there tends to be a gap of at least a century between when a name got established and when it starts showing up in records... Also, common sense tells us calling someone "person from Nadarzyn" was not likely to distinguish them sufficiently if they were still living in Nadarzyn -- after all, that name could apply to everybody there. Most likely that name arose after the family moved away from Nadarzyn, say, to Płock. So even if you found records of the family in Nadarzyn, you might not have a surname to help you... Still, if you want to give the Nadarzyn records a look, it might be worth a try. You never know what you'll find till you try!

By the way, the Polish name Czesław (feminine form Czesława) isn't really connected to "Chester" linguistically, but because the first syllables of both names sound very similar, a lot of Poles used "Chester" in this country when they realized Americans couldn't make sense of Czesław. So your notion that Chester ws named after Czesława is a pretty sound one.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Oświecimski - Oświęcimski - Oświęciński

... My mother has 'always' spelt her maiden name as 'Oświęcimska'. I looked this name up in some Polish references, and it is not that uncommon, about 250 in Poland. There are similar looking names with the diacritic marks absent etc, which appear less common. [He goes on to mention several different spellings, including "Oświecimski" and "Oświeciński," and asks if those spelling differences are significant].

Every name has to be taken on its own terms; with some names the difference of a single letter can mean volumes, in other cases you can have 5 or 6 different letters and it means virtually nothing.

In this case, I'd be inclined to say the different versions of the name are not significant. This is due to the phonetic properties of the characters that change. It is not rare in dialect for Ę to be pronounced as, and spelled as, simple E; this happens with enough names that I'm on pretty solid ground saying so. The M/N variance is also very common, because both are nasal sounds and we see them interchanged constantly. The oldest documents mentioning Oświęcim give the name ending with -in, and Rymut's books on Polish surnames and Polish place names specify that this surname has often appeared as either -imski or -iński. Actually, the -im ending is somewhat unusual, -in would be expected by normal Polish standards; so even if -imski is the right form, there would be a constant tendency for Poles to "correct" it to the more normal -iński, simply because they encounter and hear that so often and -imski so rarely.

You're absolutely right to be careful about jumping to conclusions, those spelling differences might mean a lot. For that matter, just because Oświęcimski and Oświęciński are essentially the same name from a linguistic point of view, that does not rule out the possibility that the different forms indicated different families. That's where your research comes in. But if I understand your question correctly, my research indicates that those differences don't have to have any great significance at all. From a linguistic and phonetic point of view, it's entirely plausible that this could be the same name and yet sometimes appear with the nasal Ę as simple E, and the -im as -in.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pajączkowski

I should have thanked you sooner for looking up the frequency and distribution of the names I am currently researching. The information was indeed helpful! I am putting together an order from PGSA and will be getting your book. All my genealogy "stuff" has grown into quite a stack and one of my projects before the end of the year is to get another bookcase!

Each surname I am working on has taken on kind of a unique personality or identity and each has its own mystery or $64,000 question that I hope to resolve in my lifetime.

When I first posted my father's name on GenPol and said that he always told me he was from Piotrkow Trybunalski but that I had found legal documents showing the place of birth as Bugaj, GenPals (to borrow a lovely title from Tom Milke) gave me all kinds of suggestions. One member has come across a Bugaj in Galicia with the Pajaczkowski name turning up in parish records - which really blows my mind because my father always put the heat on my grandmother (his mother-in-law) for coming from "Galicia."

As I have mentioned before, I know that the name Pajaczkowski means or has to do with "spiders." Somewhere at the back of my mind I have been aware that Polish names could also reflect where a person came from: from the village of spiders, from the woods with bears, etc. I just never took a map and looked for a village named Pajaczkowo - that is until you gave me the "frequency and distribution information." Lo and behold, just a short distance WSW from Piotrkow Trybunalski is just such a place! I have spent hours and hours looking at the map of Poland over the years and never, never, never did I see this until now.

The FHC here has odd hours for working people so I don't get there very often, and when I do I don't get much more than 1-1.5 hours of research, which is next to nothing. There are so many things I want to look into and tend to feel discouraged. Thanks to GenPol and the wonderful people in it I have not given up!

Dziekuje bardzo za pomoc!

Benigne Pajaczkowski Dohms

Wojtasik

I'm searching for information about my ancestors whose family's name is : Wojtasik. They were born in Poland in 1906 and 1915, and I have no information left about their ancestors there.

I'm afraid I have no access to information on your ancestors. All I can tell you is what the name Wojtasik means. The ending -ik means "son of, kin of," so Wojtasik would mean "son of Wojtas, kin of Wojtas."

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut's book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], names beginning Wojt- can come either from the noun wójt, "local official, executive officer of a gmina," or from short forms of the first name Wojciech. Thus Wojtas could mean "kin of the wójt" or it could mean "kin of Wojciech."

So your ancestors may have been related to the local administrative official, or they may have been related to a man named Wojciech. There is no way to tell which is true -- only research into the family history might shed light on that.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database), there were 6,267 Polish citizens named Wojtasik. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Kielce 625, Katowice 562, Czestochowa 461, Kalisz 429, Warszawa 428, Lodz 337, Wroclaw 304, and Bydgoszcz 300. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data indicates the name is found all over the country. It is particularly common in southcentral to southeastern Poland, but not to the extent that one can conclude a given Wojtasik family came from there. The truth is, a Wojtasik family could come from just about anywhere in Poland. Again, only by tracing the family's history in records might one determine where a particular Wojtasik family came from.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Nowak

Nowak surname. Any info?

It's pronounced roughly "NO-vock," and it's the most common name in Poland, borne by over 220,000 Polish citizens as of 1990. It comes from the root seen in the adjective nowy, "new." Names in the form X-ak usually mean "the X guy, son of X." In this case Nowak is the Polish equivalent of the English surname Newman -- it just means "new guy." It could have referred to a person who had recently moved into the area, one who had begun a new life by converting to Christianity, one who had set up on a new farm, or something like that. One of the reasons it's so common may be that it can mean so many things. (It's also extremely common among Czechs, although they spell it with a v instead of a w).

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pepliński

Yes, there is one more to add to the confusion. There is a town of Peplin in the Lesno parish in Bydgoszcz. The story goes that in 1665 Queen Maria Ludwika gave a grant of land to Micolaj Peplinski where this town of Peplin now is. Lesno is adjacent to the parish of Lipusz in Gdansk. Many Peplinski s in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan come from these two parishes as well as some nearby ones.

The only information in the gazeteer (entry #3) is that this town exists in the Lesno parish and that in 1693 Erasmus Janowski charged Wojciech Peplinski of Lendy and Skoszewo (villages in the parish of Lesno, my family is from Skoszewo) with letting his (Wojciech) cattle graze on his (Erasmus) land. Now I wonder if Wojciech is a rogue son of honorable Micolaj!

Blanche

Note: Blanche and I had been discussing how the surname Pepliński, borne by 3,151 Poles as of 1990, can come from Peplin, an alternate form of the name of the town of Pelplin in Gdansk province, or from the name of the village Pęplino in Słupsk province. Blanche's point is that there is yet another possible source for this name!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



 

Pieritz

... Does anyone out there know what nationality the name PIERITZ is?

I can't find anything on that exact spelling, but to me it looks and sounds like a Germanized version of a Slavic name originally ending in -icz or -ice, something similar. Unfortunately, there are quite a few possible derivations, and I can't say which is most likely to be right. I think it is worth mentioning that the German name for the Polish town of Pyrzyce, in Szczecin province, is Pyritz -- and in terms of pronunciation that sounds awfully close to Pieritz. If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say this may be a Germanized name deriving ultimately from the name of the town Pyrzyce, or from the same linguistic root as that name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pliszka

Writing about the surname Plishka, my mothre's maiden name. [PS, Paul Plishka, the opera singer, is my 2nd, 3rd? cousin....same gr,gr,gndfather.]

On page 390 of the second edition you have Pliszka (a wagtail.)

My grandpa told us that Plishka (transliteration of the cyrillic) meant a pickax. I looked in my Uke-Eng. dictionary (by Andrusyshen) and sure enough that is what it has. Also means a wedge, apparently that used in splitting wood. Then I noticed that plish means baldness. Maybe a long time ago the kozaks used pickaxes to shave their head!

Would any of these concepts for the meaning of Plishka (Ukr. way) or Pliszka (Polish and German way) be useful in your next edition?

Somebody told my Mother a long time ago that they said a Plishka was a guy who made barrels or was the guy who strapped the metal around a barrel? I can't find a reliable documentation about this.

Unfortunately, none of my sources give anything very firm about this. It's not unusual, however, to find that Polish or Ukrainian words have more than one meaning. Consider "nut" in English. It can be a delicious edible item (full of fat, damn it!), a piece of metal with a particular shape and function, a person with a screw loose, etc. The same thing happens in other languages, and many Polish words have multiple meanings, some of which are slang or regional usages. The best we can do is note the standard meanings and, when possible, any other meanings we can learn about that might be relevant.

In any case, thanks for these notes! I have saved them and hope to incorporate them into the next revision of my book.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Wojda

Just wanted to see if you have any information on the origin or meaning of my ancestry surnames: Wojda and Lapinski [Lapinski is covered in a separate note.]

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database), there were 5,923 Polish citizens named Wojda, pronounced roughly "VOY-dah." They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Warsaw 1,559, Kielce 352, Siedlce 351, and Skierniewice 595. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates the name is found most often in the central to east-central part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Wojda in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1478. As with many names, there are several possible derivations. One is from Hungarian wojda, which derives from Polish wojewoda," literally "war-leader," a term used for the ruler of a large area, also sometimes used as a Slavic equivalent of the Latin-based term "palatine" -- in Polish the term województwo, "province," originally meant "territory of a wojewoda." In fact we have the English term voivode from that word, although it's not used very often. In any case, a number of Polish surnames actually turn out to have been influenced by Hungarian, since there was a lot of contact between Hungary and Poland over the centuries. Wojda can come from the Hungarian adaptation of the Polish term for a palatine or war-leader.

But Rymut says Wojda can also come from first names beginning Woj-, such as Wojciech or Wojsław, which ultimately come from the noun woj, "warrior." Thus Wojda could have developed as a nickname or affectionate short form of Wojciech or Wojsław, much as Eddie developed from Edward in English.

Both derivations, from Hungarian wojda and from old given names beginning Woj-, are plausible. The only way to determine whether that derivation, or the one from place names, is more correct would be by tracing the family history as far back as possible. At some point you might uncover information that sheds light on the matter. Without more details of that sort, it is impossible to tell from the name alone which derivation applies in a given case.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Poling - Polink - Szczurowski - Żurowski

... I am trying to determine whether the following surnames are variants of each other or are unrelated common. ... 1) Żurowski (possibly from Lestowitza, [spelling], western Galicia), Szczurowski (Nowy Śacz), Zierowsky (Baronial family in Galicia), and Żurek Żurowski (it occurs in Radautz, Bukovina)

Names beginning with żur- are so common that I'd hesitate linking them without good evidence. For instance, in 1990 there were 2,572 Polish citizens named Żurowski, and 12,623 named Żurek. While they probably come from the same linguistic root, and in isolated cases a Żurek and a Żurowski family might have actually been linked at one time, in most cases the names probably rose independently in different times and places. As I say, without evidence that they're linked, I would normally expect them to be independent.

I would be a little surprised if Szczurowski fits in there - although you never know with Polish names, especially once non-Poles have messed with them. But the root of the name is szczur, "rat." There are places with names like Szczurowa, which would mean, essentially, "rat village," "rat town," and that's probably where the surname comes from, meaning "person from rat town." I wouldn't think people would be in a hurry to accept such a name, and I would expect any Żurek or Żrowski to object strenuously to any confusion of the names!

... Polinkiewicz (Sarny, Volhynia) and Polingewicz (Czerniowce, Bukovina) ...

Now these two could well be linked. From a linguistic standpoint, it would not be at all surprising if they were connected. Subtract the suffix "-[i]ewicz," meaning "son of," and you have Polink and Poling. In Polish, German, and many other languages a final g tends to devoice and be pronounced as k, so that Poling would sound much like Polink. So it is entirely credible that these two names could be different forms of the same name.

However, surname analysis seldom digs up anything definitive and incontrovertible. Once in a while a name will have some aspect that lets you make statements about it with certainty -- but not too often. The most I can do is make general statements based on the probability as my experience leads me to assess it. But in almost all cases, names don't carry enough information to let you draw definitive conclusions. At best, they confirm conclusions drawn on the basis of other, less ambiguous evidence and data.

Now that I've followed proper scholarly procedure by covering my butt, I hope this information is some use to you anyway!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Kawka

Do you have any information on my surname. I would be very interested to know.

In Polish Kawka is pronounced roughly "KOFF-kah." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched online), there were 5,831 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country with largest numbers in the following provinces: Warsaw 685, Bydgoszcz 381, Konin 215, Lublin 540, Lodz 200, and Zamosc 621. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data basically tells us a family by this name could come from anywhere in Poland; the name is not associated with any one region of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying it appears in records as early as 1371. He says it comes from the noun kawka, which can be a diminutive of kawa, "coffee," but can also mean "the jackdaw," a kind of bird. I suppose an ancestor might have gotten a nickname meaning "little coffee," but surnames from words for birds are very common in Polish, and I think the jackdaw connection would prove true in most cases. It might mean an ancestor lived in an area where jackdaws were common, or could imitate their singing, or wore clothes that reminded people of their coloring -- some perceived association along those lines would probably account for the name.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Pastuła - Postuła

... I am a member of both the PGS of America, and PGS of Michigan. Yesterday a colleague of mine from PGSMI allowed me to use a copy of your most recent edition of Polish Surnames. Though I had seen it for sale at our meetings, I only flipped through the pages, and placed the book back on the table. However, having the book in hand to read, I find it most interesting, and thank you for the many Poles who have, and will read the material, which must have taken much labor to create.

I appreciate your kind words. I put a lot of work into the book, in hopes that it would prove helpful to many people for years to come. It's gratifying to hear from folks who think I did a good job!

... I now get to the point. My name is Bob Postula. My dad was Walter Postula. His brother was Stanley Pastula (note the Po... vs. the Pa.... I have identified that my true Polish name is Pastuła. I have previously had information regarding the distribution of Pastuła (which I have temporarily misplaced), and was very suprised in Polish Surnames to see that Postuła is in fact a valid name in Poland.

Yes, I think Postuła and Pastuła are both valid surnames. Rymut's book Nazwiska Polakow mentions Pastuła as coming from the basic root past-, having to do with animals' feeding (same root in English "pasture"). He does not, however, mention Postuła under the root post-, "to fast." I'm not sure if that's because the name is not all that common, or if because in many cases, as in yours, Postuła is just a variant of Pastuła. But personally I consider it likely there are at least some instances where Postuła developed as an independent name, not just a variation of Pastuła.

It is worth stressing that very often po- and pa- are just spelling variations of each other. The Polish o is not pronounced like the o in English "go," it is not as deep in the throat, and in fact often sounds very close to Polish "a" (as in English "father"). In fact, there are some words where pa- is a variant of the common Polish prefix po-, often with a diminutive or contemptuous connotation, e.g., pagórek, hillock, comes from the root gór-, "mountain," or pachołek, "page, farmhand," from the same root as chłop, "peasant." I doubt that's particularly relevant in this case because in Pastuła and Postuła the Pa-/Po- is not a prefix -- it's an integral part of the root, past-/post- + a suffix -uła, as opposed to po-/pa- prefixed to stuła.

Still, it is instructive that Poles recognize pa- and po- as closely related. It tends to confirm what I said earlier, that Postuła is, in many cases, a variation of Pastuła. But not necessarily in all cases!

... The purpose of this request is to impose upon you to please look up Postuła in Rymut's work and advise me of the distribution of the 81 Postułas. Thank you for your time, and effort.

The province breakdown for Postuła is as follows:

POSTUŁA: 81; Warsaw 3, Ciechanow 1, Jelenia Gora 1, Katowice 8, Kielce 26, Krakow 3, Legnica 5, Opole 1, Radom 30, Rzeszow 1, Wroclaw 2.

This distribution is interesting -- the numbers may not be large enough to constitute a valid statistical universe, but it does appear that the name hails primarily from the area of Kielce and Radom provinces, a little southeast of central Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Ślizewski

... Can anyone tell me what the origin and meaning of the surname Slizewski is ?

Names ending in -ewski and -owski usually -- not always, but usually -- derive from place names ending in -ew[o/a] or -ow[a/o]. There are other possibilities, too, as suffixes often were dropped when -ski was added to a place name, so places with names ending in -owice or -owica or -ówka, etc., also must be considered. But the rule of thumb is, first look for a likely place with the endings -ew, -ewa, -ewo, -ow, -owa, -owo.

My maps show only one place that seems a likely candidate for this name: a village Ślizów in modern-day Kalisz province, about 5 km. south of the town of Syców, northeast of Wrocław; I would guess the records for this village were probably kept at the church in Syców, although I can't be sure.

There may well be other places this name came from, too small to show up on maps, or now bearing other names, or absorbed into other communities. But this is the only place I can find that seems the likely source of the surname Slizewski. By the way, the ultimate source of names beginning with Sliz- is the root śliz, a thick liquid, also (?) the loach.

As of 1990 there were 137 Polish citizens named Ślizewski, scattered in various provinces, with the largest concentration by far in the province of Gdansk (95). This suggests in most cases the surname may have come from some other source than the Ślizów I mentioned above, since the provinces of Gdansk and Kalisz are a fairly good distance apart.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Łapiński

Just wanted to see if you have any information on the origin or meaning of my ancestry surnames: Wojda and Lapinski [Wojda is covered in a separate note.]

Lapinski in Polish is usually spelled with a slash through the L and an accent over the N, so it should look this this when typed - Łapiński.

Łapiński is pronounced roughly "wah-PEEN-skee." As of 1990 there were 8,410 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 899, Białystok 2,731, Łomża 505, and Suwałki 460. This data indicates the name is found all over the country but is concentrated to a significant extent in northeastern Poland.

Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions this surname in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], saying it can have two derivations. It can refer to the name of a village or settlement or other place the family was connected with at some point centuries ago, with a name beginning Łapin- or something similar. He specifically mentions Łapino in Kolbudy district of former Gdansk province as one place that some Łapińskis are known to have come from. But there are other places with similar names that this surname could refer to.

Also this surname can come directly from the root seen in the noun łapa, "paw," and in the verb łapać, "to grab, paw." Łapiński could be interpreted literally as "[kin] of the paw" or "[kin] of the one who grabs." So there are at least two possible derivations.

I would add this: since this surname is especially common in northeastern Poland, it is worthwhile checking to see if there is a specific place it might refer to in that area. There are several villages with the name Łapy plus a second part near Białystok -- Łapy-Dębowizna, Łapy-Pluśniaki, Łapy-Szołajdy -- as well as a village with the simple name Łapy. Since they're very close to each other, chances are at one time they were all part of one big settlement or estate, but later were subdivided and distinguished by adding a second part to the name.

I must say that if a given Łapiński family does turn out to have roots in northeastern Poland, "one from Łapy" is a very plausible origin for this surname. But if a family turned out to come from the Gdansk area, a connection with that village of Łapino becomes more likely. And you never know when the name may simply have referred to the kin of a guy with big hands, or one who tended to grab for everything. As I said, only research into a specific family's history might clear that up... But if your research leads you back to northeastern Poland, I'd say "one from Łapy" is a very good possibility.

If you'd like to see a map of where Łapy is, go to www.pilot.pl and enter LAPINO and then click on "Pokaz miasto." It will show links to Łapy and Łapy-Kołpaki, another nearby village. They all are right together, so just click on the first one. You'll get a map showing the Łapy area, as well as a smaller map showing where it is located in terms of Poland as a whole. You can print the map, save it, zoom in, etc.

If the Łapino near Gdansk turns out to be relevant to your name, you can get a map of it, too, at www.pilot.pl, by searching for LAPINO. It actually shows up as both LAPINO and LAPINO KARTUSKIE ("the Lapino near Kartuzy"). Click on either one and you'll get a map.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Sroka - Sroki - Szeroki

... Does someone have access to Rymut's book? If so, could you look up the name Szeroki / Seroki / or Sroki and tell all info. listed for those name(s)? I am trying to find the areas where they lived.

Szeroki is far less common than I would have expected. The book lists both Szeroki and Szeroka, and it's reasonable to assume they are simple masculine and feminine forms, respectively, and should be combined. Here is the data if you combine them:

SZEROKI: total 74; breakdown by province: Białystok 10, Katowice 10, Legnice, 10, Leszno 9, Opole 7, Rzeszow 1, Tarnow 1, Torun 3, Wroclaw 20, Zielone Gora 3

Seroka is listed (but no entry for Seroki!); there were 1,452, living all over the country. The provinces with the largest numbers were: Warsaw 127, Ciechanow 52, Elblag 64, Gdansk 217, Lublin 158, Olsztyn 57, Ostrołęka 110, Torun 61, Zamosc 129. But as I say, there were smaller numbers in virtually every other province.

There was no listing for Sroki. Sroka is listed, and is quite common, with 13,678 bearers, again living all over the country. The largest numbers were in the provinces of: Czestochowa 496, Katowice 1,625, Kielce 743, Krakow 1,886, Nowy Sacz 402, Poznan 728, Rzeszow 529, Tranow 980, Wroclaw 523.

The question here is whether we're dealing with a name from the adjective szeroki, "wide, broad," or from the root sroka, "magpie." The fact that there is no Seroki makes me wonder if Seroka is simply a variant of the noun sroka, not a feminine form of a variant of the adjective meaning "wide." Szeroki/Szeroka, on the other hand, are probably from the adjective. Rymut's book on Polish surname derivations doesn't say, and I could be dead wrong, but that's my best guess.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bondel - Wiciński

... Within the past year I've become acquainted with some distant relatives from Poland... He insists that the Wicinski family is Polish nobility...originally coming from an area near Lithuania and then fleeing, while wounded from some war around 1840 or so, to the area near Tarnobrzeg. Do you have any information about Wicinski? ...

Wiciński probably derives ultimately from a short form of a first name such as Witold or Wincenty; most likely it comes directly from a place named Wicin, Wicina, or Wicie (there are several), meaning a person who came from that place, and the place in turn got that name because it was owned or founded by a fellow named Witold, Wincenty, etc. It is a pretty common name in Poland. As of 1990 there were 1,936 Poles with this name; they lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (172), Bydgoszcz (148), Lodz (110), Lublin (144), Płock (202), Radom (103), and Tarnobrzeg (122). I don't see any real pattern to that distribution. Most likely the name arose in several different areas independently, and as I said, you'd expect it originally indicated some association of a person with a place named Wicin, Wicina, Wicie, etc.

Your particular Wicinski family may well have been noble, but I have no way of knowing. When anyone shows interest in Polish nobility, about which I know little. The editor of White Eagle, the Journal of the Polish Nobility Association Foundation, has an extensive library on European and especially Polish nobility. He does not do genealogical research, he is a heraldic artist by avocation. But he will look in his library to see if he can find anything that might be applicable. If he spends any significant amount of time researching for you, it would be only right to offer him some monetary compensation (from what I hear, his rates are quite reasonable).

... Also, my one grandfather's surname was Bondel. He was from the village of Kepice near Radom. (I understand there is more than one Kepice) He was 1/8th French. I've met other people of Polish descent with French surnames, is this common? ...

As of 1990 there were some 176 Poles named Bondel. The list of provinces they lived in is fairly short, so I will repeat it: Warsaw 17, Gdansk 1, Gorzow 1, Katowice 16, Kielce 2, Koszalin 3, Legnica 1, Lublin 66, Opole 4, Radom 24, Siedlce 14, Skierniewice 4, Suwałki 9, Szczecin 1, Walbrzych 4, Wroclaw 9.

It is not extremely common to find Poles with French surnames, but it happens often enough that scholars are not surprised when they run into it. Often French names have changed spelling to fit the way they sound according to Polish phonetic values, rather than French (e. g., Descourt -> Deskur). Poland has always been a country willing and eager to maintain ties with the West, so it's not too unusual to find Poles with names of French or Italian origin (though, as I say, sometimes you'd never know by the spelling!).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Parajewski - Waselenczuk - Zerde - Zherdya

... My research into my paternal Polish ancestors is going well however, I have run into some problems with my maternal Grandfather who was Ukrainian. He had listed on his petition for naturalization that he was born in Zerde. He had also mentioned to the family that when he was a boy he often crossed into Poland on family business (giving the impression that he lived rather close to what would be considered the Polish border). He spoke Ukrainian, Polish and Russian. I have not had any luck in finding a village, town or city named Zerde. Can anyone be of assistance on this?

I looked at a map of Ukraine and found only one place that seemed a likely candidate from a linguistic point of view: Zherdya, a little village a few km. northwest of Kam'anets'-Podil's'kiy, which the Poles called Kamieniec Podolski. This name could easily be modified into Zerde. The problem was, this place is nowhere near the Polish border.

But then the 3rd cup of coffee kicked in and my brain started to function. I said to myself, "You idiot, if she's talking about her maternal grandfather living there when he was a boy, it's not the current Polish border that matters. Where was the border earlier this century?" I looked at a historical map, and BINGO! Up until 1939 the Polish border extended east into western Ukraine, to within a few kilometers of Kamieniec Podolski (earlier in history, the border was even farther east, but by this century this land was no longer part of Polish territory). So if your grandfather lived near Zherdya from, say 1918-1939, the Polish border would, indeed, have been only a good walk away, maybe no more than an hour, if that much. So if I were a betting man, I'd bet good money Zherdya is the place you're looking for.

... Also, my Grandfather entered the U.S. through Canada in 1916. He settled in Cleveland, Ohio where he married and had a family. However, he was an illegal until 1945. On his petition he stated that he entered the U.S. under the name Vasil Parajevski but that his true name was Walter (Sava) Waselenchuk. I know that Waselenchuk is a Western Ukraine surname however, Parajevski sounds more Polish than Ukrainian to me. Does anyone have any insight into the surname Parajevski?

Waselenchuk is indeed a Ukrainian name, meaning basically "little Vasily's son." Parajewski could be Polish, linguistically it makes sense, but as of 1990 there was only one Parajewski in Poland, living in the province of Lodz. But the question is, how reliable is that spelling? We could very well be talking about Porajewski, the a and o are often confused. Just for the heck of it, I looked in the Slownik geograficzny, and found there was a village called either Parajówka or Porajówka in Kamieniec Podolski district -- in other words, not far from Zherdya -- served by both Catholic and Orthodox parishes in Czarnokozince, with some 420 inhabitants as of the turn of the century; the village took its name from its founder, Bishop Kobielski, who was of the Poraj clan and bore the Poraj coat of arms.

Linguistically speaking, Parajewski could very well have started as meaning "person from Parajówka or Porajówka." In Polish we often see names from -ówka ending up with adjectival forms in -ewski in Polish, even if -owski might technically be more correct, so that's not a major problem. I strongly suspect that's the origin of this surname, "person from Porajówka." It could be regarded as either Polish or Ukrainian, because in this particular case there would not be a major difference in how the name sounded, regardless of which language it came from. Most likely a more accurate rendering, however, would be a Ukrainian form, Porayevs'kiy or Parayevs'kiy (which would be spelled Porajewski or Parajewski by Poles), simply because the place from which the name derived is now in Ukraine and presumably ethnic Ukrainians were more numerous there than Poles. But as I said, in this case it doesn't make a dime's worth of difference, there would be very little difference in sound no matter which language the name started in.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

gazetteer

Jaworski

JAWORSKI is pronounced roughly "yah-VORE-skee," and it is a common name among Poles. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 44,104 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area; a Jaworski family could come from anywhere. .

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He explains that it appears in records as early as 1386, and comes from the Polish noun jawor, "sycamore." Jaworski is actually an adjective meaning "of the sycamore." Thus it might have begun as a way of referring to an ancestor who lived in or near a particularly prominent stand of sycamores; or he may have sold or worked with sycamore wood, or something along those lines. Almost any connection with sycamores could allow this name to get started.

But in most cases it probably refers to a family's connection with any of a number of villages, settlements, etc. named Jawor, Jawory, Jaworze, etc. -- which, in turn, meant something like "place of the sycamores." There are places by those names all over Poland, which explains why the surname Jaworski appears all over Poland. The only way to tell which particular Jawor or Jawory or Jaworze your family came from would be through genealogical research, which would help you pinpoint exactly where in Poland your family came from, and thus would let you focus on finding a place with a name beginning Jawor- in that specific area, rather than having to search all over the country.

I should add that the same basic word for "sycamore" appears in other Slavic languages, so that this surname could also appear among, oh, Czechs or Slovaks or Ukrainians. Normally we'd find the name spelled JAVORSKY in those cases -- as a rule, the spelling JAWORSKI would generally be associated with Poles. But spellings are not always consistent, and if a Czech named Javorsky had papers filled out by a German or Polish official, that official might spell the name the way he was used to, JAWORSKI (Polish) or JAWORSKY (German). In other words, without more info it's impossible to be certain this name is Polish in a given case. But usually it would be.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bartodziejski

Have you any info relating to the name Bartodejski - later changed to Bardodej and then to Bartodej (after my ancestors came to the US)?

It's virtually certain Bartodejski is a variation of the name usually spelled Bartodziejski. That name is pronounced roughly "bar-toe-JAY-skee." Without detailed research into the family history I can't say why or how it came to be spelled Bartodejski (which would sound more like "bar-toe-DAY-skee"). It could be simply a misspelling or misreading; or maybe the name was simplified to make it easier for English-speakers; or maybe the family came from an area in Poland where the local dialect avoided the Polish tendency to turn simple D into the j-sound spelled DZI. Any of these could be a factor. But however you slice it, I feel 99.9% confident the name we're talking about is Bartodziejski.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 96 Polish citizens named Bartodziejski (and none named Bartodejski). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 10, Lodz 14, Sieradz 13, Slupsk 13, and Wroclaw 18. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1488, and refers to any of a number of villages named Bartodzieje (which in turn comes from the noun bartodziej, "beekeeper"). So Bartodziejski started out meaning "one from Bartodzieje," which in turn means "[place of] the beekeepers." The only way to establish which Bartodzieje your ancestors came from would be through detailed genealogical research; the surname alone gives us no clue.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bednarz - Bednorz

I've been doing my family's research for many years, but no one here knows enough to know nor remembers what certain names may represent.

The name I would like to submit is Bednorz. If this helps any, the Bednorz's came in 1854/5 to Panna Maria, Texas, and so most likely came with the Schleisen's (sorry on the spelling).


Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. Bednorz is pronounced roughly "BED-nosh," and is a distinctively Silesian variation of standard Polish Bednarz, which means "cooper." Many names in Silesia (or Schlesien in German, Śląsk in Polish) take -a- in standard Polish and turn it into -o-, so it's quite normal to find Bednarz become Bednorz in that part of the country. The name just means the same as Cooper in English.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,556 Polish citizens named Bednorz, with the largest numbers in the southwestern provinces of Katowice, 1,159, and Opole, 229. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. (By comparison, there were 13,140 Polish citizens who spelled the name Bednarz).

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Duszyński

Any information [about Duszynski] welcome. Thank you...

In Polish Duszynski is spelled with an accent over the N, and is pronounced roughly "doo-SHIN-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 6,436 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any particular area..

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says that the name generally would refer to the name of a place with which the family was associated at some point centuries ago, a place with a name beginning Dusz-. He specifically mentions Duszno, in Trzemeszno district of Bydgoszcz province, in northwestern Poland. When he mentions a specific place, it's because research done by scholars has conclusively linked the name with that place; it does not rule out possible connections with other places with similar names.

So Duszyński would generally mean "one from Duszno," or possibly some other place with a similar name. Offhand, however, I could find no other place with a name that fits. So I suspect "one from Duszno" would turn out to be applicable in most cases. At one time the name may have been associated with a noble family that owned an estate at Duszno; but as the centuries passed it came to be used as well by peasants living in that area, or working for the original noble Duszyńskis. I have no sources that conclusively prove that's what happened; but it is what usually happened with surnames derived from place names.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gołąbek - Gołombek

I am interested in knowing the meaning of the surname- Golombek.

This is an Anglicized spelling of a name that in Polish is written Golabek, with a tail under the A and a slash through the L. Gołąbek is pronounced roughly "go-WOME-beck." The Ł is pronounced like our W, and the Ą, when it comes before B or P, sounds like "om." So even though it seems odd to us, Gołąbek is pronounced that way.

Names in Poland were often spelled more than one way because some sounds can be written more than one way. It's not at all unusual to see Ą spelled -ON- or -OM-, so that even in Poland you sometimes see this name spelled Gołombek. Then when Poles came to English-speaking countries the slash through the L was often just dropped, since English-speakers had no clue what to make of it. That's how Gołąbek can logically and sensibly come to be modified to Golombek.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1399 and comes from the noun gołąbek, which means literally "little pigeon." It may not sound complimentary in English, but in Polish it probably began as an affectionate nickname, with no slight or hint of mockery intended. Poles would think that's a sweet thing to call a nice person, one they were fond of.

Incidentally, the plural of that noun is gołąbki~, which is the name of a dish Poles are very fond of, a stuffed cabbage leaf. You often see the name spelled a jillion different ways, all pronounced roughly "go-WOMP-kee." It means "little pigeons," probably because there was something about the shape originally that reminded people of little pigeons (?). Whenever Polish food is served at a restaurant or dinner somewhere, you can be sure gołąbki will be on the menu. But it's unlikely the surname and the food have any connection -- it's probably just coincidence the same term ended up applied in such different ways.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,060 Polish citizens named Gołąbek. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area. There were also 333 Poles who spelled it Gołombek. If I were you I'd keep my eyes open for either spelling, as a given family might appear as Gołąbek in one record, Gołombek in another; spelling was often inconsistent. But for all intents and purposes, these are just spelling variations of the same basic name.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Harasim - Harasym - Harazim

My last name is Harasim, the only place I’ve seen my name is on a list of awards for Virtuti Militari, no other place. I would greatly appreciate any help.

Harasim is pronounced roughly "hah-RAH-sheem," and it developed as one of several different forms from a first name more common among Ukrainians (possibly also Belarusians) than Poles. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], and says it comes ultimately from Greek Gerasimos, from a term meaning "honor, privilege."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,765 Polish citizens named Harasim, another 144 who bore the spelling Harasym, 511 who spelled it Harazim, and so forth. The largest numbers of those who spelled it Harasim lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 112, Białystok 99, Lublin 165, Siedlce 205, Suwałki 293, and Zamosc 256. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates that, as we'd expect from its origin, the surname tends to be most common in eastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine and Belarus.

So about all this name tells us is that you had an ancestor named Harasim, who was probably of Ukrainian descent. Since Poles and Ukrainians have mixed a great deal over the years, it's not at all odd that this name is found in Poland; but I strongly suspect it's also fairly common in Ukraine. However, I have no sources of data for that country.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jałowiec

My surname is Jalowiec, and I wasn't able to find anything about it on your Website (which is excellently done, by the way). I've come to the conclusion (though it may be wrong) that the -owiec was at one point -owicz. I was wondering if you had any information regarding the name.

This is a perfect example of how tricky name origins can be. The suffixes -owiec and -owicz can often mean more or less the same thing, or the meanings of words X-owicz and X-owiec will generally prove to be related in some obvious way. So your reasoning is perfectly logical -- and the conclusion is probably wrong, defeated by a simple fact you could not have foreseen!

Jalowiec in Polish is usually spelled with a slash through the L and which is pronounced much like our W. So it's Jałowiec, pronounced roughly "yah-WOVE-yets" (the second syllable rhymes more or less with the English words "trove" and "grove," although the Polish O isn't quite as long and deep as in those English words).

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], and explains that the basic root is seen in the verb jałowieć (accent over the c), which means "to become barren, sterile," and in the adjective jałowy, "barren, sterile." So it would be perfectly natural to conclude Jałowiec would mean "son of the barren one, kin of the barren one." And in fact I suppose in isolated cases that is what the name meant (especially if it was meant ironically, as in "son of the supposedly barren one").

But it happens there is a noun jałowiec that somehow came to be used as the name for the juniper tree (perhaps because the juniper can grow on ground otherwise seemingly barren?). Since there is that specific noun that sounds just like the name, we'd have to figure in most cases the surname did point to some association with that tree. That's the conclusion Rymut comes to.

So a Jałowiec ancestor presumably lived near a prominent juniper, or did something with juniper berries -- something of the sort. Clearly it made sense to those who knew him to call him "Juniper," and the name came to be applied to his kin as well, until it became established as their surname. We cannot absolutely rule out the interpretation "son/kin of the barren one," but it's not likely to be right in most cases. After all, how often would a barren one have a son? And besides, saying Jałowiec has nothing to do with "juniper" is like saying the English surname Baker has nothing to do with bakers! When the name and the common noun match exactly, there will usually be a connection.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 722 Polish citizens named Jałowiec. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Czestochowa 48, Katowice 139, and Tarnow 196. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name tends to be most common in southcentral to southeastern Poland, although not exclusively.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kelijan - Kieljan - Kilian - Killian

Have you any information on the meaning or origin of the surname Kilian? Alternate spellings with which I am familiar would include Killian, Kieljan, Kelijan.

I have been unable to locate any information on the name but I have been told that it is an old Polish name. I know that there are Kilians living in Krakow and my family came from southern Poland.


In Polish the name is pronounced much as it is in English, roughly "KEEL-yahn" or "kee-LEE-yahn." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,232 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Gdansk 147, Katowice 249, Kielce 181, Lublin 145, Opole 206, Rzeszow 141, and Tarnow 558. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data does indicate that the name tends to be more common in the south than in the north, but there are Kilians living all over the country. The Directory says there were 55 living in Krakow province.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the first name Kilian, which is thought to be of Celtic origin. It appears in Poland as early as the 13th century, and its variants include Kilijan and Kielijan. So all the name signifies is that an ancestor went by this name.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kondratowicz

My great-grandmother came from Poland with my grandfather and his sister. Their surname was Kondratowitcz. That is the spelling on my great-grandmothers holy card from her death. I have heard it spelled Kondratowicz. They shortened it to Conrad in the US.

Any help you can give me with this would be great.


The standard spelling of this name in Polish would be Kondratowicz, pronounced roughly "con-drah-TOE-veech." The -owicz part means "son of," so it means "son of Kondrat." Name experts argue over that name; some say it comes from ancient Greek Kodratos, later adapted into Latin as Codratus and Condratus. It may actually have started out originally as Latin Quadratus, "square." Other experts dismiss that, saying it is a variation of the Germanic name we know as Conrad (which appears historically in a variety of forms, including Kondrad, Kondrat, Kindrat, Kunrat, etc.).

Whichever origin is technically correct, I think there's no question at some point people began to associate this name with German Konrad and English Conrad. When your ancestors changed it to Conrad in the U.S., they were picking the English name that most closely corresponded with their Polish name. Kondratowicz means "son of Conrad," just as Conrad does in English. So there was a good reason for them to change it to what they did.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,086 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with some concentration in the nrotheastern provinces of Białystok, 163, Olsztyn 232, and Suwałki 248. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. So a family by this name could come from anywhere in Poland, although northeastern Poland is just a little more likely than anywhere else in the country.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kowalewicz

I recently married a man whose last name is Kowalewicz. I did not see it in your list of polish names. Can you tell me anything about it or where I can look?

Kowalewicz, pronounced roughly "ko-vah-LEH-veech," is one of about a jillion Polish surnames from the noun kowal, "smith." The -ewicz part means "son of," so Kowalewicz means "son of the smith" -- much like the English surname Smithson.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,297 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area. A Kowalewicz family could come from practically anywhere.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Lasowski

I am hoping you can give me any information on the last name of Lasowski. This is my mothers maiden name and I am trying to gather as much information as I can on it. I would also appreciate any information you could give me as who to go to in researching the history or genealogy of this particular name. My grandfather says we are of noble lineage, my grandmother would just roll her eyes at him.

In Polish Lasowski is pronounced roughly "lah-SOFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 71 Polish citizens by that name. They were scattered in small numbers all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the root in the noun las, "forest, woods." It would mean basically "of the woods," and as such probably began as a reference to a place where the family lived. It might very well refer to a specific village or settlement named Lasy or Lasow or Lasowo or Lasowice, but the only way to establish that is through detailed research into the history of the specific family in question. From the name alone there's no way to tell.

Surnames in the form X-owski mean literally "of the X's _," where the blank is to be filled in with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out -- usually "kin" or "place." So in some cases X-owski can mean "kin of [the] X." But most often it refers to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place name beginning with the X part, which may have various suffixes that were detached before the -owski was added. If the family was noble, they owned an estate there; if not, they lived and worked there. So while X-owski can just mean "kin of X," it generally means "one from the place of X." That's why I say the name probably means "one from Lasy or Lasow or Lasowo or Lasowice." There are quite a few places with names that qualify, which is why it's impossible to say which one your particular Lasowskis came from.

At one time centuries ago anyone with a surname ending in -owski was noble. In fact, anyone with any kind of surname was noble. But by the 17th century peasants were beginning to use surnames, too, and from then on the form of the name tells us nothing about the social status of the people bearing it. So if you have records from the 1500s, say, mentioning your Lasowskis, it's virtually certain they were nobles who took their name from the name of their estate, which had a name beginning Lasow-. But by the 1700s Lasowski could mean nothing more than "one from Lasy or Lasow, etc."

I'm afraid genealogical research is almost always a do-it-yourself project, unless you're pretty wealthy and are willing to pay a professional to do it for you. I don't know anyone who does that, and don't know the names of any researchers; but you can find some online if you search. For instance, there's a list of pros on Cyndi's List at http://www.cyndislist.com/poland.htm#Professional.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Marszałek

I was wondering if you could help me out with the surname Marszalek.

Marszalek in Polish is written with a slash through the L, which sounds like our W, so Marszałek sounds like "mar-SHAH-weck." It comes from the noun marszałek, "marshal, medieval administrator of the royal court; also a military rank." So the surname started out indicating an ancestor was a marshal, or had some close connection to one.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 13,584 Polish citizens by this name MARSZAŁEK, living in large numbers all over the country. A family by this name could come from practically anywhere in Poland.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pijarski

It [Pijarski] seems to be a famous name but not much history on it.

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "pee-YAR-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 141 Polish citizens named Pijarski. The largest number, 91, lived in the southeastern province of Radom; the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this information does suggest the Radom area is where one is most likely to find this name.

None of my sources discuss the origin of this name, but I think it pretty clearly comes from the Polish adjective pijarski, which means "of the Piarists," referring to a Catholic religious order that founded and maintained schools in Europe. I don't think they're much heard of in America, though apparently they have at least one school in Kentucky (http://www.geocities.com/piarist/). In Polish the surname Pijarski surely meant something like "[kin] of the Piarist" or perhaps "[student] of the Piarists," referring to one who studied at a Piarist school. In other words, it refers to some association of an ancestor with the Piarists, either with an individual or an institution connected with the order. Only detailed research into the history of the individual family might uncover more information on the exact nature of the connection.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pisarski

If you have any information on the Pisarski family name then you can e-mail the information to me. My great-grandfather was born in Poland and I would love to know where the name comes from.

In Polish Pisarski is pronounced roughly "pee-SAR-skee," with the second syllable rhyming more or less with "car." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,310 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it's simply an adjective from the noun pisarz, "scribe, clerk," and thus would mean literally "of the scribe." It can mean "kin of the scribe, kin of the clerk." It can also refer to family origins in any of a number of places with names beginning Pisar-, which would mean "[place] of the scribe." In other words, it could mean "one from Pisary" or "one from Pisarki" and so on.

So it indicates a connection of the family with either a scribe or clerk or a place named for a connection with a scribe or clerk. Only detailed genealogical research into the background of a specific family might clarify which meaning applies in their particular case, and indicate w

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pyzik

My Grandfather 's Last name was Pyzik. I appreciate any insight you can provide.

Pyzik is pronounced roughly "PIZH-eek," with the vowel in the first syllable as in "ship" or "fizz." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun pyza, "chubby-faced person." So Pyza would have started as a nickname for one with a chubby face, and Pyzik would have developed as a way of referring to his kin; in most cases we'd interpret it as "son of the guy with the chubby face."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,149 Polish citizens with this name, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Katowice 221, Krakow 318, Lublin 298, and Tarnow 372. So the name is found all over Poland, but tends to be particularly common in the area from southcentral to southeastern Poland.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Rybak

I would very much appreciate knowing the meaning and origin,of the name Rybak, and the province that Rybak is most likely from.

I'm afraid there's no way to say what province Rybak comes from, because the name simply means "fisherman," and is found all over Poland. As of 1990 there were 14,194 Polish citizens named Rybak (pronounced roughly "RIB-ock"), living all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area. So a family by that name could come from anywhere in Poland; and the name simply indicates that about the time surnames were becoming established, an ancestor was a fisherman.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Smoliński - Smolinsky

Thank you so much ! This is amazingly helpful. I'm sorry to trouble you again, but another name has come up: Smolinski. I'd be ever so grateful to find out anything about this name.

Smolinski in Polish is spelled with an acute accent over the N and is pronounced roughly "smo-LEEN-skee."

This name comes from ultimately from the noun smoła (that it is not plain l, but rather the Polish hard l with a slash or crossbar through it). That noun means "tar, pitch," and Smoliński is adjectival and could be interpreted as meaning "of the one of tar." The same noun in virtually the same form exists in other Slavic languages such as Russian, so we cannot be absolutely certain the name is of Polish origin. This spelling, however, would generally be associated with Poles; Russians, for instance, would be more likely to show up as Smolinsky.

Usually names ending in -iński or -yński turn out to refer to place names ending in -in or -ino or -no or -na. So while this name could mean nothing more than "kin of the tar fellow" -- perhaps referring to an ancestor who worked or dealt with tar professionally, or looked as if he did (i. e., was quite dirty) -- in most cases we would expect this name to mean "one from Smolino" or "one from Smolna" or any of a number of places in Poland and the nearby countries with names beginning Smol-. They in turn would have gotten those names due to some association with tar. So Smoliński would in most cases mean "one from Smolino/Smolna etc." = "one from the place of tar."

Given the variability of vowels, it's even conceivable the name could refer to a family connection with Smolensk, Russia. The names Smoleński and Smoliński would often be used interchangeably, even though in theory they should be distinct and refer to a different set of places with distinguishable, albeit similar, names. But if you search Eastern Europe you will see there are many, many places with names that qualify, Smolen- or Smolin- or Smoln- in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, etc. Go, for instance, to this Website: http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm

Specify a search for SMOL in all the countries of Eastern Europe, and specify "Search using All Towns using this Precise Spelling." Click on "Start the search." Shortly you will have a list of places in Central and Eastern Europe with names beginning Smol-. They aren't all places that could produce the name Smoliński, but many of them are.

In such instances, the only way to determine for sure which place the surname refers to in a given family's case is through detailed research into that family's history. These Smolińskis might have come from here, those from there, and so on. Only detailed research might uncover facts that would make clear which particular place the name refers to in that family's case. Without such details, all we can say for sure is that the name refers to some connection with tar, and most likely to a place with a name formed from that root, a name beginning Smolen- or Smolin- or Smoln-.

As of 1990 there were 13,483 Polish citizens named Smoliński, living all over the country. So it's a moderately common surname among Poles.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Sowiżdrzał - Sowizdżał - Sowiżrał

My name is Pat Heck and I live in Roscoe Illinois. I have been looking for my Grandfathers parents names with no success at all! This is the spelling that I was given by my Uncle. Sowizdzal I would appreciate any information you could provide.

This is a name that appears in Polish in a bewildering variety of spellings, including Sowiżrał, Sowiźrał, Sowizdrzał, Sowizdżał and Sowiżdżał and so on-- Z with a dot over it, pronounced like "zh" in "Zhivago" or "s" in "measure"; Z with an accent over it, pronounced much the same but somewhat softer and more hissing; and L with a slash through it, pronounced much like English "w." So Sowiżrał is pronounced roughly "so-VEEZH-raw," and Sowiżdżał sounds like "so-VEEZH-jaw."

They all come from the noun sowiżrał or sowiźrał, which is a variant form of the noun more often seen as sowizdrzał ("so-VEEZ-jaw"), which means "scamp, scatterbrain, frivolous-minded trouble-maker"; this probably reflects regional pronunciation tendencies, that is, in some areas they pronounced it one way, in others another way. I know the meaning of the name is not very complimentary, but believe me, by Polish standards it's almost flattering! Many Polish names are downright insulting. I can see this originating as a nickname used almost affectionately, as a mother might call her mischievous son a "scamp" or a "scoundrel." It's not nearly so harsh as some names that can only be translated with four-letter words!

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 254 Poles who spelled the name Sowizdrzał; it's a bit more common in the provinces of Kalisz (58) and Sieradz (63), farther north and west from Tarnow.

There were 174 Polish citizens named Sowiźrał, with an accent over the Z. The largest number by far, 124, lived in the southeastern province of Tarnow, i. e., the same area your grandfather came from. The rest were scattered in small numbers in various provinces, mostly in southern Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

The spelling Sowiżrał was less common, borne by 61 Poles, with no concentration in any one province. The difference between Ż and Ź is so subtle and often ignored that one can regard these as two slightly different forms of the same name.

There were also 28 Poles who spelled it Sowizdżał and 38 who spelled it Sowiżdżał. They were scattered all over, with no particular concentration in any one area.

Names were often spelled phonetically in old records, so you basically have to have your eyes open for any and all of these spellings. The same person might appear in one record as Sowizdżał, and as Sowiźrał in the next. This happens all the time. That's why I mentioned all those different forms -- any of them might show up in your research. And if you haven't had any luck finding one form, it may help to have these others to look for.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



 

Szymankiewicz

I was wondering if you could help me out with the surname, Szymankiewicz.

Szymankiewicz is pronounced roughly "shim-onk-YEAH-veech." The -ewicz part means "son of," and the Szymank- part is from Szymanek or Szymanko, both of which mean "little Simon" or "son of Simon." So this surname means literally either "son of little Simon" or "son of Simon's son." That sounds a little odd to us, but once a name such as Szymanek or Szymanko existed, Poles wouldn't find it odd to add an -ewicz to it, even if that "son of the son of" bit seems a bit redundant. Besides, as I said, Szymanek or Szymanko could have been a nickname, kind of like "little Simon" or "good old Si."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,004 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 281, Ciechanow 160, Kalisz 206, Leszno 135, and Poznan 388. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data indicates the name is found all over the Poland, with some concentration in the west central area, and another in the area just northeast of the center of the country. I'm afraid that's about as much as I can say from the available data.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Tokarski

I have just been on your web page and i would like to request some information on the name Tokarski.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 11,175 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one region.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes ultimately from the noun tokarz, "operator of a lathe." It could have developed as meaning simply "kin of the lathe operator," or it could indicate family origin in a place named Tokary or something similar, which in turn surely got its name from some association with lathe operators.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Aviza

... I was given your name recently as the "expert" in Polish surnames. Would you know if the name Aviza is Polish, Lithuanian, etc.?

I'm pretty sure Aviza can't be regarded as a Polish name -- as of 1990 there were no Polish citizens by that name, and I can find no Polish root that fits. There is a root in the Latin-derived languages, e.g., aviso in Spanish, "notice, advice, announcement," but that seems unlikely to be relevant here. However, I see that there is a word in Lithuanian, aviža (upside down caret over the Z), which means "oat," and that is entirely plausible as the source of a surname. In Lithuanian (and those other languages as well) we often see names based on plants or edible items. In this case, perhaps an ancestor dealt in oats, grew them, loved to eat them, etc. -- there are several ways such a name could get started.

Interestingly, there were in 1990 some 144 Polish citizens named Awiżeń (dot over the Z, accent over the N), with the largest numbers in the provinces of Gorzow (18), Olsztyn (30), and Szczecin (15). A. Beider's Dictionary of Jewish Surnames From the Kingdom of Poland mentions Awizański, saying it derived from the village of Awiżańce near Sejny. I cannot find that village on the map, but in Lithuania there are several villages named Avižieniai and one named Avižonys. Most likely all these names took their origin from the Lithuanian word aviža, presumably because they were somehow associated with the growing and dealing of oats. This may not be directly relevant to your research, since it appears the name you're interested in is simple Aviža, with no suffixes. But I thought I'd mention this other info, just in case it proves interesting.

I have no data on how common a name Aviža is, but I know someone who may be able to provide that info. Dave Zincavage is interested in Lith. names, and has a dictionary with info on them. I suggest you e-mail him to ask what he can add to what I've told you. I'll be very surprised, however, if the word for oat doesn't turn out to be the source of this name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Buchkowski - Buczkowski

Do you have any information on either of the name Buchkowski?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there was no one in Poland named Buchkowski, and that name, while theoretically possible, doesn't look or sound right. I strongly suspect it's been modified under English phonetic influence. In Polish they use cz to write the sound we spell as ch, and I suspect the original spelling was Buczkowski, pronounced roughly "booch-KOFF-skee," and the spelling was modified to make it easier for Americans to pronounce. As of 1990 there were 6,819 Polish citizens named Buczkowski, living all over the country.

This surname refers to the name of a place the family came from, a place named Buczek or Buczki or Buczkow or Buczkowo. There are quite a few places by those names, and with this surname, too, there's no way to know which one it refers to in a given family's case without researching their background in detail.

The good news is, if you have any luck with your research, you may find the specific region in Poland your ancestors came from. At that point you can look for a nearby place with a name beginning Buczk-. If you find one, chances are decent that's the place the surname referred to originally. You might even find records that spell it out and make it clear. But that's the only way to determine for sure which particular places these surnames originally referred to.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bujewicz

Can you please enlighten me on the origin of my surname Buewicz.

The suffix -ewicz means "son of," and appears not only in Polish but also in Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Serbo-Croatian, etc. Of course in those other languages it is spelled differently, but it is the same Slavic ending meaning "son of." So the obvious answer is that this name means "son of Bu."

However, I can find no Slavic name Bu. Names exist beginning Bud-, Buj- Bug-, Buk-, etc., but no Bu.

But since Russian may be involved here, let me suggest one possibility. In Russian, of course, this name would be spelled in the Cyrillic alphabet, in which the letter E usually begins with the sound Poles spell as J. In other words, a Polish name Bujewicz would be written in Russian with the Cyrillic letters that look like Буев.

Thus I wonder if the name in question would be spelled BUJEWICZ in Polish, but its Russian form might be mistakenly rendered in the Roman alphabet as BUEWICZ, ignoring the J sound? The root Buj- appears in names often, meaning "rapidly growing, full of energy and strength," often with the added sense of "violent, turbulent, wild."

If my analysis is correct, the name you're asking about probably began as a reference to the son of one who was large and strong, or received a name beginning Buj- in hopes he would be large and strong. Vladimir Dahl's Dictionary of the Great Russian Language mentions a term we'd spell buyevo in the Roman alphabet (more like Буево in Cyrillic) that means "violently, wildly, with great energy." In this instance the Russian and Polish meanings of the root are very similar -- both refer to one bursting with great energy and strength, and often using that energy to cause an uproar.

That appears to me the most likely explanation of the name: that it meant "son of the brawler, son of the wildly energetic one." Perhaps you can determine whether it makes sense or not.

In case the data is any help to you, as of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 84 Polish citizens named Bujewicz. They were scattered all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bujewski

... we are seeking information about our family name Bujewski. The Bujewski family originates in Pozen, as far as we know.They have been farmers in Bnin and Lodzia, Pozen. We found the first entries in 1808/9 ( Stanislaus Bujewski). On the other hand we found the Bujewski name in the Ucraine (Taras Bujewski, still alive a welknown composer). Although we do not take an information we got from different Polish nationals very serious, we wonder whether there is some truth in it. We as well as American family members were told that Bujewski is a name of royalty. Can that be true? We would appreciate any information about the origin and meaning of our name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 145 Polish citizens named Bujewski. The majority, 102, lived in the province of Bydgoszcz, in northwestern Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it derives ultimately from the root buj-, as seen in the verb bujeć, "to grow quickly," the adjective bujny, "strong, growing thick and strong," and the noun bujak, "bull, brawler" (i. e., a powerful man who was prone to use his strength in fights." Thus Bujewski could have started as a name meaning something like "of the kin of the strong one."

Very often, however, names in the form X-ewski refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago. Bujewski could mean "one from Buje or Bujew or Bujewo." I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual. The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may now be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. It's also quite possible the place name or surname, or both, have changed somewhat over the centuries. I'm afraid only genealogical research might uncover facts that would clear up exactly what place the surname originally referred to.

It is not unusual to find the same name among Poles and Ukrainians. The languages are similar, and similar names can develop in both. Also, a great many Polish noble families settled on estates in the Ukraine, and thus we often find a particular name appears among descendants in both Poland and Ukraine. Thus it tells us nothing to know that a Ukrainian was named Bujewski. He might or might not have been related to your family; only genealogical research can establish or refute this.

I can find no information on a royal or noble family named Bujewski. My sources do not, however, concentrate on Polish nobility, so it is quite possible there was such a family and I simply don't know about it.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Burkat

we are trying to trace our roots. my grandfather came to america in 1907. according to ship manifests, ethnicity was austria, galicy,polish. place of residence was dolnawicz, galicy. his full name was wojciech Burkat age 37 at that time.

I'm afraid someone may have misled you. The information to which I have access is seldom much use in tracing individual persons or families. But here's what I can tell you.

Burkat is pronounced roughly "BOOR-cot," that Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying it appears in records as early as 1431 and is a Polish variation of the German name Burghart, from roots meaning "defend" and "mighty, bold," so that it originally meant something like "bold defender."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 506 Polish citizens named Burkat. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 53, Krakow 277, and Nowy Sacz 39. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. Krakow and Nowy Sacz were in Galicia; I don't believe Katowice ever was. (Galicia was the part of Poland seized by the Austrian Empire during the partitions in the late 18th century; it consisted of what are now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. There's no guarantee the place you're looking for was in the territory now ruled by Poland; it could be in what is now Ukraine.)

I looked in the Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia and found no place named Dolnawicz; I can't be sure, but I suspect the name is wrong. There was a Dolna Wies (literally "lower village") near Myslenice, south of Krakow. At one time it was a separate village, but now it's part of the town of Myslenice, and is called Dolne Przedmiescie ("lower suburb"). This might be worth a look, since in Poland the name Burkat is most common in the Krakow area. So "Dolnawicz" may turn out to be Dolna Wies; I don't know, but I think it's worth a look.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Burkot - Ignaszak

In Polish Burkot would be pronounced roughly "BURR-kott." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 384 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 88, Katowice 53, Nowy Sacz 58, and Tarnow 82. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the southcentral to southeastern part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from one of many forms of the German name Burghard that Poles adapted to their linguistic preferences and used as first names and surnames. Burghard is an old Germanic personal name from the roots burg, "fortress, stronghold," and -hard or -hart, "brave, strong." It would have meant something like "[may he be like] a mighty fortress."

Over the centuries many Germans resettled all over in Poland, and it's not rare to see names of Germanic origin used by Poles. In this case Burghard came to be used by Poles in forms such as Burgart, Burkart, Burkat, and Burkot. As time went on these forms came to be used also as surnames, meaning more or less "kin of Burghard."

Ignaszak would be pronounced roughly "eeg-NOSH-ock." As of 1990 there were 1,353 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 110, Kalisz 295, Konin 161, and Poznan 357. So this name is found all over the country but is most common in west central Poland.

This surname also comes from a first name, Ignacy (= English and Latin Ignatius). Ignaszak would mean "kin of Ignatius, son of Ignatius." So all it really tells us is that at some point an ancestor was named Ignacy.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Burzyński

I am working on a project for my high school english class and am looking for any information available on my family name Burzynski. Any information you can supply, I would appreciate greatly. Thank you very much!

In Polish this name is spelled with an accent over the N and is pronounced roughly "boo-ZHIN-skee" (where "zh" is the sound heard in "Zhivago" or "rouge"). As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 9,583 Polish citizens named Burzyński. They lived in large numbers all over the country; there was no one area with which the name was associated to the point that we can say "There's where a Burzyński family came from" without doing detailed genealogical research.

The basic root of this name is seen in the noun burza, "storm, brawl, disturbance," of which Burzyński is an adjectival form. So in some cases the name probably started out meaning "kin of Burza," referring to one who was called that because he was always causing a disturbance or looking for a fight. But in many cases it probably refers to the name of a place, which in turn got its name from an owner or founder named Burza. Thus the name can mean "one from Burzyn." There are at least two places by that name, one in the general area of Łomża in northeastern Poland, another not far from Tarnow in southeastern Poland.

The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. The surname may refer to either of the two Burzyns on modern maps, but it may refer to some other place that no longer shows up on maps because it was renamed or it disappeared long ago.

To summarize, this is a moderately common name found all over Poland, and it comes ultimately from some connection with the root burz- meaning "brawl, disturbance, storm." It could have begun as a name for the kin of one with a stormy temperament, but it also could have started as a reference to a place the family came from, which in turn took its name from that root (probably by way of a fellow who owned or founded it who was called Burza). Only successful genealogical research might enable one to establish the exact social, historical, and linguistic context in which the name came to be associated with a given family. But in general it's fair to say it usually means "kin of the stormy guy" or "one from the stormy guy's place."

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bycio

Bicio is my current last name. Bycio was the original spelling in Poland. If you have time, I am interested in hearing anything about my name. Supposedly I am 100% Polish.

In Polish Bycio would be pronounced roughly "BITCH-oh" (I don't mean to be insulting, but "bitch" is the English word that comes closest to the sound of the first syllable of the Polish name). As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 8 Polish citizens named Bycio. They lived in the following provinces: Jelenia Gora 7, Legnica 1.

Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But I can say that in the July 2000 issue of the Polish-American Journal, the PAJ Answerman suggested one can find individuals or families "by contacting the one office in Poland that has on file the addresses of all people currently living in Poland: Centralne Biuro Adresowe, ul. Kazimierzowska 60, 02-543 Warsaw, POLAND." I have no idea whether this works or not, I've never tried it. But I thought it worth passing on, in case it might help you find some relatives.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it derives from the noun byk, "bull." Thus Bycio would be kind of a nickname, perhaps something like "Bull" in English. Presumably an ancestor was a strong man, perhaps rather bull-headed; that would seem the most likely reason for the development of a name of this sort.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Cegła

Can you give me some information about the name Cegla. Someone told me that my name is polish and that the name Cegla means brick in Polish?

It's possible this name could develop in other languages besides Polish -- I can't say no. But Cegla definitely is a name used by Poles. In Polish it is spelled with a slash through the L. The Polish letter is pronounced like English W, so by English phonetic values the name Cegła would be pronounced roughly "TSEGG-wah."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1369, and does indeed come from the Polish noun cegła, "brick." That noun came into Polish from German Ziegel, which in turn came from the Latin noun tegula. Presumably it began as a nickname for an ancestor who made bricks, or sold them, or worked with them, or was somehow associated by others with bricks. Eventually people began calling the kin of this ancestor by the name, and it developed into a surname.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 849 Polish citizens named Cegła. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Kalisz 346, Katowice 96, Kielce 89, Poznan 44, Radom 59, and Wroclaw, 49. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates the name is most common in the area southeast to southwest of the center of the country.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chałupczak - Chałupczok

I had found your email on the Polishroots website and was wondering if you could give me some insight to my last name. I have been researching my family tree and traced it back to Szczedrzyk Poland, to my 5th grandfather born around 1808. The way he signed his name on his naturalization paper spelt Halupczok,i have also found it spelt Chalupczok. Any info or direction would be of much help.

In Polish the H and CH are pronounced the same, kind of like the guttural German "ch" in "Bach," except not quite so harsh. Thus it is quite normal to see names spelled H or CH, and the variation in spelling in your ancestor's name is not unusual. The standard form would be Chałupczok, using Ł to stand for the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W. The surname is pronounced roughly "hah-WOOP-chock." The spelling you use now makes sense as an Anglicized or Germanized form of the original Polish name -- which is quite normal, eastern European names have often been extensively Anglicized, sometimes past all recognition. Yours is still, at least, recognizable.

The suffix -czok is a Silesian variation of the standard Polish suffix -czak, and if I'm not mistaken, Szczedrzyk is near Opole, and thus in the region of Silesia. So it is reasonable to assume Chałupczok is the Silesian version of the name that appears in standard Polish as Chałupczak. It means literally "son of the hut," but obviously was meant more along the lines of "son of the one who lived in a hut."

That is the probable meaning of the name, referring to one who dwelt in a chałupa, a rather modest (not to say "ramshackle") cabin or hut. There is also a noun in Polish, chałupnik, that we see quite often, it referred to a fairly poor individual who didn't own any land, just a small hut and -- if he was lucky -- maybe also a garden. I would think in most cases the surname Chałupczak probably referred to the kin of someone in that category, although it certainly might also be used for someone who built huts, was shaped like a hut, etc. The most we can say for sure is that, at the time the name developed, there was some association perceived between an individual or family and huts that made this name seem appropriate to those who knew him/them. All these centuries later it is difficult to say exactly what the association was, but there must have been one and it must have made sense to the people at the time, so we can venture some plausible guesses as to the probable nature of the association. (Usually the obvious answer is correct).

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 431 Polish citizens named Chałupczak, living all over Poland but especially in southcentral and southeastern Poland. There were only 5 named Chałupczok, with an O, however, all living in the province of Katowice (in Silesia). I should explain that as literacy became practically universal among Poles, there also arose a tendency to standardize and normalize names, so that dialect forms and variant spellings are gradually disappearing, as people say "Oh, only hicks use that name," and thus change the name to the version recognized as normal among Poles. So it's quite possible some of those people now going by Chałupczak used to be called Chałupczok -- if they lived in Silesia -- but have since standardized the name.

So in summary, the form of the name is distinctively Silesian -- and it sounds as if you've traced it to its native region -- and means something like "kin of the cottager, kin of the one who lived in a hut, kin of the hut guy." That's about as precise as we can get without the kind of really detailed info genealogical research might eventually produce on the context in which the name first developed.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Sitarski

Now I want to ask you about my mum's surname. It's Sitarski, but it seems to be originally Sitarskij, and it was modified here in Argentina. My grandfather was born at some town at Galicia region when it was part of the Austrian Imperium (I think around 1888). Could you tell me about the origiins of Sitarskij? Is it polish? Is it ukranian?

The spelling with -skij suggests it may be Ukrainian rather than Polish. A few letters may not provide sufficient evidence to justify a conclusion, however. The truth is, it could easily by Polish or Ukrainian, especially since the spelling may have been modified due to the influence of Russian. The Ukrainian form, as spelled in Ukrainian Cyrillic, would be something like Sytarskyi, and the Polish spelling would be Sitarski. Either of these could be rendered in Russian Cyrillic as Sitarskiy (as we'd spell it in English) or Sitarskij (as Poles or Germans would render it). But I think there is just a little more likelihood it is Ukrainian.

The root of the name is sitarz in Polish and sytar in Ukrainian, and means "sieve-maker." Sitarski/Sytarskyj would mean "of the sieve-maker," and probably referred to the kin of one whose occupation was making or selling sieves. In Polish the spelling of the name would, as I said, be Sitarski -- the final -z drops off when the ending is added. In Ukrainian the name is spelled in Cyrillic roughly CNTAPCKNN -- the second letter looks like a backwards N, and the final backwards N has a little curve over it, which is the sound of "y" as in "yacht," but spelled with J by Poles and Germans. In Ukrainian the backwards N is pronounced somewhat like the short I in English "ship," and that's why we often see it rendered as Y in our alphabet, rather than as I.

The confusing thing is that in Russian the backwards N sounds like "ee," not a short i. So Russians and Ukrainians use the same letter for two different sounds. Remember, all official papers in areas ruled by the Russian Empire had to be in Russian during the last few decades of the 19th century. So a Ukrainian name spelled CNTAPCKNN, though pronounced roughly "sit-ar-sky" by Ukrainians, would tend to be spelled the same way by Russians, even though they would pronounce it more like "see-tar-skee." Similarly, Russians would tend to turn Polish Sitarski into CNTAPCKNN (or CNTAPCKIN), pronounced the same way.

The bottom line is, by the time you factor in Russian influence on spelling, it's impossible to say for sure whether Sitarskij represents a phonetic rendering in the Roman alphabet of Polish Sitarski or Ukrainian Sytarskyj. But based on what I've seen in actual documents, I think the presence of that -ij on the end of the name might indicate Ukrainian origin. This is by no means, certain, but that final -J is just a bit less likely to get tacked onto the end of a Polish name, when it is spelled in our alphabet.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 2,293 Polish citizens named Sitarski (none spelled it Sitarskij). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 252, Kielce 449, Lublin 179, and Tarnobrzeg 215. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, but with some concentration in the southeastern regions, which were, of course, formerly part of the Austrian Empire's province of Galicia, along with what is now western Ukraine. I have no data on frequency and distribution for Ukraine, unfortunately.

To summarize, the name means "kin of the sieve-maker," and could be Polish or Ukrainian -- but if I had to make a guess, I'd say Ukrainian is a little more likely. In all honesty, however, the Poles and Ukrainians mixed so much, and there are so many similarities of words and names in their languages, that the difference may be academic. The first name may tell us more -- some names were used far more by Ukranians than Poles, and often the first name makes clear what the surname leaves in doubt.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



 

Strzelczyk

My name is ... Strzelczyk and I am looking for information on the name Strzelczyk. Thank-you in advance for any formation you can provide me.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 7,984 Polish citizens named Strzelczyk. The name was common all over the country; there's no one area with which it is particularly associated. It's pronounced roughly "S'CHELL-chick."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. It comes from the basic root seen in the noun strzelec, "shooter, marksman." The term strzelczyk means "young shooter, one being trained to shoot," and as a surname it might also just mean "son of the marksman." Originally terms beginning strzel- referred to marksmen using bows and arrows, but as guns became more common the term expanded to mean "expert shot with a gun" as well. I think "son of the marksman" or "youth being trained as a marksman" would be the most likely interpretations of what the name originally meant, before it came into use as a surname.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Duda

I am looking for the meaning of Duda. This was my grandmother's maiden name and she was born in Poland and came to this country in 1902.

In Polish DUDA is pronounced roughly "DOO-dah." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland, available online), there were 38,290 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, so that a family by this name could come from anywhere.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1392 and comes from the noun duda, which means "bagpipes," also "a bad musician" (i. e., one who plays the pipes but isn't very good at it). The name could have begun as a nickname for an ancestor who played the bagpipes, or for one who was a bad musician. It could also have been used in a transferred sense, with the meaning "one who goes around making a lot of pointless noise." There's no way to tell exactly how this name came to be associated with an individual family, unless detailed research into that family's history turns up some old document that sheds light on the matter. Absent such info, all we can say is that the name surely began as a nickname for one who played the pipes (probably not too well), or for one who made a lot of needless noise. At some point the name came to be applied to that person's descendants, and eventually "stuck" as a surname.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Sulewski

My last name is Sulewski and i would like to find out where it come from and history behind it.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 2,245 Polish citizens named Sulewski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 154, Białystok 109, Gdansk 558, Łomża 561, and Suwałki 274. Thus the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the northcentral to northeastern part of the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

According to Polish experts, Sulewski, pronounced roughly "soo-LEFF-skee," simply refers to the name of a place where a given family lived at some point centuries ago. It would mean "one from Sulew or Sulewo" or some similar place name; it could also refer to places named Sulejow or Sulejewo. There are a number of places by these names, and there's no way to know which one the surname refers to in a given family's case, except through detailed genealogical research that establishes the exact social, geographic, linguistic, and historical context in which the name came to be associated with that particular family. That is beyond the scope of what I can do.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Światopełk

I am looking for any family - distant or close of my father who died three years ago. Pls can you give me a little information about our surname Swiatopelk - Mirski

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 13 Polish citizens named ŚWIATOPEŁK-MIRSKI. The name is pronounced roughly "shvyah-TOPE-ewk MEER-skee" (the last syllable of the first name sounds like "elk" but with a W sound instead of an L). These 13 Poles lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 1, Lodz 3, Pila 4, Szczecin 4, Wroclaw 1. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Światopełk is a name of ancient Slavic origin, spelled many different ways, including Russified Svyatopelk, Svyatopulk, Svyatopluk, etc. It comes from ancient Slavic terms meaning "mighty, powerful" (in modern Slavic languages that root has come to mean "holy, sacred," but back centuries ago it meant "mighty, powerful") and "regiment, division of the army." The ancient Slavs were very warlike, and often gave their children names of good omen meant to make them glorious in battle. This one presumably was meant to help a child grow up to be a valued member of the division of fighters in which he fought.

Mirski would generally come from the name of a place beginning Mir- or Mier-. There are several places it could refer to, and without detailed info on a specific family there is no way to know which one is relevant in their particular case. With any luck your research may unearth facts that will help you determine exactly which place the name refers to in your family's case.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Świtała

[Referring to data on Świtała online:]

But I have some questions about that info: What says the number 4,753? Is that the number of families, the number of persons or the number of entries in the telephone directory?

It means that as of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 4,753 Polish citizens named Switala. This data was compiled from a Polish government agency database, not from telephone directories. Data was incomplete for some provinces of Poland, but the compilation drew on data for approximately 94% of the population as of 1990. So the data is not perfectly accurate, but it is better than what we had before the Slownik was published (namely, nothing).

Do you know if the name is concentrated in a specific region of Poland or don't you know anything about the distribution of the name?

There was not enough room in my book to give details on the distribution of any name; I would have liked to, but the book was already over 600 pages and to include such data would have made the book so large it could not have been printed and sold for a reasonable price. Also, with the majority of Polish names, the distribution data is useless; the majority of names are too widespread to offer any help whatever in tracing a particular name. Every day people write me in the hope that I can tell them "Your surname proves your family came from one and only one place, namely X, and therefore you don't have to waste time researching, that's where the family came from." Every day I have to disappoint them. I estimate fewer than 5% of Polish names offer any useful clue whatsoever as to where a family by that name originated.

Looking in the Slownik, I find that the largest numbers of Switala's lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 533; Czestochowa 693; Kalisz 239; Katowice 875; Leszno 205; Opole 268; Poznan 354; Zielona Gora 224. So the name is most common in southcentral and western Poland; more than that I cannot say.

There are also several forms of writing in Germany (where I am from) of that name, such as Switala, Switalla, Schwitala, Schwitalla, Schwittalla... As I am just starting with genealogy and collecting information about these names I don't know if all these families are from places which now belong to Poland. So if you can send me additional information it would be great.

Those are all simply spelling variations, attempts to represent the name phonetically. In Polish the first letter, the S, has an accent over it which gives it a sound similar to German SCH (although Polish SZ sounds more like SCH, the Polish accented S has a soft, hissing sound perceptibly different from SZ or German SCH). In that name the L is not the standard L but rather an L with a slash through it, which sounds like the English letter W. Even in Polish this name has been spelled various ways, including Switala, Switalla, etc.

In records it is quite common to see names spelled inconsistently, even without complications due to the influence of different languages. Only happened in the last century or so have people begun to emphasize spelling a name the same way consistently, and only during that time that literacy has become so widespread that it became possible to standardize spellings. Whether one studies American records or English or French or German, one need only go back a few decades and one begins to see names spelled many different ways. So all those forms you cite are simply variations in spelling of Świtała, which is the standard Polish spelling of the name.

By the way, I did lookups in several German surname books, almost all tried to derive Switala from names like Schwindt, Schwind. But maybe they did not really think about the fact where the name comes from...

I've found as a rule it is best to consult Polish authorities on Polish names, Germans on German names, Lithuanians on Lithuanian names, etc. It is too easy to make a mistake about name origins if one does not possess a truly deep, comprehensive knowledge of a language, its history, and its ways of forming names.

This name Świtała comes from a Slavic root meaning "light, dawn, daybreak," which appears in Russian svet, Ukrainian svit, Polish świt, etc. In Polish names the suffix -ała added to a root X usually means "one always doing X, one always exhibiting the quality or characteristic of X." So Switala meant literally "one associated with dawn, light; one always shining; one who typifies brightness." There is no connection with any German word, except perhaps a remote one with words coming from the same original Indo-European root.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Stuligrosz - Taube

My grandparents immigrated to America around 1880-1893. I know all of the people in this country with the name "Stuligross".

Our name was legally revised from "Stuligrosz" to "Stuligross" in Detroit, Michigan around 1935-1945.

My Mother's Maiden name was "Taube", which is fairly common, and difficult to trace.

Both of my parents referred to themselves as "Kashubs", which I understand is the area bordering Germany and Poland, with control of the area frequently changing from one to the other.

Do you have any suggestions?


In Polish the original form of the name was surely Stuligrosz, which would be pronounced roughly "stoo-LEE-grosh." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 62 Polish citizens named Stuligrosz. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz 17, and Poznan 14. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

That distribution is not typical of Kashub surnames, which are usually concentrated in the northcentral to northwestern provinces of Bydgoszcz, Gdansk, Pila, and Slupsk. That does not mean, however, that your parents were wrong. People did move around, and it's not at all strange that some folks of Kashub descent might end up in Poznan province, farther south of the ancestral regions of the Kashubs. It only means that from my sources I can't really confirm Kashub origin -- but I see no reason to dispute it, either.

It's pretty clear this name comes from a combination of the root in the verb stulić, "to squeeze together," and the noun grosz, "penny, small coin." In other words, this almost certainly started as a kind of nickname meaning much the same as "Pinchpenny" in English. Without verification by scholars or researchers who have studied the name's origin in detail, I can't be absolutely certain that's correct. But it's a good educated guess, and I feel pretty confident the name did, indeed, begin as a nickname meaning "one who squeezes his pennies together," i. e., one who was pretty tight with his money. Considering how parsimonious most Poles and Kashubs are, you'd have to be pretty darn tight with money to qualify for this name!

Taube comes from the German word for "dove," and I imagine it would be fairly hard to research because the name offers little in the way of insights or leads (which, frankly, is true of the vast majority of surnames). Since Germany long ruled much of western and northern Poland, we often see German names in those areas; in fact Germans immigrated to Poland in large numbers over the years, so we find German names all over Poland. As of 1990 there were 324 Polish citizens named Taube, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Gdansk, 139, and Pila, 42. So while it does not appear to be associated exclusively with Kashubs, that distribution suggests it probably is most often Kashubian, at least when it appears in Poland.

I have a couple of recommendations for you. With your Detroit roots you may benefit from joining the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan, if you haven't already. It's a good group, which has developed some pretty impressive resources for helping researchers with roots in Michigan. They've been undergoing some problems lately, as key members have had to cut back on their activity due to illness and similar difficulties. But I feel sure the Society will endure and continue to offer its members a lot of assistance. If you want more info, visit their Website at:

http://www.pgsm.org

The Kashubs, in Polish Kaszubi, are a Slavic people closely related to the Poles, but they have their own customs and language (very similar to Polish in many respects). They were pressured by the German rulers of that region to drop their culture and language and associate themselves with Germans, but resisted to a considerable degree. If you'd like to know more about them, these Websites have some information:

http://www.pgsa.org/kashnam2.htm

http://www.pgsa.org/kashname.htm

http://www.pgsa.org/kashub.htm

http://feefhs.org/kana/frg-kana.html

http://www.Kashuba.Org/

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Wojtkowicz

could you please help me with my surname, I am trying to find the roots of Wojtkowicz family.

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "voit-KO-veech." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 103 Polish citizens by that name. They were scattered in small numbers all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

The suffix -owicz means "son of," so Wojtkowicz means "son of Wojtek or Wojtko," something like that. The first part of the name could come from two sources: it can be a nickname for a person named Wojciech, meaning basically "son of Wojciech"; or it can come from the term wójt, an official who was a sort of village headman. So the name means either "Wojciech's son" or "the wójt's son." I think it's especially likely to come from the first name, however, because Wojtek is a common and popular Polish nickname or affectionate short form of Wojciech.

There is no linguistic equivalent of that name in English -- it comes from ancient Slavic roots meaning literally "war-joy," probably given as a name by parents hoping their child would grow up to take joy in battle and thus be a fierce and successful fighter. But due to a historical accident, the Slavic name Wojciech (or in Czech Vojtech) has long been closely associated with the Germanic first name Albrecht or Adalbert or Albert. So a Pole bearing the first name Wojciech usually came to be known as Alebrt in English-speaking countries. That's probably not directly relevant to the discussion of this surname, but it may be a useful fact worth knowing if you dig into the family history. People trying to learn something about the name Wojciech are often puzzled to find it treated as if it were the same as Albert, when it's obviously not! But centuries ago the Slavic saint Wojciech took the name Albert at confirmation in honor of his sponsor, the Bishop of Magdeburg, Albert; and since then the two names have been connected culturally, even though linguistically they are completely unrelated.

I should add that in Polish you often have two forms of the same basic surname, differing only in ending, -owicz or -ewicz. So it's not surprising that the surname Wojtkiewicz also exists, pronounced roughly "voit-K-YEAH-veech." As of 1990 there were some 2,624 Polish citizens by that name, so it tends to be the more common form. Wojtkowicz and Wojtkiewicz mean exactly the same thing; the only difference is that in some areas there's a tendency to add -owicz rather than -ewicz to certain name forms. For some reason the form of this particular name with -ewicz is more common than the one with -owicz. Hard to say why, however; sometimes there is no readily apparent rhyme or reason to surname usage and popularity.

I mention all this only because it is possible you will see both forms in family records. To Poles Wojtkiewicz and Wojtkowicz are obviously different forms of the same name, and they didn't also worry too much about consistency of name forms in old records. So if you do some research into your family history, you might want to keep an eye out for Wojtkiewicz as well.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Wojtowicz

...What might be the meaning of the name Wojtowicz? I am grateful for any knowledge you might contribute.

The suffix -owicz means son of, so the key is what wojt- means. There are two possibilities. In most cases it would come from the root wójt, which is a term for a kind of village official or headman, one who was in charge of a village or group of villages. The exact duties varied in different times and places, but I suppose you could say he was the "go to guy" in rural communities, one who took care of implementing local rules and policies. So the surname was probably applied originally to the sons or kin of the local wójt.

The root can also come from the first name Wojciech (pronounced roughly VOJ- chek) which is usually rendered as "Albert" in English because the names were historically linked. Thus Wojtowicz could also mean son of Wojciech/Albert. I would think this particular surname would more often refer to the official, but we can't rule that in some instances it might refer to the first name.

This is a very common name in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 5,319 Polish citizens named Wojtowicz, spread all over the country.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Stuliglowa

The encoding of your message mangled the 7th letter, but I assume the name is Stuliglowa, pronounced roughly "stoo-lee-G'WOE-vah." I will proceed on that assumption, because I can find no other name in Polish that fits the pattern STULIG_OWA.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland, available online), there were 63 Polish citizens by this name. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 5, Czestochowa 4, Katowice 3, Koszalin 8, Przemysl 1, Radom 1, Rzeszow 14, Szczecin 24, Tarnow 3. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Of course I have no way of knowing whether any of these people would be related to you. Only research into the family history could establish that; it would involve trying to trace the family back in records, generation by generation -- which may be quite difficult in your case. But without detailed knowledge of the family history, the most one can do is analyze what a name means literally and then speculate on how it was probably understood when it first developed.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. Obviously the -glowa part comes from the noun glowa, "head." Rymut says the Stuli- part comes from the verb stulic, "press together, squeeze together, close up." So the name probably began as a nickname meaning something like "close your head" or "put your heads together." I don't speak colloquial Polish, so I'm not certain how Poles would understand this name. I suspect it may have been another way of saying "Shut your mouth!" In other words, "Press your head together" makes sense only if you imagine it to mean pressing one's lips together to close the mouth. I imagine this began as a nickname for an ancestor who had a habit of using this phrase, or perhaps one whom people somehow associated with this action.

That is how I interpret it, but I don't have the time or resources to do more detailed research on names; all I can give is "quick and dirty" analysis. If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.

If you do hear from them and they give you a really good reply, I'd love to hear what they say. I will be revising my book on Polish surnames in the near future, and would love to be able to repeat this information, for the benefit of any other Stuliglowas who may read it.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Szarwark

I am writing because I would like to know more about "Szarwark". Where the word came from, what it means to Polish people, and how someone would get that as a family name. Any help that you can provide me will be very much appreciated.

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "SHAR-vark." In both cases the -ar- would rhyme with "car" or "far." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% ofthe population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database), there were 229 Polish citizensnamed SZARWARK. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces:Bydgoszcz 50, Pila 30, Poznan 31, and Tarnow 61. Unfortunately I don't haveaccess to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tellyou how to find that info.

This data indicates the name is found all over Poland, with some concentration in the areas near the northwestern town of Bydgoszcz and the southeastern town of Tarnow.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying it comes from the common noun szarwark. That term referred to compulsory labor service peasants performed for their lords. Peasants were required to do various kinds of labor service for the use of the land their lord let them farm, and it was not unusual for those labor obligations to include a day or two of szarwark a week. I suppose peasants who did not inherit land might also do szarwark for a living. The term in Polish comes from German Scharwerk, meaning "compulsory labor," and could theoretically refer to any of the various kinds of labor services peasants were required to do by their lords. But over time this particular term came to be associated most of all with road maintainance work, and the surname suggests you had an ancestor who did this work.

I should add that it's also possible in a given case the surname might refer to the name of a place where an ancestor came from. There's a Szarwark in the general area of Tarnow; so if a given Szarwark family came from that area, it's possible the name might have started in their case as a way of saying "one from Szarwark." Only genealogical research might clarify for sure how this surname came to be associated with your family, by establishing where they came from and thus indicating whether the name more likely referred to the labor service or to the village name (which, in turn, must have come from that term for labor service).

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Karasiewicz - Karaskiewicz

my name is tony karasiewicz, can you help me ? what does it mean ? karasiewicz = karaskiewicz ?

The ending -ewicz means "son of," so KARASIEWICZ means "son of Karas." That name comes from the noun karas, "crucian carp" (a kind of fish). Most likely Karas was a nickname for an ancestor one who liked to fish for carp, or sell them, or eat them, or somehow reminded people of a carp.

So the name means essentially the same as KARASKIEWICZ, except the added -k- in that name gives the meaning of "little." Karasiewicz is "son of the carp," and Karaskiewicz is "son of the little carp." That's the only difference.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database), there were 2,600 Polish citizens named Karasiewicz. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 304, Poznan 266, Płock 261, Elblag 161, and Bydgoszcz 110. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data indicates the name is found all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one area. It's particularly common in the areas near the cities mentioned, Warsaw, Poznan, Płock, Elblag, and Bydgoszcz. But this really tells us nothing about where a specific Karasiewicz family came from. Only research into the history of that family might shed light on that question.

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Parada

I would like to know if my Polish last name Parada is Jewish.

It could be, but it is not necessarily Jewish. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 974 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 50, Chelm 128, Katowice 70, Kielce 141, Lublin 63. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area.

The point is, after the Holocaust, there are no exclusively Jewish surnames borne by more than a few dozen people, at most. If a name is borne by more than 900 people in modern Poland, it's certain the vast majority are Christians. If it were a Jewish name, you might find 9 or 90 people still living with that name in Poland today -- but not 900!

In Polish PARADA is pronounced roughly "pah-RAH-dah" -- or much the same way as if it were a Spanish name. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun parada, "show, exhibition, ceremony, pomp" -- in other words from the same origin as our word "parade." It is thought to have come from Old French parade, "exhibition," from parer, "to embellish," from Latin parare, to "prepare."

There is no reason a specific Jewish family couldn't have gone by this name. It's one of the many that Christians or Jews could bear -- there's no particular reason it has to be associated with one religion or another. So you can't tell the religion from the name. You'd have to research the family history to find information establishing that. (And, of course, PARADA doesn't have to be Polish; this particular name can exist in many different languages. But I assume you have reason to believe it is Polish in your case.)

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Adamczewski

My maiden name is Adams. I am 3rd generation born in the United States. My great grandfather Joseph Adams, moved his wife and two kids from Poland to Minnesota and there had 4 more children. When he moved here, he realized that his last name might be too hard for his children to say and spell, so he shortened it. There are two of the 6 children still alive and neither one of them know how to spell the last name my great grandfather shortened. I was hoping you might be able to help. This is how we think it might be spelled based off of how we know it to be said. "Adamachevski"

The most likely form is Adamczewski, which would be pronounced roughly "ah-dahm-CHEFF-skee." According to Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut's book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], that name generally means "one from Adamczewice," a village now called Adamki in Blaszki district of Lodz province. It is also possible it might refer in some cases to Adamczowice, in Klimontow district of Swietokrzyskie province. Surnames ending in -ewski can come from place names with -ew- or -ow-, as that vowel can change very easily, especially when further suffixes are added.

So this surname refers to the name of a place with which the family was connected at some point centuries ago. As often happens, there's more than one place this surname could refer to. The only way to find out which one your particular Adamczewskis came from is through detailed research into the family history. Such research might establish whether the family came from near Lodz, in which case the connection with Adamki is more likely, or from the Swietokrzyskie area, in which case Adamczowice is the more likely connection. There might even be some other place I haven't found -- because the Adamczew- or Adamczow- part basically means "[places] of little Adam," and thus could potentially refer to any village or settlement owned or founded by an Adam.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database), there were 5,955 Polish citizens named Adamczewski. They lived all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 312, Konin 411, Lodz 1,177, and Poznan 467. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

That's what I consider the best match with the name you mentioned. If you'd like to see other possibilities and evaluate them for yourself, go to this site:

http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html  

In the box type ADAM*WSKI and press
. That will bring up all surnames borne by Polish citizens as of 1990 that begin with Adam- and end with -wski, with any combination of letters in between. That should allow you to see the most likely matches and check if any of the others make more sense.

If you need help understanding the data and what the abbreviations mean, I wrote an article on the subject in the latest issue of Gen Dobry!, the free e-zine of PolishRoots.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dzięgiel - Dziengiel - Gengle - Jingle

I am looking for information on only 1 name. Dziegiel is how it was written on the baptismal records held in Tarnow. My great-grandfather was born in Iwkowa, immigrated in 1903 and changed our name to Gengle in 1920.

In Polish this name is usually spelled Dzięgiel -- using the Polish nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it and pronounced much like "en." Since that nasal E sounds a lot like "en," and since spelling of surnames has always been inconsistent, it is not unusual to see the name spelled Dziengiel sometimes, even in Poland. Either spelling, Dzięgiel or Dziengiel, is pronounced roughly "JENG-yell."

I should add that in English-speaking countries this name Dzięgiel has often been spelled phonetically as Jingle. If you hear a Pole say it, it does sound quite a bit like our word "jingle." So don't be too surprised if you find relatives who spell it something like Jingle. But that would happen only in English-speaking countries, never in Poland.

Gengle is obviously a slightly different phonetic spelling. Pronounce the Polish word and it's easy to see why an immigrant might say, "Well, these Americans can't seem to spell or pronounce Dzięgiel right, so I'll spell it a way they can handle." Or sometimes they pronounced their names and an official wrote it down the way it sounded to him. That's how these alternate spellings got started.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now available online as a searchable database), there were 1,565 Polish citizens named Dzięgiel. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 119, Kraków 306, and Tarnów 305. The name is found all over Poland, but is most common in the southcentral to southeastern part of the country. Your ancestors come from the area where it is most common, therefore. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

If you'd like to see the various spellings of this name still found in Poland (though the variants are quite rare), go to http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html and type in DZI*GIEL in the box, then hit
. The list that comes up shows all names beginning DZI-, followed by any combination of letters, followed by -GIEL and any endings. It's an interesting list. If you need help reading the data, I wrote an article on the subject in the latest issue of Gen Dobry!, the free e-zine of PolishRoots.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1570 and comes from the noun dzięgiel, the name of a plant in the parsley family, which is called "angelica" in English.

This name suggests an ancestor was somehow connected with that plant. Perhaps he lived in an area where it was very common, or he/she liked to eat it or use it in cooking, or smelled like it, or wore a bouquet of it -- there must have been some kind of connection that was obvious to people at the time, or the name would never have "stuck." But centuries later it can be difficult to figure out exactly what the connection was. We just know there must have been some reason why it made sense to nickname a guy after this plant.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Ciesielski

Would you please give me the meaning of my surname Ciesielski. How long has this name existed in Poland and are there still Ciesielski's in Poland as there are many here in Michigan U.S.A

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "cheh-SHELL-skee." It's a fairly common name in Poland. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database), there were 24,422 Polish citizens named Ciesielski. They lived all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1393. It comes from the noun cieśla, "carpenter," or from place names derived from that noun, especially Cieśle, of which there are a number in Poland. So the name can be interpreted either "of the carpenter's kin" or "one from Cieśle," which in turn got that name because of a connection with carpenters.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 


 

Dzięgielewski - Dziengielewski

My name is ... Dziengelewski, and I have a great deal of curiosity about the origins of my name. I am the absolute last person of my known family, so I have no relatives to ask.

In Polish this name is usually spelled Dzięgielewski -- using the Polish nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it and pronounced much like "en." Since that nasal E sounds a lot like "en," and since spelling of surnames has always been inconsistent, it is not unusual to see the name spelled Dziengielewski sometimes, even in Poland. Either spelling, Dzięgielewski or Dziengielewski, is pronounced roughly "jeng-yell-EFF-skee."

(Polish spelling rules say -ge- is wrong, it must always be -gie-, so that's why I'm spelling the name that way. But even in Poland you sometimes see Dziengelewski and Dzięgelewski. These days, however, it's almost always spelled with the I because most of the population is literate and has learned the rules of "correct" spelling.)

I should add that in this country the names beginning Dzięgiel- have often been spelled phonetically as Jingle-. So don't be too surprised if you find relatives who spell it something like Jinglewski. But that would happen only in English-speaking countries, never in Poland.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now available online as a searchable database), there were 4,099 Polish citizens named Dzięgielewski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 441, Białystok 219, Lodz 300, Płock 455, Wloclawek 165. The name is found all over Poland, but is more common in the central part of the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

If you'd like to see the various spellings of this name still found in Poland (though the variants are quite rare), go to http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html and type in DZI*GIELEWSKI in the box, then hit
. The list that comes up shows all names beginning Dzi- and ending in -gielewski, whatever letters come between. It's an interesting list. If you need help reading the data, I wrote an article on the subject in the latest issue of Gen Dobry!, the free e-zine of PolishRoots.

Names in the form X-ewski usually refer to the name of a place with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. The place name would begin with whatever the X is, so that in this case the surname would mean "one from Dzięgielewo or Dzięgiele" or some similar name. Unfortunately there are quite a few places in Poland and the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with names this surname could refer to. Without further details on a specific family's history there's no way to know which one is relevant.

This is often the case with Polish surnames. Many refer to the name of a place the family came from, but there are many places with names that fit. It's pointless saying "I'm Dzięgielewski, where is my family from?" You have to do the research that indicates they came from a specific area, and at that point it may become possible to hook them up with a place nearby with a name beginning Dzięgiel-.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Górniak

Been doing some research on family - not sure if Gorniak is Polish - the website you reference only list 54 or so with that name in Poland - of course, I can't read Polish, so I am assuming that's what it was telling me. Is that website available in English?? Appreciate it!!

No, it's not available in English. If you need help using it, I wrote an article on the subject in the latest issue of
Gen Dobry!, the free e-zine of PolishRoots.

The name Górniak is Polish, spelled with an accent over the O, pronounced roughly "GOORN-yock." As of 1990 there were 8,205 Polish citizens by that name (the 54 you found were with plain O, which was probably a misspelling -- the name would usually be spelled with the accented Ó). The Górniaks lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw, 751; Czestochowa, 555; Katowice, 556; Konin 477; Lublin, 542; and Wroclaw, 454. This just tells us the name is common all over the country, so one cannot tell from the name what part of Poland a given Górniak might have come from.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun górniak, a dialect term that can mean "mountain men" or "miner." The root górn- means "of the mountain," but names beginning with that root often refer to mines. So a Górniak ancestor was probably either a miner or a person who lived in the hills or mountains.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gorzałkowski

Our family names are Gorzalkowski, Borkowski and Korzenewski [Borkowski and Korzeniewski are dealt with in separate notes.]

Gorzalkowski in Polish is spelled with a slash through the L, which means it is pronounced like our W. Gorzałkowski is pronounced roughly "go-zhaw-KOFF-skee."

Surnames in the form X-owski mean literally "of the X's _," where the blank is to be filled in with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out -- usually "kin" or "place." So in some cases X-owski can mean "kin of [the] X." But most often it refers to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place name beginning with the X part, which may have various suffixes that were detached before the -owski was added. If the family was noble, they owned an estate there; if not, they lived and worked there. So while X-owski can just mean "kin of X," it generally means "one from the place of X." There are, however, exceptions.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Gorzałkowski in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], Vol. 1, Institut Jezyka Polskiego PAN, Kraków 1999, ISBN 83-87623-18-0. It comes from the noun gorzałka, "booze, hard liquor, vodka." So this surname could mean "of the kin of the liquor guys," or it could mean "from the place of liquor."

I cannot find any place in Poland with a name such as Gorzałki or Gorzałkowo, however; so I suspect this particular name probably indicates that the family was involved in distilling hard liquor -- "of the kin of the vodka guys," rather than "of the place of vodka." It suggests ancestors were related to people who distilled hard liquor, especially vodka.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database), there were 48 Polish citizens named Gorzałkowski. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 11, Jelenia Gora 4, Opole 5, Pila 1, Piotrkow 19, Poznan 2, Szczecin 5, and Wloclawek 1. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

If you wish to look at the data for yourself, it is at this site:

http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html

If you need help using it, I wrote an article on the subject in the latest issue of Gen Dobry!, the free e-zine of PolishRoots.

This data indicates that the name is scattered in small numbers all over the country. You can't look at the name and say, "Oh, the Gorzałkowskis came from this area right here." They could have come from anywhere. Incidentally, that's how it is with most Polish surnames; very few point you to a specific place of family origin. Even if the name refers to a place, there's usually more than one place with a name that fits. The only way to determine exactly where a family came from is to trace their history as far back as possible, in hopes of uncovering info that sheds light on the matter. The surname, by itself, usually won't tell you.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Grzęda - Grzenda

In the subject field is my last name [Grzenda]. My relatives have always believed it meant something akin to farmer. A recent immigrant, however, stated a grzenda is the ramp leading to and from a hen house. Do you know the correct meaning?

Grzenda is a variation of the name Poles spell Grzęda, using the Polish nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it and pronounced usually like "en." The name can be spelled Grzenda as well as Grzęda because that's what it sounds like -- roughly like "G'ZHEN-dah."

In Poland these days the spelling Grzęda is much more common; as of 1990 there were 2,509 Poles by that name, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Warsaw 375, Kalisz 360, Kielce 234, and Lublin 259. There were only 299 who spelled it Grzenda, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (97) and Suwałki (49).

Surnames originated centuries ago, and the modern meanings of the words they came from are not necessarily relevant. Many words mean the same thing now that they meant centuries ago; but you can never assume the modern meaning applies until you've looked into the matter a little more closely.

The name Grzęda/Grzenda is mentioned in the book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles] by Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut. He says it appears in records as early as 1439, and come an archaic noun grzęda, "bed (as for flowers); a bar for hanging something on (compare a chicken's roost); a patch for chickens." Presumably it started as a nickname, perhaps for one who had and was always tending a flower-bed, or one somehow associated with a bar or lever, or one always working in the area where chickens were kept (the diminutive noun grządka can mean "hen-house").

People are sometimes puzzled by names that can have several meanings, but if you think about it, English does the same thing. Was the ancestor of a family named Woods known for working with lumber, or did he live near woods, or was this a nickname that referred to his wooden personality, or what? Many words have several meanings, and thus names coming from them can have several meanings.

So there's no way to say what the "correct" meaning was. A Grzenda could have been associated with a flower bed, the area where chickens were kept, or a rod for hanging things on (perhaps because he was long and thin). The only way one might be able to say more is by tracing a specific family back in the records as far as possible. Sometimes that will uncover documents that shed light on exactly how and why a specific name came to be associated with a specific family. Of course, I cannot do that kind of research; but perhaps you can. If so, you will become far more of an expert on what Grzenda means (at least for your family) than I can ever hope to be.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kapral

I am searching for any information on my late mother's maiden name Her name was Kapral and she came from Katowice.

Kapral is pronounced in Polish much as one might expect: roughly "KAH-prall," with the vowel in both syllables much like the "a" in "father."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database at http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html), there were 967 Polish citizens named Kapral. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Czestochowa 163, Katowice 149, Kielce 91, and Legnica 86. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data indicates that the name is found all over the country but is most common in southcentral Poland, especially near the towns of Czestochowa and Katowice. So your mother came from the area where this name appears most often.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says the name comes from the noun kapral, which is Polish for "corporal." The word is thought to have come into Polish from Italian caporale, which came -- depending on which expert you check -- either from Latin caput, "head," or from Latin corporalis, "leader, head man," which is, of course, the source of the English word "corporal." Presumably it began as a nickname for an ancestor who was a corporal in the military at some point.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Korzeniewski

Our family names are Gorzalkowski, Borkowski and Korzenewski [Gorzalkowski and Borkowski are dealt with in separate notes]

Korzeniewski is pronounced roughly "ko-zhen-YEFF-skee." As of 1990 there were 5,638 Polish citizens by this name, as well as another 6,553 who bore the similar name Korzeniowski. These are essentially the same name, except in some areas they preferred the ending -ewski, in others -owski. Both names are common all over the country, but Korzeniewski is more common in the north, Korzeniowski in the south.

Names in the form X-ewski usually mean "one from X." In his book on Polish surnames Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles] Kazimierz Rymut says Korzeniewski would mean "one from Korzeniew or Korzeniów," and again, there are quite a few places with names that fit. They come from the noun korzeń, "root," so that you could interpret the surname as "one from the place of roots." But basically, it just means "one from Korzeniew, Korzeniewo, Korzeniów, etc." Only research into the family history might establish which of those places that particular family came from.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Mazur

I am just interested in what the name Mazur means for my child's project at school.

Mazur (pronounced roughly "MAH-zoor") is a very old and common Polish surname. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], saying that it appears in records as far back as 1425 and comes from the noun Mazur, which means "one from Mazovia" (also sometimes spelled "Masovia"). This region, which Poles call "Mazowsze," is in northeastern Poland. Mazur is especially likely to refer to someone from Masuria (in Polish Mazury), which is a subdivision of northern Mazovia. Strictly speaking, we'd expect Mazur to mean "one from Masuria," in the far northeastern corner of Poland. But the noun Mazur was originally a kind of nickname for one from Mazovia in general, and only later did it come to be associated with the specific area now called Masuria.

This name is not a whole lot of help to family researchers because it's too common. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 59,069 Polish citizens named Mazur, and these days they have spread all over the country. So even though the name indicates origin centuries ago in northeastern Poland, for some time now Mazurs have lived all over Poland.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Chętkiewicz

I am interested in learning more about my father's surname: Chetkiewicz as I am trying to piece together a family tree for his family.

In Polish this name would usually be spelled with the first E being the nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it. This vowel is usually pronounced somewhat like "en," so that Chętkiewicz sounds roughly like "hent-K'YEAH-veech." The initial CH is not quite the H sound of English, it's closer to the guttural "ch" in German "Bach." But that phonetic pronunciation I indicated is pretty close.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. The suffix -ewicz means "son of," so we would figure this name started out meaning "son of Chętko/Chętki/Chętka." Any of those names would produce Chętkiewicz once the ending was added, so we can't tell which one is relevant in a given instance.

These names all come from the root seen in the old term chętki, which in modern Polish is chętny, "willing" (especially in the sense "ready, willing, and able"). The same basic root appears in the noun chętka, "wish, caprice, whim," and in the noun chęć, "wish, desire." So this surname indicates that an ancestor was the son of one named Chętka or Chętki or Chętko, who presumably got that name either because he was always ready and willing to do what needed to be done, or possibly because he tended to be willful and capricious.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 39 Polish citizens named Chętkiewicz. They lived in the following provinces: Katowice 1, Radom 31, Slupsk 2, Torun 5. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

The data indicates this name is usually found in the area of Radom in southeastern Poland, and perhaps was even at one time exclusively found there, so that those Chętkiewiczes in other areas had their roots originally near Radom. I'd hesitate to jump to that conclusion: there's nothing about the name that leads me to think it could only develop in one area. I suppose it's possible it was once more widespread, and for some reason these days it is mostly found near Radom. Still, that concentration certainly suggests a Radom connection is probable in most cases.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Wierzejewski

I have searched and searched to find some info on my mother’s family name...her name is Lydia Wierzejewski...she was born in Hindenburg in 1931 (Hindenburg OS is now called Zabrze) and moved into Northern Germany doing the Blitzkrieg.

In Polish Wierzejewski is pronounced roughly "v'yeah-zhay-EFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database), there were 219 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Leszno 44, Poznan 53, and Zielona Gora 50. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data indicates the name shows up most often in western Poland, in the region formerly ruled by Germany. However you don't need that information, since you know where your mother came from.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says that, like most names in the form X-ewski, this one generally refers to a family connection at some point centuries ago with a place beginning with the X part. In other words, we'd expect this name to mean "one from Wierzeje or Wierzejewo" or some place with a similar name.

Rymut specifically mentions Wierzeja, in Duszniki district of Wielkopolskie province, not too far from the city of Poznan (called Posen by Germans). I don't think we can conclude the name Wierzejewski always must mean "one from Wierzeja"; it means there is research that indicates some Wierzejewskis came from there. Perhaps all of them did, but only detailed research into the history of all Wierzejewskis could prove that.

If you'd like to see a map showing where Wierzeja is, go to www.pilot.pl and key in WIERZEJA in the box; then click on "Pokaz miasto." You'll get a map with a red circle showing where Wierzeja is, as well as a smaller map showing where that area is in relation to Poland as a whole.

To sum up, this surname is not particularly common, and appears mostly in west-central Poland. It probably refers to the name of a village or settlement the family was connected with; if noble, they owned an estate there, and if peasant, they lived and worked there. The name is especially likely to refer to the village of Wierzeja, not too far from Poznan; but in a given instance it might refer to some other place with a name beginning Wierzej-. The only way to prove the matter for sure is through tracing the family history as far back as possible, which may uncover information that sheds light on exactly when and how this name came to be associated with that family.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Chlebowski

I wonder whether you are able to give me any information about the surname Chlebowski.

In Polish the "ch" and "h" are pronounced the same, as a guttural somewhat like the "ch" in German "Bach." Keeping that in mind, Chlebowski is pronounced roughly "chleh-BOFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,271 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in documents as early as 1399, and refers to a family connection with any of a number of villages, settlements, etc. named Chlebów or Chlebowo or Chlebówka. There are quite a few of these, and the only way to tell which one a given family was connected with would be through genealogical research. The surname itself just doesn't tell us anything about that.

The basic root of the name is chleb, "bread." Chlebowo etc. would mean "[place] of bread." Thus Chlebowski would mean "[one] of the place of bread." But as I say, normally it should be interpreted as simply "one from Chlebowo/Chlebów, etc." In isolated instances it might mean "kin of the bread guy," but usually with surnames in the form X-owski the reference is to a place with a name beginning with the X part. It generally means the family lived or was otherwise connected with such a place at some point centuries ago. If they were noble, they owned an estate there; if they were peasants, they lived and worked there.

To sum up, there is probably not one big Chlebowski family, but rather a number of separate ones that came by the name independently, due to an association centuries ago with any of a number of places named Chlebów or Chlebowo or something similar, meaning "[place] of bread." Only genealogical research might help you pin down which one your particular family came from. I have no sources of info on individual families, so there's nothing I can tell you about your Chlebowskis beyond this.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chmiel

Hello, my name is Carly and I was wondering if you had any information on the name of Chmiel or Chmill. I would really appreciate.

In Polish this name is usually spelled Chmiel, pronounced roughly "h'm'yell." The first sound isn't quite like English H, it's more like the guttural "ch" in German "Bach." But if you can manage to make an h- sound followed by an -m- sound followed by "yell," you'll be very close. Chmill doesn't look Polish, and I'd have to guess it's a misreading or misspelling of the original name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 13,030 Polish citizens named Chmiel. They lived all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appeared in records as early as 1369, and it comes from the noun chmiel, "hops." So it simply began as a name for an ancestor whom people associated with hops. Perhaps he grew them, or sold them, or lived in an area where they grew in profusion -- or he may have been a maltster. All the name tells us is that there was something about him that made "Hops" seem like an appropriate name, and it stuck, being applied to his descendants.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chmielecki

... can you give me any information on the name Chmielecki. I would be very grateful.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,223 Polish citizens named Chmielecki. The name is found all over Poland, but is most common in an area from the center of the country northward, in areas near the cities of Lodz, Płock, Warsaw, Gdansk, and so on. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

The name is pronounced roughly "h'myel-ET-skee," and comes ultimately from the noun chmiel, which means "hops," the grain. This surname might refer either to the kin of one called Chmielek, "little hops," possibly as a nickname of a reference to his father's occupation. But most likely it refers to a family's connection with a place named something like Chmielec, Chmielce, Chmielek, etc., meaning "place of the hops." One candidate is the village of Chmielek near Bilgoraj and Zamosc in southeastern Poland; one of my sources mentions that there were records that connected a noble family named Chmielecki with the estate at this place. But there may be, or may have been, other places with suitable names that I can't find in my sources. The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chmielecki - Chmieleski - Chmielewski - Malaske

My ancestors from Peplin, Poland, had the name Malaske in the U.S. I just recently found an alternate spelling on a naturalization paper of Chmielecki. On another document, Chmieleski. Are any of these common Polish surnames?

As for Chmieleski, the standard form is Chmielewski. It is properly pronounced "h'myell-EFF-skee," but in everyday speech that ending is often pronounced "ess-kee," as if the name were spelled Chmieleski. Spellings in records were often phonetic, so it wouldn't be at all unusual to see the name spelled with -eski. But the standard form is Chmielewski.

It obviously comes from the same basic root as Chmielecki: the noun chmiel, "hops." Like Chmielecki, it would refer in most cases to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago. But whereas Chmielecki would usually refer to places with names such as Chmielek, Chmielik, Chmielnik, and so forth, Chmielewski would refer to places named Chmielew and Chmielewo. The distinction is that Chmielewski means literally "of the _ of the hops," and the unstated word that fills in the blank would be "place," so that Chmielewski means "one from Chmielew or Chmielewo," which in turn means "one from the place of hops." Chmielecki, however, has a diminutive suffix -ek or -ec added to the root, so that it means "one from the place of the little hops guy." A subtle distinction, perhaps, but the point is that the two names would usually refer to different place names.

However, the surnames are close enough that it would not be strange to see them confused sometimes. Unfortunately, in older records surnames often varied (even in English), so that you might see the same family called Chmielecki in one record, Chmielewski in another, perhaps Chmielewicz in a third, and so on. You have to keep in mind the possibility of such variation.

There are numerous places in Poland these names can refer to. So it's impossible to say which place either surname referred to in a given family's case. The only way to discover that would be through genealogical research, tracing your specific family back generation to generation, until you trace them to their ancestral village in Poland. At that point it might become possible to establish a connection between them and some nearby place with a name that fits.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 33,578 Polish citizens named Chmielewski, so that name is more common than Chmielecki. But it, too, is found all over Poland; the name itself gives no leads as to what part of the country a specific family came from.

Malaske can be a variation of a name in its own right, Mala[w]ski. But in this case it seems likely to be an Anglicized version of Chmiele[w]ski. Eastern European surnames were often mangled badly when immigrants came to the U. S., past the point of easy recognition. You often have no clue what the real name was until you do some research and find documents closer to the point of actual immigration. In this case, it's highly likely Malaske is the Americanized form, Chmielewski the Polish form, and Chmielecki a similar name with which Chmielewski was sometimes confused.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chrzan

… I would like to know meaning of the name Chrzan. Also if you know of any in Poland.

This name comes from the Polish word chrzan, which means "horse radish." Since these names are hundreds of years old, it can be tough to figure out now why a particular name seemed relevant to people who lived centuries ago on a different continent; but it might have started as a nickname referring to someone's favorite food, or the fact that they grew horse radish, or even because their smell or coloring someone reminded people of horse radish. This is a moderately common surname in Poland today; as of 1990 there were 2,805 Polish citizens named Chrzan, plus another 773 who used a variant form, Krzan. Chrzan is pretty common all over Poland; it seems to be a bit more common in southcentral and southeastern Poland (the region Poles call "Malopolska," "Little Poland") than elsewhere, but not to an extent that would offer any practical help with tracing a particular Chrzan family.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Żółtek

… If you could provide any information on the meaning of this surname [Zoltek], I could greatly appreciate it.

This is one of those names whose basic origin is pretty easy to determine, but it's tough saying exactly how or why it ended up as a surname. The basic root is clear, from Polish żółty, "yellow" -- I'm using ż to stand for the Polish z with a dot over it, pronounced much like "s" in English "pleasure"; ó is the o with an accent over it, pronounced like "oo" in "book"; and ł is for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w. The name would be pronounced something like "zhoow'-tek."

Anyway, the name means something like "yellow guy," and there is a Polish word żółtek, a kind of contemptuous term for "colored fellow." Most likely a name like this started as a nickname for a person who looked yellowish -- perhaps he had jaundice, or some other characteristic that people associated with the color yellow, or with bile. (I don't think it would be used like English "yellow" in the slang meaning of "cowardly," I don't think Polish makes that particular association). It's conceivable a person might get this name, also, because he had an Asiatic look to him. It's hard to say exactly why this name would "stick," all we can say for sure is that there was some sort of connection with "yellow" that was so obvious to people around him that they started calling him this, and the name stuck.

This is a moderately common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 755 Poles named Żółtek. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Gdansk (41), Krakow (54), Nowy Sacz (187), and Warsaw (80). This tells us there's no one part of the country a Żółtek must have come from, although the name is a bit more common in the southcentral part of Poland (the provinces of Nowy Sacz and Krakow). I realize this may not be a lot of practical help in finding where your ancestors came from, but I'm afraid that's the rule with Polish surnames -- I'd estimate fewer than 10% offer any useful clue in that regard.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Trafidło

… I've looked everywhere....can you possibly help? Looking for the meaning of the Polish surname: Trafidlo

There are two possibilities here. The basic root of this name could be the verb trafić, "to hit the mark, be on target." But I can find no term trafidło. This might be a variant of the term trawidło, which is the name of an animal, "maw, abomasum, rennet (abomasum vitulinum)." Many Poles bear names derived from those of animals, sometimes because they raised them, hunted them, or something about a person reminded people of an animal (his movements, the color of his skin or clothes), or else he lived in an area where these animals was common. Such a name might start as a nickname and end up "sticking" as a surname. I suspect strongly that this surname Trafidło began as a variant of trawidło, since they are pronounced very similarly, "trah-FEED-woe" vs. "trah-VEED-woe."

Trafidło is a fairly rare name, as of 1990 there were only 156 Poles by that name; they were scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Ciechanow (22), Rzeszow (35), Tarnobrzeg (34), and Wroclaw (23). Unfortunately there is no one area of the country we can say this name came from, although there is a bit of a concentration in the southeastern provinces of Rzeszow and Tarnobrzeg. Interestingly enough, as of 1990 there no Trawidło's, so if Trafidło is a variant of that name, it appears it's the form that's survived. That happens sometimes, but it is a bit odd.

Those are my best guesses as to the origin of the name. I hope this information is some help to you, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Włóka

… I appreciate your offer to give me whatever you might know about my surname which is "Wloka". I am told it is indeed Polish and supposedly is the name of an ancient land measure in Polish.

There was indeed an old land measure (still used till the metric system took over), the włóka -- I'm using ł to stand for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w, and ó to stand for the Polish accented o, pronounced like "oo" in "book," so that the name is pronounced something like "V’WOOK-uh." The amount of land this unit designated varied from place to place and time to time, but as a rule it was more or less equivalent to 30 acres. A włóka was basically a full-sized farm, so the name might apply to a peasant who was fortunate enough to own a farm big enough to live on, as opposed to those who owned small pieces of land that wouldn't support them, so they had to hire out as laborers for others to make ends meet. Granted, there might be other ways a name like this got started, perhaps in reference to a fellow's size -- if he was a big man, he might be called this, sort of a nickname meaning "Big as a włóka." The verb from the same root means "to trail, drag along, shuffle feet," so the name might have some connection with those meanings. But I tend to think this particular name would most likely be a reference of some sort to the land measure and specifically to an ancestor’s owning that land.

As of 1990 there were 433 Włóka's in Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Czestochowa (104), Piotrkow (119), and Poznan (45). Unfortunately the name appears in too many parts of the country to let us point at one specific place and say "Here's where a family by that name came from"; the most we can say is that a large chunk of the Włóka's live in southcentral Poland, in the provinces of Czestochowa and Piotrkow. But that's still a pretty big area to search. I'm afraid this is true of at least 90% of Polish surnames -- relatively few offer a really helpful clue in terms of tracing a family's origin.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Wojewódzki

… My sister and I have been trying for some time to glean more information about my paternal grandmother's ancestry. She died when my dad was quite young (somewhere between 1925 and 1935). The spelling of her maiden name on my dad's birth certificate is: Woiewodsky. Her given name is Lydia. Perhaps I have been barking under the wrong tree? Perhaps I need to begin with ascertaining the origin of this name. I thought it was Polish, but perhaps she was of some other descent....Polish-Russian-Jewish.....?

This name probably is Polish -- you might see it among other Slavs, but it is most likely to be associated with Poles. It is an adjectival form, and in modern Polish the standard spelling is Wojewódzki, pronounced roughly "vo-yeh-VOOT-skee." It comes from the word wojewoda, literally "war-leader, leader of warriors"; the word has even come into English as "voivode." This was a term used for officials in charge of large sections of Poland, and these subsequently became known as województwa, usually translated "provinces." The surname Wojewódzki would typically be applied to kin of a voivode or someone who worked for him, worked on land belonging to him, etc. -- the name really doesn't imply more specific than some sort of connection, close or distant, with a voivode. As of 1990 there were 1,775 Poles by this name; they lived all over the country, there is no one part of Poland with which this name is particularly identified. That makes sense, really, by its nature this name could get started almost anywhere under Polish rule, including lands east of Poland (Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine).

There are a lot of alternate spellings one might have to check in English, including: Voyevodski, Voyevodzky, Vojevodsky, Vojevodzki, Voievodski, Wojewodzki, Wojevotski, etc. So I'm not surprised you're having trouble pinning down any one. But Wojewódzki is the correct Polish form, if that helps.

By the way, Lydia is not an overly common first name among Poles. It is possible her name might originally have been Leokadia -- this name is unfamiliar to most Americans, so often Polish women named Leokadia decided to go by Lydia in English-speaking countries. This isn't a sure thing, by any means, but that link shows up often enough I thought it was worth mentioning.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Leśny - Wiatrak

… I am working on a family tree searching for any information about my grandparents who came from Posna in the year 1890. His name was John Wiatrak and his wife's name was Mary Lesna or Lesney.

Wiatrak is a reasonably common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 1,129 Poles by that name. It comes from the root wiatr, "wind," and especially from the term wiatrak, "windmill." A person might have originally gotten such a name because he made windmills, worked at one, lived near one, etc. The name doesn't give us enough clues to be any more specific, we can only figure there was some association with wind and especially windmills that was obvious enough at the time to lead people to call a person by this name, and eventually it stuck as a surname. Some 17 of the Wiatrak's living in Poland in 1990 lived in the modern-day province of Poznan. The name is more common in the provinces of Kalisz (234), Krakow (128) and Radom (174). Kalisz province is southeast of Poznan, and it may at one time have been in the older, larger province of Poznan, so it's possible some of those Wiatrak's in Kalisz province were relatives of yours. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, so this is about all I can tell you.

Lesney is probably an Anglicized form of Polish Leśny (ś , pronounced like a soft "sh") -- Leśna would be the form used when referring to a female by the same name. The word leśny means "of the forest, woods," and might refer to a woodsman or a person who lived in the woods. It, too, is moderately common, as of 1990 there were 1,489 Poles named either Leśny or Leśna; 291 of them lived in the modern-day province of Poznan, and that general area seems to be where the name is most common, although you find people named Leśny all over the country.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Barys - Cieślik - Kieca - Niedojadło

… While doing some research for my family tree, I came across a reference on the Net regarding a possible list you may have of Polish surnames. I was wondering if you have ever come across the names of Niedojadlo, Pocica, Kieca, Cieslik or Barys?

Barys could come from German Bär, "bear," especially used as a first name, or from nicknames of first names beginning with Bar- such as Bartłomiej (Bartholomew); there are numerous other possibilities, but these seem the most likely sources of the name. As of 1990 there were 295 Poles named Barys and another 244 named Baryś (with the accent over the s). There's no one area in which the name is most common, you find Barys'es and Baryś'es all over Poland. Tarnow province had 72 inhabitants named Barys (none named Baryś), whereas the largest single group of Poles named Baryś (77) were in Czestochowa province in southcentral Poland.

Cieslik in Polish is Cieślik, using the Polish s with an accent over it, pronounced like a soft "sh," so that the name sounds like "CHESH-leek." It means "carpenter's son, carpenter's kin," and is quite common -- as of 1990 there were 15,022 Cieślik's in Poland, living all over the country.

Kieca can come from kiec, "skirt," or from kiec, "the corncrake" (a kind of bird). As of 1990 there were 573 Poles by this name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (116), Krakow (97), and Tarnow (77), all in southcentral or southeastern Poland.

Niedojadło comes from the same root as niedojad, "insatiable fellow." It means literally "one who can't eat enough, one who can't get his fill." Presumably it referred to a fellow who looked like he hadn't missed any meals, or perhaps to someone who ate and ate and never got fat. It's a moderately common name, as of 1990 there were 577 Niedojadło's in Poland. (The ł represents the Polish slashed l, which is pronounced like our w, so that the name sounds like "nyeh-do-YAD-woe.")

I can't find any source that gives a clue what Pocica might come from. As of 1990 there were 229 Poles by that name, with the main concentration, 179, in the province of Tarnow in southeastern Poland.

I think my family is from Southern Poland. I have the towns listed as Grudna Gorna, Malo and Pilzno. I also have info from the Parish Church of Siedliska Bogusz. I'm sure that I probably spelled all of those wrong!

Actually, they all look right to me!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Ziąbkowski - Ziombkowski - Ziomkowski

… I am trying to find the orgin of our last name - Ziomkowski/Ziombkowski.

The problem here is, which form of the name is right? Sometimes you can change three or four letters and it makes no difference, other times a single letter can make all the difference in the world. For what it's worth, in either case the name most likely started as a reference to the name of a village or settlement the family lived at one time -- most -owski names started that way. So for instance Ziombkowski is probably a variant of Ziąbkowski -- the Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it and pronounced usually much like on in French bon, but before b or p like "om." So the name could be spelled either Ziąbkowski or Ziombkowski. One possible candidate could be the village of Ziąbki in Skierniewice province; people from there might very well end up with the name Ziąbkowski, meaning nothing more than "one from Ziąbki." The basic root is either zięba, "chaffinch," or ziębić, "to chill." Thus Ziąbki probably started out meaning "the place of the chaffinches," and Ziąbkowski was "one from the place of the chaffinches."

If the name is properly Ziomkowski, the basic root is ziemia, "land, earth," but again, the surname probably means just "one from Ziomek/Ziomki/Ziomkowo" or some other similar name. One candidate is Ziomek in Ostrołęka province, but I'm sure there are others, that's the only one big enough to show up on my maps. In the centuries since surnames were established, many of the little villages or settlements they originally referred to have since disappeared, changed names, merged with other communities, etc. so often it's hard to find the particular one a family's surname refers to in a specific case. The best advice is to use your research to find the specific area in Poland where the family lived, then see if you can find some village or community nearby that started with a similar name, such as Ziomek or Ziomki or Ziomkowo or Ziąbki. If you do, chances are good that's the place the surname came from.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Surname 6 Combined File
 
 
 

CICHEWSKI -- CICHOWSKI

… My last name is Cicheskie, This is the exact spelling of my grandfather and greatgrandfather (both of whom were born in Poland). They came to this country (settling in PA) in approx. 1903. Can you help with the orig. and also why the ending in -skie instead of -ski?

This name, in this form, does not exist in Poland any more -- at least there was no one named Cicheski or Cicheskie as of 1990. Most likely this is a variant form of a name that has since been standardized. The basic root is clearly cichy, "quiet, calm, peaceful," and the surname probably started as a reference to origin in a town or village named Ciche, Cichewo, Cichowo, something like that (all of which would mean basically "quiet place, or place of the quiet one"). In many parts of Poland the w in the ending -ewski is pronounced very softly or even dropped, so we are probably dealing with a name that was Cichewski but came to be spelled as it was pronounced.

There were 3,435 Poles named Cichowski as of 1990, and this may be relevant because the suffixes -owski and -ewski are basically the same thing; whether the vowel is e or o depends on Polish linguistics. There has been a bit of standardization going on in Poland since literacy became more or less universal, so a lot of variant forms of names have disappeared as people started going by the "standard" form. That may be what happened here -- some folks who used to go by Cichewski or Cicheski may have changed it to Cichowski, but this happened after some of the family had emigrated. That may explain why Cicheski is no longer seen in Poland.

In any case, it's a pretty sure bet the surname means "one from Ciche, Cichy, Cichowo," etc., and there are quite a few places in Poland that bear names that qualify. If you can find out what specific part of Poland the family came from, search that area for places with names starting Cich-, and if you find one nearby, chances are good that's the place the name originally referred to. It's doubtful any records go back far enough to prove it, but you never know!

As for -skie vs. -ski, I doubt it's significant. That may just be an Anglicized form, meant to help people pronounce the -ski correctly. It is true that, grammatically speaking, Cicheskie can be a form of the name Cicheski, referring to more than one female; thus if you saw a Polish-language document referring to, say, "Marta and Anna and Agata Cicheski," the Polish would be "Marta i Anna i Agata Cicheskie." That could account for the spelling -- or as I said, it may just be a spelling variant. I doubt it really makes any difference.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


JURGIEL

… I'm interested in finding any information on the name Jurgiel. It's my last name. I know it's Polish. But I've never heard of anyone else with it. If you could help I would be grateful. I'm trying to look up my heritage.

Jurgiel is one of many surnames that come from first names, in this case from a form of the name that appears in Polish as Jerzy, in English as George, in Czech as Jiri, in German as Georg, etc. The particular form Jurg- is thought to have been influenced by German (that -rg- toward the end is the tip-off). That doesn't mean the family bearing the name wasn't Polish -- over the centuries many, many ethnic groups have interacted with Poles and left some trace on the forms of names in particular areas. It's also worth mentioning that the name "George" shows up in Lithuanian as Jurgis (again, at some point in the distant past they may have gotten the name from Germans living in the area), and Jurgelis is a moderately common surname among Lithuanians -- it would mean basically "little George, son of George." Jurgiel might come into Polish by way of contact with Lithuanians or Germans, but that would not make it any less a Polish name. (After all, many saints' names appear in many European languages, yet are originally of Greek, Hebrew, or Latin origin -- but Pierre is no less French for having come from Latin Petrus). Whatever the exact origin, the name probably began as meaning "son of George."

As of 1990 there were 491 Polish citizens named Jurgiel. They lived in small numbers in many provinces, but the largest numbers show up in the provinces of Białystok (154), Pila (44), and Szczecin (39). Białystok is in northeastern Poland, right by the border with Lithuania and Belarus, and Pila and Szczecin are in northwestern Poland, where there were and are a lot of people of German ethnic origin -- so again we see a possible link with Lithuanian and German. But as I say, that doesn't make the Jurgiel's any less Polish... Interestingly, the surname Jurgielewicz, literally "son of Jurgiel," is more common than Jurgiel itself; as of 1990 there were 1,213 Poles named Jurgielewicz, and again, the name is most common in northern Poland, in areas near where Poles had constant contact with Germans and Lithuanians.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


ADAMCZAK -- TIPINSKI -- CIPINSKI

My maternal grandfather's name was Stanley Vincent Adamczak. Is this a variant of Adamczyk that existed in Poland? Or is it a misspelling made upon arrival in the USA?

ADAMCZAK is very likely correct. The suffixes -czak and -czyk both mean "son of," and many names exist in both forms. So ADAMCZAK, pronounced "ah-DOM-chock," is just as good a name as ADAMCZYK ("ah-DOM-chick"). As of 1990 there were 7,872 Polish citizens named Adamczak, as opposed to 49,599
named Adamczyk; both names are found all over Poland, with no useful concentration in any one area. I don't know why the form with -czyk is so much more common than the one with -czak, but we sometimes see these puzzling phenomena with names.

My second major questions is: My maternal gransmother's name was Belle Marie Tipinski, and her father, Boleslaw Tipinski, came from Poland circa 1900. Is the name Tipinski in your book? And is it a common name in Poland?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were no Polish citizens named TIPINSKI. This is not surprising: while the combination TI is not totally unknown in Polish, it doesn't usually occur in native Polish names and words. Poles prefer instinctively to use either
TY-, which sounds sort of like the "ti" in English "tip," or else CI-,
which sounds kind of like "ch" in "cheese." But the combination of T with I just doesn't usually happen in Polish except with words and names borrowed from other languages.

So the question is, what was the name originally? Or what is the standard form of the name today? It's tricky trying to figure something like this out, because there are literally hundreds of thousands of Polish names, and a change of one letter can sometimes involve enormous differences. But following the logic of what I just said, I see three likely possibilities: 1) TYPINSKI; 2) CIPINSKI; 3) the name originated as TIPINSKI in some other
Slavic language, possibly Russian or Ukrainian, and was brought into Polish as is.

As of 1990 there were 74 Polish citizens named TYPINSKI (accent over the N, pronounced roughly "tip-EEN-skee"). They were scattered in small numbers all over Poland, with by far the largest number 29, living in the province of Zamosc, on the Ukrainian border. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

There were 90 Poles named CIPINSKI (accent over the N, pronounced roughly "chee-PEEN-skee"). The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice, 33; Skierniewice, 21; and Wroclaw, 11.

As I said, there were no TIPINSKI's in Poland as of 1990, and I have no other data for other countries. None of my sources on other languages discuss this name.

In any event, the name probably refers to a place name, meaning "one from Tipin/Cipin/Typin" or some similar name. Without being sure of the surname's form, it's hard to say what the name of the place might have been. There's a place named Ciepien, that's a possibility, but there are others. If you'd like to investigate some of the possibilities, you could go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm

Enter "Cipin" or "Typin" or "Tipin" as the place you're looking for (they all code the same in Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex anyway) and hit "Start Search." It will provide a long list of places in Eastern Europe with names that could be a phonetic match for this name. Most of them you can ignore; concentrate mainly on places in Belarus, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine that are reasonably close to the spellings I gave. Who knows, this might give you something to work with.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


WASELEWICZ

I have never seen my given surname posted anywhere, nor have I any knowledge of it's origins. In college, a German professor asked if I knew the etymology of my name. He indicated that he thought it had some religious significance. Possibly you could help id some way. The name is Waselewicz. Thank you.

In Polish the suffix -ewicz means "son of," and Wasel- is a variant of the Eastern Slavic first name Poles spell Wasilij; we would spell it Vasily. It developed as a first name from the Greek word basileus, "king." Via the Orthodox Church this name came into usage among Eastern Slavs (Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians) as Vasily or Vasyl or Vasylko; in Polish it became Bazyli, and in English it became Basil. Note that languages influenced primarily by Latin retained the initial B sound, whereas the Greek-influenced Eastern Slavs turned it into a V sound, which Poles spell with the letter W.

It's not unusual for Slavs in general to have used a great many different forms of the name before one or two finally came to be regarded as standard, and this often shows up in surnames, which developed centuries ago. So even though the standard form of the first name these days is Vasily, it's not odd that it might appear as Vasel, especially when a suffix was added. The name probably originated among Belarusians or Ukrainians as Vaselevich, but Polish was the standard language of record for a long time in those regions, and thus the Polish spelling Waselewicz came into existence.

The bottom line, therefore, is that the name means "son of Basil." It almost certainly originated among Belarusians, or Ukrainians (or perhaps Russians, but that's less likely). Later it came to be written in Polish form because Polish was the language of record for the entire Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which included Lithuania, Belarus, and most of Ukraine. Various different forms of this same basic name appear among Poles, including Wasilewicz, borne by 765 Polish citizens as of 1990, and Wasylewicz, borne by 240. As of 1990, according to the best data available, there were no Polish citizens who spelled the name WASELEWICZ -- probably because over the last century there has been a tendency to standardize name spellings, influenced by the greater degree of literacy. If you looked in older records for some of those families with the names Wasilewicz and Wasylewicz, chances are quite good you would see those names occasionally spelled Waselewicz. Wasielewicz is also a plausible spelling variation.

Unfortunately I have no data on the frequency of the name in Belarus or Ukraine, and of course it would be spelled in Cyrillic, not the Roman alphabet, looking kind of like this:

B A C E JI E B N 4

The N is backwards, the JI is joined at the top with a horizontal stroke, and 4 is a pretty weak approximation of the letter in question -- but if you ever see the name in Cyrillic, this may be close enough to help you recognize it.

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


MAJORSZKY -- MAJORSKI

I saw your site on the internet and thought I would write you. I have a Polish name in our family background and was wondering if you have any information on it. The name has been in Hungary since before 1840 and the spelling is probably a bit Hungarianized too, but family history says that it came from Poland and was lower royalty. The name is MAJORSZKY. Do you have anything on that?

I don't have anything specifically on this name, but I can venture an educated guess and feel fairly confident it's right. I've run into a lot of Hungarian names borne by Poles, with spellings modified so that they're written the way Poles expect a name pronounced that way to be spelled. And I've seen at least some Polish names borne by Hungarians, similarly modified. In Hungarian the sound Poles spell as S, a simple "s" sound as in "so," is written SZ. And just to make things really confusing, Hungarians use the letter S to stand for the "sh" sound Poles write as SZ! Hungarian is exactly backwards from Polish in that respect.

So we're not assuming too much if we figure a Pole named MAJORSKI (or possibly someone from another Slavic group, a Czech or Slovak, etc.) could very well have come to live in Hungary, and gradually the spelling was changed to reflect Hungarian norms. Polish MAJORSKI and Hungarian MAJORSZKY are pronounced so similarly that this hypothesis is quite plausible.

MAJORSKI is not a common name at all in Poland these days -- as of 1990 the best data available shows only 2 Poles by that name, both living somewhere in the province of Bydgoszcz. There are other names, however, from the same root that are more common, including MAJOR (1,779), MAJORCZYK (868), MAJOREK (932), MAJOROWSKI (223), etc. I'm not sure why Majorski isn't more common -- perhaps most of the folks by that name moved to Hungary!? There may be more to this, but none of my sources go into it.

MAJORSKI comes from the Latin word _major_ or _maior_, "greater, bigger," and especially in a sense of rank or position, such as "major" in the military and even "mayor" as head of a town's government. So the name MAJORSKI certainly could be connected with a degree of rank and authority. I don't have specifics on noble families, so there's not a lot more I can tell you. But you might be able to learn more if you post a question to the mailing list Herbarz-L. It is frequented by gentlemen with access to various armorials and libraries, and very often they are able to provide some information on specific noble families and their coats of arms.

To subscribe (which costs nothing), send an E-mail message with just the word SUBSCRIBE to this address:

HERBARZ-L-request@rootsweb.com

No one reads this note -- a computer will process it automatically, add you to the mailing list, and send you a brief note explaining procedures. Then you can post a note to the list itself, where it will be read by the members, at this address:

HERBARZ-L@rootsweb.com

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


MISIOROWSKI

Do you have any information on the above family name? From Ulcie Solna, east of Kraków. Still have family in Poland with this name. Was told at one point that it meant butcher or meat cutter.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 245 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 33, Katowice 31, Kielce 53, and Krakow 35; the rest lived in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

With some Polish names it's fairly easy to tell what they come from without detailed info on a given family; with others there just is no way to say anything firm without research into the family's background. MISIOROWSKI is one of the latter. Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. So you'd expect this name to mean "one from Misiory or Misiorowo" or some similar name. But offhand I can't find any places with names that qualify. The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago.

If the form of the surname is reliable, it would seem to mean "one from Misiory or Misiorowo," and that name in turn comes from the noun misiora, "sorrel, mousetail (Myosurus)"; so the surname could be interpreted as "one from the place of sorrel." But I hesitate to accept that because there is, in fact, a noun misiarz that means "one who gelds animals." That -rz would simplify to -r- when suffixes were added, and the -a- could easily change to -o-; we see that happen all the time with Polish names. So even though the name appears to refer to a connection with a place name derived from misiora, it would be foolish not to recognize the real possibility that the name has changed slightly over the centuries and originally meant "kin of the animal gelder, one from the place of the animal gelders." 

As far as that goes, the Polish word for "meat" is mięso (the e has a tail under it and is pronounced roughly like "en"). Given a little change in the pronunciation and spelling of the name, Misiorowski might originally have referred to a butcher or meat dealer. The form of the name as we have it now suggests otherwise; but the name certainly might have changed somewhere along the way, even before the family ever left Poland.

As I say, without detailed research into your particular family, there's no way I can know which one meaning is relevant. It's one thing to say misiarz or mięso could yield a name in the form Misior-; it's another thing to prove it actually happened. So all I can do is offer these plausible explanations. With any luck your research may help you uncover some fact that will settle the matter one way or the other. 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


GREGORCZYK -- GRZEGORCZYK

I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the surname
Gregorczyk. My grandmother was Polish, but her family anglicized the name to Gregor after they arrived in Canada. I believe that the original Polish name was Gregorczyk.  They lived in what was then Austrian Poland (Galicia). I wonder if this name  was common in that part of Poland.


The standard spelling of this name in Polish is GRZEGORCZYK. It is possible that your ancestors bore this name with Gregor- instead of Grzegor-, because there are regional differences in pronunciation that can affect spelling. A German linguistic influence, for instance, might affect this name and make it Gregor- instead of Grzegor-. But more often than not, Poles would spell this name Grzegorczyk, and pronounce it sort of like "g'zheh-GORE-chick" (whereas Gregorczyk would be more like "greh-GORE-chick").

It comes from the first name Grzegorz, the Polish form of the name we call "Gregory." The -czyk suffix is quite common in Polish, and in surnames usually translates as "son of." So this is one of several
surnames in Polish that translate as "son of Gregory." As such, it is a name that could develop independently almost anywhere people spoke Polish and there were guys named Grzegorz. So we'd expect it to be moderately common and widespread, with no concentration in any one part of the country.

That is what modern distribution and frequency data shows. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 10,123 Polish citizens named GRZEGORCZYK, living all over Poland. As for the non-standard spelling GREGORCZYK, it, too, is reasonably common; there were 3,999 Poles who used that form of the name. It's interesting, though, that there was a definite concentration of Poles by that name in the southeastern province of Radom -- 1,218. The other provinces with large numbers were Ciechanow, 115; Katowice 380; Kielce, 113; Kraków 165; Lublin 130; Olsztyn 124; Szczecin 119; and Warsaw, 348.

This data doesn't allow one to focus too precisely on any one area; but it does suggest that the name is especially common in that part of former Galicia near the city of Radom. Perhaps this will be some help to you.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

 

SZRPARSKI -- TRZENZALSKI -- TRZEMZALSKI

 

I have two surnames that I am stumped on. They are: Tekla SZRPARSKI and Stanislawa TRZENZALSKI. I am assuming that these two women are from somewhere around the area of Strzelno, Poland, which is near Gniezno, as that is where their spouses were from. I wondered if anyone has access to the Slownik Nazwisk and could possibly do a lookup for me in that, to see where these names were concentrated at. Also, does anyone have any ideas of what these two names could possibly mean?

Unfortunately, the Slownik nazwisk says there was no one in Poland by either of those names. It's possible the names were rare and died out after the families emigrated. But more often, when I run into something like this, it turns out the forms of the names are wrong -- somewhere along the line they've been misread or distorted. Before looking I thought SZRPARSKI had to be mangled, and I strongly suspect TRZENZALSKI is too. Those don't look or sound right. And considering how many hundreds of thousands of Polish surnames there are, it can be very difficult to take a distorted or misspelled form and deduce what the original was. Sometimes you can -- it's not too tough to see that Covalsky is Kowalski, or Catcavage is Kotkiewicz -- but usually it's not possible because there are just too many variables.

I did find one possibility for Trzenzalski, however, and it looks pretty good: TRZEMZALSKI (dot over the second Z). As of 1990 there were 89 Polish citizens by this name. They were scattered all over in small numbers: the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (12), Katowice (19), and Krosno (18). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

This surname most likely refers to the name of a place with which the family was connected at some point. The only candidate I could find is TRZEMŻAL in former Bydgoszcz province. If you'd like to see where it is, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm

Enter TRZEMZAL as the place you're looking for, and click on "Start Search." You'll get a list of places with names that COULD phonetically match up with Trzemzal. Scroll down till you find: TRZEMZAL 5233 1754 POLAND 132.2 miles W of Warsaw. Click on it, and you should get a map that shows the location. The Strzelno you mentioned is perhaps, oh, 10-15 km. ENE of Trzemzal, so it's reasonable to suppose that in your ancestors' case the surname just mean "one from Trzemzal." It could be Trzenzalski is just an misspelling, or it could possibly be a legitimate phonetic variation of the name, since the EM and EN sounds can be pretty
close. Either way, I strongly suspect this is the answer to your
question on this name.

As for Szrparski, the only thing I can suggest is to keep doing research until you find a document with a reliable spelling and a name of the place of origin. If you find that, let me know and I'll see if I can tell you anything. Good luck!


MNICH

I would appreciate any information concerning the surname "MNICH".

According to Polish experts, this surname comes from the Polish noun mnich, "monk, friar." Presumably it originated as a nickname for the relatives of one who was a monk, or as a nickname for one who somehow reminded people of a monk, or even one who was the opposite of a monk -- the name may have been meant ironically in some cases. As of 1990 there were 2,734 Polish citizens named Mnich, living all over Poland, with no particular concentration in any one part of the country.


SADLOWSKI -- KRZYKWA -- GIZYNSKI -- JORGELEIT -- JURGELATJTIS

I just found your information on the internet for Polish surnames. Unfortunately my family names are not listed. If you could give me any information on any of the names I would appreciate it very much. SADLOWSKI, KRZYKWA, GIZYNSKI, JORGELEIT OR JURGELATJTIS

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 836 Polish citizens named GIZYNSKI. In Polish this name is spelled with a dot over the Z and an accent over the N, and pronounced roughly "gi-ZHIN-skee." It derives ultimately from the noun giza, "hind leg of a pig or ox," but it probably refers to the family's connection with any of a number of places with names somehow connected with that root, such as Gizyn and Gizyno. If you'd like to see some of the places this surname might be connected with, search for "Gizyn" at this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm 

JORGELEIT is a Germanized or Anglicized form of the name JURGELAITIS, which is actually Lithuanian in origin and means basically "son of little George." 

KRZYKWA was the name of 272 Polish citizens as of 1990. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun krzykwa, "storm."

SADLOWSKI was borne by 2,879 Poles as of 1990. It is another name referring to a place name, Sadlow or Sadlowo or something similar, deriving from the noun sadlo, "fat, lard." So the surname means roughly "one from Sadlow or Sadlowo" and can further be broken down as "one from the place of fat or lard."


GLAZA

I am trying to find the origin and history of the name Glaza. I know of a Johannes Glaza (b. 1822) who lived in the city of Sliwice (Cewice) if that is any help. Thank you very much for your time!

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 928 Polish citizens named GLAZA. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (302) and Gdansk (373), with the rest scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. 

None of my sources give any definitive information on what this name comes from. It might possibly come from the noun glaz, "glaze, silver mixed with gold," or from German Glas, "glass." There is a native Polish word głaz, "stone, boulder," but the problem is that it has the L with a slash through it (which I represent on-line as Ł, pronounced like our W ), and it is very hard to say whether and under what circumstances it would be relevant to a name with the standard L. As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named GŁAZA, but there were 2,013 named GŁAZ. So it's very much debatable as to whether that has anything to do with GLAZA.


MLECZEWSKI -- NUSZKOWSKI

A friend of mine just gave me your website and told me you do quick surname origins and meanings. I am wondering if you would be kind enough to consider a short analysis of my maiden name, which was Mleczewski. Old Bible records indicate my grandfather was born either in 1889 or 1890 in Tadejewo, Rypin, Pomarskie, POLAND. I recall, as a child, I was told he was a well-educated man, who served as a governmental interpreter. I do remember he spoke several languages. (Don't know if you want or need this last information, but for what it might be worth, I've included it.) His mother's maiden name was Nuszk'owska. >>

Literally Mleczewski means "of, from the _ of milk"; in names ending with -ewski or -owski, that blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out, either with "place" or "kin." So this name could mean "kin of the milk guy." But more likely it means "one from the place of milk," referring to a place with a name derived from Polish mleko, "milk." Such a place could be named Mleczew or Mleczewo, or almost anything beginning with Mlecz-. There is at least one good candidate, Mleczewo, a few kilometers east of Sztum, which is southeast of Gdansk and southwest of Elblag. Mleczewski makes perfect sense as meaning "one from Mleczewo." However, it is quite possible there are or were other places with names from which the surname might develop; Mleczewo's just the best one I could find offhand.

By the way, he was born in Tadejewo (or Tadajewo?), Rypin, Pomorskie. That's just an adjective referring to the region of Pomerania. There's a Tadajewo very near Rypin, east of Torun -- presumably that's the place you're referring to. It's quite a distance south of Mleczewo, so it's hard to say whether that Mleczewo is the place to which the name refers in your ancestor's case; but it is at least possible.

Mleczewski is not a very common name at all. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were only 29 Poles by that name. They lived in the provinces of Gdansk (5), Torun (21), and Wloclawek (3). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. As of 1990 Rypin and Tadajewo were in Wloclawek province, so that suggests those 3 Mleczewskis in that province might be relatives; for that matter, some of the 21 in Torun province might also be, that's not too far away.

It's interesting that Nuszkowski is also a rare name: there were only 22 Poles by that name, living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (8), Gdansk (10), and Szczecin (4). It, too, probably refers to a place named something like Nuszki or Nuszkowo. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc.


MARAJDA

I ... wondered if you had ever come across the name "MARAJDA" in your investigations? My husband's grandmother was an Anna Marajda, and she married a Peter Wisniak. He spoke Russian and Polish, she only Polish.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 23 Polish citizens named MARAJDA. Two of them lived somewhere in the province of Sieradz, the rest lived in the province of Lodz. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. But perhaps it will help you focus your research on the Lodz area, since the odds are that's the most likely area in which to find relatives.

As for the derivation or meaning of this name, I'm afraid none of my sources give any information at all. This makes me suspect the name is not Polish in origin. But I couldn't find anything on it in my German, Lithuanian, or Ukrainian sources, either. So I'm at a loss to suggest what language it came from, let alone what it means. Most Polish names beginning with Mar- come either from short forms of the first name Marek, "Mark," or from the noun mara, "phantom, nightmare." There's also a verb marac that means "to dirty, smear, soil." But I can think of no plausible way for MARAJDA to come from any of those roots.


GRYGLEWICZ -- FARON

My husband's grandparents immigrated from Poland in the very early 1900's. Their names are listed as Andrez Gryglewicz and Anna Farron. I am having trouble researching them. Could you tell me what the origin of the names are and if I am even close in spelling.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 537 Polish citizens named GRYGLEWICZ, so this is probably a correct spelling of the name. The suffix -ewicz means "son of," and Grygl- comes from Grygiel, a kind of nickname or variant from of the first name we know as "Gregory." So the surname means basically "son of Greg." That name Grygiel is found more in the eastern part of Poland or the regions just east of there, i.e., Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine; so most likely the first bearers of this name came from that general area. In the centuries since then, however, the name has been spread all over Poland -- these days there is no one region in which this name is concentrated.

As for FARRON, Poles usually don't use double letters unless you
actually pronounce the letter twice; the doubling of the R probably
happened after the family left Poland. In this case, I suspect the original form was FARON, pronounced roughly "FAR-own," a name borne by 1,701 Polish citizens as of 1990 (there was no one named FARRON). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 194, Kraków 98, Nowy Sacz 769, and Opole 166. So it is most common in southcentral and southwestern Poland.

I found only one expert who discussed this name, but he was an expert on names in the Nowy Sacz region, which is where the name is most common -- so his insights are probably reliable. He said it derives from faron, which is a variant of the noun piorun, "lightning." Presumably it started as a nickname for one whom people somehow associated with lightning. He mentions it might also be connected with the noun fanfaron, which came from French and means "boaster, braggart, fop."

 

 

JAZWIEC - HASKIEWICZ - GLOGOWSKI

Since I have started to trace my family tree, I have discovered many family surnames that I would like to know the origin of, but I will limit myself to inquiring about only a few. I am familiar with the origin of a couple names. Among those, Gajda, which is the name of the bagpipe-type instruments from Gorny Slask (Upper Silesia), and Sieradzki, from the town of Sieradz, near Wielkopolska. However, My interest primarily lies in the names Nawrocki, Jazwiec, Has'kiewicz (accent on s) and Głogowski.

Nawrocki comes from the verb nawracać, nawrócić, "to turn, revert, convert," especially referring to a change in religion or conversion; as of 1990 there were 21,798 Poles by this name, living all over Poland.

Jazwiec, the name of 777 Poles as of 1990, comes from a Polish noun meaning "badger"; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Kalisz (234), Katowice (97), and Krakow (111) in southcentral Poland.

Głogowski means "one from Głogów or Głogówko," and there were 6,886 Poles by that name as of 1990.

Haśkiewicz means "son of Hasiek or Haśko," and as of 1990 there were 205 Poles by that name, scattered in small numbers all over Poland.


BUDZYNSKI - KARPINSKI

I am researching a friend's family name of Budzynski and Karpinski.

I'm afraid I can't help much. Both names are fairly common, and both come from place names that can apply to a number of different villages in Poland. As of 1990 there were 7,212 BUDZYNSKI's, living all over Poland; the name just means "one from Budzyn or Budzynka," and there are several villages and towns with names that could yield this surname. There were 19,174 Poles named KARPINSKI, also living all over the country, and that name just means "one from Karpin or Karpno" or some similar place name. So as is common with Polish surnames, the names themselves provide no useful information in tracing a given family. The only way to discover anything useful is by way of detailed genealogical research that may shed light on exactly which Budzyn or Budzynka or Karpin or Karpno this particular family was once connected with.


GRABSKI

I am looking for general info on the last name of grabski. I am third generation in the united states.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,738 Polish citizens named GRABSKI. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 263, Bydgoszcz 220, Gdansk 199, Katowice 298, Lodz 282, Poznan 219, Warsaw 642. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. About all this data really tells us is
that the name is found all over Poland, so that a Grabski family could come from anywhere.

This name probably refers in most cases to the name of a place the family was associated with at some point. The problem is, there are a lot of places that qualify, places named Grab, Grabie, etc. They come from the roots grab, "hornbeam tree," grabie, "rake," and grabic', "to rob." Most likely the majority of the places were named either for a local concentration of hornbeams or for a founder or owner named Grab. So Grabski literally means "of the hornbeam" or "of Grab" or "of the place of Grab or the hornbeams." Without detailed research into a specific family there's no way to know what the exact link was in their particular case.


FRENZEL

Do you have any idea what the origin of FRENZEL is?

It's German in origin, a diminutive of Franz, "Francis." Spelled Frenzel or Fra"nzel in German, it would mean something like "little Frank." It's not a very common name in Poland these days -- as of 1990 there were only 104 Polish citizens named Frenzel, scattered all over the country.  It's probably pretty common in Germany, but I have no data for that country.


KUNDE

I am interested in learning about my last name Kunde my people came from the Koslin area of Prussia.

Kunde is a German name, which is not surprising or unusual in that area. According to Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon, this name comes from Middle High German kunde, meaning "known person, native."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 44 Polish citizens named KUNDE, living in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 16, Gdansk 6, Slupsk 22. The form KUNDA is much more common; there were 789 Poles by that name, including 29 in the province of Koszalin. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.


ZATORSKI

I found your site, and perhaps you can help me. I am attempting to find a section of my mother's family that did not manage to escape Poland before the Nazi occupation. The family name is Zatorski or Zatorsky. I am curious as to the origins of this name.

ZATORSKI is adjectival in form, and comes from the noun zator, "blockage, especially of a river's course; ice jam," or from place names derived from that noun. There are at least three villages or settlements called Zator (at least 2, one near Bielsko-Biala and one near Skierniewice) and Zatory (near Ostrołęka). As of 1990 there were 4,287 Polish citizens named Zatorski, living all over Poland. So like the vast majority of Polish surnames, this one doesn't provide a researcher a whole lot to work with.


FALKOWSKI, WAWAK

I am interested in two, Falkowski and Wawak and would appreciate any information on them.

FALKOWSKI just means "one from Falki or Falkow or Falkowa or Falkowo," and thus refers to a family's connection at some point with any of a number of places with names beginning Falk-. Without detailed info on a specific family there is no way to know which of these places the name refers to.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 9,306 Polish citizens named FALKOWSKI. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 898, Białystok 1,550, Olsztyn 546, Torun 879, and Wloclawek 406. So the name is especially common in northeastern and northcentral Poland; but a Falkowski family could really come from anywhere in Poland. With any luck your research may help you focus on a particular region or area, and if you find a place with a name beginning Falk- nearby, chances are decent that is the place the name referred to originally. The name is pronounced roughly "fall-KOFF-skee," or sometimes "fall-KOSS-kee."

As of 1990 there were 748 Polish citizens named WAWAK ("VAH-vahk"), of whom by far the largest concentration, 516, lived in the south central province of Bielsko-Biala. The name is thought to have come from a kind of affectionate short form or nickname of the Polish first name
Wawrzyniec, "Lawrence." So Wawak originally meant something like "little Larry" or, more likely, "kin of Larry."


ZGONINA

I read with interest your material about names on the Polish Roots website. Could you please tell me anything you know about the name "Zgonina" which probably originated in the Slask region? Also, what does your more-detailed analysis of names involved and what is your fee?

I'm going to have to change what it says on the Website -- I just don't have time to do detailed research. All I can offer is "quick and dirty" analysis. To do anything more, you have to undertake detailed research into the geographical, historical, social, and linguistic context in which a particular family came to be associated with a specific name. I'm too committed to other projects to have any time for that kind of painstaking research in the foreseeable future.

What I can tell you is that the name Zgonina probably comes from the noun zgonina, "chaff." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were only 64 Polish citizens by this name. They lived in the following provinces: Czestochowa 7, Katowice 22, Opole 31, Zielona Gora 4. This distribution tends to support your belief that the name originated in the region of Slask or Silesia -- Katowice and Opole are major cities of Silesia. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.


PRZYBYLO

I came upon your name through the internet. Recently, my father passed away. He was remarkably closed mouthed, and revealed little about himself or his family. The little I do know is his father immigrated to the US just prior to 1900 supposedly from Krakow. His name was Michael Przybylo and his new home was Chicago. The only other facts I know are that my father's birth certificate listed Michael's place of birth as Pilsen and he had a brother, Joseph. We always considered the tracing of our name and heritage futile due to two wars we thought would destroy any records. Any comments you might have would be greatly appreciated.

The name PRZYBYLO is spelled in Polish with a slash through the L, and is pronounced roughly "p'shih-BI-woe," where the middle syllable has the short I sound in "bit." It comes from a noun meaning "new arrival, newcomer," and is widespread all over Poland. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,744 Polish citizens by this name; 418 lived in the province of Krakow alone. The origin and meaning of the name itself offer nothing useful in the way of tracing ancestry.

Tracing your heritage in Poland is not the futile effort you might think. You'd be amazed at how many records survive in Poland; I routinely hear from people who've traced their families back to the 1700's. If you'd like to try doing some research in earnest, I recommend buying a copy of Rosemary Chorzempa's "Polish Roots." It's widely available, it's less than $20, and countless people have told me they found it priceless in terms of the help it gave them in getting started.


TYLINSKI, ZIELINSKI

I am trying to research the surnames "Tylinski" and "Zielinski" - I believe that my Tylinski Grandfather came from the Wielkopolska region - I believe from a town called "Kolo". I think the spelling is reasonably true, as he came to the U.S. sometime after 1900. I am unable to find anything on the Tylinski name (except for a few references, but nothing of substance). I have just begun searching on"Zielinski", but I know even less about my grandmother's history.

Well, ZIELINSKI is spelled with an accent over the N and pronounced roughly "zheh-LEEN-skee." It's one of many Polish names that are so common and so widespread that there is no one derivation. As of 1990 there were 85,988 Polish citizens named Zielinski, living in large numbers all over Poland. There isn't one big Zielinski family that got the name one way, there are many families who all got the name independently in different ways; if you were in a big room full of Zielinskis, you would probably find this Zielinski family got their name one way, that one another, and that one yet another. The most we can say is that the basic root of the name is ziel-, which means "green," as seen in words such as ziolo, "herb" (a "green"), zielen, "the color green," and so on. So ZIELINSKI may have started in some cases as referring to the kin of a fellow who raised or sold herbs, or a fellow who always wore green, or some other perceived association between a person or family and something green.

In most cases, however, it probably started as a reference to the name of a place the person or family came from. There are many towns, villages, estates, etc. with names like Zielen or Zielin or
Zielina, all from the root meaning "green," and Zielinski could refer to any of them; it can just as easily mean "one from Zielen," "one from Zielin," "one from Zielina," etc. So there's no way to learn from the name itself anything about a given Zielinski family. Only successful genealogical research may uncover facts about which particular place the name refers to, if it refers to a place, or what the family's connection to "green" originally was, if it doesn't.

TYLINSKI is spelled with an accent over the N also, and is pronounced roughly "till-EEN-skee." Theoretically it can refer to a place name, something like Tyla or Tylin or Tylina or Tylno; but I can't find any places with names that fit. That doesn't necessarily mean much -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc. Often surnames came from the names locals used for a particular field or hill or other feature of the land, names that would never show up on any but the most detailed maps, or in local guides. So it is quite plausible the name means "one from Tyla" or any of the other possibilities I mentioned.

But TYLINSKI literally means "of, from, connected with the _ of Tyl," so it might also mean "kin of Tyl." That is a name that can come from a number of different roots, including tyl, "rear, back, behind," or tyle, "how much," or the German first name Thill, or even from a nickname from "Bartlomiej," the Polish form of "Bartholomew." So without detailed information on a specific family's background there's no way even to make a reasonable guess exactly which meaning is relevant. All I can do is list the possibilities, in hopes that one day your research will uncover some fact that will shed light on exactly how the name developed.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 739 Polish citizens named Tylinski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 103, Leszno 111, Lodz 82, and Poznan 116. So there is no one area with which this name is particularly associated; a Tylinski could come from almost anywhere in Poland, especially western Poland. I'm afraid the place name Kolo isn't necessarily much help because there are at least 3 places by that name in Poland. The one you want is probably the one east of Konin and northwest of Lodz, since as of 1999 that is in the far eastern part of modern Wielkopolska province; but it's unwise to rule out the others until you're certain. In 1990 Kolo was in Konin province, and the Slownik nazwisk directory shows no Polish citizens named Tylinski living in Konin province.


SKIKIEWICZ

...this is intriguing and it has me thinking if it's associated with something that the person is/was doing than I wonder what 'Skikiewicz' can mean(surely it can't be a skiing instructor) there was some mention that my g/grandfather had some dealings/trading in horses could that be part of it in a Slavic language

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions Skikiewicz in his book Nazwiska Polakow. Obviously it means "son of Skik," and he derives that name from the dialect noun skik, a variant of standard Polish skok, which means "jump." The so-called Slownik warszawski adds that in addition to its use as a noun, skik is a dialect term used as an interjection meaning "hop! hush!" Neither source identifies what dialect this term is used in, but I suspect it would originate in the Kresy, the eastern regions of the Commonwealth, and especially in Ukraine. One reason I say so is that the term skik is used in exactly this way in Ukrainian; and Ukrainian has a tendency to change O in most Slavic languages into I. Even without any information from Rymut or the dictionary, one could reasonably suggest Skik might be a Ukrainian form of Polish Skok.

So it appears safe to say SKIKIEWICZ means "son of Skik," and that name began as a sort of nickname, much as if you called a person "Hop" or "Jumpy" in English. It's impossible to say any more than that without detailed research into the family's history. Considering that such names are typically several centuries old, it's questionable whether any records survive that will establish exactly how a fellow came to be called this. Perhaps the most we can do is propose reasonable and plausible suggestions based on the core meaning of the word.

You probably know this is a fairly rare name in modern Poland. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were only 64 Polish citizens named Skikiewicz. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gorzow 15, Lublin 11, and Wroclaw 16. The rest were scattered all over the country in tiny numbers. That distribution may seem inconsistent with Ukrainian derivation until you factor in the effects of the post-World War II forced relocation of millions from eastern Poland to the western territories recovered from Germany. These days we often see distinctively Ukrainian surnames concentrated in western Poland, far away from where we'd expect to see them. If we had data from before 1939, I suspect the name Skikiewicz would be found primarily in the east. However, I can't prove it.


BRUDZISZ, PIERZ

I'm currently working with a Family Tree Maker to log my family tree. Some data I have obtained from other family research are the surnames PIERZ , GORSKI, both from Mosczcenica, Poland. Also any inofrmation on the surname Brudzisz, which is either Polish or Austrian? Thanks for your help. Brudzisz became Bridges around 1910 in USA with the birth of my granfather and the spelling that was reported by the midwife, so the story goes.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 122 Polish citizens named BRUDZISZ. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gorzow 19, Katowice 13, Krosno 17, Nowy Sacz 12, Tarnow 32. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. In Poland there are at least 9 places called Moszczenica -- which is almost certainly the correct spelling of the place name in question -- so I can't tell you which one your family came from. Many of them are in the south central and southeastern part of the country, which from roughly 1772 to 1918 was called Galicia and was ruled by the Austrian Empire. That explains how a name can be Polish and Austrian -- Poland was divided up by Germany, Russia, and Austria, and for a long time "Poland" ceased to exist as a nation, so people from there were officially classified as Germans, Russians, and Austrians by citizenship, but Polish by ethnicity.

The root of this name is seen in the noun brud, "dirt, filth," and the verb brudzic', "to dirty," so Brudzisz was probably a nickname for one who was usually pretty dirty, perhaps because of his work. The name is pronounced "BREW-jish," and if you say it out loud it's not hard to hear how it could be Americanized as "Bridges." We run into this all the time, as Polish names that sounded strange to Americans were modified to something a little less "foreign."

GORSKI is an extremely common Polish surname, borne by 41,790 Poles as of 1990. It comes from the noun góra, "hill, mountain," or from a place name derived from that noun such as Góra or Góry. It can be regarded as a kind of Polish equivalent to the English surname Hill, both in meaning and popularity.

PIERZ was the name of 602 Polish citizens as of 1990. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 23, Czestochowa 101, Katowice 46, Koszalin 33, Krakow 31, Nowy Sacz 33, Tarnow 105, Wroclaw 92. So it's found all throughout southern Poland, especially the south central and southeastern parts of the country. It appears to derive from the noun pierze, meaning "feathers, plumage," and may have started as a nickname for one whose hair or clothes somehow reminded people of a bird's plumage. The name is pronounced roughly "p'yesh."


CZERWINSKI, PETKA

I would appreciate any information you may have on the name PETKA (my fathers) or CZERWINSKI (my mothers).

With a lot of Polish names there is no one sure derivation. PETKA could come from several different roots. Perhaps the most likely is that it started as a kind of affectionate short form or nickname for Piotr or Pietr, Polish forms of the first name Peter; thus it may have originally
meant "son of Pete" or "kin of Pete." But it might also come from a variant of the term pestka, "stone in a fruit." Without more detailed information on the family's background, there is simply no way to say which is relevant.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 564 Polish citizens named PETKA. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 258, Katowice 42, and Rzeszow 55. So the name is found all over the country, but is particularly common in the area around Gdansk, on the Baltic in northcentral Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

As for CZERWINSKI, I recently responded to another researcher asking about that name. I can add nothing to what I told him, so I have quoted that note below.


I am starting to research my family's roots. As I was searching different sites , I came upon yours. I noticed that my last name ,Czerwinski, was not on your list. I was wondering if you had gotten any new information on the origins and meaning of my last name. Any information would be greatly appriciated. 

CZERWINSKI in Polish is written with an accent over the N and is pronounced roughly "chair-VEEN-skee." Another spelling of the same basic name is Czerwienski. Both are thought to come either from the root seen in the noun czerw, "maggot, grub," or from the root seen in czerwien, "red." More directly, the surname probably refers to a family's connection with the name of a place where they once lived or worked, or -- if they were noble -- an estate they once owned; there are numerous mentions in the records of nobles named Czerwinski, so some Czerwinskis (though by no means all) descend from noble families. One source links this surname with a village called Czerwienne, today known as Miedzyczerwienne, near Nowy Targ in Nowy Sacz province. But that's only one of a number of places the surname might refer to, including places with the names Czerwieniec, Czerwiensk, Czerwin, Czerwinsk, etc. Without more information on a specific family's history, there is no way to know which of these places the name refers to in a given instance. Those place names, in turn, would derive from either czerw, "maggot, grub," or from czerwien, "red."

So basically Czerwinski means "one from Czerwin (or any of the other places with similar names," and thus could be interpreted as "one from the place of grubs," "kin of the maggot" (in some cases Czerw appears to have been a nickname for a person who had something to do with the village's history), or "one from the red place," so called because of something reddish in the vicinity, such as soil, a mountain, etc.

Czerwinski is a pretty common name. As of 1990 there were 27,088 Polish citizens by this name, living in large numbers all over Poland. So a Czerwinski family could have come from anywhere in Poland; and it's a good bet there are a number of distinct families that came to bear this name independently, rather than one great big Czerwinski family.


DRAPINSKI, DROPINSKI

Could you please tell me what you know on the name Drapinski or Dropinski.

DRAPINSKI is probably from the root drap- seen in the verb drapac', "to scrape." As of 1990 there were 576 Polish citizens by this name, living all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area. DROPINSKI is probably from the noun drop, "bustard" (a kind of bird), or the archaic noun dropa, "scratch, mark." As of 1990 there were 350 Polish citizens named Dropinski, living all over Poland with some concentration in the western part of the country.

In either case a connection with the name of a place beginning Drap- or Drop- is quite possible. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc.


SZYGENDA

do you have the meaning of the surname "Szygenda"? or is there one? thank you.

I'm sorry, none of my sources have anything on the origin of this name. All I can tell you is that as of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 501 Polish citizens named SZYGENDA, with the largest number by far, 232, living in the province of Konin. There were also larger numbers in the provinces of Koszalin, 51, and Poznan, 55. So the name is found mainly in western Poland,
especially the area just west of the center of the country. But I'm afraid that's all I can tell you.

If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections
of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the  individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.

I'd be very interested in hearing what they have to tell you, because this one has me baffled. I can't find anything that sheds any light on it at all.


PIETROWIAK, NIEDZIELA

My husband was told by his family that Pietrowiak means "House of Peter" but I'm not sure how correct it is. Could you be so kind as to tell me the true meaning of this surname and how it differs from Pietrowski or Piotrowski surnames I've seen in the Polish military books?

Polish has a great variety of suffixes it adds to the roots of names in order to express different relationships; some of them don't really mean anything very specific, they just refer to a general connection. The -ski names you mention all refer to some kind of connection with a man named Piotr (Peter), which can also appear as Pietr and in various other forms. Pietrowski and Piotrowski both mean more or less "of, from the place of Peter," referring to a family's connection with any of a number of places with names like Pietrow or Piotrow or Pietrowo or Piotrowo, etc. PIETROWIAK (pronounced roughly "p'yet-ROVE-yock") is a little more general; it could mean "one from Peter's place," but it could also just mean "kin of Peter." The suffix -iak is all-purpose; it can mean "kin of" or "little" or just vaguely "one connected with." The Pietrow- consists of the name Pietr plus a general possessive suffix -ow, and thus means little more than "of Peter." So "kin of Peter" or "son of Peter's kin" is about as accurate as you can get. Your husband's family's rendering of "House of Peter" is really not bad; let's say it could be interpreted that way, but could also be rendered a little less specifically.

The name is not as common as I would have expected. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were only 278 Polish citizens named Pietrowiak. I would have expected more; compare 2,031 Pietrowski's, 851 Piotrowiak's (which for all intents and purposes means the same thing as Pietrowiak), and 57,934 Piotrowski's. 

The largest numbers of those Pietrowiaks lived in the following provinces: Kalisz 37, Leszno 70, and Poznan 62. So while the name is found all over Poland, it is most common in an area just a little west of the center of the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

My mother-in-law's maiden name is Niedziela. Could you please explain its origin and meaning?

NIEDZIELA ("nye-JELL-ah") means literally "not do," and is the standard Polish word for "Sunday," because that is the day when Christians were not supposed to work. I suppose the name could be applied to a person in the sense of "do-nothing, lazy," but most of the time it probably was a reference to the day of the week -- perhaps the person to whom the name was first applied was born on a Sunday, or had some special work or duty he performed on Sunday. Names like these derived from nicknames originated centuries ago, and in most cases we can't determine the exact reason for which they were originally given. About all we can do is note associations and make plausible suggestions. In this case a Niedziela was probably one for whom the nickname "Sunday" somehow seemed appropriate.

It's a moderately common name. As of 1990 there were 6,543 Polish citizens named Niedziela, living all over Poland. About all one can say about the distribution is that the name is more common in southern Poland than in the north.


STRYSZYK, SWIĄTKOWSKI

I found your homepage and thank you so much for posting all that information! I am researching two Polish names that did not appear on your list and am wondering if you have seen them before: Swiatkowski (known variants: Swiontkowski, Swontkowski, Swietkowski)
--
immigrated to the US from Monkowarsk, Kriese Bromberg, Posen Stryszyk -- immigrated to the US from Grossluto, Prussia (I've not yet found  where this was exactly) Do you have any history on these names at all?


The first name is generally spelled Świątkowski in Polish; I'm using Ś to stand for the S with an accent over it, and Ą to stand for the Polish nasal vowel written as an A with a tail under it, pronounced much like "own". The nasal vowel Ą sounds like "on" and thus is often written that way, so Świątkowski is also often spelled phonetically as Świontkowski. Both versions are pronounced the same, something like "shvyont-KOFF-skee." 

There is another nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it, and I use Ę to stand for it; it is pronounced more or less like "en," but we often see names with one nasal vowel have variants with the other. So Świątkowski is the standard form, with Świontkowski a variant
spelling. We also see the form Świętkowski, which sounds more like "shvyent-KOFF-skee."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,793 Poles who spelled the name Świątkowski, as opposed to only 48 who spelled it Świontkowski. These names are scattered all over Poland, with no useful or significant concentration in any one area. The form Świętkowski was borne by 163, with the largest single number, 52, living in the northeastern province of Białystok, and the rest scattered all over.

All these names refer to a family's connection with a place named something like Świątki or Świątkowo; so the name just means "one from Świątki" (or Świątkowo or whatever). There are quite a few places with names that qualify, so without more detailed info on a specific family's background, there's no way to know which one the surname refers to in a given case. I will say this, however; there is a Świątkowo southwest of Bydgoszcz (which the Germans called Bromberg) and more or less south of Mąkowarsk, which is surely the Monkowarsk you mention. I can't say for sure this is the place the name refers to in your family's case. But it seems plausible, because it's the closest candidate and it seems to match up fairly well.

Names beginning with Świątk- come ultimately from the root swięty, "holy, sacred," which in archaic Polish meant "mighty." In most cases the place names either mean something like "sanctuary, holy place," or else "place of Świątek or Świątko," referring to men who bore names derived from that root. Thus Świątkowski can be interpreted either as "of the holy place" or "of the place of Świątek or Świątko." But usually the meaning, for all practical purposes, is "one from Świątki" or "one from Świątkowo."

STRYSZYK was the name of 192 Polish citizens as of 1990, of whom the majority, 146, lived in Bydgoszcz province. So it sounds as if this family came from the main settlement of people by this name in Poland, and perhaps there are a number of relatives still living there. Unfortunately I have no access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't offer you any further help in that regard.

This name, pronounced roughly "STRISH-ick," appears to come from the noun strych, "attic, loft," also used to mean "beggar, pauper." The -yk ending is a diminutive, so the name may mean "little attic, loft," or perhaps "son of the beggar." It could refer to a person who lived in
a small loft or attic, perhaps one too poor to live anywhere else. But people can be quite imaginative when it comes to giving nicknames that might later become surnames, so all we can do is suggest reasonable interpretations. Typically these names developed centuries ago, and frequently records survive that let us determine the exact meaning; so as I say, all we can do is suggest interpretations that make sense.


DYCZKOWSKI, WLODYGA

My cousin and I have been tracing our Polish roots but we've run into a brick wall getting back beyond my maternal grandparents who emigrated to Canada in the early 1900's. They, or at least he, was born in Kety, Biala, Poland which is a short drive from Krakow.

Can you help us with the origin of those names?


Unfortunately, Polish surnames seldom offer any real help with tracing a family's roots, because the vast majority of them are too common, rare, widespread, ambiguous, etc. I doubt anything I can tell you will be that much assistance, but I'll be glad to tell you what little I can.

DYCZKOWSKI, pronounced roughly "ditch-KOFF-skee," just means "one from Dyczki or Dyczkow or Dyczkowo" or some similar place name. This might refer to Dyczkow, now Dychkiv, near Ternopil in Ukraine; or it could refer to Dziczki, now Dychky, near Rohatyn, Ukraine; or it might refer to some other place not mentioned in my sources. Both the places I mentioned are in Ukraine now but before 1918 were in the crownland of Galicia, a subdivision of the Austrian Empire, seized from the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania during the partitions in the late 18th century. This area, which includes what are now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, is where most Polish and Ukrainian emigrants came from who immigrated to Canada. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 753 Polish citizens named Dyczkowski, living all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one region. Of course that may be a moot point, since your Dyczkowskis may well have come from what is now Ukraine, and I have no data for that country. 

ORLICKI ("oar-LEET-skee") breaks down as meaning "of the sons of the eagle," from Orlicz, "son of the eagle," from orzel, "eagle." It probably refers to a family's connection with any of a number of places with names like Orlica or Orlice or Orlik, in Poland or Ukraine; but it might also have been used to refer to the kin of one nicknamed "the Eagle." As of 1990 there were 1,085 Polish citizens by that name; the largest single number, 226, lived in the province of Bielsko-Biala, a fact that may be relevant to your research. The rest were scattered all over Poland. I have no access to further details such as first names or addresses, so that's all I can tell you on that one.

WLODYGA is spelled in Polish with a slash through the L; so the name is pronounced roughly "v'woe-DIG-ah." It appears to come from a variant form of the noun włodyka, a term or title for one in authority, with such meanings as "headman" and "bishop of the Greek rite." This form is Polish, in Ukrainian it would be more like vladyka, so it seems likely this family came from Poland; they might have been Greek Catholic rather than Roman Catholic, but there's not enough evidence to say this with any certainty. As of 1990 there were 184 Polish citizens named Włodyga, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (51), Bielsko-Biala (26), and Katowice (43). As I said before, I can't help you get names or addresses for them.


DOMARECKI, MODLISZEWSKI

I am looking for the meaning or origin of these two Polish surnames, Modliszewski and Domarecka. Thank you for any help that you can give. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 216 Polish citizens named MODLISZEWSKI. They lived scattered in small numbers all over Poland, so there is no one area we can point to and say "That's where Modliszewskis came from."

The name refers to the name of a place with which the family was associated at some point, but unfortunately there are several different names and places the name might refer to, places with names like Modliszewo, Modliszewice, Modliszow, Modliszewko, etc. The last two are near Gniezno, in former Poznan province, whereas Modliszewo is near Kielce and Modliszewice is near Walbrzych. Thus without detailed research into a given family's background, there is no way to which place the name refers to in that instance; Modliszewski could refer to any of them.

DOMARECKA is the feminine form of DOMARECKI; that is, a male would be called Domarecki, a female Domarecka. This is a variant of a name that is spelled several ways, because as names were developing the vowels A and E were sometimes used interchangeably, depending on slight regional variations in pronunciation. Here is what I wrote another researcher who asked about another form of the name, DOMERACKI. The info is equally applicable to Domarecki.


The probable origin of this name is from an old Slavic pagan first name, Domarad, literally "glad at home." The ancient Poles and other Slavs gave their children names that were meant to be good omens, so giving a child a name like that was to express hope he would have a happy home. There are several villages in Poland with names that come from this name, probably because someone named Domarad founded them or owned them at some point; they include a village called Domarady in Olsztyn province, and villages called Domaradz in Krosno, Opole, and Slupsk provinces. There may be others that don't show up on my maps, but this shows there are at least four different places this surname could come from.

There are several reasonably common surnames formed either directly from the name Domarad, or else from places such as those I just mentioned, which in turn got their name from Domarad.  

As of 1990 there were 1,129 Polish citizens named DOMERACKI, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (302), Olsztyn (117), and Torun (139), and smaller numbers scattered all over the country. There were another 755 who spelled it DOMERADZKI, which would be pronounced exactly the same, roughly as "dome-air-OTT-skee," and for all practical purposes they could be considered the same name; the Domeradzki's were most common in the provinces of Warsaw 107, Płock 91, Radom 98, and Wloclawek 74. However, neither name is associated with any one area to such a degree that we can say "Here's where the name came from" ... Besides Domeracki and Domeradzki we also have the "standard" or most common form DOMARADZKI (there were 3,409 Poles by that name as of 1990), as well as DOMARACKI (317) and DOMARECKI (603). All of these are just variants of the same basic name with slight differences due to regional pronunciations, errors, etc. The data strongly suggests there isn't just one big family that shares this name, but rather the name got started independently in different places at different times.

=====

I'm sorry none of this provides helpful clues as to precisely where either name originated in your family's cases. But from my experience that's true of about 95% of Polish surnames. Only occasionally do I run into one that has some aspect of its form or frequency or geographic distribution that provides a really solid clue as to just where a given family by that name came from. Usually the only way to get a good fix on where and how a name developed is by way of successful genealogical research, which can uncover info that sheds light on the historical, geographical, social, and linguistic context in which a specific name came to be associated with a specific family.
 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


FERFECKI

Appreciate any information you can give me on the origin and meaning of my surname. All I know is that my grandfather Joseph Ferfecki came to the U.S from Poland in the early 1900's and settled in Chicago.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 776 Polish citizens named FERFECKI (pronounced roughly "fair-FETT-skee"). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 384, Katowice 107, and Rzeszow 98. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. But this data allows us to say the name is most common in southern Poland, and especially southcentral Poland.

A scholar who did a book on names in that area mentions FERFECKI and says it's not certain what the name derives from, but it probably comes from the German name Ferfert. This may sound odd, but there are and have been large numbers of Germans living in Poland, and it's not at all rare to find Polonized names that started out as German. So the best educated guess scholars have made is that this name means "kin of Ferfert" or "one from Ferfert's place." 


ORYNIAK, SUSZKO

I found your list of meanings of Polish names and didn't find these two [SUSZKO and ORYNIAK] on it. Would you know what they mean? Many thanks in advance.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 82 Polish citizens named ORYNIAK. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (15) and Radom (45), with the rest scattered in small numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

The most likely derivation of Oryniak (pronounced roughly "oh-RINN-yock") is from the Ukrainian feminine first name Oryna, a Ukrainian version of "Irene." The -iak suffix is one that usually shows a general connection with the first part of the name, so that Oryniak probably meant "son of Irene" or "kin of Irene." Surnames derived from women's names are somewhat rare in Polish, but more common among Eastern Slavs (i. e., Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Russians). So this name has a kind of eastern flavor to it -- we'd expect it to have originated more often among Ukrainians, say, then Poles. This is not at all unusual; we see a lot of mixing in names between Poles and Ukrainians, and the history of these countries makes it clear that this is to be expected.

As of 1990 there were 1,024 Poles named SUSZKO. The largest numbers lived in the province of Białystok (167), with the rest scattered in smaller numbers all over Poland. For comparison, there were 3,134 with the similar name SUSZEK, and 801 named SUSZKA. None of these names is concentrated in any one area to the point we can say "People by that name came from here"; families by these names could come from anywhere in Poland.

The basic root here is such-, "dry"; the noun susz means "dried fruit or vegetables," and a suszka is, among other things, a tree that has dried up after pruning. The suffixes -ek and -ka and -ko are diminutives, so that the name might mean something like "little dry one," referring perhaps to a person who was thin and leathery or his kin. Or it might refer to that noun suszka and began as a nickname for one who dried fruits and vegetables, or liked to eat them -- some connection of that sort. Without detailed info on the family's background it's impossible to be more specific on the exact meaning of a name that developed centuries ago, but it's pretty clear it referred to some perceived association between a person or family and something dried out.


MIROWSKI

could u tell me what the surname MIROWSKI MEANS

It really just means at some point the family was connected with any of a number of villages named Mirów, Mirowo, Mirowice, etc. There are a number of different places the surname could refer to, so this Mirowski might come from one, that Mirowski from another. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,946 Polish citizens named Mirowski, living all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area.


HORODYNSKI, HORODENSKI, GWOZDEK

aloha, wondering if you could help me discern the root of a friends last name? She is in the process of changing her name from the Ellis Islandized Horski to the original Polish Horodynski. A relative of her's mentioned over the holidays that the name was hyphenated after the n. Assuming, after perusing the your surname listings, the origins lie in the area her relatives were from I was hoping you could shed some insight on the meaning/locale of Horod(?). If you could also find the roots of my grandmothers maiden name, Gwozdek, it would be much appreciated.

The relative got it a little wrong. In Polish this name would be spelled with an accent over the N; since I can't reproduce that letter without a certain amount of aggravation, I just use Ń to stand for it, thus spelling this name HORODYŃSKI. The name is pronounced roughly "ho-row-DINN-skee." It's actually a Polish spelling of a Ukrainian name, which would be written in Cyrillic -- but if you write it out phonetically, Horodynski is a pretty close match.

It comes ultimately from Ukrainian horod, "town, city," but most likely refers to the name of a specific town or village the family came from at some point. There are a number of places with names that could yield this surname, places with names like Horodno and Horodenka. Without detailed research into the family's background, there's no way to know which one the surname refers to in their particular case. But they would be located in eastern Poland or in Ukraine, because of the form of the name. In Polish it would be Grodynski or Grodzinski because Ukrainian horod matches up with Polish gród (the Polish word, however, does not mean "city, town," but refers to the ancient military fortifications around which medieval towns first sprang up); the same root appears in Russian gorod, "city," and in seen in place names such as "Leningrad" and "Stalingrad." It's related to the same Indo-European root that shows up in English "yard" and "garden," referring to an area enclosed and tended or secured.

Thus if the name were Polish in origin it would be more like Grodzinski or Grodynski. The fact that it begins Horod- proves it must be Ukrainian. This isn't odd; Poles and Ukrainians have interacted extensively over the centuries, so that you see lots of distinctively Polish names in Ukraine and distinctively Ukrainian names in Poland. Poland ruled Ukraine for a long time, and many people of Ukrainian ethnic descent were identified by others, and even identified themselves, as Polish citizens. Thus "Polish" can be a misleading term; you often find that Polish names are not of Polish linguistic origin.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 370 Polish citizens named HORODYŃSKI. They were scattered all over Poland, with no really significant concentration in any one area of the country. There were also 281 Poles named HORODEŃSKI, which is a very similar name meaning much the same thing; Horodyński and Horodeński came be regarded as variants of the same name, except Horodeński is found mainly in the area of Białystok (214) in northeastern Poland. That's because in that region there is a dialect tendency to change a Y sound into an E, so they'd pronounce "Horodyński" as "Horodeński," and eventually the spelling would reflect that fact.

As of 1990 there were 117 Polish citizens named GWOZDEK (pronounced roughly "g'voz-deck"); the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice, 65, and Opole, 23; so the name is most common in southcentral and southwestern Poland, roughly in the region known as Silesia. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

This name can derive from two different roots: gwozd, an archaic word meaning "forest, woods," or from gwozdz (accents over the o and both z's), meaning "nail." The suffix -ek is diminutive, so the name Gwozdek can mean either "little forest" or "little nail." It presumably began as a nickname, possibly for one who lived in or near a small forest, or for one who reminded people of a little nail, or for the son of one who made or sold or used nails. These surnames developed centuries ago, and we often cannot say with any precision exactly what the original meaning was; the best we can do is note what they appear to mean and make
plausible suggestions on why that name came to be associated with this family.


OLCHOWY, OLCHAWA, LIERMANN, STOIBER

I am interested in these Polish/German surnames. Liermann (Prussia area) Olchowa (Kracow area) Stoiber (southern Poland area)

OLCHOWA is the feminine form of OLCHOWY, which comes from an adjective meaning "of the alder tree." Presumably someone by this name lived near a grove of alders, or worked with or sold alder wood -- some sort of connection like that.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 359 Polish citizens named OLCHOWY or OLCHOWA. They lived all over Poland, with more living in southern Poland than in the north; 7 people by that name lived in the province of Krakow. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

There is also a similar name OLCHAWA, meaning much the same thing, except it might also refer to a place named Olchawa, which in turn was surely named for some connection with alders. Olchawa is a somewhat more common name; it was borne by 912 Poles as of 1990, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (114), Krakow (70), Nowy Sacz (207), and Tarnow (183). I mention this because A and O can easily be misread for each other, and they also are known to switch in names sometimes because of regional pronunciation tendencies. Thus it is entirely possible at some point you'll find the name in question is Olchawa instead of Olchowa, and this info may be relevant.

As of 1990 there were 4 Polish citizens named LIERMANN, living in the provinces of Gdansk (1) and Kalisz (3). There was no one named STOIBER. After World War II millions of ethnic Germans fled Poland for East Germany, so German names are much rarer now than they used to be.

In Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon it says STOIBER is a variant of STEUBER, from a verb meaning "to scatter, stir up dust, run away." In standard Hochdeutsch STEUBER is pronounced "shtoy-ber," so among Poles it could easily be spelled phonetically as Stoiber or Stojber or Sztojber. Bahlow says LIERMANN comes from Liermann, Low German for a term meaning "organ grinder, street player." LIERMANN is a German spelling, unaffected by Polish phonetics and orthography.


DULKA

I saw your notice on the internet and wondered if you could help me with any information as to the origins of my husbands surname, Dulka, as he is now deceased and my young son appears to be the only male left in this area to carry this name it would be really nice to be able to tell him the background of his name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 245 Polish citizens named DULKA. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 34, Gdansk 26, Katowice 22, and Torun 116. So the name is most common in the area just north and northwest of the center of the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1414 and comes from the root dul-, "swelling, thickening." While it's hard to be sure with names that began so long ago, it seems likely this began as a nickname for one who had a conspicuous swelling on his body -- perhaps a swollen nose or a large bump or something like that. The suffix -ka is diminutive, so that the name means literally "little swelling."


PANASEWICZ

... Would appreciate if you could advise on the name: Panasewicz (Last), Marek (First)

Well, Marek is simply the Polish form of the first name "Mark." As for Panasewicz, the -ewicz ending means "son of," so the surname means "son of Panas." That name is a little harder to interpret, because it could come from a couple of different roots, and without detailed information on a given family it's impossible to say which one the name actually came from. It could come from the noun pan, "lord, mister, gentleman," in which case the surname could conceivably have meant something like "son of the lord, son of the gentleman."

But if the family originally came from the eastern part of Poland or from Belarus or Ukraine, the more likely source is from the first name Panas, a short form of Opanas or Apanas, which is in turn an Eastern Slavic version of the first name seen in Polish as Atanazy and in Latin as Athanasius, from a Greek word meaning "immortality." This name never caught on in western Europe, but is not so rare among followers of the Orthodox church, and that includes Belarusians and Ukrainians. So "son of Panas" is a perfectly plausible and even probably derivation, if the family has any connection with eastern Poland, Belarus, or Ukraine.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 611 Polish citizens named Panasewicz (pronounced roughly "pah-nah-SAVE-itch"). The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Białystok (254) and Suwałki (87), both in northeastern Poland, near the border with Belarus; the rest lived scattered all over the country. If we had data from several centuries ago, it's likely most of the Panasewiczes would be found living in the eastern part of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But in the centuries since the name was established, it has spread all over Poland.

There is also a variant of this name, Panasiewicz (pronounced roughly "pah-nah-SHAVE-itch"), borne by 702 Poles as of 1990; and it, too, is found in the largest numbers in provinces on the eastern border, e. g., Biala Podlaska 47, Lublin 42, Suwałki 120, Zamosc 188.


SZYJANOWSKI

I'd like to get some information about name - "SHIYANOVSKIY" (it's English spelling). What's name origins and meanings.

In Polish this name would be spelled SZYJANOWSKI. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5 Polish citizens named Szyjanowski, all living in the province of Szczecin, in far northwestern Poland near the German border. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I cannot tell you how to contact them.

Names ending in -owski usually refer to the name of a place with which the family was connected. We would expect Szyjanowski to mean "one from Szyjan, Szyjany, Szyjanow, Szyjanowo," and so forth -- any of these names could produce this surname. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc. Without more information, I cannot say exactly what the surname comes from; but it probably does refer to the name of a place where the family once lived, a place with a name beginning Szyjan- (Polish spelling; in English it would be Shiyan-).


CHAZEN, CHAZON

Can you please check out the name "Chazen"

According to Alexander Beider's Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland, CHAZEN is a variant of CHAZON, which comes from a Hebrew word meaning "cantor in a synagogue." Beider says in the last century this name was found among Jews living in the districts of Płock, Sierpc, Konskie, Gostynin, and Warsaw.

As of 1990 there was no listing of anyone named Chazen or Chazon in Poland. If we had data from before the Holocaust I'm sure this name would show up, but names that were fairly common in Poland before 1939 now either don't appear or appear in very tiny numbers. In any case, the only data I have access to is from 1990.


DRAB, ZJAWIN, ZUKOWSKI

I recently discovered your work on the internet and wonder if you can shed any light on the following names:Zjawin, Drab, and Zukowski. I am assuming the last is Polish and understand that Zuk translates into beetle, however, I am not even certain if Zjawin or Drab are Polish names. I have never found any reference at all for Zjawin and have found Drab once on a list of Slovak names. ANY information you might have would be so much appreciated.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,360 Polish citizens named DRAB. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying that it comes from the noun drab, which means "mercenary" or "uncouth fellow," and is also a term for a kind of ladder; as a surname, however, it probably refers to the "mercenary" or "uncouth fellow" meanings. The name is pronounced more or less like the English word "drop."

Similarly, ŻUKOWSKI (the name is pronounced roughly "zhoo-KOFF-skee") is another surname referring to place names such as Żuki and Żuków and Żukowo. So the name means basically "one from the place of the żuk." That noun can mean "dung beetle" and also "black ox." As of 1990 there were 14,508 Poles named Żukowski, and this name, too, is fairly common and widespread, because there are a lot of villages named Żuki, Żuków, etc.

ZJAWIN ("Z'YAH-veen") is rarer; as of 1990 there were only 358 Poles by that name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Jelenia Gora 63, Legnica 42, Wroclaw 48, Zielona Gora 108; so this name is most common in the southwestern corner of Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've
given here is all I have. Prof. Rymut mentions Zjawin in his book, saying it comes from the root seen in the verb zjawic', "to appear," and the noun zjawa, "apparition." Zjawin would mean literally "one of the apparition." Perhaps it began as a nickname for one who was thought to have seen apparitions, or one who people thought looked like an apparition.


SZEWC

... I am doing a family search on the surname Szewc. The family came from Krakow, Poland around 1938. If you have any information could you please inform us or point us to a direction which we could search.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,330 Polish citizens named Szewc. The name was found all over the country, although it is more common in southern Poland than in the north, especially in the province of Tarnobrzeg, with 892 Szewc's. There were 88 living in the province of Krakow. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

The origin of some Polish surnames is difficult to establish, but this one is simple. It comes from the noun szewc, "shoemaker." So it's one of the many surnames that began as a reference to a man's occupation, and came to be applied to his family, and thus became a hereditary surname -- much like the English name Shoemaker. By the way, this name is pronounced roughly "shefts."


POREDA

... Any info you can share on the surname Poreda would be greatly appreciated.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 779 Polish citizens named Poreda. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 99, Łomża 159, Lodz 65, Siedlce 50, and Suwałki 122. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data suggests the name is most common in the area north and east of the center of the country, but that's about the most we can say.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He believes it is a dialect variation of Porada, which comes from the noun porada, "advice." He adds, however, that this would be found mainly in Pomerania; it is a trait of northern dialects to turn standard Polish A into E, but I'm not sure that applies to this name when it is found in northeastern Poland. It's a little odd that a Pomeranian name variant would show up primarily in Łomza and Suwałki provinces! Still, it's possible; and none of my sources suggest any other derivation. So for now I would say it probably started as a nickname for one who gave good advice, is found primarily in northeastern Poland.


MAJEWSKI

... I am a college student at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. For one of my classes, Intro to Global Studies, I was told to find a project to work on for the entire semester. The project I chose was of my genealogy. I found your web page quite useful, however, I did not find the meaning of my surname. My last name is Majewski, which was very similar to Maciejewski. I was wondering if they had anything in common as faw as ancestory and meaning go, like perhaps my family dropped the "Cie" to make it shorter??? 

Well, with Polish names we never say never, because Polish names were often mangled badly during and after immigration, especially when the immigrants tried to adapt to life in this country and found that Americans had trouble with their names. So it would be irresponsible to say Majewski can't be from another name such as Maciejewski. In fact, it's usually impossible to say anything very definitive about most names without detailed research into the family's history. 

But it's unlikely this name has been changed. Majewski, pronounced roughly "mah-YEFF-skee," is a very common name in Poland; and if a Polish name like Maciejewski ("mah-chay-EFF-skee") were going to be Americanized, it would surely be changed to something more "American-sounding" than Majewski. So it's highly likely Majewski is the correct and original form of the name.

Names ending in -ewski usually derive from the name of a place with which the family was associated at some point; if they were noble, they owned estates there, and if they were peasants, they lived and worked there. A name like Majewski would refer to places with names beginning Maj-, and especially Majew or Majewo. Unfortunately, there are several places in Poland called Majewo, including ones in the pre-1999 provinces of Białystok, Elblag, and Gdansk. So again, without detailed info on a specific family's history, there's no way to tell which place they came from. But it is probable the name simply means "one from Majewo." 

That name comes from the noun maj, the Polish word for "May." Majewski means literally "of, from the _ of May," where the blank is usually filled in with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out -- usually "family" or "place." It's known that the name Maj has been borne by Poles, usually referring to some connection between a person and that month; a person by that name might have been born in May, or might have some special duty or job he did every May. About all we can say is that there would be some perceived association with the month of May. So the name might mean "kin of May." But in most cases it would be correctly interpreted as "one from the place of May" = "one from Majewo."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 46,379 Polish citizens named Majewski. They lived all over the country, and there is no one part of the country with which the name is associated. So a family named Majewski could come from anywhere in Poland.


KOMANSKI

... Martin Komanski was my Grandfather. I think he lived in Lodz,Poland. My father was Frank Komanski, Born 1895-in Poland, Died 1931 in Stamford,CT, USA. My mother was Ksenia Mageira Komanski, Born 1895 in the Ukraine, Died 1966 in Stamford,CT, USA. My name is K. Dorothy Komanski Wood & you can post this were ever you wish to,if you think it will help with our search.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 191 Polish citizens named Komanski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 25, Czestochowa 23, Krosno 40, and Tarnobrzeg 27, with smaller numbers scattered all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

None of my sources discuss this name, so I can't say with any certainty what it comes from. Most likely, however, is that it refers to the name of a place where the family once lived. Thus, for instance, there is a mountain Koman in the Carpathians, and there is a village Komanino in Sierpc district. The surname might refer to these places, or some others that are too small to show up in my sources. The thing is, Polish (and Ukrainian) surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago.


DAWIEC

... surname Dawiec

As of 1990 there were 739 Polish citizens named Dawiec. The largest number, 243, lived in the province of Nowy Sacz, with the rest scattered in much smaller numbers all over Poland. None of my sources discuss the origin of the name, so I can't say much on that. It appears to come from the verb dawac', "to give," and thus might mean "giver, one who gives." But that's just a guess.


PATRYLO

... My maternal grandmother's maiden name was Tessie Patryolo. I've seen it spelled Patrylo, also, which I believe is a misspelling. Do you have any information on the name? Thank you for your assistance. 

Actually Patrylo is more likely to be right. We rarely see native Polish or Belarusian or Ukrainian names with the ending -yolo -- that would seem more likely to be of Italian origin -- whereas -ylo is not unusual. So the name probably is Patrylo, or rather Patryło. I'm using Ł to stand for the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W; the Polish pronunciation of this name would be "pot-RI-woe," where the middle syllable has a short i sound as in "ship." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 59 Polish citizens named Patryło (and none named Patryolo). They were scattered all over, mainly in the southern part of the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

None of my sources discuss the origin of this name, and it's kind of hard to say what it comes from. I can find no native Polish or Ukrainian roots that seem relevant, although it's possible it comes from the root seen in the Polish verb patrzyc', "to look at." If so, the name would mean "one always looking on, one always watching or looking." This is possible, but it's not really convincing.

Maybe a little more likely is derivation from a first name, and if that's so, the name could be a variation of Piotr, "Peter," or just maybe "Patrick." That last name, however, has never caught on among Slavs, so it would be very surprising if Patryło meant "kin of Patrick" -- it's not impossible, I suppose, but it's very far-fetched. "Kin of Peter" is a little easier to swallow. We see the name Peter show up in many different forms among Poles and Ukrainians, including Petr, Pietr, Piotr, Petro, etc. And Belarusians sometimes use it in the form Pyatr. So it's not too outrageous to suggest this surname means "kin of Peter" and originated somewhere east of Warsaw, most likely in Belarus or Ukraine.


SADLOWSKI

... Hi I have been looking through your website and I was wondering if you could help me. Through your web site I learned that a name ending in -owski usually means the name was taken from a city. Then I remembered that my grandfather told me that our last name was taken after a city. Since I can not ask him any more I thought maybe you can help. I went to a Polish map to look but I found nothing. Maybe you can at least tell me where to find maps to look at. Right now all I know is that my grandfather was the first one in his family born in America around 1923. I guess I would need a map from the teens to the 20's if it even exists. Our Surname is Sadlowski. I have looked it up in the phone book in many cities and besides my aunt in Jersey city I have never seen the same name. 

Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the names of places where the family once lived; that is, they mean more or less "one from X," but the X can take different forms. In this case Sadlowski could theoretically refer to places called Sadly or Sadlow or Sadlowo or Sadlowice, etc. 

There are at least three places in Poland with names that would fit, and chances are one of them is the one for which your particular Sadlowskis were named. Without detailed research into the family's past, there's no way for me to know which one it would be. But you can see maps of them, and maybe find details that will help, if you go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm 

Enter "Sadlow" as the place you're looking for, and click on "Start the Search." It will return a long list of places in central and eastern Europe with names that could possibly be phonetic matches for Sadlow or Sadlowo, etc. Scroll down till you get to the part of the list with places in Poland, and look for Sadlowo. There are three of them. Click on their coordinates (printed in blue and underlined) and you'll see a Mapquest map of the area in which they are located. You can print the map, zoom in, zoom out, etc. I find this a very useful tool for locating places.

There are two points I should mention. One is that in Polish all three places are spelled with an L with a slash through it. So the real place name is Sadłowo, and the Polish spelling of the surname is Sadłowski. This can matter, because in Polish-language reference works the Ł follows L in alphabetical listings. So Sadłowo would come after Sadly, for instance, if that L in Sadly is the normal L without a slash. (The Ł is pronounced much like our W, so Sadłowski is usually pronounced "sod-WOFF-skee.")

Also, with most Polish place names -- and this is no exception -- there are several possible matches. The only way to know which one is relevant to your family is to do some research and dig up papers -- naturalization papers, passports, ship passenger lists, parish records, something -- that gives more info. It could be the name of the nearest large town, the county seat, the province, something along those lines. I know that's easier said than done, especially if you don't have much to work with. But it's the only way I know of to proceed (short of finding a bona fide psychic!).

As of 1990 there were 2,879 Polish citizens named Sadłowski, scattered all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one area. So the frequency and distribution data on the name doesn't give us much to work with either. 


CHACHUŁA — HAHUŁA

...I was about to do some pruning of my accumulated eMail (452 I'm afraid) and I found your contribution. It reminded me that Anita Camplese just told me that my surname Chachula means "snout" in Polish. Now, I don't have a really good command of Polish, but I can comprehend quite a few words and this surprised me. I think the name may have been spelled Hahula in some places also. What do you think?

Well, Anita most likely got that info from me or my book, and I got it from a book by Dr. Kazimierz Rymut, widely regarded as the prime expert on Polish surnames. I'm afraid that is what Chachuła means (the ł stands for the Polish slashed l, pronounced like our w). In Polish the ch and h are pronounced exactly the same, so Hahuła would be merely a variant spelling of Chachuła -- both would be pronounced roughly "hah-WHO-wah," and both come from an archaic or dialect term chachuła meaning "snout, muzzle, mug" (I confirmed this in my 8-volume Polish dictionary, so it's not just Rymut saying so. This is not a word used much in modern standard Polish, probably only students of archaic or dialect Polish would ever have heard of it.)

When people ask me to tell them what their name means, I often have to ask back "Are you sure you want to know?" It's amazing how many Polish names mean something comic or downright insulting, and believe me, by comparison yours is not one of the more unpleasant ones! Presumably a name like Chachuła got started as a nickname for someone with a large or prominent mouth, perhaps like our slang expression "big-mouth." It's not very flattering, but as I say, I've seen much, much worse!

At least you have company -- as of 1990 there were 1,056 Polish citizens named Chachuła; they were scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Kalisz (100), Katowice (70), and Lodz (249), in a kind of line runing roughly from central to southcentral Poland.


CICHOCKI — CIECHOCKI

...My surname is Cichocki.. Unfortunately my father has passed on and left me with very little knowlege of my history. I would like to let my kids know more about their heritage. Any info you can supply would be gratefully received.

It is possible Cichocki might in some cases might be a variant of Ciechocki, a name from the basic root ciech-, "joy, consolation." But in the vast majority of cases it surely comes ultimately from the root cich-, "quiet, calm." The name is pronounced roughly "chee-HOT-skee," and is probably connected with the noun cichota, "quiet, calmness." The personal name Cichot appears in 16th-century documents, and Cichocki is probably just an adjectival form of that name; you'd expect such a name would be given to someone who was calm and quiet, didn't make a fuss -- really kind of complimentary, as Poles have a certain respect for people who are modest and unassuming and take care of business without making a big fuss out of it. Cichocki most likely started out with the basic adjectival meaning of either "[someone or something] connected with or related to Cichot" or "one who is quiet." It's also conceivable it might derive from a place name, except I can't find any place with a name that fits (something like Cichota, Cichota), so the connection is probably with a person rather than a place.

This is a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were 13,228 Poles named Cichocki. They lived all over Poland, with no one area standing out as the place to find Cichocki's -- so we have to assume there isn't just one big Cichocki family, but rather numerous families in different areas that all got the name independently.


BRISCH — BRYŚ — BRYSZ

...Could you please the meaning of the surname of Brisch?

I'm afraid none of my sources mention it, at least not in that spelling, which is German. Spelling it phonetically by Polish values, it would be either Bryś or Brysz in Polish. These names do appear in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 2,248 Poles named Bryś and 319 named Brysz. This surname comes from the Latin first name Brictius, which was originally of Celtic origin. So it doesn't really mean anything, it's just a nickname for someone named Brictius, or for his son.


CEROCKI

... I need anything you have on the following surname of my Polish Chicago area family: Cerotsky, Cerotzky, Cerozky, Cerotski...

I wish I could help, but there was no one in Poland by any of those names as of 1990, and the problem is that the form of the name is questionable. None of those spellings looks right, it's almost certain the name was originally something else -- but there are too many possibilities to figure out what. It could be Ceracki, Seracki, or Cieracki, or Czeracki, on and on. Without a better idea of the original form of the name, I'd just be spinning my wheels trying to speculate on the name's origin or meaning.

I do note that obituaries appeared in the Dziennik Chicagoski (a Polish-language Chicago-area newspaper published 1890-1972) for a Anna Helena Cerocka on 17 December 1924, and for an Augustyna Cerocka on 12 January 1923. Cerocki is a credible spelling of the name, judging by the forms you gave, and Cerocka is just the feminine form of that surname -- so there may be info on a Chicago-area fmaily named Cerocki available through these obits. You might visit the Webpage of the Polish Genealogical Society of America http://www.pgsa.org and search their databases for more people by the name Cerocki/Cerocka and the other spellings. You just might find some relatives! And there are explanations on the Web page as to how you can get hold of copies of the obits or other records involved.


OLESZAK

... I would like to know the origin and meaning of the name Oleszak.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 436 Polish citizens named Oleszak. The largest number, 165, lived in the province of Poznan, with the rest scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

Oleszak is pronounced roughly "oh-LESH-ock." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. It comes from the name Olesz plus the suffix -ak, which is a kind of general suffix meaning "of, from, connected with." So Oleszak means more or less "son of Olesz, kin of Olesz." That name, in turn, comes from a nickname for either Aleksander (Alexander) or Aleksy (Alexy). Among Poles and Ukrainians both names -- which come from the same Greek root meaning "protect, defend" -- were often pronounced and spelled with an initial O rather than A, so almost any name deriving from Alexander or Alexy will have its counterparts spelled with O-. In the process of making nicknames, Poles and Ukrainians tended to take the first few sounds of a name, drop the rest, and add suffixes (kind of like our "Eddy" from "Edward"); so Olesz could come from either of those names. If we wanted to give an English approximation of Oleszak, therefore, it would be kind of like "Al's kin, Al's son." 

Obviously a name like this could get started almost anywhere, and thus it gives no useful clues as to exactly where a family by that name might come from. The only clue is that it starts with O- rather than A-, but that doesn't really narrow it down any. So the only way to nail down exactly where a family named Oleszak came from is by successful genealogical research. Your Oleszaks might come from here, someone else's Oleszaks might come from a completely different place. The only thing they'd have in common is that both families, somewhere along the line, had an ancestor who was often called by the nickname Olesz.

 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

LIPINSKI, SZACHNITOWSKI

... Would you have any information as to the names Lipinski or Szachnitowski? I would appreciate any info you could tell me.

In Polish the name Lipinski is spelled with an accent over the N, and is pronounced "lee-PEEN-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 23,390 Polish citizens named Lipinski, living all over the country; there is no concentration in any one area, a Lipinski family could come from anywhere in Poland. 

The surname refers to the name of a place where the family lived or worked at some point. The problem is, Lipinski could come from a number of different place names, including Lipno, Lipie, Lipina, Lipiny, etc. There are a great many places by these names in Poland. They all come from lipa, "linden tree," so that you can interpret Lipinski as "one from the place of the lindens." So without detailed info on a family's history, there's no possible way to tell which of these places a given Lipinski family might have been named for.

Szachnitowski (pronounced roughly "shokh-nee-TOFF-skee," with kh representing a guttural like the "ch" in German "Bach") is a fairly rare name. As of 1990 there were only 71 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice (17), Szczecin (11), and Torun (30), with the rest scattered in small numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

Usually -owski names also refer to names of places, so we'd expect this to mean "one from Szachnitowo" or some similar name. I can't find any place by this name or anything similar on modern maps, but that's not unusual. Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago.


MLEKODAJ

... I am in search of any info on the name Mlekodaj. My husband's grandparents came to Chicago from Poland in the early 1900s, I am guessing. Their names were Albert and Josephine Mlekodaj. At some point they moved to northern Indiana. Can you enlighten me any further?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 83 Polish citizens named Mlekodaj. Most surnames are scattered all over Poland, but this one is unusually concentrated: 67 of those 83 lived in one province, that of Nowy Sacz in southcentral Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. But at least you have some reason to believe the family probably came from the area near the city of Nowy Sacz.

The name comes from the roots mleko, "milk," and daj-, "give." So it means "milk-give," literally. The term mlekodajny is used to refer to cows who give milk, and presumably Mlekodaj was given originally as a nickname to one somehow connected with dairy cows, or one who gave or sold milk, or one who loved milk. Surnames developed centuries ago and it's hard for us, all these centuries later, to know for sure exactly why they seemed appropriate. We can, however, interpret the basic meaning of the words and make plausible suggestions, and that's what I've tried to do.


WINSZMAN

... If you have time please tell me what Winshman or in Polish Vinchman'means. Also, if you have any idea what the name Milka means I would love to know. It is my great grandmother's name and my middle name. 

I hope I'm correct in assuming these names are of Jewish families -- if I'm wrong, that could change things a lot. When asking any question related to genealogy, it's good to mention whether the families were Jewish or not, because there are many practical research considerations different for Christians and Jews.

Polish doesn't use the letter V, and the sound CH is used as a guttural, so it's virtually certain Vinchman is not the Polish spelling. But "Winshman" or "Vinchman" would probably equate to Polish Winszman in Polish. Alexander Beider mentions this name in his Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland. He says it was borne by Jews living in the areas of Bedzin and Nowo-Radomsk (there may have been Jews with this name in other parts of Poland, his data covers only the part ruled by Russia). Beider says it comes from German Wunsch, central Yiddish vinsh, "wish, desire," thus meaning "wish-man." That suggests it was originally given to one known for being wishful or having strong desires. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were no Polish citizens named Winszman. Unfortunately, this is not surprising, in view of the Holocaust; names of Yiddish origin, common before 1939, are now very rare in Poland.

Milka is tricky because it can come from the Slavic root mil-, "dear, beloved," and thus would mean "little beloved one, darling." But Beider says it comes from a Hebrew name Milkah found in Genesis 11:29. Normally we'd expect Jewish females bearing this name to bear it in reference to the Biblical reference, but we can't entirely rule out a Slavic influence. It's possible Jews might have liked it because it was an ancient Hebrew name that also meant something nice in Polish, Russian, etc.


FABISZAK

... My great-grandparents, Stanislaw(1869-1942) and Adamina(1871-1935) FABISAK, were from Weglew, Golina, Konin, 120 miles west of Warsaw. They came over in 1890 and settled in Northampton, Mass. Some of my recently located cousins think that the original surname was FABISZAK. but no one is really sure. Do you, by chance, have any information about the meaning of this particular surname? 

It is likely the name was originally either Fabisiak or Fabiszak, because as of 1990 there was no listing of anyone in Poland named Fabisak, whereas there were 4,422 named Fabisiak and 891 named Fabiszak. It seems likely Fabisak is a slight modification of one of these two names. 

Fabisiak and Fabiszak are closely related and sound similar; in effect, they're slightly different versions of the same basic name. They both sound roughly like "fah-BEESH-ock," and names that sound the same but are spelled differently are easily confused. Both come from the Latin name Fabianus, or in English "Fabian." Poles often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So they would take Fabi- from "Fabian," drop the rest, add -s to make a kind of nickname "Fabis," and later the suffix -iak could be added to that to make Fabisiak; or if they added -sz instead of plain -s, the addition of -ak would give Fabiszak. They all mean pretty much the same thing, "son of Fabian" or "kin of Fabian."

As I said, as of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,422 Polish citizens named Fabisiak, living all over Poland, with especially large numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (1,170), Kalisz (235), Konin (206), Płock (310), and Szczecin (202). The 891 named Fabiszak lived all over Poland, but with larger numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (163) and Konin (277). 


REMIAN or REMIJAN

... If you have time, I would appreciate any information you may be able to find on the last name Remijan. The only information that we have is that it may possibly mean Son of Remi (as in Johnson). My father is an only child, my grandfather has already passed on, and my grandmother has severe alzheimer's, so it is difficult to get any family history to pass on other than the fact that my grandfather's family first immigrated to Pennsylvania.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there was no one in Poland named Remijan. There were 162 named Remian, and it is quite plausible that Remijan was a spelling variation of that name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 16, Tarnow 53, and Wroclaw 32. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

Polish name scholar Jozef Bubak mentions Remijan in a book he did on surnames found in the area of Nowy Sacz and Stary Sacz, in southcentral Poland; it was the only source I found that mentioned it. Sources from 1664 mention a Hipolit Remijan who was the wójt (village headman, local authority) for Maszkowice, west of Nowy Sacz. So this establishes that the name did once exist in that area (although no Remians lived in the province of Nowy Sacz as of 1990). Bubak speculates it may come either from the first name Jeremi or Jeremiasz (Jeremiah, Jeremy) or the first name Remigiusz, which came from Latin Remigius, the source of the French and English name Remi or Remy. So "son of Remi" or "kin of Remi" is a plausible interpretation, as is "son of Jeremy." But neither one is certain; they're just the best suggestions one expert was able to make.

I don't know if there's anything to it, but an Armenian connection is possible. Armenian names usually end in -ian, meaning "son of," so Remian or Remijan might work as an Armenian name meaning "son of Remi," also. We find Armenian names among people living in Poland, so the idea is not as outrageous as it sounds. Still, one does not have to conclude that that suffix -ian indicates Armenian descent; it can and does exist in native Polish names as well. But since we can't be positive about any of this anyway, I thought it wouldn't hurt to mention this possibility, for what it's worth.

To conclude, the name is found in Poland, but these days is spelled Remian. It is scattered throughout the country, with larger numbers found near Warsaw, Tarnow, and Wroclaw; and in the 1600's there were obviously people by this name living in the area west of Nowy Sacz, in southcentral Poland. The derivation is uncertain, but it's plausible to suggest a connection with the Polish versions of the names Jeremy or Jeremiah and Remy or Remi.


ADAMCZYK, ADAMSKI

... I have searched for family ties from Poland for 5 years now, and always come to a dead end. Death certificates, marriage licensees are of no real help. The 1910-1920 census have no official record of my grandmother, Marya Adamczyk, (Adamski) under either spelling. It is VERY important to me to find some thread to follow. Primarily, I am interested in finding any Jewish ties. Can you give me any information about the name derivatives of Adamski? I know that it is a common name, but any light on the subject is better than none. 

I wish I could help you, but with some names there's nothing you can do. Adamski just means "of Adam," and Adamczyk means "son of Adam." As of 1990 there were 49,599 Polish citizens named Adamczyk, and 28,406 named Adamski; they lived all over Poland, with no concentration in any one part of the country. So neither name tells you anything helpful -- they just mean the family descends from a guy named Adam who could have lived anywhere in Poland. 

I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more, but I see no point in deceiving you; these names don't give you much to work with. Good luck with your research, I hope you finally make a breakthrough.


KOT

...interested in receiving information on the name Kot.

This one's short and simple: it comes from the Polish word kot, meaning "cat." As of 1990 there were 19,902 Polish citizens named Kot, living all over Poland, with no concentration in any one part of the country.


WOLNIK

Hi! My name is Danielle Wolnik-Tudor and I visited your site today. I have just started doing research on my father's ancestors (surname Wolnik). They came from Poland sometime in the 1800's and I am trying to find out a meaning or origin on the name. Anything you can tell me about it would be appreciated. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,773 Polish citizens named Wolnik. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 101, Czestochowa 103, Katowice 785, Krakow 96, Leszno 110, Tarnow 189, Zielona Gora 109. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. What this data tells us is that the name is most common in southern Poland, especially the southcentral part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the archaic noun wolnik, which meant "a man freed from having to labor obligations to a liege lord, a newly-arrived settler, a settler in a new colony [called a wola] exempted from taxes and duties for a certain period." The basic root is the adjective wolny, "free," but it usually refers to one who had earned his way free of the labor and services serfs were obliged to perform for their feudal masters.


KLUCZYK

Hello I am trying to figure out where my last name may have come from . I am also doing my own genealogy that's when I started finding the change of my last name. I am not asking for genealogy help I am only asking you a question if you can answer it. my last name is kluczyk .now when I went searching my family roots .I don't have any family members alive to ask this to . I found a deceased uncle in the social security death index, I sent away for iiit. when i received it I noticed the last name was keys? the g-parents were from New York, would you have any information you may be able to provide me with. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 927 Polish citizens named KLUCZYK. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Białystok 140, Bydgoszcz 64, Kalisz 124, Leszno 51, Warsaw 183. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. About all this data tells us is that the name is not concentrated in any one area; a family named Kluczyk could come from many different parts of Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1255, and comes from the word klucz, "key." The ending -yk is diminutive, so that the noun kluczyk literally means "little key." It is also used in various other meanings, including "clavicle" (which comes from a Latin word meaning "little key") and "primrose." 

Your information about an uncle named Keys suggests that some members of the family retained the original Polish version, while others decided to change it, to fit in better in America; so they went with what amounts to a translation of the Polish word. This is not unusual. Many immigrants found that Americans had trouble with their names, so they changed them to something less foreign-sounding. If they could find an English name that meant more or less the same thing as their Polish name, that was often the name they went with. 


ŁACNY

... The surname I am searching is Łacny. I am told in Poland this name had the meaning "easy." My question is, why the little slash thru the first letter (L) of the surname? Appreciate your information. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 849 Polish citizens named Łacny. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Czestochowa 68, Katowice 83, Krakow 62, Nowy Sacz 58, Opole 71, Tarnow 95, Wroclaw 91, and Zielona Gora 56. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. The date shows this name is more common in southern Poland than in the north, but that's about all we can say about it.

The Ł is regarded by Poles as the "hard" L, and is pronounced in most areas much line English W. There is also the "soft" L, which looks just like ours and is pronounced more or less the same as ours. This name begins with the hard L, and since it's difficult to print that letter on-line without a certain amount of fuss and bother, we just represent it in various ways, such as Ł or L- or L/... The name Łacny is pronounced roughly "WOTT-snee."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], and he confirms that it comes from the adjective łacny, "easy." Presumably it began as a nickname that seemed somehow appropriate for a person -- maybe one who did things easily, or had an easy way about it -- and stuck. More than that we can't say, unless detailed genealogical research uncovers some additional information on why this particular name would come to be associated with a given family.


DZIATKOWSKI, KASIEWSKI

... I am currently researching my family names as above. I have traced the family back to Ernst Kassiewski in circa 1770. In the next generation, 1817, the surname changed to Kaschewski? Why would that be? Eduard married Charlotte Dziatkowsky in the 1840s - they lived in East Prussia near Wegorzewo. I see that Dzialdowo is not that far away? Could Dziatkowsky be derived from that town? 

I'd recommend you read an encyclopedia article on the history of Poland, and especially the partitioning of Poland. It's very hard to understand much of what you find in research -- including changes in name spelling -- without that background knowledge. Basically, the reason the spelling changed is almost certainly because Kaschewski is a German phonetic spelling of Kassiewski, and at that time the Germans ruled all this area and tended to Germanize everything. Eventually it got to the point that speaking Polish was not even allowed. So through most of the 19th century we see an increasing tendency to spell things in a German way, rather than Polish, till eventually Polish disappears from records.

Kassiewski is probably an archaic spelling; in modern Polish they seldom use double letters. So Kasiewski is probably closer to the correct form. Also possibly relevant is Kaszewski. Note that all these forms are pronounced much the same, sort of like "kosh-EFF-skee." It's just a question of whether you're spelling the name according to German phonetics, older Polish phonetics, or modern Polish phonetics.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were only 25 Polish citizens named Kasiewski; they lived in the provinces of Olsztyn (9) and Ostrołęka (16). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. In any case, the Kasiewskis in Poland today don't live in the near vicinity of Wegorzewo, but they're not too far away.

There were 1,381 Poles named Kaszewski, living scattered all over Poland, with no concentration in any one area. There was only 1 in Suwałki province, however, and not that many in neighboring provinces, so this name may not be relevant. Still, any time you have a name with -sie- in it you want to at least take a look at names with -sze- because those combinations are pronounced very similarly and thus are easily confused. 

Names in the form X-owski or -ewski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. So this name seems likely to mean "one from Kasiew or Kasiewo" or something similar. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc. It is also very possible the name has been changed over the centuries; in other words, other possibilities such as Kaszewski or Koszewski or Kosiewski may be involved. Without detailed research into the individual family's history, there is no way to know; I can only deal with the form of the name I have at hand.

As for the name Dziatkowski, pronounced "jot-KOFF-skee" or, more colloquially, "jot-KOSS-kee," as of 1990 there were 189 Polish citizens by that name, of whom the majority, 101, lived in Suwałki province! So it seems entirely possible some Dziatkowski relatives still live in the area of Wegorzewo. Unfortunately, as I said, I have no access to further details such as first names or addresses.

This name, too, probably refers to the name of a place, and there are several in Poland that might be relevant. One worth some attention is Dziadkowice, 14.5 km NE of Siemiatycze in Białystok province. This surname could very well have started out meaning "one from Dziadkowice," and that village is not all that far from the area where your ancestors came from. But again, without detailed genealogical research there is no way to know for sure which of the various places with names beginning Dziadk- is the one your particular family came from. Incidentally, all these place names probably derive from the noun dziadek, "grandfather," so that they originally meant "grandfather's place."


BORKOWSKI

... I can't tell you how thrilled I was to wander into your site. My father has been looking for information about our name for some time, he hasnt had much luck because it is not a common name in our area. I d appreciate any information you can give me to pass onto him. The name we re interested in is Borkowski. thanks again. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 32,555 Polish citizens named Borkowski, living in large numbers all over Poland. While not quite the "Smith" or "Jones" of Polish, it is a pretty common name.

Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. So this surname means basically "one from Borki or Borków or Borkowo" or a number of other names beginning Bork-. One reason the surname is common is because there are a lot of places in Poland with names beginning Bork-. Some come from the root seen in the noun borek, "small forest," so that in some cases the surname might be interpreted as "one from the place of the forests." But more often it probably refers to places named for their owners or founders, who went by nicknames deriving from ancient Polish pagan first names such as Borzyslaw, Bolebor, etc., where the root bor- "means struggle, fight, battle." Thus the place names meant more or less "place of Bor" and the surname means "one from the place of Bor."

So the short answer is, the surname Borkowski means "one from Borki or Borków or Borkowo," etc., referring to a number of places with names beginning Bork-. Those places might have those names by reference to nearby forests, or to early owners or founders with first names such as Borek or Borko, which in turn derive from ancient Slavic first names based on a root meaning "fight, struggle." For practical genealogical purposes, however, the key is that the name is pretty common, is found all over Poland, and can refer to a family's connection with a number of different places. Only successful genealogical research can hope to establish which particular place an individual Borkowski family came from.


BASAIK, FAFINSKI, PIWOWARSKI

... I am in the process of doing some research on my family's lineage. Would you have any information on the following last names : Piwowarski ( I have been told that it means "Beer Maker") this was my maiden name. Basaik, which was my great grandmother's name and Fafinski which was my great grandfather's name. Any help or guidance you could lend would be greatly appreciated.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,642 Polish citizens named Piwowarski. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area. As you say, the name comes from piwowar, "brewer" (literally "beer-brew") and just means "of the brewer," presumably "kin of the brewer." It is pronounced "pee-vo-VAHR-skee."

As of 1990 there were 536 Poles named Fafinski (with an accent over the N), pronounced "fah-FEEN-skee." The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Ciechanow 64, Gdansk 56, Olsztyn 216, and Torun 67; the rest were scattered in small numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

None of my sources discuss the origin of this name, so I can only make an educated guess. I would expect it to refer to a place name, something like Fafin or Fafnia. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc. The name might also mean something like "kin of Fafa," referring to a first name. That might come from the verb fafac', "to say 'fe'" (an expression of disgust). So Fafinski might mean "kin of the one who says 'fe'" or "one from the place of the one who said 'fe'" (sounds almost like a Monty Python sketch!). There is a term fafula, "booby, fathead," from the same basic root. I can't be sure, but that's my best guess.

Basaik is a problem; I have to suspect that's the original correct spelling of the name, or else the name is not originally Polish. As of 1990 there was no one in Poland by that name, and -aik is not a combination normally seen in Polish. Basiak would make sense, but not Basaik. In any case, it probably comes from nicknames beginning Bas-, which can come from several names, including Basia, a nickname for "Barbara," or from Sebastian. Whichever name it referred to (and in different cases it could refer to different names), it would mean something like "kin of X."


MIECZNIKOWSKI, PAWELCZYK

... Could you please tell the origins and or meanings of the following: Miecznikowski, Pawelczyk.

Pawelczyk comes from addition of the suffix -czyk, usually meaning "son of," to the first name Paweł, "Paul" (the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W). So it's one of several Polish names meaning "son of Paul," and thus would be comparable to the English name Paulson. As of 1990 there were 2,743 Poles by named Pawelczyk, living all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area, though this particular form seems to be more common in the northern part of Poland. There were another 3,174 named Pawełczyk, and that form seems more common in the south.

Miecznikowski comes from the noun miecznik, "master of the sword," an honorary position held by a noble who was in charge of the sword for a king or higher noble. But this surname probably means either "kin of the miecznik" or especially "one from the place of the miecznik." Thus the surname probably began as a name for one who came from a place called something like Mieczników or Miecznikowo, "place of the miecznik," referring perhaps to an estate or village owned or founded by a miecznik. I could find no places by this name in my sources, which may only suggest they have since disappeared or been renamed or been absorbed into larger communities, or may suggest the name was one used only by locals, unlikely to appear on any but the most detailed maps. As of 1990 there were 1,822 Polish citizens named Miecznikowski; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (517), Ciechanow (240), Olsztyn (172), and Ostrołęka (193). So the name is found all over Poland, but is most common in the northeastern part of the country.


GENDOLLA

... My dad once told me that our family name, Gendolla, has its origin in Poland. I would like to know more about it, about its meaning. Could you help me?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 9 Polish citizens named Gendolla. They lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 1, Poznan 5, Wroclaw 3. There were 26 with the name Gendoła, using Ł to stand for the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W; they lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz, 4; Gdansk, 4; Pila, 15; and Walbrzych, 3. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

None of my sources discuss this name, but I think I can make a reasonably good guess as to its origin. In Polish there are two nasal vowels written with tails under them, which I represent on-line with tildes; so there is Ą, pronounced usually like "own," and Ę, pronounced usually like "en." Any time we see a Polish name with EN, it's reasonable to ask if it's a phonetic spelling of that nasal vowel Ę. So if we replace EN with Ę, we have Gędolla. Polish doesn't usually use double letters, that normally is a sign of some foreign influence on the spelling. So that gives us Gędola.

The root gęd- or gąd- means "to play (an instrument)," and the suffixes -ała or -oła or -yła usually mean "one always doing _, one closely connected with _," where the blank is the root preceding the suffixes. So Gędola makes sense as a name meaning "one always playing." I think it's pretty likely this name started out as a sort of nickname for one who loved to play music. I can't be certain, but this is reasonably consistent with analysis of other names beginning Gąd- or Gęd-. There are other, more common names that express more or less the same thing, but that's what I think the name means.


ZAGROBELNY

... looking for Zagrobelny. Last known of one Thadeus Zagrobelny living in Glubczyce,woj Opolskie. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 593 Polish citizens named Zagrobelny. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Przemysl (175) and Wroclaw (89). There were 28 living in Opole province. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

The name probably comes from the noun zagroble, "area behind or past the dam or dike," from the roots za, "behind, past, on the other side of," and grobla, "dam." Thus Zagrobelny most likely began as a reference to where a family lived or worked, "the ones on the other side of the dam."


MAJEROWICZ, SKIRZYNSKI

... Hello, I saw your information on Polish surnames on the web. My mother's side of the family has its ancestry in Poland. There are two names I would appreciate any information on that you may be able to find. If you can find any quick and dirty info, that is fine. Also, I may be interested in more detailed information and would be willing to pay the $20 per name if you can provide such info. The two names are as follows:  Majerowicz and Skirzynski

These are the names of my grandparents. Unfortunately, I do not where from Poland they came. My brother visited immigration and naturalization and search their records years ago. Zero information was found on Majerowicz, and a little bit on Skirzynski, names of my greatgrandfather and his children. The word "Czajkowsk" is written in his notes. He does not remember whether this is name or a town or something else.


As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 420 Polish citizens named Majerowicz. There was no one part of the country in which the name was concentrated; a family by this name could come from anywhere in Poland.

The suffix -owicz means "son of," so Majerowicz (pronounced roughly "my-air-OH-vich") means literally "son of Majer." The derivation of this name depends on religion: if the family was Jewish, it comes from the Hebrew name Me'ir, from a root meaning "light, illumination." If the family was Christian, it probably comes from German Meier, "steward of an estate" or "dairy-farmer." Germans lived all over Poland, so it's not at all unusual to find Poles bearing names that prove to be ultimately of Germanic origin. 

As of 1990 there were 326 Polish citizens named Skirzynski (accent over the N, pronounced roughly "skee-ZHINN-skee"). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 60, Płock 53, and Radom 61; the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data suggests the name is most common in an area just a little north and east of the center of Poland.

Skirzynski is a hard one to trace. Most often names ending in -ynski refer to place names, so that this could mean "one from Skira, one from Skirzyn," something like that. But I can find no places with names that qualify. That's not necessarily significant, however; surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc.

If it's not from a place name, it could come from the roots skra, "spark," or skier, "ruffian, police guard," or skierowac', "to direct, send." There's also an expression skirz meaning "because, on account of," and it's possible a person might get a nickname from an expression like that, if people noticed he tended to say it a lot. Still, none of these explanations is all that persuasive, and I have nothing that says definitely one way or the other.

I don't have the time or resources to do more detailed research on names; all I can give is "quick and dirty" analysis. If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.


SKONIECZNY

... I am interested in the name Skonieczny. I realize that there is a fee of $20 and would be happy to pay--or any other reasonable amount. 

I only charge a fee if I have to spend more than, say, half an hour digging up info in my sources. In most cases, as in this one, it only takes a few minutes to find everything I have on a particular name, and I don't charge for that information.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,727 Polish citizens named Skonieczny (females would have the feminine form Skonieczna). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 619, Lodz 385, Wloclawek 452, and Warsaw 669. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. What this data tells us is that the name is found all over Poland, but is particularly common in areas in the center of the country and just northeast and northwest of there.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the archaic adjective skonieczny, meaning "final, one living at the end"; that in turn derives from the preposition z, "from, of," prefixed to the noun koniec, "end." So the name originally meant something like "the last one" or "the one living at the end," say, of a street or village. 

That's about all I can tell you. By its nature this is a name that can't be defined too exactly or associated with one specific region; it just indicates that a person or family was perceived as being final or last in some context. I would think most often it would refer to where they lived, on the outskirts of a village or settlement. But many names have no great degree of precision built into them, and this is one. It just means "final, last, at the end."


OCHABSKI, KRULIKOWSKI, KRÓLIKOWSKI

... Please, if you could help me with ANY information on the last names of Ochabski and Krulikovski, I would be deeply in your debt.

In Polish Ochabski would be pronounced more or less like "oh-HOBB-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 12 Polish citizens named Ochabski. They lived in the provinces of Katowice (11) and Konin (1). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

This name may come from the name of a place. One possibility is Ochaby Wielkie, near the Czech border, which under the 1975-1998 set-up was in the province Bielsko-Biala. If you'd like to see a map of this place, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm 

Enter "Ochaby" as the name of the place you're looking for, and make sure you specify to search using the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex. Click on "Start the Search." In a moment you'll get a list of places with names that might match Ochaby phonetically. Scroll on down to the ones in Poland and click on Ochaby at 49 degrees 51', 18 degrees 46'. This will bring up a map of the area which you can save, print, etc

It's also conceivable Ochabski could come from, say, the Ukrainian term okhab, "swamp," or from a variant of the first name Achab (Ahab). But considering that most Ochabski's lived in Katowice province, and that's near where Ochaby is, it's quite plausible the surname began as a reference to the family's connection with that place. Of course, only genealogical research would uncover enough information to establish for sure that's the connection, and I can't do that research. But the link seems pretty reasonable to me.

As of 1990 there were only 293 Poles name Krulikowski (pronounced somewhat like "crew-lick-OFF-skee"). But in Polish the vowel U and the vowel Ó are pronounced the same, and names are often spelled more than one way. In Polish this name is usually spelled Królikowski; as of 1990, there were 10,731 Polish citizens named Królikowski, scattered all over Poland. One cannot point to any one area and say "That's where a family named Królikowski came from"; a family by this name could come from anywhere in Poland.

Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. We would expect this surname to mean, therefore, "one from Królików or Królikowo or Królikowice," or some similar place name. Unfortunately, there are a number of places with names that fit; without much more detailed info on a specific family, there's no way to know which one the surname refers to in a given case.

The surname and the place names ultimately derive from the Polish noun królik, literally "little king" (in Polish "king" is król); in old Polish that word meant "king's viceroy," and is also a term used for a kind of rabbit, Latin name Oryctolagus cuniculus L. So the surname means "one from the place of the rabbits," or possibly "one from the place of the viceroy"; we can't rule out the possibility that in isolated instances the name might also have meant "kin of the viceroy" or "kin of the rabbit," but most of the time it would refer to the place name. 

To sum up, the immediate derivation is from królik, "viceroy, or a rabbit," and chances are the surname originally referred to the family's connection with people or a place somehow connected with a królik, especially a place with a name beginning Królikow-.


KARASZKIEWICZ

... I wonder if you would review my surname, Karaszkiewicz, and share your findings with me and any others who would be interested.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there 202 Polish citizens named Karaszkiewicz. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (67) and Poznan (27), with the rest scattered all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

I should add that in Polish SZ sounds like our "sh," and there's another Polish sound that's similar, written as an accented S. In carefully pronounced, proper Polish the SZ and Ś are distinguishable sounds that, in theory, should never be confused; but in practice they are often used interchangeably. Thus a name spelled with an SZ can sometimes also be spelled with Ś. This is relevant because as of 1990 there were 742 Polish citizens named Karaśkiewicz. The largest numbers lived in those same provinces, Warsaw (112) and Poznan (136). So one can regard these as two different versions of the same basic name.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions both forms of this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says both come from the noun karaś, "crucian carp" (a kind of fish). Karaś is a moderately common surname in its own right, borne by 8,724 Poles as of 1990. The -k- is a diminutive, and -iewicz means "son of," so the name means literally "son of the little carp." Most likely Karasek/Karasko/Karaszek/Karaszko, "little carp," came to be used used as a nickname for one who liked to fish for carp, or sell them, or eat them, or somehow reminded people of a carp. Then Karaśkiewicz or Karaszkiewicz could come to be used as a name for his sons or kin, and eventually stuck as a surname.


NIZIŃSKI

... Do you have anything on Nizinski? That is my wife's maiden name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,528 Polish citizens named Niziński, spelled with an accent over the 2nd N. The Poles by this name were scattered all over the country; there was no one area with which the name was particularly associated.

The basic root of this name is niz-, which means "low," but in most cases this surname would almost certainly refer to the term nizina, "lowland, valley, depression," or to a specific place with a name such as Nizina or Niziny. There are several places in Poland that have these names, and it's pretty likely they were all called this because they were in a valley or a lowland. So Niziński (pronounced roughly "nee-ZHEEN-skee") would mean more or less "one from Nizina or Niziny" = "one from the place in the valley." As you can imagine, a name like this is equally applicable in many different areas of Poland, so it's not too surprising the name is found all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area.


BŁASZCZYK

... I am looking for information on my father's family name Blaszczyk

In Polish this name is spelled with a slash through the L, and pronounced roughly "B'WASH-chick." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 24,791 Polish citizens named Błaszczyk, living in large numbers all over the country. So there is no one area we can point to and say "That's where a Błaszczyk family must have come from"; a family by this name could have come from anywhere in Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it developed by addition of suffixes to nicknames or short forms of first names beginning with Bła-, especially the name BłaŻej (slash through the L, dot over the z), the Polish form of "Blaise." This is not a very common name in the West, but St. Blaise was a bishop and martyr venerated as the patron of those with throat diseases, and BłaŻej is not an unusual name in Poland. So we run into a lot of surnames formed from it. The suffix -czyk usually means "son of." The closest English translation of Błaszczyk, therefore, is "son of Blaise, kin of Blaise."
  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


DZIERWA

... Hi. I am just starting to research my family, and my great-grandmother's name was Sadie Bernice Dzierva. I looked on your site (which is very informative) but found nothing on Dzierva. Can you help? 

Well, a compilation of 1990 data on Poles and their surnames showed some 800,000+ distinct names borne by Poles as of that year. So there are one or two I haven't gotten to yet!

The name we're looking for is Dzierwa -- Poles don't use the letter V, they use W as we use V (and frequently in their handwriting it looks rather like a V), so it's easily confused. The name is pronounced roughly "JARE-vah."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 918 Polish citizens named Dzierwa. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 165, Krakow 261, and Tarnow 217. So the name is most common in southcentral and southeastern Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

According to a Polish name expert who wrote a book focusing on names in southcentral Poland, Dzierwa and its companion forms Dzirwa, Dzierzwa, and Dzirzwa come from the root seen in the verb dzierać, "to tear, rip." It would apparently have started out as an old first name or nickname, perhaps not unlike "Rip" in English (e. g., actors Rip Torn, Rip Taylor), a manly, heroic sort of name for one who ripped and tore his way out of difficulties. If we accept that comparison of "Rip" and "Dzier-" as names expressing something similar in different cultures, I think Dzierwa can be interpreted as little more than "kin of Rip."


GABIS

... Hi, I am trying to find where my fathers Grandparents came from the last name is Gabis. They were supposed to have come from Poland\Russia but I have no idea where to start in Poland. Any help at all would be nice. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 90 Polish citizens named Gabis (pronounced roughly "GAH-bees"). They were scattered in small numbers all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area; so the name distribution data doesn't really tell us much about where your ancestors may have come from.

There were 48 more named Gabiś -- I'm using Ś to stand for the Polish S with an accent over it, pronounced kind of like a soft "sh," so that this name sounds more like "GAH-beesh." The largest number, 22, lived in the southwestern province of Leszno, with the rest scattered in small numbers all over. The ones in Leszno may not be relevant to your research because Leszno was in the German partition of Poland, whereas your ancestors lived in the Russian partition, which covered much of central and eastern Poland, as well as Lithuania, Belarus, and some of northern Ukraine. So unless the family was forced to relocate from east to west -- as happened to millions after World War II -- it seems doubtful this information is relevant.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the root seen in the verb gabać, "to provoke, torment, attack." This suggests Gabis might have started as a kind of nickname for one prone to provoke or torment others. 

I'm afraid this doesn't tell you much that's helpful in determining where your family came from, but that's the rule rather than the exception with surnames. Relatively few provide any kind of useful clue as to a family's origin. Only genealogical research may uncover enough information on a specific family's background to establish a historical and linguistic context in which it is possible to determine exactly how and why the name developed and "stuck" in a given case. 


KOPERSKI

... I've recently started worked on a family history .... I'm wondering if you have any info on Koperski ?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,948 Polish citizens named Koperski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 192, Czestochowa 126, Katowice 104, Płock 172, Poznan 481, Skierniewice 103, and Warsaw 339. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one region.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it derives from the noun koper, "dill," or perhaps in some cases from kopr, "copper." In form it's an adjective -- the -ski just means "of, from, connected with, pertaining to" -- so the name Koperski means "one somehow connected with dill (or copper)." In practice it's likely to refer to a person or family who grew dill it, sold it, used it in cooking, something like that. It might also refer to the name of a place with which the family was connected, a name meaning, in effect, "the dill place." About all we can say for sure, all these centuries later, is that there was some perceived connection between the family and dill.


BAROWICZ, MAZURKIEWICZ

... Looking for the origin and age of the Mazurkiewicz family. Also Barowicz. 

I'm afraid there is no such thing as THE Mazurkiewicz family; there are almost certainly a number of independent families who share this name, which means "son of one from Mazovia," a region of northeastern Poland. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 15,364 Polish citizens named Mazurkiewicz, living all over the country. So one cannot talk in general terms about Mazurkiewiczes, but only in terms of specific families bearing this name, as different families would vary in age and exact origin.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Barowicz in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it usually comes from the German word Bär, "bear"; that was probably used as a nickname or first name for one of great size and strength. The -owicz just means "son of," so the name literally means "son of the bear." Rymut adds that in some cases, especially with less ancient names, Bar- can come from the first name Bartłomiej, "Bartholomew," so Barowicz could conceivably mean "son of Bart." Without research into individual families, there's no way to know which derivation is relevant in a given case; but Barowicz is probably an older name, and as such probably does come from the word for "bear."

As of 1990 there were 206 Polish citizens named Barowicz. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Legnica, 83, and Wroclaw, 52, in southwestern Poland, in areas long ruled by the Germans; the rest were scattered all over in much smaller numbers. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.


SIEMBAB

... I wonder if you can tell me something about my family name which is Siembab. I believe it is the proper spelling although I was told many years ago that it could also be spelled Siebab with a hook under the E and pronounced as it is presently spelled. My family came from southern Poland. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 752 Polish citizens named Siembab. The largest number by far, 422, lived in the province of Tarnów in southeastern Poland; the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data indicates enough of a concentration in Tarnów province that it would make sense to regard the Tarnow area as the one in which the name originated, and it later spread to other parts of Poland.

You're right that this name could also be spelled Siębab. This Ę is usually pronounced more or less like "en," but before B or P it changes to the sound of "em." Thus Siębab and Siembab are pronounced the same, much like "SHEM-bob." And we see in Polish records that when there is more than one phonetically adequate way to write a name, you're likely to see more than one spelling. But Siembab is clearly considered the standard spelling these days, because as of 1990 there were only 14 Poles who used the form Siębab, all living in Przemysl province in southeastern Poland. (As I said before, I have no way to get more info such as names and addresses.)

This name puzzles me because I can't find anything on it in any of my sources, and it's difficult to make an educated guess on what it might mean. The root siem- in Polish can be an archaic form of the numeral siedem, "seven," and bab- is a root meaning "woman," so that Siembab could plausibly be interpreted as "seven women." But just because that is plausible doesn't mean it is right! 

The root siem- also appears in the noun siemię, "seed," and this same root appears in other Slavic languages with the basic meaning of "family"; that root is now archaic in Polish, as the word rodzina has taken over the meaning of "family," but we see ancient Polish first names such as Siemomysl and Siemoslaw with the root used in the sense of "family." Names beginning with Siem- can also come from a form of the first name "Simon." Still, "family women" or "seed women" or "Simon's women" don't strike me as convincing interpretations, either because they don't make sense or the form Siembab just isn't consistent with a construction meaning that.

So I don't have a definitive word from any scholars who have studied the name, and my gut feeling is that none of my educated guesses (which often turn out to be correct) is really quite right --or at least I can't be sure they're right. If I had to go with one of them, I'd go with "seven women," perhaps beginning as a nickname for a male born into a family composed mostly of women. Since I'm the only male in my immediate family, which consists of six people and four generations, I don't feel such an interpretation strains credulity. But I keep coming back to the same point: the fact that it's plausible doesn't mean it's right!

If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.

If you do contact the Workshop, I'd be very interested in hearing what they have to say. I would like to add such info to the next edition of my surname book, so we can share it with others who have this name.


WOJDYŁO

... I was wondering what the meaning of my last name Wojdylo means....I would appreciate it if you can provide some info about it.

In Polish this name is spelled with the L with a slash through it, which is pronounced like our W; as opposed to the normal unslashed L. Polish W is pronounced like our V. So the name is pronounced roughly "voy-DIH-woe," with the middle syllable sounding almost like "dill" except that the L is more like a W.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,633 Polish citizens named Wojdyło. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 126, Krakow 83, Przemysl 449, Rzeszow 72, Tarnobrzeg 61, Torun 80, and Wroclaw 62. So while this name was seen all over Poland, it was most common in the southern part, especially southeastern Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to get addresses for those Wojdyło's.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1385, and comes from the basic Polish root woj-, "warrior, war." It may come straight from that root in the meaning of "warrior," in which case Wojdyło would be kind of like "kin of the warrior." But it may also have originated as a kind of nickname formed from ancient pagan Polish surnames beginning with that root, such as Wojciech ("war" + "glad" ?= "joyful warrior"), Wojsław ("war" + "fame" ? = "famous warrior"), etc. So one way or the other the name Wojdyło goes back to this root meaning "war," but it's hard to say whether it began as a reference to the kin of a warrior or simply as a kind of nickname for one of those old pagan first names (sort of the same way we get "Eddie" from "Edward"). Only genealogical research may uncover enough information on a specific family's background to establish a historical and linguistic context in which it is possible to determine exactly how and why the name developed and "stuck" in a given case. 


WOJDYŁA

... I am curious to the origin of my maternal grandmother's maiden name of Wojdyla. She came from the Malopolskie district. I am also curious because of the closeness to the Pope's name of Wojtyla. How many Wojdyla's were there in Poland in 1990?

In Polish this name is spelled with the L with a slash through it, which is pronounced like our W; as opposed to the normal unslashed L. Polish W is pronounced like our V. So the name is pronounced roughly "voy-DIH-wah," with the middle syllable sounding almost like "dill" except that the L is more like a W.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,680 Polish citizens named Wojdyła. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 286, Krakow 193, Krosno 244, Nowy Sacz 172, Opole 185, and Przemysl 264. So while this name was seen all over Poland, it was most common in the southern part, ranging all the way from southwestern to southeastern Poland. Clearly this includes Malopolska, so the data is consistent with the information you have. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to get addresses for those Wojdyła's.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1473, and comes from the basic Polish root woj-, "warrior, war." It may come straight from that root in the meaning of "warrior," in which case Wojdyła would be kind of like "kin of the warrior." But it may also have originated as a kind of nickname formed from ancient pagan Polish surnames beginning with that root, such as Wojciech ("war" + "glad" ?= "joyful warrior"), Wojsław ("war" + "fame" ? = "famous warrior"), etc. So one way or the other the name Wojdyła goes back to this root meaning "war," but it's hard to say whether it began as a reference to the kin of a warrior or simply as a kind of nickname for one of those old pagan first names (sort of the same way we get "Eddie" from "Edward"). Only genealogical research may uncover enough information on a specific family's background to establish a historical and linguistic context in which it is possible to determine exactly how and why the name developed and "stuck" in a given case. 

The name Wojdyła is indeed very close to that of the Pope, Wojtyła, but that doesn't necessarily mean much. It is, of course, possible the names might link up somewhere way back -- D and T are closely related sounds, so it wouldn't take much at all for Wojdyła and Wojtyła to be confused. Still, it seems likely in most cases they are unrelated except for a similarity in sound, occasioned by origin in a common root; but that doesn't imply a blood connection, any more than we'd expect a Jones to be related to a Johnson. Wojtyła may come from that first name Wojciech, but it may also come from the noun wójt, an official in charge of a rural district. Thus his name may come from an entirely different root.


SOBANIA

... Came across your offer of help on the web and wondered if I could take advantage of it! Its very kind of you to offer. I only need a 'quick and simple' guide, anything you may have to point me in the right direction. The family name I would like some clues for is Sobania from the Kielce region in late 1800s.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 569 Polish citizens named Sobania. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 57, Opole 63, and Radom 254; the list said only 1 lived in Kielce province at that time. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data suggests there are two pockets of concentration of this name, one in southwestern Poland (the region called Silesia), the other a little southeast of the center of the country (near Radom).

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1469, and comes from first names beginning with Sob-. There are several names that could apply, such as Sobestian (a variant of Sebastian), or Sobiesław or Sobiepan (ancient pagan Slavic first names, no equivalents in English). Poles often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes (much as we do with names like "Eddie" from "Edward"). So they would take the Sob- part from the names I mentioned above, drop the rest, and add suffixes to come up with Sobania. There is no way to translate the name, any more than we can translate "Ted" -- they're just nicknames from longer names that did mean something long ago. The closest we could come is "kin of Sobie," noting that that is a nickname from Sobestian or Sobiesław, etc.


SIDOR

... I have been researching my family history and would like to know if you have any information on the surname Sidur or Sidor. My great grandfather was from Bren Oslechowski, Poland. Any information would be greatly appreciated. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,607 Polish citizens named Sidor, as opposed to 34 named Sidur, so odds are it was Sidor. Both names are found all over Poland, but with concentrations in the eastern and southeastern part of the country; for instance, the largest numbers of Sidors lived in the provinces of Lublin (1,210) and Zamosc (409).

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Sidor in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], and I think it's reasonable to assume Sidur is just a misspelling or variant of that name. The surname Sidor comes from the first name Izydor, which comes from the Greek name Isidoros, meaning "gift of Isis." This name did not become common in Poland until the last couple of centuries, and the distribution data quoted above suggests it is still more common among eastern Poles and Ukrainians, due to the influence of the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches in those regions. Some names coming from Greek are much more common among Eastern Slavs because they were connected with saints of the Orthodox Church, which tended to use Greek, rather than the Roman Catholic Church, which used Latin. 

So as the distribution data suggests, this name first came into use among Eastern Slavs and gradually spread among Poles; but it is still more common in eastern Poland than western.


CZUCZKO

... I enjoyed your web site and wondered if you can find any information on Czuczko. I have had a very difficult time finding anything, so any bit of info would be greatly appreciated.

This is not a very common name. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 101 Polish citizens named Czuczko. They lived in the following provinces: Biala Podlaska 1, Gdansk 4, Gorzow 4, Jelenia Gora 1, Katowice 7, Koszalin 3, Olsztyn 46, Przemysl 17, Slupsk 8, Szczecin 3, Zielona Gora 7. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

This data tells us the name is somewhat concentrated in northeastern Poland, but is found scattered all over the country. It is hard to say whether this dispersion is a recent phenomenon. After World War II, large numbers of ethnic Poles, Lithuanians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians were forced to relocate from east to west; if we had data from before 1939, we might find most of the Czuczko's concentrated in the east. But we don't have such data, so all I can do is speculate.

None of my sources directly address the question of this name's origin, but I note in a 7-volume Polish dictionary that the term czuczka is a variant spelling of ciuc'ka, a diminutive of ciucia, which is a child's expression for "little dog, puppy." Thus czuczka would be kind of like "doggy" in English. It is quite plausible that the name Czuczko comes from this word. It may have begun as a kind of nickname for one who liked dogs, or who had kids who went around calling dogs by that name -- all these centuries later, it's difficult to know exactly what caused people to associate a particular person or family with a particular nickname. About the most we can say is that there was some kind of link between a person or family and this child's term for puppies.

The name is pronounced "CHOOCH-ko," and the reason it can readily be confused with words beginning ciuc- is because Poles pronounce the combinations -ci- and -cz- more or less the way we pronounce "ch." There is a distinction between the two sounds in proper Polish, but we see them confused often enough in names to know that a name with -cz- can be connected with a name with -ci-.


PILIPIEC

... My name is Peppie Pilipiec. I am searching for a long time about the meaning and origin of the name Pilipiec and found nothing about it. Short time ago I got acces to internet and I hoped to find some information but until now without success. Maybe you can help me.
I am living in Holland and (so far I know) my family is the only one with the surname Pilipiec. I don't have much detailed information about my family history. There is some relation with the Czech Republic and with Hungary. But the oldest information I have originates from Poland. From stories my father told me in the past there could also be some relation with Ukraine, but I am not sure about that. Because my name is different from most other names in my country people often ask me about the origin. Maybe you can help me. Is it a common surname or am I the last and only one with this name? Maybe you also can tell me how to pronounce it.


As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 182 Polish citizens named Pilipiec. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Koszalin 27, Olsztyn 15, Zamosc 71. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have... I should add that after World War II, large numbers of people were forced to move from eastern Poland to the west, so it is quite possible most of hose people named Pilipiec who live in western or northern Poland (Koszalin and Olsztyn provinces) originally came from southeastern Poland, near Zamosc. The data we have is too recent to tell us for sure; I wish we had data from before 1939, it would settle many questions.

This name is pronounced in Polish roughly as "pee-LEEP-yets" (that's using English phonetic values; a German, for instance, would write it "pie-LIEP-jetz"). It comes from Pilip, a form of the first name known in English as "Philip," plus the suffix -iec, which means roughly "son of, kin of." So Pilipiec means "kin of Philip." 

It is entirely possible there is a Ukrainian connection here. You see, in Polish the standard form of that first name is Filip; the same form is used in Czech. But in Ukrainian it is Pylyp, where the y stands for a short i sound, somewhat like that in English "ship"; the I's in Filip, on the other hand, sound more like the ee in English "sheep." A name in the form Pilipiec might well have originated among Ukrainians rather than Poles or Czechs, with later lengthening of the vowels from y to i. (Among Hungarians the name is Fülöp, that is with umlaut over the U and O; that different form, and the -iec suffix, make it unlikely this name is Hungarian in origin).

Still, one cannot be certain of a Ukrainian connection. The Slavic languages did not originally have the F-sound, so that in older records we often see P used instead of F. Thus in older records one does see Poles using the form Pilip, and only later did Filip become standard. So those P's in Pilipiec do not prove the name originated among Ukrainians; it could also have developed in Polish or Czech centuries ago, before the more modern form "Filip" became standard. Still, the moment I saw this name I thought of the Ukrainian form Pylyp; and people did sometimes move in ancient times, so that we see Ukrainian names in Poland and Polish names in Ukraine. 

To summarize, we can say with certainty that the name means "kin of Philip" or "son of Philip," and is most often seen in modern Poland in the area of Zamosc, in the southeastern part of the country, very near the border with Ukraine. We cannot be quite so certain whether the name was originally Polish, Ukrainian, or Czech (or even Slovak). Many names are very similar in those languages, and often the form of the name itself does not provide us with enough information to be certain. In this case, genealogical research is your best hope of answering the question of the exact origin, as it may shed light on the historical, linguistic, and social background in which the name developed.


MADAJCZYK

...I have been unable to find anything about my surname, Madajczyk. Do you know anything?

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it developed by addition of the suffix -czyk, which generally means "son of," to the name Madaj. That name generally comes from a short form of the Latin first name Amadeus, rare in this country but not uncommon in Europe -- it is best known as the middle name of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Latin name comes from the roots ama-, "love," and Deus, "God," so it could be interpreted as "one who loves God" or perhaps "one dear to God"; there are equivalents to this name in many languages, including German Gottlieb and Polish Bogumil, meaning the same thing. So the name can be interpreted as "son of Amadeus."

Rymut mentions that in some cases Madaj- might also come from the feminine name Magdalena, and I've seen surname scholars who think there may be a connect with the name "Matthew" or "Matthias," in Polish Mateusz and Maciej. These are possibilies, but in most cases the connection probably is with that name Amadeus.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 595 Polish citizens named Madajczyk (pronounced roughly "mah-DIE-chick"). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Poznan 78, and Wloclawek 228. So the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the areas just west and north of the center of the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.


GACKI

... Was wondering if you would have any information on the origin and meaning of my father's last name, Gatski. I am sure it is not the original spelling.

In Polish the ts sound is spelled c, so the original spelling in Polish would be Gacki. It's pronounced more or less "GOT-skee."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there 2,236 Polish citizens named Gacki. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 149, Katowice 615, Lodz 113, Łomża 168, and Opole 238; the rest were scattered in smaller numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data suggests the name is most common in southcentral and southwestern Poland, but not to the point that one can assume a Gacki came from there -- a family by this name could come from almost anywhere in Poland.

My sources indicate that the ultimate root of the name is most likely that seen in the noun gac' (accent over the c), "fascine, a bundle of sticks" (used generally to strengthen walls or various constructions). The direct connection, however, is probably with places with names from that root, especially various places named Gac' or Gacki, of which there are more than a dozen. So the surname probably means "one from Gac' or Gacki."

Neither the derivation nor the frequency data provides any clues that let us say which particular Gac' or Gacki a given Gacki family once came from. The only way to determine that is through genealogical research, which may allow one to focus on a particular area. Then, instead of trying to deal with a dozen Gac'es or Gacki's, one can say "It has to be one located near X" and search that area for the most likely candidate.


KAMIEŃSKI, KAMIŃSKI, KAMINSKY

... Hello! I was wondering if you by any chance had any information on the surname of Kaminski.

Yes, I've answered questions on this name before. I've quoted below my response to a girl in grade school who needed info on a paper she was writing on her name, which her family spelled Kaminsky. As I explain, slightly different versions of this name are very popular among many Slavs, but Kaminski is most likely Polish rather than Russian or Czech or Ukrainian. I think all the information I wrote to her may be helpful to you, so I'll quote the whole reply. I hope it is some help to you, and wish you the best of luck.


Kaminsky or Kaminski is a surname we find among many peoples of eastern Europe. I don't know if you've ever heard the word "Slav," it is a general term used for many related ethnic groups of eastern Europe, including the Poles, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Russians, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, etc.

About 1,200 years ago these people were all one large group and all spoke the same language; but as time went on they split up, moved to different parts of eastern Europe, and their language changed and developed into many different languages, as the peoples themselves gradually developed into different ethnic groups. A lot of words are still similar in the various Slavic languages, however, and your name comes from one of them, a word meaning "stone, rock." 

Poles spell this word kamień. Czechs spell it kámen. When Russians write it in their alphabet, Cyrillic, it looks like KAMEHb; Ukrainians also use the Cyrillic alphabet, and they spell it a little differently, KAMIHb. So they all write the word different ways, but they all pronounce it more or less the same, sort of like saying "COMM-yen" in English (Ukrainians pronounce it more like "COMM-een"). Many surnames come from this word, and the one you bear is written in slightly different ways, too, depending on where it came from: Poles, for instance, spell the name either Kamiński or Kamieński. The spelling you now have, Kaminsky, might be Czech; it might be the Russian or Ukrainian forms spelled in English letters; or it may have been Polish but people changed the final -I of Kamiński to -Y in this country (this happened often when Poles came to America). You can't always tell just by looking at the name which country it came form, it could come from many countries where Slavs live.

Surnames like Kamiński usually started because of a link with a place. In Polish kamieński just means "of, from, pertaining to stone or rock," and sometimes it got started as a name for a person who worked with rock (like a stone-carver), or lived in a rocky place, or had some other connection with rocks. But much of the time the name started because a person lived in a place with a name like Kamień or Kamiń -- which just means it was a rocky place. So Kamiński means either "rock-person" or "one from Kamień or Kamiń" = "one from the rocky place." Looking only at Poland, there are literally dozens of places named Kamień, and this name could come from any of them; there are also many villages and towns in Ukraine, Russia, etc. where the name could also come from.

As of 1990 there were 87,935 Polish citizens named Kamiński, and another 1,514 named Kamieński. I don't have sources with data for other countries such as Ukraine, Russia, the Czech Republic, etc., but I'm pretty sure the name is just as common there. 

So in summary: 

1) the name comes from a Slavic word for "rock, stone," especially as a reference to people who lived in or came from a place with a name like Kamień or Kamiń

2) it could be Polish, Czech, Russian, Ukrainian, etc., but the spellig Kamiński is usually Polish

3) and it is a very, very common name in Eastern Europe.


WIECZOREK

... Hi!! My name is Veronica Corra de Wieczorek that why i want to know if this surname is common in Poland and what it mean may father in law tell us that is something like ligth afternoon or so...

Your father-in-law is close; this surname comes from the Polish noun wieczorek, pronounced roughly "vyeh-CHORE-ek," which means "evening" or "a small party in the evening." It comes from the noun wieczór, "evening," with the addition of the diminutive suffix -ek. So Wieczorek literally means "little evening," and might have originated as a sort of nickname for one who was most active in the late afternoon or evening, or one who often held little parties in the evening. The dividing line between late afternoon and early evening is not sharp, so it's reasonable to say the name could be understood as meaning "late afternoon" as well; but the dictionary definition, at least, is "evening."

One source also mentions that wieczorek is also a term for "bat," presumably referring to bats' habit of first coming out in the early evening; so it might also have started as a nickname for one who reminded people somehow of a bat. Another mentions that this term could be confused with another word, więciorek (the ę stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it and pronounced more or less like "en"); the pronunciation of the two words is very close, "vyeh-CHORE-ek" vs. "vyen-CHORE-ek," so it's not hard to see how they might be confused. That word means "a small fish-pot." This name could get started as a reference to a person's occupation and the gear he used in it, or it could be a nickname.

Still, it seems most likely the name started out due to some perceived connection between a person or family and something that happened in the late afternoon or early evening. These names developed centuries ago, and often we cannot hope to know exactly what led people to start calling certain folks by a specific name. The most we can do is say what the name means and make reasonable suggestions as to why it seemed applicable.

Wieczorek is a pretty common name in Poland. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 46,920 Poles named Wieczorek, living in large numbers all over the country. So there's no one part of Poland with which the name is particularly associated; a Wieczorek could come from anywhere.

The "de Wieczorek" is interesting, you don't usually run into Polish names with de unless the family left Poland for France before coming to North America. In the Middle Ages Polish nobles used Latin de with the name of their estate, so that Jan who owned the estate at Piotrkowo might be called Johannes de Piotrkowo, "John of Piotrkowo." Later Poles quit using the de and adopted a more Polish way of saying the same thing, adding -ski to the end of the estate's name, so that this Jan would be called Jan Piotrkowski. There are similar names from Wieczorek, such as Wieczorowski and Wieczorkowski. 

I don't have any information that would shed light on why a particular family might go by "de Wieczorek." As I suggested, it's possible they lived in France for a while and called themselves by this name to indicate nobility. It's even possible they weren't noble but used this name to suggest they were. Still, all that's speculation; I don't have information on specific families, only on the origins and meanings of names from a linguistic standpoint.


NIKODEMSKI

... I'm starting to search around for info on our family name, Nikodemski. Will buy your first book, but am also interested in any other informational leads. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 516 Polish citizens named Nikodemski. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Lodz (170) and Ostrołęka (57), with the rest scattered in much smaller numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data shows the name is most common these days in the center of the country (around Lodz) and a little to the northeast of the center (around Ostrołęka).

The meaning of the name is simple: "of Nicodemus." Words ending in -ski originated as adjectives, so Nikodemski would mean "of, from, connected with, relating to Nicodemus." In the context of surnames, it would probably mean "kin of Nicodemus" or "one from the place of Nicodemus." That name, in turn, is Biblical, coming from Greek Nikodemos, "lord over the people." So about all the name tells us is that at some point in the past you had an ancestor named Nicodemus who was well-known enough that the locals started referring to his kin with this name, or who had a farm or settlement with which people bearing this name were associated.


WOJTYNA

... I am hoping you can help me in finding the origin and the meaning to the surname of Wojtyna. It is my great-great-grandfathers name. He was born in Lancut, Poland back in 1879. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,116 Polish citizens named Wojtyna. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 91, Kielce 199, Przemysl 115, Rzeszow 79 (which is the province Lancut was in), and Zamosc 60. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. The data shows that the name is found all over Poland but is especially common in the southeastern part of the country.

Poles pronounce this name roughly "voy-TINN-ah." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it, like most names beginning with Wojt-, can come from either of two roots, and it can be very difficult telling which one is relevant in a given case. These names can come from the first name Wojciech, an ancient Slavic name meaning "war-joy," possibly meant in the sense of "may this child be a joyful warrior, may he find joy in battle." The other possibility is from the noun wójt, an official in charge of a district covering several villages. Wojtyna makes sense as meaning "kin of the wójt" or even "wife of the wójt"; that suffix -yna is one often added to a word or name to indicate a married female, so that "wójt's wife" is especially plausible. Still, there's no denying the name could just as easily mean "kin of Wojciech." In cases like this the only thing that would prove which derivation is correct would be genealogical research that uncovers records shedding light on the matter. But frankly, it's doubtful you'd find records that go back far enough -- a name like this developed centuries ago.


WYRZYKOWSKI

... Do you have any info on the surname Wyrzykowski ( now Wyzykowski)

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,523 Polish citizens named Wyrzykowski. While there was a particularly large number, 960, in the province of Warsaw, the name is found all over Poland, to the extent that one cannot really point to any one area and say "That's where Wyrzykowski's came from." They could come from anywhere in Poland.

Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. In this case, we'd expect this surname to mean "one from Wyrzyki or Wyrzyków or Wyrzykowo" or some similar name beginning with Wyrzyk-. Unfortunately, there are several places in Poland with names that qualify, including Wyrzyki's in the provinces (per the 1979-1998 provincial organization) of Białystok, Ciechanow, and Łomża. Another source mentions a connection of Wyrzykowski with Wyrzyków in the district of Kamieniec in the Mazovia region; I couldn't find that on any map, it's possible it has disappeared or has been renamed in the centuries since the surname developed.

So without detailed information on a specific family's background, there's no way to know which particular place a specific Wyrzykowski family came from. With any luck, genealogical research would uncover enough facts to establish this connection. But that is beyond the scope of what I can do.


LUCIŃSKI

... Thanks for any indications about my name [Lucinski].

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 468 Polish citizens named Luciński. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Kielce 154, Płock 52, Poznan 38, and Warsaw 38; the rest lived in much smaller numbers scattered all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

None of my sources discuss the derivation of this name, but it seems likely it refers to the name of a place where the family once lived; if they were noble, they owned the estate there, and if they were not noble, they worked there. There are several places in Poland the name might refer to, such as Lucin in Siedlce province, Lucin in Szczecin province, and Luciny in Leszno province (these are the provinces during the period 1975-1998; last year all this changed again, but most maps available show the 1975-1998 arrangement). 

Thus as with many Polish surnames, the name itself tells you little about where the family came from. Only detailed genealogical research into a specific family's past will uncover enough information to determine which place the name refers to in that family's case (different Lucinski families might come by the name in different ways).


LEWICKI, SAKOWICZ, SITKO, SÓWKA

... Hi again: A couple of weeks ago you gave me information regarding my Grandfather's side of the family in Poland and I was delighted with your response. I have since found information relative to my Grandmother, and was wondering if you would be kind enough to give me a brief analysis of her side of the family. Her maiden name was Lewicki. She came from Teolin, Sokolka, Balostuckie (Białystok??), Poland. Her Mother's maiden name was Sitko. Also whenever your time permits, my sister-in-law, is interested in a brief analysis of her family surnames: Sowka and Sakowicz.

Lewicki (pronounced "leh-VEET-skee") is a moderately common surname. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 13,441 Polish citizens named Lewicki, living all over the country. There was no one area of the country in which it was concentrated; a Lewicki could come from almost anywhere. As of 1990 there were 407 Polish citizens named Lewicki living in the province of Białystok, which is most likely the province in which your grandmother's relatives resided.

In most cases Lewicki would refer to the name of a place where the family once lived, places with names like Lewice. The root of the place name could come from the first name Lew, from the Polish word for "lion" (used much like Leo or Leon in English), in which case the surname would mean "one from the place of Lew's sons." It could also come from the adjective lewy, "left," referring to one who lived in a place left of some landmark, or one who was left-handed. If there is any Jewish ancestry, it can also come from the term Lewit, "Levite," referring to the priestly tribe descending from Levi; in that case Lewicki would mean "kin of the Levite." So there are several different possible interpretations, and without detailed genealogical research into a given family's history there's no way to know which one is appropriate in their particular case.

In Sakowicz ("sah-KO-vitch") the -owicz means "son of," so the name means "son of Sak." That is a personal name derived from the noun sak, "fishing net, sack," presumably used originally as a nickname for one who made or used a sak, or who somehow reminded people of a sak in other ways. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions the name Sakowicz in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], saying it appears in records as far back as 1390. As of 1990 there were 2,712 Polish citizens by this name, including 854 in the province of Białystok, the largest single number for any province of Poland.

Sitko ("SHEET-ko") is thought to come from the noun sitko, "strainer, dredger," a diminutive of sito, "sieve, strainer." Rymut also mentions this name in his book, saying it appears in records as early as 1389. As of 1990 there were 4,387 Poles by this name, including 261 in Białystok province.

Sowka is spelled in Polish with an accent over the O, Sówka, and pronounced roughly "SOOF-kah." It comes from the term sówka, a kind of owl, Athene noctua, or the Noctuidae family of moths. The basic root is sowa, "owl," plus the diminutive suffix -ka, "little." According to Rymut, this name appears in records as early as 1355. As of 1990 there were 1,498 Poles named Sówka, scattered all over Poland (although none appeared to live in Białystok province).

Incidentally, Teolin is a village some 15-20 km. west of Sokolka in what was Białystok province until last year, at which time the provinces were reorganized; it is now in Podlaskie province, near the border with Belarus. 


RANOWIECKI

... I have been searching for any information on my Maiden name Ranowiecki. I know nothing about it. I know that my ggrandfather came from Warsaw , or so I have been told, but so far have no verification of this. The best lead I have right now is my name is spelled very closly to the province of Mazowieckie , I'm hoping this is a sign that he lived in this area (Warsaw) Were surnames adapted from provinces? As you might find out there are NO other Ranowiecki's to be found except my family and we are very few. No one has any information about our name. Please help :) 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were no Polish citizens named Ranowiecki. Of course this doesn't mean the name isn't real; it could be there are a few who were missed in the data compilation, or it could mean the name was fairly rare and died out after the family emigrated. But it does make it very hard to say what part of Poland the name came from.

The similarity of the name to Mazowiecki is, I'm afraid, meaningless. It arises from the fact that Polish uses certain sounds and syllables a lot, and so some unrelated words can sound familiar. It means no more than saying that "information" and "formation" must mean the same thing because they both end in -formation.

In form the name is an adjective, like most names ending in -ski or -cki or -zki. It would seem to mean "of Ranowiec, from Ranowiec," or some similar name beginning with Ranow-. The -iec part usually means "property of, kin of," so that Ranowiec seems likely to mean "property of Ranow, kin of Ranow." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut doesn't mention Ranowiecki in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], but he does mention Ranow, saying it can come from several roots, including rano, "morning," or rana, "wound," or an ancient pagan name Ranimir. 

This suggests the surname Ranowiecki meant either "one from the place of Ranow" or "one of the kin of Ranow or his sons." I can't find any place in eastern Europe named with a name beginning Ranow-, but that doesn't necessarily mean much. Surnames developed centuries ago, and often referred to the name locals had for a field or hill or some small settlement; such place names may never have been used by anyone but locals, or may have been renamed or absorbed into other communities, or may have disappeared. Or, as I say, the surname may just refer to the kin of an ancestor named Ranow or something similar, which could come from any of the roots mentioned above.

All of which means surname analysis is not likely to help you much. I'm afraid the only thing that's likely to tell you anything is genealogical research -- digging out naturalization papers, census records, ship passenger lists, that sort of thing. On one of those, if you're lucky, you may find a bit more information that will help you trace the family back to where it came from in Poland. At that point you may find something that sheds light on the name's origin -- perhaps a reference to some nearby place called Ranowiec or something similar, perhaps an alternate form of the name that clarifies its original meaning.

I don't have the time or resources to do that kind of detailed research on individual families; all I can give is "quick and dirty" analysis. If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


FRONCZAK, FRĄCZAK

... Please do a "short" analysis on the name: Fronczak. I will purchase your book on Polish Surnames for my library, but my guess is that the name, Fronczk, is not included. I will be surprised if it is!

If the name is Fronczak, yes, it is in my book. If it's Fronczk, no, it's not. But I'm assuming Fronczk is a typo and the name you want is Fronczak.

First off, I need to explain that any time you see ON in a Polish word or name coming before a consonant, chances are very good the original Polish spelling was with the nasal vowel written as an A with a tail under it, which I represent on-line as Ą. This sound is generally pronounced much like "on," and since names were often spelled phonetically, a name like Frączak could be, and often was, spelled Fronczak in records. The two spellings can legitimately be regarded as variants of the same name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,022 Polish citizens named Fronczak, and there were 1,871 who spelled it Frączak. This is interesting, normally the Ą spelling is standard and the ON has much smaller numbers; but for some reason (which I don't pretend to know) the ON spelling is more common in Poland these days. (Another phonetic spelling is Fronciak, but it's extremely rare).

The largest numbers of Frączak's lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 556, Lodz 135, Radom 202, and Skierniewice 104; the rest were scattered all over Poland. For Fronczak the largest numbers lived in these provinces: Warsaw 668, Ciechnaow 112, and Lodz 94. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, but is particularly common in the area at and just east of the central part of the country (in its current borders).

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from a short form of the first name Franciszek, "Francis." While Franciszek is the standard form of the name in modern Polish, in earlier records -- which are the ones of interest when it comes to surname development, since surnames developed centuries ago -- it appears in a number of different forms. Sometimes that first part Franc- was pronounced and came to be spelled more like Frąc- or Fronc-, which helped create short forms or nicknames that could be written Franc, Frąc, or Fronc. The suffix -ak is a diminutive, but in surnames often means "kin of, son of," so that this Polish surname can be interpreted more or less as "son of Frank, kin of Frank."


KĘDRA, KENDRA

... Hi, I just found your website (through an initial SCA search), and I love it! I was wondering what you could tell me about the Polish surname Kendra. My great grandparents came to the US from Poland at the beginning of the century, and my grandfather assures me that the name was NOT changed at Ellis Island. I had a short Polish language course once, and the teacher said she had indeed heard of the name. Any help...? Thank you so much!

I'm very glad to hear you like my Website. It represents a fair amount of work, and it's gratifying to hear from folks who find it helpful and interesting.

Now, as for the name Kendra, it is quite plausible that the name wasn't changed during the immigration process; but this is not the standard Polish spelling of the name. Whenever we see a Polish name with EN before a consonant, we have to be aware that there's a nasal vowel in Polish written as an E with a tail under it. This vowel is usually pronounced much like "en," so that Kędra is pronounced more or less "KEN-drah." Until this century, when literacy became the rule rather than the exception, names were often spelled inconsistently and phonetically. So the name Kendra is almost certainly a variant of Kędra, and can be spelled either way because either spelling fits the pronunciation of the name. By standard Polish spelling rules, however, Kędra is the correct spelling. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,778 Polish citizens named Kędra. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 116, Kielce 111, Krosno 361, Lublin 209, Radom 101, Tarnobrzeg 222, Tarnow 116, Zamosc 133, Warsaw 156. (Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, and can't tell you how to get such data). What this data tells us is that the name is found all over Poland, but is particularly common in the southeastern part, the region called Malopolska (Little Poland), which was included in the area seized by the Austrians in the late 1700's and called Galicia.

By contrast, only 141 Poles spelled the name Kendra. With increasing literacy, alternate spellings of names have become less common, as people come to learn the "correct" spelling and prefer it. Still, if you went back and looked at records for the families using the form Kędra, chances are good you'll occasionally see it spelled Kendra. In Polish records -- as in English or American, for that matter -- spellings have often been inconsistent. It's a comparatively recent notion that surnames should always be spelled exactly the same way; in earlier societies there was far less demand for spelling consistency, so it's not unusual to see the same name spelled several different ways.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says Kędra comes from a basic root kędr- seen in terms such as kędry, "a young bride's hair after cutting" and kędzior, "lock of hair." In many areas it was customary for young unmarried women to wear their hair long, and to cut it shorter for the first time when she married; there was even a kind of ceremony connected with this, called the oczepiny, when a bride's hair was cut and she first wore the cap reserved for married women. So you see that this root kędr- is used pretty consistently to refer to locks of hair or tresses, especially a maiden's.

Names like this typically got started as nicknames referring to some prominent trait of an individual. So Kędra presumably started as a reference to one who had long tresses or a particularly prominent lock of hair. It might even refer to a man who wore his hair long, like a maiden. All these centuries after names developed, it's hard to say just exactly what the feature was that caused people to associate certain names with certain individuals. The most we can do is note what the name means and make plausible suggestions as to why that name stuck with certain people, to the extent that it ultimately became a surname.


CUBER, GLEMBIN

... Hi I'm from Australia and have had no luck with any of my searches on Polish surnames. My grandfather's surname was Glembin and he was from Puck. My grandmother's surname was Cuber and she was from near Katowice. Do you know anything about these surnames ?

In Polish Cuber would be pronounced roughly "TSOO-bear." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,032 Polish citizens by that name. The largest number by far, 1,193, lived in the province of Katowice; the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. But this data confirms that your grandmother came from the area where this name is most common by far.

Two different sources on surnames confirm that this name derives from the German noun Zuber, a variant of Zober, which means "two-handled tub; firkin." German Zuber is pronounced the same as Polish Cuber, so it's the same name, just spelled differently because of different phonetic and orthographic preferences. Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon confirms that Zuber is a surname from this word and adds that the surname generally refers to one's occupation as a tub maker. The Katowice area was and is home to many ethnic Germans, so we see a lot of mixing of German and Polish words in names from that region. It is perfectly plausible that a Zuber family, of German origin and occupied in making tubs, would come to be called Cuber by Poles; it's also possible a Pole who made tubs might end up with this name because the German term had come to be the one most used in that area for any person involved in this occupation.

Glembin is a rarer name; as of 1990 there were only 182 Poles by that name, but 155 of them lived in Gdansk province, and most of the rest lived in neighboring provinces. So again, your grandfather came from the area where this name is most common. Unfortunately, as I said, I don't have access to first names or addresses for any of those Glembins.

This name is also susceptible to spelling variation because of Polish phonetics. The L can also be the L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W. There were 6 Poles named Głembin, all living in Gdansk province. Also the -EM- might be spelled with the Polish nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it. In most situations that vowel is pronounced much like "en," but before a B or P it sounds like "em," so that the name could also be spelled Glębin or Głębin. Those spellings are rare, however; there was only an indication of one Pole who spelled it Głębin, also living in Gdansk province. 

Even though the spelling Glembin is the most common in terms of surnames, that may be due to German influence, as there are also many Germans in the Gdansk area (including Puck). In terms of standard Polish linguistics, Głębin (pronounced roughly "GWEM-bean") is almost certainly the form to work with, and the spelling as Glembin is incidental to the actual meaning of the name.

The root of this name would most likely be głąb; Ą stands for the other Polish nasal vowel, written as an A with a tail under it and pronounced like "om" before a B or P. The nasal vowels often alternate in different forms, so it is feasible that głąb would become głęb- when suffixes are added. In fact, Polish grammar and linguistics dictate that this is what would happen. So Glembin would be a variant spelling of Głębin, which derives from the root głąb with addition of the possessive suffix -in.

Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut says in his book on Polish surnames that names beginning Głęb- (and therefore also Glemb-) derive from the noun głąb that means "stalk" or "heart, core" of cabbage or similar plants -- i. e., the core that's left when you remove the edible leaves. He mentions that there are records of an old first name Głębin that comes from this root; this name would mean something like "man of the stalk." It's not immediately apparent why this would come to be a name associated with people, but one source suggests it was a mild insult. It implied that a person was kind of dense, as worthless as a cabbage from which all the edible parts have been eaten away. The English expression "cabbage head" is something along the same lines. Many Polish names do come from such insulting terms; I have to feel in many cases they were meant affectionately rather than cruelly, much as men often call their friends by names that, at least superficially, are rather insulting. So Glembin would mean something rather like "[kin] of the cabbage-head."

I am a little puzzled as to why scholars insist these names come from that root, however. There is a noun głąb that has variants such as głębina; this root means "depth," so that głębina is a noun meaning "depth, deep place (in water, for instance)." It seems plausible to me this could just as easily produce surnames as "cabbage stalk." Perhaps this surname arose as a nickname for one who was somehow associated with depth; perhaps he lived in a place that was perceived as deep, or, who knows, maybe he was thought to be a deep person? 

Still, Rymut has a lot more experience analyzing Polish names than I do, so I'm reluctant to disagree with him. I just wanted to mention this as a possibility worth considering. The expert opinion is that names like this derive from that term for cabbage stalk; but I still wonder if it might refer, in some cases, to "depth."


ZAWADA

... I'm trying to find out about my family name history when I found your website. If you could help it would be great! My family name is Zawada and all I know is my grandfather lived in New Jersey for a while then moved to upper Michigan. His name was Joseph and was married to Violet. If you can point me in the right direction it would be great. Thank you! 

Unfortunately, Zawada is a moderately common name. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 11,686 Polish citizens named Zawada. They lived all over Poland, especially the southern part of the country. The name comes from a noun zawada that means "obstacle, impediment," and in archaic usage "fortress," because soldiers often set up fortified positions in places where some natural feature of the land would block the way for enemy armies and make them vulnerable to attack.

The name itself, therefore, isn't much help in tracing the family. Your best bet is to search for records in this country that might tell exactly where in Poland your ancestors came from, such as parish records, naturalization records, ship passenger lists, passports, etc. If you'd like a little help with genealogical research, I have two suggestions. 1) Go to the PolishRoots Web page at
http://www.polishroots.org/reference.htm and read the files there under "For Starters." 2) Look for a copy of the book Polish Roots by Rosemary Chorzempa. It's widely available at book stores and costs less than $20, and many people have told me they found it priceless for the help it gave them.

There are two Polish genealogical societies that might be able to help you. The Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan might be able to help you with the Michigan end of your research; for more info, visit their Website at
http://www.pgsm.org/

The PGS of the Northeast might be able to help you find some leads on the New Jersey end. Their Website is at this address: http://members.aol.com/pgsne2/.


KOSUB, KOZUB

... I didn't see my name, Kosub, on your list so I was wondering if you could tell me what this name means. Sometimes it is spelled Kozub. Any information would be greatly appreciated. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 32 Polish citizens named Kosub, living in the provinces of Katowice (26), Krakow (4), and Opole (2). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is found exclusively in southcentral Poland.

But Kosub is probably a variant of the name Kozub, borne by 2,968 Polish citizens as of 1990. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 725, Kielce 240, Krakow 381, and Tarnów 384. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, but is particularly common in the southcentral and southeastern part of the country. In older records this name is sometimes seen spelled Kosub, and that spelling makes particular sense in an area with lots of Germans, such as Katowice; in German the S before vowels is pronounced like Z, so that German Kosub is pronounced the same as Polish Kozub, and thus that alternate spelling makes sense in an area where there might be a German influence on spelling and pronunciation.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Kozub in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1369, and comes from the noun kozub, "a small bark basket," also used to mean "an obstinate fellow." One would imagine the latter usage would more often be relevant with names, although it's possible the term might also be used as a nickname for one who made bark baskets or used them in his work.

There is one other possibility worth mentioning, though it's kind of far-fetched. There is a word Kaszub which means "Kashubian, one from the area of Kashubia, near Gdansk." The Kashubians are a Slavic ethnic group closely related to Poles, but with their own language and customs. My point is that we see this name used in various forms, including Koszuba, and thus it is at least conceivable your name MIGHT come from a variant of that name. A lot would depend on where your name comes from. If it's from, say, southcentral Poland, I'd say it's almost certainly from that noun kozub. But if your research should happen to show a link with the area west and south of Gdansk, a Kashub connection just might be relevant. If you'd like to learn more about the Kaszubs, you can start at this address:
http://feefhs.org/kana/frg-kana.html 

To sum up, your name is probably from the noun kozub, "small bark basket; obstinate fellow." This is not a rare name, and is particularly common in the southcentral and southeastern part of Poland, particularly near Katowice. Much less likely is a connection with the word for "Kashub"; I would pay attention to that only if your research shows your family came from the region of Kashubia.


SOWA

...I was just wondering if you knew the meaning of the last name: Sowa. I believe it is Polish, but I am unsure

This probably is a Polish name, although many Slavic names sound very similar, so it could conceivably have developed in some other language as well. But as of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were there were 17,750 Polish citizens named Sowa (pronounced roughly "SO-vah"), so it is definitely a name found among Poles. This name is not confined to any one part of the country; a family named Sowa could have come from anywhere in Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1404 and comes from the noun sowa, which means "owl." Presumably it began as a nickname for someone who struck people as being owl-like, or who liked owls. Surnames developed centuries ago, often as nicknames, and it's usually very difficult or impossible to establish exactly what the nature of the connection was between a person given a name and the object that name represented. About all we can do in such cases is explain what the word means and make plausible suggestions as to how and why that word came to be associated with a person or family.


GŁASZCZ

... Just a quick note to ask if you have any information on my surname, Glaszcz. My father and his family came over from Poland around 1950, and I am just starting to try and learn more about my ancestry on my father's side. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated and I'm in no rush.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 157 Polish citizens named Głaszcz. The Ł is pronounced like our W, so that the name would sound like "g'woshch" (not too easy for non-Poles to pronounce). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Lodz 62, Siedlce 34, Slupsk 18, Torun 22. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is not very common, nor is it confined to any one area of Poland; it is found in the central part of the country, but also in east central and northwestern Poland. 

None of my sources discuss the origin of the name. Going strictly by Polish linguistics, it appears to come from the root seen in the verb głaska
ć, "to stroke, caress, fondle." So it makes sense that the name Głaszcz might have been given originally as a nickname for one who had a gentle touch, who stroked or caressed others. I can't be certain that's right, but it is plausible both from a linguistic point of view and in terms of common sense. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell you a whole lot that helps with tracing the family, but the truth is, very few Polish surnames do. Most are too common or rare or ambiguous; I estimate 5% or fewer have any distinctive feature that provides a useful lead in tracing the family bearing that name.


PYCZKOWSKI

... I'm looking for the translation of the family name Pyczkowski, this was my grandfather's surname which was changed sometime around 1910 to Pichcuskie, my current surname. Apparently the translation was done letter for letter that's why the final "E" at the end of the current name. My grandfathers given name was Michael. His date of death was in the mid 1950s. The family originally settled in Shamokin, PA. My grandfather, as well as my father & most of my uncles were coal miners until the late 1950s, all from Shamokin, PA.

In Polish this name is pronounced "pitch-KOFF-skee," although in every-day talk it may sound more like "pitch-KOSS-kee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 40 Polish citizens named Pyczkowski. They lived in the following provinces: Katowice 1, Łomża 6, Lodz 1, Suwałki 29, Szczecin 3. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data shows that the name is fairly rare, and is found mainly in the northeastern part of Poland (in its current borders).

Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. So we would expect Pyczkowski to mean "one from Pyczki, Pyczkow, Pyczkowo," or some place with a similar name. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc.

The place names, in turn, probably came from the root seen in the noun pyka, "finch," and in the verb pykac', "to puff." Thus Pyczkowski may be interpreted as meaning "one from the place of the finches." But it may prove very difficult to find the specific place to which the surname refers. Usually the only way to determine something like this is through successful genealogical research, which may establish exactly where in Poland the family came from and then provide leads as to the geographical, social, historical, and linguistic context in which the name came to be associated with a specific family.


MĘŻYDŁO

... Dear Sir, I am hoping you can help me. I have been trying to find any information about this name and always come up empty. I now am not even sure if it is Polish. I have my ggrandmother's marriage record and the name is spelt, Meyzdto, I also have her death cert. and on it the spelling is Merzydto, the family isn't sure how to pronunce the name let alone spell it. It is believed that she was from Poland but no one is sure. Please if you can supply any thing about this name it would be greatly appreciated. 

Slavic names were often badly distorted during the process of immigration, especially if they contain sounds totally foreign to English, and this is such a name. For one thing, the ending is not -TO but -ŁO; I'm using Ł to stand for the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W. Also the E is not a standard E but is written in Polish as an E with a tail under it, which I represent on-line as Ę; it is pronounced normally much like "en." Also in Polish RZ is pronounced the same as the Z with a dot over it, which I render on-line as Ż; in this case it sounds a lot like the ZH in "Zhivago." So the standard Polish spelling of this name is MęŻydło (tail under the E, dot over the Z, slash through the L), pronounced roughly "men-ZHID-woe." You can see how this name could be distorted when someone bearing it came to America!

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 209 Polish citizens named MęŻydło. The largest numbers lived in the province of Bydgoszcz, with the rest scattered in small numbers all over. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the basic root meaning "man, valiant man." The exact meaning of this name is hard to decipher; it might have meant "kin of the valiant man," or something along those lines. The suffix -ydło usually serves to indicate that a particular thing is a concrete realization of whatever the root means, or is a tool by which one accomplishes whatever the root means. So I'm inclined to think the name might mean "kin of the valiant man" or "the very model of a valiant man." But it might also have been meant ironically, sort of like "the opposite of a valiant man." It's very hard to say.

If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.


GAŁAZIN, TOCZYŁOWSKI

... I was given your e-mail address tonight. I was interested in getting any information regarding my surname Galazin (with a slash thru the L) on the net tonight someone looked up my surname in your book was unable to find it. It is rare, even in the US. On ancestry.com, I found 49 Galazin's in the SSDI and 48 or 49 Galazin's in the US phone listings. I have written to 20 of them and got an answer from 5 this past summer. It seems that the Galazin's who all wrote to me, their grandparents came from the Suwałki Province in northeast Poland-Russia. When I found my grandfathers declaration of Intent at the Northumberland county courthouse in PA this summer, it said that he came from Lesanka, Russia-Poland in 1904 June 30th on the Brandenburg. I would like to find out anything in regards to my surname. I would like to find out if my grandfather had any brothers or sisters and what his parents names where and if he still has family there. There are other Galazin's in the Us, that spell their surname Galazyn, Galasyn, but as far as i know they are not related to me. I would be interested in finding out anything about my mother's surname Tocyloski sometimes spelled Toczyloski. My mother's father came from Russia-Poland. His name was Mathue Tocyloski. I have not located his Declaration of Intent or Naturalization Petition yet. He arrived in PA. I do not know the year or ship. He married at age 23 in June 1910. 

I'm afraid I can't help you locate your relatives; only genealogical research can accomplish that. All I offer is some insight on the meaning and origin of names, and, in cases where a name is found concentrated in a specific area, I can share that information and possibly draw a few conclusions based on the data. 

"Poland-Russia" would refer to that part of Poland seized by the Russian Empire in the late 1700's, when the empires of Germany, Russia, and Austria took over Poland and divided its territory among themselves. The area seized by Russia was roughly central and eastern Poland, along with what are now the independent nations of Lithuania and Belarus, plus some of northern Ukraine. So saying your ancestors came from "Poland Russia" is a little like saying they came from New England -- it's better than nothing, but it still covers a lot of area. It also means they may have lived in what is now Lithuania or Belarus, and I have no data for those countries; my data applies only to the nation of Poland in its current borders, which differ greatly from the borders of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania before the partitions.

In Polish the name Galazin can be spelled several ways. One way is Gałazin, pronounced like our W. Another way is Gałazyn, and yet another way is Gałażyn, using the Polish Z with a dot over it, pronounced like the "zh" in "Zhivago." All these names are almost certainly related in terms of linguistic origin, but may or may not indicate a blood relationship between the families bearing them; that, again, is something only genealogical research can determine. This may be clearer when I say that there are thousands and thousands of people named Hoffman and Hoffmann and Hofmann, but very few of them are related to me. A similar surname does not necessarily indicate a blood relationship; and sometimes close relatives bear different forms of the same name. That's why analysis of the name alone does not suffice to clarify kinship or the lack thereof.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 33 Polish citizens named Gałazin. They lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 4, Gorzow 6, Suwałki 23. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. But this data does suggest the Galazins you've corresponded with in the Suwałki area (which was in the Russian partition) might well be relatives. This name would be pronounced roughly "gah-WAH-zheen."

There were also 5 Poles who went by the name Gałazyn, living in the provinces of Białystok (1), Łomża (1), and Suwałki (3). This name sounds somewhat like "gah-WAH-zinn."

There were 194 named GałaŻyn, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Białystok (22) and Suwałki (140). This name is pronounced roughly "gah-WAH-zheen." 

All this data seems to indicate the name is found primarily in what is now northeastern Poland, not far from Suwałki, and used to be in the Russian partition. Since the pronunciations of these names are all very similar, it's quite possible they're all variants of the same basic name.

Unfortunately, none of my sources discuss the derivation of the name. It's probably not Polish, judging by its phonetic composition. It's more likely to be Belarusian, Russian, possibly even Lithuanian, especially in view of where it's concentrated; but my sources on those languages are far less extensive than for Polish.

So I can't tell you anything about the origin of the name. If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending about $20, you can write the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable.

With Toczyłoski or Toczyłoski, we must recognize that this is a phonetic spelling. In every-day speech people in the northeastern region of Poland often change the "ch" sound of CZ to the "ts" sound spelled C, and they often drop the W entirely from the suffix -owski. So "tot-see-WOSS-kee" is how they say it, and thus it often used to be spelled that way; but the standard, "correct" written form is Toczyłowski.

As of 1990 there were 461 Polish citizens named Toczyłowski; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw, 45; Białystok, 41; and Suwałki, 229. So this name, too, is concentrated in northeastern Poland.

Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place where the family once lived, a place with a name beginning X. Thus we'd expect Toczyłowski to refer to a village or settlement named something like Toczył-. One very plausible candidate is Toczyłowo, which was in Łomża province until they reorganized the provinces last year; it's a village just a couple of kilometers north of Grajewo. Toczyłowski makes perfect sense as meaning "one from Toczyłowo," or, if the name is old enough, it could be the name of a noble family that once owned the estate of Toczyłowo. There might be some other place with a similar name that could generate this surname, but Toczyłowo strikes me as worth a close look.

I tried to find a "Lesanka," but could not. It may be too small to show up on my maps, or the name may have been distorted or misunderstood or misspelled -- this happened all the time. All I can suggest is that you focus on the general area of Suwałki, especially near Toczyłowo, and see if you can spot a place with a name that could have been distorted into Lesanka.


KOPACZ

... i would like any information that you have on the name Kopacz. thank you 

This name is thought to come from the noun kopacz, "digger," from the verb kopać, "to dig, kick." It is pronounced roughly "KO-potch," and as of 1990 there were 5,889 Polish citizens by that name. It is found all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one area, so I'm afraid it doesn't offer much in the way of leads as to where a specific Kopacz family might have come from.


KISIEL, KISIELKA

... I was wondering if there was anything you could tell me about my last name: Kisielka. 

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "key-SHELL-kah." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were only 5 Polish citizens named Kisielka, living somewhere in the province of Tarnów, in southeastern Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

This particular form of the name may be rare today, but it was not at all unusual in earlier times for people to go by several different names, all variants of the same basic name. You sometimes see the same person referred to by three different forms of his name in three different documents; there wasn't as much pressure then to bear one unchanging, consistent name, and many folks were illiterate anyway and couldn't tell if their name was being written down correctly. The -ka is a diminutive suffix, meaning "little," and it was also added sometimes to a surname to make a feminine form of the name. So Kisielka may have been used mainly -- in fact probably was -- as a variant or nickname of a much more common name, Kisiel ("KEY-shell), borne by 9,893 Poles as of 1990. So it's quite possible you also need to keep your eyes open for Kisiel or Kisielko or some other similar name. Kisielka could easily have been a nickname, meaning "little Kisiel," or "Mrs. Kisiel," that stuck as a surname for a few folks, but more often appeared as simply Kisiel.

The root of both names is the noun kisiel, which is a term for a jelly-type dessert made with potato starch. One scholar adds that it was sometimes used in an extended sense as a nickname for a soft fellow who was soft and didn't like war." It's hard to say exactly what the name meant in a given case, however. It may have become associated with an individual who liked kisiel, or who made particularly good kisiel -- all these centuries later it's usually very hard to determine exactly why a particular name stuck with a particular family. About all we can say is that in your family's case there was something about one of your ancestors that made this name somehow seem appropriate, and it stuck as a surname for his descendants.


JARACZESKI, JARACZEWSKI

... Sorry to bother you as I know that you are busy. My great grandfather came to America from Poland in 1874. His name was John Jaraczeski and their are several descendants with the name Jaraczeski in America. Have you run across this name before in Poland? I have been in contact with a Jaraczewski who thinks that our families are connected. I have seen the name Jaraczewski in other locations but have not run across the spelling Jaraczeski. Before coming to America they lived in Kwieciszewo near Magilno, Bydgoszcz. I would appreciate any information on the name.

It is perfectly normal to find names ending in -eski that are variants of the same name ending in -ewski. To understand this, you have to understand the pronunciation of the names. Jaraczewski is pronounced roughly "yah-rah-CHEFF-skee," but that's the "proper" or standard pronunciation. In fact, in many parts of Poland they have a tendency in every-day speech to drop the sound represented by the letter W (which in that particular case is pronounced more like an F) and pronounce the suffix "-ESS-kee" instead of "-EFF-shee." So even though the name is spelled Jaraczewski, in many areas they actually say "yah-rah-CHESS-kee," which would be spelled Jaraczeski. 

In older records, back before literacy became widespread and various social factors began pressing people to spell their names "correctly" and consistently, names were often spelled phonetically. Remember that a lot of Poles were illiterate, or at most could write their names. They really had no way of knowing whether their names were being entered correctly in the records, and to be honest, it wasn't something they lost a lot of sleep over. In most European countries, and in America as well, name spellings varied considerably. It's only in more recent times, with widespread literacy and bureaucratic concerns to spur them on, that people began to worry about spelling their names consistently and according to approved standards.

So a researcher tracing the roots of a family named Jaraczewski will often find that name spelled phonetically as Jaraczeski. In some cases the spelling without the W stuck and became the way the name was usually spelled, and that's presumably what happened with your family. That doesn't change the fact that the name is simply a variant of Jaraczewski, and for research purposes can usually be regarded as the same name. If you find old documents in Poland on your family, you may see the name spelled either way; the same is true of those who bear the form Jaraczewski. The same is true of lots of other Polish names, such as Dombroski vs. Dombrowski, Janczeski vs. Janczewski, etc. It's kind of like my name, which can be spelled Hoffman or Hoffmann without the presence or absence of that extra -n really meaning much of anything.

So the Jaraczewskis you've talked to may be right; it is quite possible you're related. The presence or absence of that W does not necessarily have any great significance. The only way I'd put much emphasis on it is if you do research and you find that your family stubbornly spelled it -eski and only -eski. But usually I'd expect to find it alternating as -eski or -ewski almost at random.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 466 Polish citizens named Jaraczewski (and none who spelled it Jaraczeski, probably because these days most folks have gotten in the habit of using the standard forms of names). The largest numbers of Jaraczewskis lived in the following provinces: Leszno 108, Poznan 93; only 7 lived in Bydgoszcz province. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

The data suggests the name is more common in western Poland than anywhere else, with nearly half of all the Jaraczewskis living in those two provinces of Poznan and Leszno, and the rest scattered in much smaller numbers all over. 

The name means "one from Jaraczew or Jaraczewo," place names that mean basically "[place] of Horace"; Jaracz is a form of Horace used in Poland centuries ago, back when names were being established, but it's more or less gone out of common use these days. Thus we can interpret Jaraczewski as meaning "one from the place of Jaracz = Horace." 

There's a Jaraczewo just a few km. west of Pila, which in turn is west of Bydgoszcz. Most likely many of the Jaraczewskis got their name because at some point they came from this place Jaraczewo, or had some sort of connection with it. But I'm pretty sure that's not the only possibility. Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a particular farm or field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. 

One book I have mentions that records from western Poland in the latter half of the 14th century refer to noble families named Jaraczewski who took their names from estates in "Jaraczewo, district of Mogilno, district of Srem." If I'm reading it right, this means there was a Jaraczewo near Mogilno and one near Srem, and each was associated with a noble Jaraczewski family. This Mogilno is almost certainly the town you refer to as "Magilno," just a few km. northwest of Kwieciszewo. 

If you'd like to see a map of this area, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm

Enter "Kwieciszewo" as the name of the place you're looking for, and make sure you specify to search using the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex. Specify "Poland" as the country to search in. Click on "Start the Search." In a moment you'll get a list of places with names that might match Kwieciszewo phonetically. It's a short one, so find "Kwieciszewo, 5237 1803, Poland, 126.7 miles WNW of Warsaw." Click on the numbers in blue (they're latitude and longitude), and you'll get a map you can print, zoom in or out, etc. This will give you a fair idea of the area.

So the bottom line is, all Jaraczewskis didn't come from the same place. Some came from the Jaraczewo near Pila; but it seems certain some -- probably including your family -- came from a place I can no longer find in my sources, but near Mogilno. That location correlates so well with the data you have that I would be amazed if it doesn't turn out to be the place the surname refers to, in your case.

I can't tell you exactly how to proceed from here, but I hope this information gives you something to work with, so you can develop some promising leads. I wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


ŁOTROWSKI

... If you could help, I have been trying to get the meaning of my last name: Lotrowski. I have found the word lotrow us certain texts on the web, but have been unable to get the meaning. Thanks in advance.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were no Polish citizens named Lotrowski. This surprised me, I expected to find at least a few. It's possible there were some among the 6% of the population not covered in the database from which this work was compiled. It's also possible the name was always rather rare, and it died out after your ancestors left Poland. More than that I cannot say.

The ultimate source of the name is surely the noun łotr, using the Polish L with a slash through the L, pronounced like our W, so that the name sounds roughly like "woter" (that is, English "water" with an O rather than an A). This word means "rogue, scoundrel, rascal," and was also used to refer to the thief crucified with Jesus. That doesn't necessarily mean your ancestors were scoundrels, however. Chances are the surname comes from the name of a place, something like Łotry or Łotrow or Łotrowo, and that name comes from the word meaning "scoundrel." Thus the surname could be interpreted as meaning "one from the place of the scoundrels." It's also possible the surname meant "kin of the scoundrels," but most of the time an -owski name derives from a place name.

I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc. 

To summarize, the name is either very rare or has died out in Poland, but in form and meaning it is a perfectly plausible name (although one can never overlook the possibility that it has been changed somewhere along the line, and if we had the original form we might be able to say more). It almost certainly comes from a word meaning "scoundrel, rogue," but most likely refers to the name of a place the family came from, and that place name, in turn, is what comes from the word łotr. I can't find any mention of a place with a name that fits, but that's not unusual because many of the places referred to by surnames were very small, or had names used only by the locals, or have disappeared, etc.

I know that's not a lot of information, but it's all I can offer. I hope it helps a little, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

  

 

 

 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.  


PRZEBENDOWSKI

I`m looking for some information about the grandmother of my grandfather "Pelagja Prebendow (or Prewendow) Przebendowski (or Przewendowski) from Poznan. Did you ever hear that surname? 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were no Polish citizens listed with the names Prebendow or Prewendow. There were 16 named PREBENDOWSKI, all living in western Poland. There were 90 named PREWENDOWSKI, scattered all over Poland. There were none named Przebendowski or Przewendowski.

Names ending in -owski usually come from the name of a place with which the family was associated at some point. Thus I would expect Przebendowski or Przewendowski to mean "one from Przebendowo" or something similar. There are several places in Poland with names that qualify, including Przebendow in Tarnów province, and 4 places named Przebędowo (where I'm using ę to stand for the Polish nasal vowel written as an E with a tail under it and pronounced much like "en"). In most cases I would expect Przebendowski to mean "one from Przebendow" or "one from Przebędowo."

PREBENDOW may come from the noun prebenda, "prebend, benefice" (auf Deutsch "Praebende, Pfruende"), perhaps referring to one who lived on property associated with a prebend or benefice, or kin of such a person.

That is all I can tell you. If you would like to get an opinion from the real experts and don't mind spending some money, you can write the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English (and probably German, too), and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than US$20. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable. If you'd like to give this a try, here's the
Institute address.


DONEJGIER

Do you have any information on the following name: Doneygier.

Alexander Beider mentions this name in his book "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland." Of course he lists it in the standard Polish spelling DONEJGIER, but since Y and J were often used interchangeably, that difference is not necessarily significant. He simply says the name was found among Jews living in the Suwałki area (in northeastern Poland, near the modern border with Lithuania) and that it appears to refer to the name of a place, Donejki, in Nowoaleksandrowsk district of Kowno province of the Russian Empire.

Beider's book only deals with Jews living in the territory of the
Kingdom of Poland, whereas it sounds as if your ancestors came from Galicia, in the Austrian partition. So his book wouldn't cover the area where your ancestors lived. But the derivation of the name may well be the same. Presumably at some point your family took its name from that place and later moved southward. Unfortunately, with names it's not smart to jump to conclusions without lots and lots of detailed info on a family's background, so I can't say for sure; but it seems plausible.

By the way, I looked at the JewishGen FamilyFinder database at this address:

http://www.jewishgen.org/jgff/jgffweb.htm

There are a number of people looking for what may be variants of this name such as Donniger, Doneger, Donaiger, etc. Go to that address, scroll down to the search form, type in the surname, and under "Search type" click on D-M Soundex, then "Search." This will give you names and in some cases addresses of other folks researching similar names -- you might make a connection that will help.

It does seem likely that the name changed from Jankiel to Ankiel. Your listing of the generations of Doneygier seems plausible to me, using the -owicz forms to trace them back. Of course, as I said, it's risky drawing conclusions only from name info. The only way to be sure is to get hold of dates and other data and match them up to confirm what the name data tells you. But I could find no flaw in your logic.


LABA

Do you by chance have any general information on the surname Laba. My grandfather came from a small German village in the north mountains of Lebanon called Beit Menzer. Laba was his surname. I have had several people tell me that the surname was Polish in origin. Any information or direction that you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Without a great deal of detailed information on a family's background, it's difficult to say for sure what nationality a particular name may be, especially a short one like LABA. Certainly this combination of sounds can occur in any number of languages. But it is true that there is a Polish name LABA, and this name seems more likely to be of Polish origin than German.

In Polish the name would be ŁABA -- I'm using Ł to stand for the
Polish L with a slash through it, which is pronounced like our W but
usually was rendered as plain L by non-Poles. ŁABA is pronounced roughly "WAH-bah." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,370 Polish citizens by this name; they lived all over Poland, although the name is somewhat more common in the southern part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun łaba, a variant of łapa, which means "paw." So it probably originated as a nickname for one who had large, paw-like hands, or one who had a dog with big paws, or some other perceived association with paws.

I have sometimes wondered if the name might be associated, in some cases, with people who lived along the Elbe River, because in Polish the name of that river is also Łaba. But the Polish experts who've done research into name origins seem pretty confident that in most cases the name did originate from the word for "paw," as explained above.


SZYPERSKI

Big breakthrough today on the Szrparski name. Although that is what
it looks like on the death certificate of the son, I found the son's
birth record in church records for Rzadkwin, Poland today, as well as the birth records for his brothers and sisters.
The spelling of the name appears as:
 SZYPERSKA
 SRYPERSKA
 SRYPIERSKA
I also found the mother's death record and her father is listed as  Antonios SRYPERSKI. Do these make a little more sense, as far as Polish spelling goes?


This is why I no longer waste time wracking my brains trying to figure out odd-looking names -- they almost always turn out to be misspelled!  SZYPERSKA is the correct spelling -- this is a feminine form of the name SZYPERSKI. The Polish lower-case script z is very easy for us to misread as an r, but it's 99.9% certain the name in question is SZYPERSKI, or, when applied to a female, SZYPERSKA.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun szyper, "skipper, boat crewman." In other words, it comes ultimately from German and from the same basic source as our word "skipper." Certain crafts and professions were dominated by Germans, and that's how a lot of terms came from German into Polish, often changing slightly along the way. Eventually they could become surnames, and that's almost certainly what happened here. So SZYPERSKI, pronounced roughly "ship-AIR-skee," means "kin of the skipper, kin of the boatman."
The ancestor to whom this name originally referred might have been a German named something like Schiffer or Schipper, or he might have been a Pole who worked on a boat as a szyper and thus came to be referred to in terms of his profession. This is especially likely in areas where there was a strong German element to the population, which is probably true of the area your ancestors came from.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 676 Polish citizens named Szyperski. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (93) and Bydgoszcz (244) -- so it seems fairly likely at least some of those in Bydgoszcz might be related to you. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

That's about all I can tell you, but I hope it will prove useful. It
seems to me you now have a pretty decent amount of info to work with, and I hope it helps you make many breakthroughs!


NARBUT - NORBUT

My great grandfather arrived in 1873 from Russia but on checking a death certificate for one of his children, the country of birth was listed as Poland. Can you tell me anything about the name Narbutt. Thank you. 

Much of what is now central and eastern Poland was under Russian rule from the early 1800's till World War I, and for much of that period there was, officially speaking, no such place as "Poland," only "German Poland," "Austrian Poland," and "Russian Poland." Often these designations were abbreviated simply as "Germany," "Austria," and "Poland." It would be worth your while to read an encyclopedia article on the history of Poland to learn a little about all this, because it has enormous effects on research. For instance, if he was born in Russia or Poland, he may well have been born in what is now Lithuania or Belarus -- without more detail, there's no way to know.

NARBUT is a Polonized form of a Lithuanian name, NARBUTAS or NORBUTAS. It comes from two Lithuanian roots joined together to form a name, which is the way many old names were formed by Poles, Lithuanians, Germans, etc. The Lithuanian roots were nor-, "to want, desire," and but-, "to be." The interpretation of the name is debatable; literally it means "want to be," but obviously meant more than that. It probably expressed the parents' desire to give the child a name of good omen that would help him become glorious and make him want to be important, something like that. But even Lithuanian scholars have trouble deciding what these ancient two-part names actually meant.

I believe there was a noble family named Narbutas or Norbutas, and when Lithuania and Poland joined forces centuries ago to form the Commonwealth of Two Nations, many prominent Lithuanian families allowed their names to be Polonized and even spoke Polish. So we see a number of scholars and leaders named Narbut or Norbut. 

A gentleman who can tell you much more is David Zincavage, E-mail
jdz@inr.net. He had Narbuts among his ancestors, so he can fill in a lot of info I know nothing about.


SLIWINSKI

my niece is doing a school project on surnames....we have found no information on our family name...Sliwinski. 
We have very little information about our father who lost his family during WWII so we don't even know what part of Poland he comes from and whether that town still remains in Poland. We would very much like her to know more about her roots and where her grandparents came from... 


I'm afraid I can't help you much with that, because this name is too common and widespread in Poland; a Sliwinski could come from anywhere. Without specific info on a family's background, there's no way to know which particular area that family came from. This Sliwinski might come from here, that one from there, and so on.

What I can tell you is this. The name in Polish is written with accents over the first S and the N, which I render on-line as Ś and Ń; so it would be ŚLIWIŃSKI, and it's pronounced roughly "shlee-VEEN-skee." It refers to the name of a place the family was connected with at some point; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. The problem is, there are quite a few places this surname might refer to, places named Śliwin or Śliwiny or Śliwna or Śliwno. They all come from the noun śliwa, "plum tree." So the place names mean more or less "place of the plum trees," and ŚLIWIŃSKI means "of, from the place of the plum trees." 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 16,815 Polish citizens by this name. As I said, they lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area.


TOMPOROWSKI

I'm hitting a major stumbling block on my Tomporowskis who allegedly came from Szczytno, Mazury, Poland. Do you have a suggestion for a site that might be able to give me some insight into the meaning of the name Tomporowski? 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 399 Polish citizens named TOMPOROWSKI. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 28, Katowice 27, Ciechanow 63, Olsztyn 53, Szczecin 26, Tarnobrzeg 104. The rest were scattered in small numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses. This data suggests that the name is most common in the southeastern part of the country, but is found all over Poland.

It is pronounced roughly "tome-pore-OFF-skee," and probably refers to the name of a place named something like Tomporów or Tomporowo. Names in the form X-owski usually means "one from X-owo," so we would expect the place to have a name fairly close to Tomporów or Tomporowo. However, I notice that tompor is a variant form of the noun usually seen as topór, " which means "battle-ax," and was also the name of a coat of arms. So it's possible the place from which the surname comes was once called Tomporów or Tomporowo, but the name later changed to Toporów or Toporowo. Unfortunately, there are several places by those names, in the former provinces of Białystok, Rzeszow, Sieradz, and Zielona Gora. So without much more detailed info on a specific family, it's impossible to say which of these places, or some other place with a similar name, the surname referred to originally.

Actually, TOMPOROWSKI can be interpreted "of the _ of the battle-ax," where the blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't have to be spelled out -- usually either "kin" or "place." So the surname means either "kin of the Battle-ax," perhaps referring to one who bore Tompor/Topór as a nickname, or else "place of the battle-ax," which brings us back to Tomporowo, etc. As I say, derivation from the place names is more likely, but "kin of the battle-ax" is also possible.

As to exactly how a given family came to have this name, I'm afraid only genealogical research may provide an answer to that question, by uncovering information on the historical and linguistic context in which the name developed and "stuck" in a given case. That kind of detailed research into a single family, however, is beyond the scope of what I can do; I can only provide general, "off-the-rack" derivations, and have to leave "custom fits" to individual researchers. There are over 800,000 Polish surnames -- there's no way I'll ever live long enough to do really exhaustive, detailed studies of even a few hundred of them.


GDOWIK

I ran across your web page and was wondering if you could tell me anything you might know about my last name of Gdowik. As far as my family history goes it is from the south of Poland but I am not sure what it means nor its exact origin. Can you help me?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 141 Polish citizens named GDOWIK. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Elblag 30, Katowice 19, and Rzeszow 46. The rest were scattered in tiny numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have... This data suggests the name is most common in southeastern Poland, near Rzeszow. Elblag is in northcentral Poland, and Katowice is in southcentral Poland; it's hard to say whether the name really developed in places so far apart, or if it originally came from southeastern Poland but was scattered in other areas during the course of all the post-World War II forced relocations of millions. I suspect it was, and that the name originally comes from southeastern Poland. But I can't prove it.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from gdowa, which is a dialect form of the word seen in standard Polish as wdowa, "widow." So Gdowik would mean basically "son of the widow," and that's about all we can say about it.


KRZTON

Hello my name is artur krzton. im doing a project for searching the meaning of my last name. I'm not sure if it originated from Poland or not but both of my parents are 100% polish and as far back as to their grandparents. I  looked everywhere and I can't find anything. I think that krz-
means cris, but I don't know what -ton means.


As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 517 Polish citizens named KRZTON. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Krakow (131) and Rzeszow (235), with the rest scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. So this name is found mainly in southcentral and southeastern Poland, especially in the area around those two cities. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have...
With this distribution it seems likely there's not just one big Krzton family, but probably several who came to bear this name independently -- although of course it's impossible for me to say without detailed research into the history of all families involved.

In Polish the N has an accent over it; it is rather hard for non-Poles to pronounced, sounding somewhat like "ksh-TOIN." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it derives from the noun krzta, which means "fragment, bit." The -on suffix does not have a specific meaning that can be defined in a few words; the name Krzton would mean something like "the guy with a fragment, with a little bit." It presumably began as a nickname, possibly for one who so poor that all he owned was a tiny piece of something. Like nicknames in any language, this one can be hard to make sense of unless you're there at the right time and place; but apparently at the time it struck people as a good name, because it stuck and eventually came to be used as a surname for his descendants.


JUROSZEK

I would like to know the origin of my great-grandfather's surname which is Yuroszek. Please let me know if you have any information or links to this name.

In Polish this name would begin with J, not Y -- the letter Y does not occur initially in Polish, but Polish J is pronounced the way we pronounce Y. When Poles with names beginning with J left Europe for English-speaking countries, their names were often modified by replacing the J with Y, to make it a bit easier for their new neighbors to pronounce. So within Poland the name you're looking for is JUROSZEK, pronounced roughly "your-OSH-ek."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 732 Polish citizens named JUROSZEK. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (583) and Katowice (103), so this name is found primarily in southcentral Poland, right by where the Polish border meets the eastern border of the Czech Republic.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from a variation of the name "George." In Polish the standard form of that name is Jerzy (pronounced "YEAH-zhee"), but in many parts of Poland other
forms, influenced by other languages such as Czech and Ukrainian, were historically quite common. Thus Jura or Juri is often seen in southern and eastern Poland. JUROSZ was a kind of nickname formed from those names, and -ek is a diminutive suffix, so that Juroszek means roughly "little George" or "son of little George." As such it is one of the many, many Polish surnames that started out as a reference to the name of a family's father or prominent ancestor.


MARCHLEWICZ

My son has a homework assignment to find the meaning of his last name. I searched several websites with no luck. Hope you can help me with the last name of Marchlewicz.

In Polish the name is pronounced roughly "mark-LAY-vich," except the -ch doesn't really sound like a K but more like the
guttural sound in German "Bach." Still, "mark-LAY-vich" is pretty close.

In Polish names the suffix -ewicz or -owicz means "son of," so this name means "son of Marchel." Marchel is a variation of the first name better known as "Melchior," which comes from Hebrew melki-or, "the King [God] is my light." Catholic tradition in the Middle Ages said this was the name of one of the Three Wise Men or Magi who visited the infant Jesus (the others were called Balthazar and Casper). This legend was popular in the Middle Ages, and it helped make these three names moderately popular name in Poland at that time, although these days they are pretty rare. In Poland "Melchior" came to be used in several different forms, due to spelling variations and dialect influences; those forms included Majcher, Malcher, and Marchel, and surnames developed from all these different versions of the name. To summarize, the surname Marchlewicz means "son of Melchior," based on an old Polish variation of that name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 872 Polish citizens named Marchlewicz. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 170, Gdansk 81 and Torun 168. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data shows that the name is found all over Poland, but it is most common today in an area just north and west of the center of the country.


SIENKOWSKI

I am interested in finding the origin of our family name. I am aware of a town from a 1923 map of Poland that shows a town east of the Polish border at the time named "Sienkowo".

It would help a lot to have some idea of where your family came from, because names in the form X-owski usually refer to the names of places beginning X with which the family was associated at one time. So SIENKOWSKI probably just means "one from Sienki, Sienków, Sienkowo," or a similar name. Unfortunately, there are a number of places in Poland and Belarus and Ukraine (which used to be part of the Polish Commonwealth) that could give rise to this name. The Sienkowo you mentioned might well be the very one from which your family took its name; without detailed info on a specific family's background, however, there is no way to say anything definitive about which of the various possible places the surname referred to originally . 

I have one source that mentions a SIENKOWSKI family (accent over the N, pronounced roughly "shen-KOFF-skee") that was apparently noble and took its name from its estate of Sienków near Belz in southeastern Poland. Again, this family might or might not be connected with you, but at least it does give a concrete example of how the surname is connected with a place name. 

The one thing I can say is that it's likely the family and place both came from the eastern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (what are now eastern Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine), because that's where names beginning Sienk- tended to originate. Usually they both derive from Eastern Slavic nicknames for either "Simon" or "Zenon," Sienko or Zienko or something similar. Sienków or Sienkowo usually means "[place] of Sienko/Zienko," and SIENKOWSKI means "of, from [the place] of Sienko/Zienko."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 325 Polish citizens named SIENKOWSKI, and another 1,059 who spelled it SIEŃKOWSKI (i. e., with an accent over the N). The former is scattered in small numbers all over Poland. The version with the accented N is also found all over Poland, but is somewhat concentrated in the provinces of Ciechanow (110), Ostrołęka (178), Suwałki (305) and Warsaw (133).

Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. Of course my data does not include people by this name living in what are now Belarus and Ukraine, and it's quite possible the name is moderately common in those countries, too.


BARA

Thank you for your interesting web page. I'm interested in the meaning of my surname... Bara.  I've had many people tell me it must have been shortened at Ellis Island, but my Father claims there were 4 other families with the name on his block in the "Back-of-the-Yards" neighborhood of Chicago. He has no info on meaning.

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.


Don't listen to people who don't know what they're talking about. There's a misconception that Polish names all are 15 syllables long and end in -ski -- it's utter nonsense. There are many Polish names that are 4 or 5 letters long, and BARA is one of them. Of course, it's possible in your family's case the name was shortened somewhere along the line (probably not at Ellis Island, but that's beside the point). Only good research will prove the matter one way or the other. But BARA is a documented Polish name.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says names beginning with BAR- usually derive from German Baer, "bear." This isn't as odd as it may sound; many, many Germans came to live in Poland, and we see a lot of mixing of Polish and German names. Rymut also says in some cases BARA could have come from a short form or nickname of the first name Bartlomiej, "Bartholomew." Bartek and Bartosz are more common nicknames from Bartlomiej, but Bara is certainly a possibility. Unfortunately, without very detailed research into the family's background, there's no way to know for sure whether the name came in a given case from the German word for "bear" or from the nickname for Bartholomew. But one of the two derivations is likely to prove correct.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,345 Polish citizens named Bara. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 120, Katowice 274, Krosno 129, Lodz 95, and Tarnobrzeg 110. A look at the map will show you the name is scattered all over the country, but is more common in the southern part of the country. That's about all we can conclude from that data.


STACHOWICZ

I was wondering if you could shed any light on my last name. It is actually spelled S t a c h o w i c z.........a mistake in birth records years ago added the 'e'. Also - any idea as to where in Poland the name comes from....that is, what region or town??

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 6,251 Polish citizens named STACHOWICZ. They lived all over Poland; there is no one area with which the name is particularly associated, and
a family named Stachowicz could have come from anywhere in Poland. The name is pronounced roughly "stah-HOE-vich," except the CH doesn't really sound like our H, but more like the guttural "ch" in German "Bach."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]; he says it first appears in records as early as 1346. The suffix -owicz means "son of," and Stach is an ancient nickname that developed from various Polish names beginning Sta-, especially the first name Stanislaw; so the name means basically "son of Stach." Poles often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So they would take Sta- from Stanislaw, drop the rest, and add the -ch to form Stach. Once that name existed, it was only a matter of time before people began referring to the sons or kin of a fellow named Stach as Stachowicz, and eventually that name "stuck" as a surname. 

Incidentally, Stanislaw is the name with which Stach is most likely to be connected, but there are others, especially the first name Eustachy, the Polish equivalent of "Eustace."


GROCHOLSKI

I would appreciate any information you may have about the surname Grocholski. I am told my family comes from Poznan and that my ancestors made carriages for nobility. They are referred to as "Kashub's" Their language was a mixture of Polish and German.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,281 Polish citizens named GROCHOLSKI. They lived all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one province -- there was a sizable number, 118, in the province of Poznan, however. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

This name probably derives from the name of a place with which the family was connected at some point; there are several candidates, including Grocholice and Grocholin. The basic root of all these names is grochol, a kind of vetch, Vicia angustifolia, so the name may just mean "one from Grocholin or Grocholice" = roughly "one from the place of the vetch." Also relevant might be the noun grochal "churl, simpleton"; the name Grocholski might have originally meant "of the grochol or grochal," and thus "kin of the simpleton." But I'd think the connection with a place name beginning Grochol- is more likely. Without detailed research into a specific family's past, however, there's no way to say which place the name refers to in their case.

One possibility worth looking at is Grochol, at 53 degrees 19', 18 degrees 05'; it's not far from the right area. If you'd like to see a map showing where this is, go to the following Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm 

Enter Grochol as the name of the place you're looking for, and click on "Start the Search." In a moment you'll get a list of places with names that might match "Grochol" phonetically. Scroll on down to the ones in Poland and click on the one named Grochol. A map will come up showing you where it's located; you can zoom in or out. This is one of several places the surname might refer to -- there are others, including Grocholin and Grocholice.

If you'd like more info about the Kashubs -- a fascinating people -- you might visit this Webpage:

http://feefhs.org/kana/frg-kana.html 


CHODZINSKI

I was wondering if you could interpret the surname Chodzinski? This was my Great Grandfather who Immigrated to the US. On his papers it states that he came from Germany, Poland. Go figure!

If I may give you some friendly advice, the best thing you can do is go read an encyclopedia article on the history of Poland over the last two centuries. To make any sense of Polish research you have to know about the partitioning of Poland, which basically divided Poland between Germany, Russia and Austria roughly 1772-1918. Your ancestor came from the part of Poland seized by Germany, which covered the western and northern regions of Poland in its current borders. At that time, officially speaking, no such place as Poland existed, so officials often weren't allowed to accept "Poland" as a place of origin: it had to be "Germany" or "Russia" or "Austria," or at best "German Poland" or "Russian Poland" or "Austrian Poland." It will be a lot easier for you to understand what you run across in your research if you know a little
about the history.  Another place to check is the history discussion at PolishRoots :
index.htmpolhistory.htm 

As for the surname CHODZINSKI, in Polish it is spelled with an accent over the N, and is pronounced roughly  "hod-JEEN-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 566 Polish citizens by this name. They were scattered in small numbers all over the country, so a Chodzinski could come from virtually anywhere in Poland -- there is no one region with which the name is associated.

None of my sources discuss the origin of this specific name, but Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut says in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles] that names beginning Chodz- usually come from the root seen in the verb chodzic', "to go, to walk." That is probably correct as far as the ultimate origin, and the name might have started out meaning something like "kin of the walker." But most likely the surname refers to the name of a place derived from that root, a place named something like Chodziny or Choda. I can't find any places on modern maps with names that fit, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc.

 Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


SOŁTYS - SCHULTZ

... I once studied the Czechoslovak language at the Army Language school at the Presidio in California and one teacher once remarked to me that the spelling of Soltys was common in Czech and meant mayor of a small village. Any meaning for it in Polish.? For ur information, my father Andrew Sr. was born in 1893 , baptized in the Parish of Tarnogrod in Wojewodstwo Lubelskie, powiat Bilgorajski i rodzony wsi Bukowinie. I thank you in advance for your graciousness. 

I didn't know Soltys is also common in Czech, but there's certainly no reason why it couldn't be. Your teacher was basically correct. The word in Polish is spelled with a slash through the L (which I represent on-line as Ł), pronounced much like our W, so that the name, Sołtys, sounds roughly like "SOW-tiss." It comes from a Middle High German word schultheisse that later became Schultheiss; it means literally "debt caller," and referred to the official who would come and call the roll of the local peasants and collect the rent in money or produce or whatever that the villagers owed the lord who owned the village or estate. That appears to be the original meaning of the word. Eventually it came to be a more general term for a village headman or mayor. 

In German this word became a name and gradually turned into the well-known German name Schultz. In Polish it was gradually Polonized into sołtys, and the surname Sołtys developed from that. It's a moderately common name in Poland, borne by 7,735 Polish citizens as of 1990. There's no one specific part of the country where the name is concentrated, although it's more common in the south and southeast (the region called Małopolska) than anywhere else. Lublin province, which is where your father came from, is in that region.

"Wojewodstwo Lubelskie, powiat Bilgorajski i rodzony wsi Bukowinie" appears to mean your father was born in the village of Bukowina in the county of Biłgoraj, province of Lublin. There are a lot of places called Bukowina (it's also the name of a region now in Ukraine), so it's a good thing you have this additional data to specify exactly which one you need. By the way, if I'm not mistaken, this area was in Lublin province from after World War II to about 1975. Then they reorganized the provinces, and it was in Zamosc province until 1999, when they reorganized the provinces. Now it's in the new, reorganized province of Lublin. This might cause confusion in your research if you're not familiar with the organizational changes.

Whenever I see the name Sołtys I always think of American chess grandmaster Andy Soltis -- I was interested in chess before I became interested in Polish names, and it wasn't till years after I first heard of him that I realized "Hey, I know what his name comes from!" Soltis is merely an Americanized spelling of the Polish (or possibly Czech) name.


KOS[S]AKOWSKI

... My mother always had told me that my grandfather, Ludwig Kossakowski, was a Count. When I was younger, genealogy meant nothing. Now I am very interested but my mother is gone. Can you help me find out anything about Kossakowki. I did not find it on your list. Thank you very much.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,671 Polish citizens named Kossakowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Białystok 252, Łomża 902, Pila 264, Suwałki 262, Warsaw 589. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data shows that the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the northeastern part of the country.

It's odd that the name is spelled with SS, because Polish usually prefers not to use double letters unless you actually say the letter twice. As of 1990 there were 2,834 Poles who spelled the name Kosakowski with one S; they, too, were most common in the northeastern part of the country. I'm not sure why the unusual spelling with SS is more common than that with one S, which you'd expect to be the norm.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says either spelling comes from the root seen in the nouns kos, "blackbird," and kosa, "scythe," and the verb kosic', "to mow." He suggests names beginning Kosak- are especially likely to refer to the noun kosak, "undertaker," but I don't think you can rule out a connection with one of the other meanings. In any case, Kosakowski or Kossakowski might mean "kin of the undertaker (or of the mower, or of the blackbird guy)," but most often they would refer to the names of places the family came from, and those place names, in turn, would derive from the root kos-. (Prof. Rymut knows his stuff, but I can't help wondering if there's any possible connection with "Cossack"? In Polish that's kozak, and Kozakowski was the name of 1,254 Poles as of 1990. I'd say the connection is probably with kosak, but don't rule out a possible connection with "Cossack," because kosak and kozak differ only by one letter, and Z and S often switch in names.)

In any case, Kossakowski would usually have started out meaning "one from Kosaki" or "one from Kosakowo." There are at least three places in Poland by these names; one, Kosaki, was in Łomża province as of 1990; and there were two Kosakowo's, one in Gdansk province and one in Olsztyn province. Note that all these places are in the general area where the surname is most common, which tends to support the hypothesis that the surname began as a reference to the places in question.

Without the kind of detailed info you can get only from genealogical research, I can't tell you which of the places your family might have been connected with. It could refer to any of them. But with luck you will find some facts that will clear up which one is likely to be relevant.


CZAJKOWSKI - TCHAIKOVSKY

... Awhile ago you helped us with some research for our family name Bekish, you were very helpful and I would like to thank you again. Although you could not help us with Checolska we recently discovered that spelling to be incorrect. The correct spelling is Tchaikovsky. If you would have any information at all it would be greatly appreciated.

I'm glad you got more information. I have found that if the spelling of a name doesn't look right to me, and none of my sources mention it, nine times out of ten it was misspelled somewhere along the way. That's why I have to have a fairly accurate spelling, or I can't really say much that's useful.

Having said that, I must tell you Tchaikovsky is not a Polish spelling; it makes no sense at all by Polish phonetics and orthographics. I recognize, of course, as the spelling of the name of the Russian composer Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky. That's a kind of Germanized or Frenchified rendering of the Russian form, which is written in Cyrillic. If you take the Cyrillic letters and turn them into English phonetic renderings, it comes out more like Chaikovsky. I recognize this as the name spelled Czajkowski by Poles. All these different spellings are pronounced the same, "chi-KOFF-skee," with the first syllable rhyming with "why." In other words, as different as these spellings look, they are all ways of writing the same name; they only look different because different languages write different sounds in different ways.

Czajkowski comes from the noun czajka, "lapwing" (a kind of bird), but more specifically it would refer to the name of a place, something like Czajki or Czajkow or Czajkowa or Czajkowo; and those place names, in turn, would come from the word for "lapwing." Typically a place would get a name like this either because it was "the place of the lapwings," an area where these birds were abundant, or because the place was owned or founded by someone named Czajko or something similar. So Czajkowski means "one from the place of the lapwings" or "one from the place of Czajko or Czajek, etc." In some cases names beginning Czaj- can also derive from the verb czajac', "to lie in wait for," but I think most of the time Czajkowski would refer to a place named for the lapwing. Unfortunately, there are a number of places in Poland with names this surname could derive from, so without detailed info on a specific family, there's no way to know which place the name refers to in their case.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 22,131 Polish citizens named Czajkowski. They lived all over Poland, with no particular connection to any one part of the country.

I should make sure one thing is clear. This name can be Polish; but it can also be Ukrainian or Russian, because the same word exists in those languages and there are places with similar names in those countries. In Russian the word (rendered as chaika by English phonetic values) means "seagull," whereas in Polish and Ukrainian it means "lapwing." But the point is, the name is most likely to be Polish in origin, but it can also be Russian or Ukrainian, because there are places in Russia and Ukraine with names that could yield this surname. 


STACHULA

... I am writing to ask if you know anything about my maiden name. It is Stachula. Stachula seems to be a rare name, as all the ones in the Chicago area (and probably Wisc. too) are related to me. My grandparents immigrated here from Lublin, Poland. 

In Polish this name is spelled Stachula and pronounced roughly "sta-HOO-lah," except that H sound is a bit more guttural than our H, more like the ch in German "Bach." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 494 Polish citizens named Stachula. The largest number, 123, lived in the southeastern province of Tarnobrzeg, with the rest scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country; 25 lived in Lublin province. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it derives from a nickname for first names beginning with Sta-, especially the popular name Stanislaw. Poles often formed affectionate diminutives of first names by taking the first few sounds, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes such as -ch or -sz. So the first part of the process went as follows: Stanislaw -> Sta- + -ch = Stach. Once that name existed, Poles eventually would add further suffixes to it, such as -ula. It's a little like the way English took John or James and made the nickname Jack, then later added -y or -ie to create Jacky or Jackie. But this sort of thing is not that common in English, whereas it's very common in Polish, and Polish has a whole range of suffixes it adds to names. Note that you can't say "Jacky" or "Teddy" really means anything -- they're just nicknames formed from older first names that did originally mean something. To the extent that Stachula can be said to mean anything, about the closest we can come to translating it is "kin of Stanislaw."

It's also possible in some cases that names beginning with Stach- come from another first name, Eustachy ("Eustace" in English). That would be rarer, however, than derivation from Stanislaw.


STEC

... I am trying to find info on my in-laws name, Stec. I saw nothing on your web site, but I have seen other spellings that I believe are related--Stecz, Stetz. The only history I know is Anton Stec who came to the USA from Tarnow poland during WWI. Do you have anywhere I can go to find this name.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says Stec (pronounced "stets") developed as a kind of nickname or affectionate form of the first name Stefan, "Stephen." So it's roughly comparable to "Steve" in English, except it long ago came into use as a surname, presumably as a way of referring to the kin of some person commonly called by that nickname in his local community. By German phonetic values this name would be spelled Stetz, and that's probably where that spelling came from.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 8,335 Polish citizens named Stec. They lived all over the country, but the name is definitely more common in the southern part of the country than in the north. There were 803 Poles named Stec living in Tarnów province alone.


TULISZEWSKI, WYSOCKI

... I wondered if you had information on two other family names: Tuliszewski and Wysocki? 

Both Tuliszewski and Wysocki would refer to the names of places with which the families were connected at some point; if noble, they owned estates at those places, and if not, they probably lived and worked there. 

Tuliszewski would mean "one from Tuliszew" or some similar place name. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc. The name is pronounced roughly "too-lish-EFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 115 Polish citizens named Tuliszewski. They were scattered in small numbers all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Wysocki ("vee-SOT-skee") can refer to any of a large number of places with names like Wysoka, Wysockie, Wysocice, etc. What these names all have in common is a connection with the root wysok-, "high, elevated," so that they probably refer to the elevation of the terrain in the area where the village or town was located. Wysocki is pretty common by Polish standards -- as of 1990 there were 29,720 Poles by this name Wysocki, living in large numbers all over the country.


GIBOWSKI

... Do you have any info on the name Gibowski? Anything you may have would be appreciated. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 497 Polish citizens named Gibowski. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (52) and Poznan (157), with the rest scattered in small numbers all over. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. But this does tell us the name is somewhat concentrated mainly in western Poland, in the area from around Poland north to Bydgoszcz.

Surnames in the form X-owski usually mean "one from X," that is, they refer to the name of some place the family came from at some point. We'd expect Gibowski to mean "one from Giby" or "one from Gibowo" or some similar name beginning with Gib-. There is a village called Giby in Suwałki province, but that's awfully far away from western Poland. Most likely the surname refers to more than one place with a name beginning Gib-, and not all of them show up in my sources. That's not unusual -- surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, become too small to show up on most maps, etc.


KALIŃSKI

... Would you help me to know what my family surname of Kalinski may mean?

Names ending in -ski are adjectival, and Kaliński (pronounced "kah-LEEN-skee" and written with an accent over the N) means literally "of, from, connected with, relating to kalina." That is a Polish noun meaning "guelder rose" (Viburnum) or "cranberry tree." So the name means literally "of the guelder rose" or "of the cranberry tree." As a surname it might refer to a family's living in any of a number of places called Kalina (presumably because these plants were common in the area), or it might refer to some perceived association between the family and those plants. Thus it might refer to one who lived in an area with these plants, or who wore clothes colored like them, or some other connection. It's difficult to say without detailed research into a given family what the connection was, but there obviously was enough of a connection that people found Kalinski an appropriate name for this person or family.

In some cases the name might also come from the Latin feminine first name Aquilina (literally "of the eagle"); but I think that would be true only occasionally. Most of the time the derivation would be from the noun kalina.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,250 Polish citizens named Kalinski. The largest number, 933, lived in the province of Warsaw; the rest were scattered in somewhat smaller numbers all over Poland. Essentially, a family by this name could have come from anywhere in the country.


POPOVITCH - POPOWICZ

...I am a writer currently working on a piece of fiction concerning Polish-Americans. I would like to be sure that the surname I have chosen for my characters is appropriately Polish. This is probably an odd request but I have not been able to make an accurate determination and your site allowed me to write to you, so I am. Is the surname Popovitch a Polish one? If not, can you suggest a good resource for this kind of information?

As an author myself, I understand and applaud your emphasis on accuracy in the smallest details. Too many writers don't bother with such "trifles," and I respect anyone who will go to a little trouble to "get it right"!

The spelling Popovitch makes sense as an Americanized phonetic spelling of the Polish surname Popowicz. That name, pronounced roughly "pop-OH-vitch," is definitely attested among Poles. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,912 Polish citizens named Popowicz. There was no one part of Poland in which the name was concentrated; you run into people by that name all over the country. I would think that makes it a very good choice for your purposes -- there's no danger someone will read your work and say, for instance, "This is absurd, that name is found only among the residents of the region of Kaszuby, and the fellow in this story is certainly no Kaszub!" 

In Polish names the suffix -owicz means "son of," so that Popowicz means "son of the pop" (pronounced with an O sound about halfway between the short o of English "pop" and the long O of English "Pope"). In modern usage that term means "clergyman of the Eastern church," referring to a priest of the Greek Catholic rite; but in older Polish it could also be applied to a Roman Catholic priest. It comes ultimately from the same root as "Pope" and "papa," clearly in the sense that a clergyman was a father to his parishioners. The older meaning of "Roman Catholic priest" is probably relevant because surnames developed centuries ago, so we must take into account their meanings back then, not their modern meanings; the name Popowicz appears in records as early as 1412! 

This needs a little historical context. In the last few centuries there's been considerable mixing of ethnic groups and religions, so that today one finds Greek Catholics living in western and northern Poland. But centuries ago, when the name first appeared, there was no such thing as a Greek Catholic rite (or, as they were first called, Uniates). That did not develop until the 1600's, if memory serves. Before then you had Belarusians and Ukrainians who used Orthodox liturgy but felt some allegiance to the Roman Pope. It was in the 1600's that a compromise was worked out whereby the so-called Uniates could keep their Eastern rite and liturgy, but recognized the Pope as their spiritual leader. This, of course, was black heresy to all true Orthodox believers, and over the next few centuries there was a lot of conflict between Greek Catholics and Orthodox adherents. Poles, on the other hand, seem to have accepted Greek Catholics as followers of the same basic religion, or as followers of a rather exotic version of the True Faith, since they both accepted the Pope's leadership.

The point is that when this name Popowicz first appears in Polish, it must have referred to Roman Catholic priests, and perhaps also Orthodox priests; it couldn't refer to Uniates because no such critter existed. As time went on, and the Uniate church (later called Greek Catholic because the term "Uniate" came to be viewed as pejorative) came into existence, the term pop came to be associated more and more with the clergy of that church. In more modern times the term is identified exclusively with Greek Catholic priests. But back when the name Popowicz developed among Poles, it probably referred in most cases to Roman Catholic priests.

I don't know if we should be too literal in saying it means "priest's son" -- since obviously Roman Catholic priests weren't supposed to be having sons! Still, priests are human too, and it might be the name was sometimes applied to the son of a priest who strayed. But I believe it can also be used in a more general sense, "kin of the priest," not just in the literal sense of a son.

I hope I've helped you with this information. If you want to clarify what I said about the religious aspect, you might do a little basic research into the origins of the Uniate or Greek Catholic church. But the bottom line is, Popowicz is a perfectly good name for a Pole to bear; and Popovitch makes sense as an Anglicized form of that name. If a Pole by that name found himself dealing with German officials, the name might end up spelled Popowitsch. But Popovitch is quite credible as the form a Polish immigrant to America might choose to go by, because it retained the original pronunciation of his name but made it a bit more accessible to Americans.


PIECHOCKI

... If you have any spare time, could you please try to find something on my last name Piechocki.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,437 Polish citizens named Piechocki. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 548, Konin 316, and Poznan 1,146. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is most common in an area north and west of the center of the country (in its current borders). Unfortunately, that's no help trying to trace a specific family that bears this name -- a Piechocki could come from almost anywhere in Poland, but is statistically somewhat more likely to come from the area of the provinces mentioned above. 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says names beginning Piech- usually developed from nicknames for Piotr, "Peter." Poles often formed nicknames or affectionate diminutives by taking the first few letters of a name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes, so that Piotr/Pietr -> Pie- + -ch = Piech. Once that name existed, it could easily have suffixes added to it, so that Piechocki may mean nothing more than "kin of Peter" or "one from the place of Peter's kin."

It's worth mentioning, however, that Piechocki could also have originated as an adjectival form of the noun piechota, "infantry," so that it could mean "kin of the one from the infantry." I'd think that might be more relevant; most names beginning Piech- would come from the nickname for Peter, but ones beginning Piechot- or Piechoc- more likely come from the word for "infantry." Still, either is possible; surviving records make clear that the surname Piechota can come from the nickname for "Peter."

Also, Piechocki might refer to a place name, such as Piechocice, Piechotne, and Piechoty -- there are various villages by those names, and without detailed info on a specific family there's no way to know for sure which one the surname refers to.

To summarize, with many Polish names you can't give a simple, unambiguous derivation unless you have access to very detailed info on that particular family and the context in which it came to be associated with a specific name. Piechocki could mean "kin of the infantryman" or "one from the place of the infantry," but it could also mean "kin of Peter" or "one from the place of Peter." Without firm data indicating which is relevant, I can only give info on the possible derivations, and leave it to you to do subsequent research that might tell you more.


ŚMIAŁKOWSKI

... I am interested in any information you could give me on the surname Smialkowski. I believe my great grandparents came from Galicia, Poland and settled in Northeast Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their children changed the name to Smalkoski, leaving little chance for others to be able to contact them. So I am struggling for information. My great uncles and aunts would never talk about Poland. I believe the family had much pain. Thank you for any help you can give.

In Polish this name is spelled with an accent over the S and a slash through the L, so that it is spelled Śmiałkowski. It is pronounced roughly "shm'yaw-KOFF-skee."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 985 Polish citizens named Śmiałkowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Lodz 228, Katowice 83, Płock 71, Poznan 67, and Szczecin 67, with the rest scattered in smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. 

This data tells us that there is a significant concentration in the area near the city of Lodz, but not enough of a concentration to serve as a reliable guide for where a given Śmiałkowski family came from. Besides, your info suggests the family came from Galicia, the part of Poland seized by Austria during the partitions -- it included the southcentral and southeastern part of modern Poland, as well as western Ukraine. So the distribution data is no real help in tracing your family -- which is the case, I'd estimate, at least 90% of the time with Polish surnames.

Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part, with which the family was connected at one time; if they were noble, they owned it, and if not, they lived and worked there. So we would expect this name to mean "one from Śmiałki or Śmiałkowo," place names literally meaning "[place] of the bold one." They were probably named for an owner or founder who bore the name or nickname Śmiałek, "bold one."

Without much more detailed info on a specific family there's no way to know for sure which place the surname might refer to. It's worth mentioning, however, that there is a Śmiałki northwest of Czestochowa in southcentral Poland; this is not far from the western edge of Galicia. So the name might mean "one from Śmiałki." The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. Śmiałki is the only place I can find on modern maps that makes sense as the place the surname might refer to; but it would be irresponsible to jump to the conclusion that that HAS to be the right place.

I'm afraid only genealogical research is likely to uncover facts that would establish the right place. Once you trace the family back to a specific area in Poland, it becomes possible to search that area for places with names that qualify. But I'm afraid that's more than I can do; I only have the time and resources to do "quick and dirty" analysis.


KOCZARA

... Do you know what Koczara stands for? 

According to my sources, the name Koczara (pronounced roughly "co-CHAR-ah") comes from the noun koczar, which means "cabriolet," a small carriage. A person who bore this name presumably drove such a carriage for a living. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 697 Polish citizens named Koczara. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 114, Ciechanow 67, Krakow 71, Ostrołęka 172. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is most common in an area just northwest of the center of the country (in its current borders).


FLEISCHER - FLESZAR

... I just found your page. I've always been interested in finding out more about my Polish heritage. My grandfather came over to America with his parents early in life. He came over before being in kindergarten, so he really has no recollection of anything in Poland. My great-grandfather's name was Wladyslaw Fleszar. My grandparents tried to find out info on the name and the family line, but found nothing but people trying to make a buck on false information - for instance, after the move my great-grandfather "Americanized" his name to Walter Flesher. These places told my grandparents they could trace his name back for hundreds of years in Poland - of course, Flesher was not his Polish name, so these traces were not true. If there is anything you can direct me to, or even a sentence or two in your spare time, I'd be appreciative.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 906 Polish citizens named Fleszar (pronounced roughly "FLESH-are"). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Poznan 105, Rzeszow 280, Walbrzych 85. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data suggests the name is found all over Poland, with concentrations in a couple of areas, western Poland (near Poznan) and southeastern Poland (near Rzeszow). As I say, this is not unusual; one finds names of German origin all over the country, especially in the west (which was long ruled and colonized by Germans) and in the southeast, which was never ruled by Germany but became home to many German immigrants.

One of the books I have, concentrating on Polonized forms of German names, shows Fleszar as coming from German Fleischer, "butcher" (from the same basic Germanic root as our word "flesh"). There have always been large numbers of Germans who came to settle in Poland, so it's not unusual to see Poles bearing names of German linguistic origin. Presumably a family Fleszar started out as a German family named Fleischer, presumably earning a living as butchers; as time went by and they settled among Poles, the form of their name was gradually Polonized so as to be easier for Poles to pronounce. It's possible an ethnic Pole might come to bear this name because he lived among a lot of Germans, but as a rule you'd expect a Fleszar to be of Germanic origin ultimately, because Polish has native words meaning "butcher," e. g. rzeznik.


RASIMOWICZ

... I often wondered what the derivation of my name was. I never see it posted. My name is now Rasinowich but I know it was changed. My father used Rasimowicz when entering the service. Would appreciate any information.

When a name has been changed the first problem is figuring out what the original form was, and often there's no way to tell for sure without hard evidence -- documents such as naturalization papers, passport applications, ship passenger lists, etc. I can't be certain what the original form was, but Rasimowicz is a real possibility. It is pronounced roughly "rah-shee-MO-vitch," of which Rasimowich could obviously be just a slight Anglicization. So while it's not certain Rasimowicz is the right original form, I will proceed on the assumption that it is, because the odds are good it is. 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 62 Polish citizens named Rasimowicz. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Łomża 13, Olsztyn 22, Suwałki 13. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. But this data shows the name is most common in northeastern Poland, and that makes sense given certain clues the name provides.

The suffix -owicz means "son of," and while it is found all over Poland, it is especially common in eastern and especially northeastern Poland, which fits in with the distribution data. This suggests the surname means "son of Rasim." There are several possibilities for what that name comes from, but I think the most likely one is that it started out as a short form for a Slavic adaptation of the Greek name Gerasimos, "honored, prized." This name is somewhat rare among ethnic Poles, but is more common among Eastern Slavs, namely Belarusians and Ukrainians, in forms such as Harasim or Harasym; Greek-based names are often associated with adherents of the Orthodox church, such as the Belarusians and Ukrainians, whereas Poles were more likely to take names from Roman Catholic saints, influenced more often by Latin than Greek. 

In other words, I strongly suspect this name Rasim is a short form or nickname of Harasim or Harasym and originated among Belarusians or Ukrainians, followers either of the Orthodox church or the Greek Catholic rite. So the surname Rasimowicz, which might also be spelled Rasymowicz sometimes, probably means "son of Harasym." The data on the name's frequency and distribution is consistent with this; we often see names of Eastern Slavic origin in northeastern and eastern Poland. The family may have lived elsewhere later, but they probably started out living somewhere in eastern Poland or in the regions just east of the current Polish border, Lithuania or Belarus or Ukraine. These regions were long regarded as eastern territories of the old Polish Commonwealth, and people living in them were often ethnic Poles or regarded as Polish citizens. So even if the name is of Belarusian or Ukrainian linguistic origin, that wouldn't necessarily make the families bearing it any less Polish. Some of Poland's greatest heroes, including Kosciuszko and Mickiewicz, actually came from Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine.

I've drawn some pretty sweeping conclusions based on a little data, and might be wrong. But I really think this is the right derivation of this surname. It means "son of [Ha]rasim" and is most likely of eastern Slavic origin.

 

  

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.  

Chmieliński

I would appreciate any information you could give me on the name Chmielinski and where in Poland it originated.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,839 Polish citizens named Chmieliński. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Ciechanow 204, Gdansk 223, Katowice 116, Olsztyn 211, Ostrołęka 196, and Warsaw 218. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data shows that the name is found all over Poland, and there is no one region with which it is associated.

As I say, in Polish this name is spelled with an accent over the N, and it is pronounced roughly "h'myell-EEN-skee" -- the initial H sound is a little bit guttural, like the ch in German "Bach."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it refers to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place with the name Chmielno or Chmielen. Unfortunately, there are several such places in Poland, and without detailed information into a specific family's background, there's no way to know which one the surname derives from in their particular case. That's probably why the name appears all over the country: there isn't just one Chmieliński family, but a number of different ones, named for various different places all over Poland.

If you'd like to see maps showing at least some of these places, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm  

Enter "chmieln" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "Search using Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of various places in Poland with names that are reasonably good phonetic matches with Chmieln-. The first four on the list are the best matches. For each one, click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc. This will give you some idea where the places called Chmielen and Chmielno are located, and at some point in your research this may allow you to make a correlation that proves handy.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chojnowski - Hojnowski

Would you have any information as to the names Choynowski or Chojnowski? The only information I could find is that its associated with the Polish clan Lubicz. Any info would be appreciated.

Chojnowski could also be spelled Choynowski in older Polish, but in modern spelling that "y" sound would be represented with J. Other likely spelling variations are Hojnowski and Hoynowski. In Polish the H and CH are pronounced exactly the same, so either spelling is possible; within the last century or so, though, spellings have tended to become somewhat standardized, and the standard spelling of this name these days is Chojnowski. You want to note the other spellings, however, because spelling wasn't always reliable in old records, so you might find the name spelled any of the ways I've mentioned.

The H or CH is a little more guttural than the English H, it sounds somewhat like "ch" in German "Bach"; that said, the name is pronounced "hoy-NOFF-skee," however it's spelled.

As of 1990 there were 7,211 Polish citizens named Chojnowski (only 161 who spelled it Hojnowski). The Chojnowskis lived all over Poland; there were particularly large numbers in the provinces of Białystok, 350; Łomża, 1,957; Olsztyn, 299; Ostrołęka, 548; Suwałki, 347; Torun, 322; and Warsaw, 712. So the name is most common in northcentral to northeastern Poland.

The ultimate root of the name is the noun chojna, "fir, spruce." Names in the form X-owski usually refer to the names of places with which the families were connected. If a Chojnowski family was noble, at some point they owned an estate with a name beginning Chojn-, so that the surname meant essentially "of the place of the firs or spruces." If they were peasants, they lived and worked at a place with an appropriate name somewhere along the line.

There are a number of villages and settlements in Poland named Chojna, Chojnów, Chojnowo, etc., so without more specifics on an individual family there's no way to know which of those places the surname refers to in a given case. As I said, I can't even say for sure the family was noble, because originally -owski names were used only by nobility -- X-owski meant "[lord] of X" -- but as time went on peasants took such names as well. In their case, X-owski simply meant "one from X."

So to be sure your family was of the noble Chojnowskis, you'd have to trace the bloodline back and establish a connection with a recognized noble. I'm not saying your family is or isn't of noble origin. I'm just saying you can't tell from the name itself. Only genealogical research would establish the point.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chiemengo - Ciemięga - Ciemenga

I have been searching for a while and have not been able to find any information about my family. All I know is that they are from Poland and that my grandfather came to the U.S.A. around the early 1900's from Poland. He was sent to the U.S.A. by his father who owned a shoe factory somewhere in Poland. When they arrived at Ellis Island I have been told that the name was changed, I am not sure why but it was changed from CIEMIEGA to CHIEMINGO. My grandparents both died at very young ages, and the children were sent to farms and lost all possible family records.

My information sources don't help much with finding individual persons or families, but I can tell you a few things about the name that may prove interesting, if not helpful.

In Polish this name is spelled Ciemięga -- as an E with a tail under it, and usually pronounced much like "en." In Polish the combination CI is pronounced much like English "ch." So Ciemięga sounds like "chem-YENG-gah." Once you realize this, it's not hard to understand why the spelling might be changed to Chiemingo -- by English phonetic values, this is a reasonably good representation of how the name was pronounced in Polish. That's usually the reason for spelling changes of this sort. Different languages using the Roman alphabet use different ways of representing sounds, and in Polish Ciemięga is a very good way of spelling the sounds of this name; but it makes no sense to English-speakers, for us English "Chiemingo" is a more comprehensible spelling.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 960 Polish citizens named Ciemięga. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 278, Radom 74, Rzeszow 149, and Tarnow 82. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data shows the name is found primarily in southcentral and southeastern Poland, in the region formerly ruled by Austria and called Galicia. But the disappointing thing is that it doesn't really help a great deal in tracing where a given Ciemięga family came from originally; they could come from anywhere in Poland, and especially in southcentral to southeastern Poland.

There was also 124 Poles who spelled the name Ciemienga, which makes sense phonetically, if you recall what I said about the pronunciation of that letter Ę.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun ciemięga, which means "dullard, worthless fellow, twerp." I know this isn't very flattering, but believe me, compared to some Polish names I've seen, this is not bad at all. There are an incredibly large number of Polish surnames that come from words that are outright insults, some of them obscene. I really think some of them were surely meant in fun, the way Americans sometimes call their friends by insulting names as a jest.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Cieszyński

I was wondering if you had any information on my last name. It is Cieszynski.

In Polish this name is spelled with an acute accent over the N, and is pronounced roughly "cheh-SHIN-skee."; so I spell the name Cieszyński.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,242 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over Poland, with particularly large numbers in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 191, Gdansk 612, Katowice 146, Olsztyn 133, Rzeszow 163, Slupsk 156, Torun 737, and Wloclawek 197. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data tells us a Cieszyński family could come from practically anywhere in Poland, but there are significant concentrations in northcentral Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1418, and just means "one from Cieszyn" or Cieszyna or Cieszyno or Cieszyny -- there are a number of different places with these names. The only way to tell which one a specific family came from would be through genealogical research, which would allow one to focus on the exact area that particular Cieszyński family came from and thus on a nearby place with an appropriate name.

There is, for instance, a famous and fairly large town Cieszyn down in southcentral Poland, on the border with the Czech Republic, and Cieszyński could refer to a family's connection with that place. But all those Cieszyńskis up in Gdansk and Torun provinces are less likely to have names referring to that Cieszyn all the way down in southern Poland. Their name is somewhat more likely to refer to a Cieszyna or other similar place name closer to home. That's why one has to know what part of Poland a family came from before it's possible to suggest which place the surname refers to.

Cieszyński could also come from short forms of ancient pagan names such as Cieszybor and Cieszymir and Ciechosław, in which the first part of the name means something like "joy" or "consolation." Thus Cieszybor probably meant "joy-battle" (may he enjoy battle); Cieszymir probably meant "joy-peace" (may he find joy in victorious peace); Ciechosław probably meant "joy-glory" (may he find joy in glory). These names produced nicknames or short forms such as Ciech, Ciecha, Ciesza, etc.; the guttural -ch- tends to become -sz- when suffixes are added, so that names beginning Ciech- and Ciesz- are from the same source.

Once those names Ciech or Ciesza or whatever existed, Cieszyn would develop from them, meaning "[kin] of Ciesza or Ciech" or "[place] of Ciesza or Ciech." Then Cieszyński could develop as a way of saying "kin of Ciesza's kin" or "one from Ciesza's place." The latter is probably applicable in most cases, as I said above -- it would mean "one from Cieszyn" or "one from Cieszyna," which in turn means "one from Ciech's/Ciesza's place." However, it is possible the surname Cieszyński could refer not to a place but rather to the extended family of a fellow named Ciech or Ciesza or something similar.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Falikowski - Falkowski - Chwalikowski

I was hoping you could help me out. My surname is Falikowski. When I researched coats of arms, I found Falkowski, but no Falikowski, with the "i" after the L. Do you know whether the two names are related? Are they derivations of Falk? Any other information that you could share would be most appreciated.

This is a tough call, because FALIKOWSKI (pronounced roughly "fah-lee-KOFF-skee") obviously comes from the same basic root as FALKOWSKI; but that doesn't necessarily imply any other relationship. Just as the English surnames Jones and Johnson both come from the first name "John," but would usually be totally different names borne by different families, Falikowski clearly has that same basic root fal- as Falkowski; but that signifies only a linguistic relationship, not a family one.

I should add, though, that just as Jones and Johnson could conceivably be confused because they're similar names, so Falikowski and Falkowski might be confused. A family properly known as Falikowski might sometimes be called Falkowski by error, and vice versa. But that's a matter of human error, which must always be factored into our research. The names would usually be borne by distinct families, not necessarily connected in any way.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland, available online), there were 104 Polish citizens named Falikowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Walbrzych, 24, and Wroclaw, 67. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found primarily in southwestern Poland, in the region called Silesia.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says that like so many names beginning Fal-, this one is a modified form of names originally beginning Chwal-. That root is pronounced with a guttural "ch" (as in German "Bach") followed by "vahl." It's a bit of a mouthful, but Poles can handle it. Still, for some reason, in some parts of Poland there was a tendency to simplify that combination of sounds to a simpler one that sounds much like English "fall."

So FALIKOWSKI is a variant of CHWALIKOWSKI. Professsor Rymut says that name appears in records as early as 1395, whereas FALIKOWSKI shows up as early as 1399. He says Falikowski refers to a family connection with any of a number of places named Chwalikowice and Chwalikowo. There are several places by those names, and from the surname alone there's no way to tell for sure which one a given Falikowski family came from. Only research into the family history might establish that.

Here's where it gets complicated -- Rymut gives FALKOWSKI, appearing in records as early as 1448, as potentially having the same derivation. In other words, both Falikowski and Falkowski can mean "one from Chwalikowice or Chwalikowo." In some cases the surname retained that -i-, in other cases it dropped it over time. This makes it even more possible that Falikowski might sometimes be the same as Falkowski. It would depend a lot on the individual families involved. Some might have gone by either name; others might have insisted on one or the other.

FALKOWSKI, however, clearly can also refer to a connection with places named Falki, Falków, Falkowo, etc., which do not have that -i-. FALIKOWSKI would refer to a place with a name beginning Chwalik- or Falik-. So in some instances the presence of that -i- can indicate a different derivation. The problem is, it doesn't always -- you can't rely on that being true every time.

There's only so far you can go by analyzing name origins. There comes a point where you say, "OK, that's what I can tell you. From here on you're on your own. These CAN be connected -- but only your research can tell you whether they were or were not." That's the point we've reached. Both these names can have the same derivation, but only you can determine whether they are actually connected in your family history.

I wish I could give you a simple, straightforward answer. But sometimes the answer is not simple, and pretending otherwise is a lie. I hope I've told you enough to help you with your research. That's what I try to do -- outline the possibilities, so that you can make informed choices based on what you discover as you trace your family history.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Charęża - Haremza - Haremża - Haręża

I would like to know if you have heard of or know of the name Haremza. My ancestors are from the Poznan area of what used to be Prussia.

This name is spelled many different ways by Poles, all sounding more or less like "hah-REN-zhah" or "hah-REM-zhah." Most of these spellings use letters we don't use in English which are the Polish E with a tail under it (pronounced like "en" or "em"), and the Z with a dot over it, pronounced like "zh." The version Haremza, with no special letters, would sound like "hah-REM-zah." Put a dot over the Z and it sounds like "hah-REM-zhah." Change the -em- to the nasal E written with a tail under it, Haręża, and it's "hah-REN-zhah." Since H and CH are pronounced the same in Polish, we often see forms versions beginning CH- instead of H-. And so on; many different spellings, but all variations of the same basic name.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it is of Romanian origin, from the Romanian noun arindza, "stomach." Presumably it began as a nickname for various people of Romanian origin who had a large stomach, or was always eating, or something along those lines. A given ancestor was called this by Romanians, and when he and/or his descendants moved to live among Poles the name stuck. The different spellings in Polish probably resulted from slightly different pronunciations of the word or name as it came to be used by Poles. They weren't familiar with the Romanian word, and as they tried to pronounce it they modified it slightly. Some people spelled and pronounced it one way, others a slightly different way. That's how we end up with all these different spellings.

We often run into names of Poles that turn out to be of some other linguistic origin, including Romanian, Armenian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Slovak, etc., so this is not surprising. Historically there were significant ties between Poland, so that there was a certain amount of mixing of names; we see distinctively Polish names borne by people in Hungary and Romania, and Hungarian and Romanian names borne by Poles. It's not at all odd, therefore, to find people who consider themselves 100% Polish but bear names that actually originated in some other language.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 434 Polish citizens named Charęża, 595 named Haremza, 340 named Haręza, and 556 named Haręża. You need to keep your eyes open for all these spellings, as any of them could conceivably appear in the records.

Of the 595 Polish citizens who spelled it Haremza as of 1990, the largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Leszno 63, Poznan 330, and Wroclaw 47. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is concentrated primarily in the western part of the country, which would include the area your ancestors came from.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Czerniak

...I was just wondering if you have any info on the name Czerniak. From what little bit i could find, it must have originated in the Poznan region of Poland. Also where can i get/order a copy of your book?

The ultimate root of the name Czerniak is czarn-, meaning "dark, black." Names can derive from a number of different words based on that root, including czarny, "black," czern', "blackness, mob," etc. There are also many, many places with names based on this root, and then surnames can derive from those place names. Unfortunately, with names (like this) that can get started dozens of differente ways, it's impossible to say just how a particular family ended up with a particular name, unless you've done extremely detailed research on that family -- and even then you often can't say, because there just aren't any surviving records that shed light on the matter. About all we can say for sure is that this is one of many popular names deriving from the root meaning "dark, black." It might refer to complexion, disposition, place of residence, etc.

As of 1990 there were some 7,269 Poles with this surname, living all over the country. In modern-day Poznan province there were 781, which is the highest number for a single province; some other provinces with lots of Czerniaks are Bydgoszcz (438), Katowice (595), Konin (331), Lublin (682), and Zamosc (335). There doesn't seem to be any obvious pattern to the distribution, except that the most Czerniaks live in the provinces with the largest populations.

I know this information is awfully general and may not help you a lot, but with many common names that's about all you can do. I hope this is some help to you, and wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Nienajadło

... Would you know of the Polish name Nienajadlo? I wonder if you have come across it and perhaps would know any brief history of the family name?

I've never come across this name before, but it is an interesting one.

Nienajadło (the Polish slashed l is pronounced like our w, so that the name would sound like "nyeh-nah-YAHD-woe") is not extremely common, but not really rare -- as of 1990 there were 278 Polish citizens by this name. They lived in many different provinces, with the larger numbers showing up in the provinces of Legnica (23), Przemysl (42), Rzeszow (39), and Tarnobrzeg (103), which suggests the southeast corner of Poland is where this name originated.

That fits in with the linguistic aspects of the name -- Nienajadło derives from nie-, "not," plus najadły, a participle of the verb najeść, "to eat one's fill." So Nienajadło would appear to mean "one who didn't eat too much," perhaps meant ironically, a kind of nickname for someone who was skin and bones. However, I could also easily imagine this as meaning "one who never can eat his fill," i. e., someone with a big appetite. Names formed from participles like this generally do show up mostly in southeast Poland, near the Ukrainian border, which is where this name is most common. Also, there were a lot of times historically when famine struck this area, sometimes due to crop failure, sometimes because of war.

So this suggests the family may have tended to be on the thin side -- perhaps because they were too poor to eat much -- or were famous for their appetites and could never get enough to eat. Those are the two most likely meanings of the name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Ramzinski - Ramziński - Ramżyński

...Your new book is very informative and it has helped me very much. My great-grandmother had the maiden name Ramzinski, which is not included in the book. Several Ramzinski families came to the Bexar county, TX area between 1870-1875. They came from Kiszkowo, Gniezno, Poznan. I would appreciate information on the history and origin of the name and how are they distributed now in Poland?

I'm glad to hear my book has helped you!

I'm afraid the Slownik nazwisk shows no entry for Ramzinski, which either means there were none and the name died out in Poland after your ancestors emigrated, or there were only a few in 1990 and they happened to live in those provinces for which the database did not have complete data. I notice there is an entry for Ramżyński, which would be pronounced almost exactly the same (the zh sound would be a bit stronger, and the Polish y is like the "i" in "sit" rather than the "ee" sound of Polish i; the ń stands for the n with an accent over it, the Ż stands for the z with a dot over it). The Ramżyńskis lived in the provinces of Krosno (4), Wroclaw (1), and Zielona Gora (4). Although the two names sound very similar and might just be variants of each other, I'm reluctant to conclude there is a connection between these two surnames, because there's reason to believe they come from two different place names, as I'm about to explain.

The form Ramziński would most likely mean "one who comes from a place called Ramza, Ramzia, Ramzy," something like that. I can find only one area that seems to fit. There was a locality Ramzy composed of two parts, Małe Ramzy ("Little Ramzy, German name "Klein Ramsen"), a manorial grange, and an estate Wielkie Ramzy ("Big Ramzy," German "Gross Ramsen"), both in Sztum county (now in Elbląg province), 5 km. southeast of Sztum, which is where the Lutheran parish church was located, whereas Catholics went to the parish church in Postolin. I can find Postolin and Sztum on my maps, but can't find either Ramzy -- perhaps they're too small to show up on the map, perhaps the name has been changed, or perhaps they've been incorporated into some other place.

There was also a tiny village Ramżyno in Dzisna county, which would put it in what is now Belarus. The name Ramżyński is a better fit, linguistically, with this name, and that's why I'm hesitant to identify the two surnames as just variants of each other. One may have originated in Belarus, the other in East Prussia -- a considerable distance apart.

Without much more detailed info on your family, I cannot say for sure your Ramzińskis are connected to the places named Ramzy in Elbląg province. They could well be, people did sometimes move around in Poland (though not to the extent modern Americans do, for instance); but your Ramzińskis might have taken their name from another place too small to show up in the gazetteers and on maps. Still, just from a linguistic point of view, the Ramzy - Ramziński connection is quite credible.

Sorry I couldn't give you a more definite answer, but I hope this info is some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 
 

Bycofski - Bycowski - Byczewski - Bykowski

...I am a second generation American. My grandparents came from Warsaw. Their last name is Bycofski. They took up the surname Cuba. They settled in Athens, Ohio. My grandfather died in the worst mine disaster in the history of Ohio ? the Pittsfield mine explosion. I'm trying to piece my lineage together. Can you shed any light on the name Bycofski?

The first problem here is to get the original Polish form of the night -- Bycofski has clearly been anglicized. The w in the ending -owski is pronounced like an f, so Bycowski is a plausible spelling. Unfortunately, there was no one in Poland with this name as of 1990, which suggests -- although it doesn't prove for sure -- that that form is not likely to be right. The c is the next problem. If it is pronounced like a k, the Polish spelling was probably Bykowski; but sometimes c and cz alternate in names, so Byczowski is also possible. But that name doesn't show up in Poland either. There is Byczewski, a name borne by 59 Poles. Bykowski, however, was the name of 2,778 Poles as of 1990. Without more info to go on, I'm inclined to think Bykowski was the original Polish spelling. As I said, there were 2,778 Poles by that name, living all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of: Warsaw (166), Białystok (163), Lodz (181), Piotrkow (153), and Wloclawek (197). I can't see any real pattern to the distribution, the name appears to be spread all over the country.

Whether byc- or byk- was the original beginning of the name, it probably derives from the term byk, meaning "bull," diminutive byczek, "bullock." The -owski ending usually means the name was formed from the name of a village or town ending in -ow, -owo, -owa, or something similar. There are quite a few places named Bykow, Bykowo, Bycz, Byczow, and so on, and the surnames Bykowski or Byczkowski could theoretically come from any of them. Those places got their names from a connection with a fellow with the nickname Byk ("Bull") or with bulls -- probably cattle were raised there. So your surname probably started out meaning "person from the place of the bulls or Bull's place." But since there are so many places that might be the source of this name, there's no way to guess which particular one the name started in. It could have started in any of them, and probably did arise independently in a number of places. That explains why Bykowskis now live all over the country.

I know I haven't answered all your questions, but without lots of detailed info on your particular family, there just isn't enough data to draw any specific conclusions. Still, I hope this info is some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Brataniec - Niedzwiecki

...The Brataniec name that you could not find, per say, as a Polish name, I found in Monovia on the Polish border in a town called Mahrisch-Ostrau. I cannot say for sure that that is where he originally came from (born in 1874) as I lack the records.

I can't remember what I wrote about Brataniec, but it clearly comes from the term brataniec, literally "brother's son," i. e., "nephew." As of 1990 there were 60 Poles with this name, living in the provinces of Katowice (4), Krakow (13), Krosno (4), Nowy Sacz (11), and Tarnow (28). This strongly suggests the name comes from southcentral and southeastern Poland, in the area that was formerly ruled by Austria and named "Galicia."

...Interesting though may be his mother's maiden name, which is Niedzwiecka. I am not sure that this is a Polish name either, especially from looking in your book... So my question is, do you have any insight to the name Niedzwiecka? If I can find out a location, I may have a chance of finding my family!

Niedzwiecka is simply the feminine form of Niedzwiecki -- the wife or daughter of a man named Niedzwiecki would be called Niedzwiecka. As it says on p. 216 of the first edition of my book, and p. 358 of the second edition, Niedzwiecki comes from a Polish word niedźwiedź meaning "bear." It might have started as a nickname for a bear-like fellow or a guy who was good at hunting bears. But in many, many cases it would have meant "fellow who owned, came from, or often traveled to __" where the blank is filled in with any of several dozen villages with names from that root meaning "bear," for instance, Niedzwiedz (at least 11), Niedzwiada (at least 4), etc.

As of 1990 there were 1,866 Poles named Niedzwiecki, 6,432 named Niedźwiecki (with an accent over the z), 1,068 named Niedzwiedzki (which is pronounced exactly the same, so the names are easily confused), and 2,382 named Niedźwiedzki. So that's almost 12,000 Poles who have what is, for all intents and purposes, the same surname. Clearly the name originated in many different places at many different times, so there are numerous separate families with the name.

This is one thing I kind of hate about answering questions on Polish surnames: people hope the name will give them a clue where in Poland their families came from. It does work that way, sometimes, and when it does both the questioner and I end up feeling quite good about it! But the majority of times there just isn't info in the name to help. There were lots of places in Poland where bears were common at one time, so places where they fed or lived often got a name like Niedzwiedz, and then people coming from those place ended up with names like Niedzwiedzki or Niedzwiecki (which are pronounced the same).

So, this info may not be much help to you. For what it's worth, if you can find a place named Niedzwiada or Niedzwiedz (from which the name Niedzwiecki can come) near Mahrisch-Ostrau (Ostrawa Morawska, which according to my sources is in the Czech Republic, very near the border), that might be the right one.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Levickis - Lewicki

...My parents were Lithuanian. I have a suspicion that our surname Levickis is derived from Polish and may have originally been Lewicki or similar. Many years ago I was sent a coat of arms reproduction via Poland with that name. I wonder if you could assist me in any way what so ever, I would be very grateful.

Chances are very good the name was Lewicki at one point -- Lithuanian names ending in -auskas usually correspond to Polish -owski, -inskas corresponds to -inski, and -ickis corresponds to -icki. Sometimes Lithuanians dropped their original names (if they had one, at that point in time many Euopeans did not) and adopted Polish names that they liked or that seemed somehow appropriate. Also, numerous ethnic Poles lived and still live in Lithuania, and as time went on their Polish names were changed slightly to fit Lithuanian linguistic patterns. So there are several ways the names Levickis and Lewicki can be connected.

The problem is, Lewicki is such a common name -- as of 1990 there were 13,441 Poles by that name. The ultimate origin, in most cases, is the term lew, "lion," also much used as a first name Lew (= "Leo" or "Leon"). A place belonging to the kin of a prominent man named Lew might be called Lewice, for instance, and then people coming from that place would be called Lewicki ("one from Lewice"). In some cases, it can also be a Jewish name, connected to the Levites. So it's tough to draw any conclusions regarding the name without detailed info on the particular Lewicki or Levickis family in question. Only detailed research into the history of the specific family in question might uncover information that would shed light on how that name came to be associated with that particular family.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Szala - Szała

...I would sincerely appreciate any information you could provide to me in regards to the surname Szala.

Unfortunately, this is one of those names that could have come (and probably did) from several different roots. Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut lists it under the entry Szal- and says such names can derive from the word szala, "scale" (as in a scale to weigh something), or from szal, "shawl," or from szaleć, a verb meaning "to rage." We also can't rule out the possibility it derived from a short form or nickname of Salomon (Solomon) -- due to dialect pronunciation peculiarities, s and sz often switch.

As of 1990 there were 2,124 Poles named Szala, and 330 named Szała (using ł to stand for the Polish slashed l, which sounds like our w). The Szala's lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (127), Kalisz (101), Katowice (418), Rzeszow (110), and Zamosc (176). If there's a pattern there, I'm afraid I can't see it. The Szała's were by far most common in the province of Poznan (236).

No matter how you add it up, I'm afraid there just isn't a clear picture. The name could have come from several different roots, and there's no pattern to its distribution that tells us anything useful.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kulis - Purzycki

...I am doing research on two branches of my family, with a current goal of determining, hopefully, where each originated from in Poland. I have visited your web page, and would like to ask if you might have encountered either the surname Kulis or Purzycki.

Kulis can come from several different roots: Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book on Polish surnames under kul-, explaining that such names can come from the word kula, "sphere, bullet, crutch," or the verb kulić się, to crouch. I have also noted that in a few cases it can come from a nickname for Mikolaj, "Nicholas." In practice most names from kul- mean basically "cripple" (related to that meaning of "crutch" for kula), and that seems the most likely answer here, that an ancestor named Kulis had a deformity that made him lame or forced him to use a crutch.

Names from kul- are very common, and Kulis was the name of 810 Poles as of 1990, with another 1,727 named Kuliś (that ś is pronounced like a soft, hissing "sh") -- either of those could be the Polish form of this surname, and they both would mean about the same thing. The largest numbers of Poles named Kulis lived in the provinces of Warsaw (81), Katowice (79), Krakow (64), Olstzyn (51), Ostrołęka (57), Skierniewice (85), and Szczecin (52) -- there doesn't appear to be any particular pattern to the distribution. For Kuliś, the largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (95), Czestochowa (104), Katowice (146), Kielce (200), Łomża (119), Ostrołęka (102), Piotrkow (108), Suwałki (202), and Tarnow (95) -- again, spread fairly evenly all over the country. (By the way, I'm afraid I don't have access to any more detailed info, such as first names and addresses, what I show here is about all I have).

Purzycki might come ultimately from a term purzyca, "thigh," but the immediate source would be a place name Purzyce or something like it. There is, for instance, a Purzyce-Trojany in Ciechanow province, and the surname probably referred to a family's coming from that or some other village with a similar name (there are probably others, too small to show up on my maps). As of 1990 there were 1,243 Poles named Purzycki, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (227), Ciechanow (247), and Olsztyn (136). Probably quite a few of those took their name from that village I mentioned, but there are enough people by this name, in enough different parts of the country, to suggest more than one place gave rise to this surname. So the name means basically "person or family associated with, coming from, working at Purzyca or Purzyce."

This info may not be a lot of help pinpointing a particular area your ancestors came from, but that's generally true of most names. There are just too many different words, and places with similar names, to point unambiguously at a place of origin or clear-cut meaning. The origin of a place-derived surname usually is the most help if your research has established an area your ancestors came from, and if you find a village nearby with the right name. So if you learn where the Purzycki's lived in Poland before coming over, and you find a Purzyce or Purzyca nearby, that's probably the right place! As for Kulis, it could and did originate in many different parts of Poland, there just isn't any clue as to which particular place your Kulis's came from.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Filipowski - Nowacki - Odachowski - Pieściuk - Plaski - Puszynski - Rzentkowski - Wisniewski

... I just discovered your surname meanings ... web page. It was wonderful to find that someone else had been searching for my surname (Odachowski). I was wondering if you might know anything about some other surnames in my family: Filipowski, Nowacki, Pieściuk, Plaski, Puszynski, Rzentkowski, Wisniewski.

Names ending in -owski, such as Filipowski, usually indicate association with a place name, often ending with -ew, -ewo, -ow, -owo, etc. I'd expect Filipowski to mean "one from Filipow, Filipowo, etc." Those names, in turn, mean "Philip's place," Filip is the Polish form of our name "Philip." Unfortunately there are at least eight such places in Poland, so there's no way to know which one your Filipowski's might have been connected with. As of 1990 there were 4,138 Polish citizens named Filipowski, living all over the country.

Nowacka is just a feminine form of Nowacki, and that comes from the word nowak, "new guy in town." Names from nowak are exceedingly common -- as of 1990 there 24,910 Polish citizens named Nowacki, scattered all over the country.

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, the name Pieściuk comes from a root meaning "to fondle," perhaps it was a nickname for someone who was very demonstrative in showing affection, with lots of body contact. As of 1990 there were only 87 Piesciuk's in Poland, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 8, Gdansk 6, Jelenia Gora 2, Katowice 1, Koszalin 14, Olsztyn 3, Ostrołęka 1, Suwałki 4, Walbrzych 3, Wroclaw 1, Zielona Gora 10. There's not really enough data there to give a useful pattern of distribution, they really are scattered all over the country.

Plaski appears to come from the Polish word plaski, "level, flat," perhaps referring to the area where a family lived or perhaps to some quality or feature of their appearance or personality. As of 1990 there were 551 Poles by this name, with the largest numbers in these provinces: Warsaw 176, Katowice 50, Kielce 59, and Lodz 45.

Puszyński comes from a basic root meaning "to preen, prance, strut," or from an archiac word meaning "tuft of feathers." However, names ending in -iński and -yński are also usually associated with place names, and Puszynski probably indicates connection with a town or village. I can only find one likely candidate in my atlas, Puszyna in Opole province, so the Puszyński family in this case may have come from there. However, there might be other villages named Puszyn, Puszyna, etc. that were too small to show up on the maps. As of 1990 there were 273 Polish citizens named Puszynski, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of: Bielsko-Biala 45, Kielce 58, Warsaw 26, and Wroclaw 19. This seems to indicate the name tends to be most common in southcentral Poland.

Rzentkowski probably indicates origin in a village named something like Rzentkow, Rzentkowo, Rzentki - I can find no such places in my atlas, but that may just mean they were too small to show up. This is a tricky name because there are several different ways to spell it in Polish: it could be Rzętkowski (ę stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced like en, ą stands for the other Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it and pronounced like on, or Rzędkowski, or Rzendkowski, or Rządkowski (the nasal vowels often switch), and so on. To make things worse, in Polish rz and Ż (dotted Z) are pronounced exactly the same, so for each of these spellings you also have to consider variants with Ż instead of initial Rz. In Polish names, if there are several different ways of spelling the sounds of a name, you should not be surprised to see several different spellings of the name... As of 1990 there were only 25 Poles named Rzentkowski, 46 named Rzędkowski, 1,265 named Rządkowski - this makes it very tough to say exactly which form of the name is relevant, and also what place name spelling we should be looking for.

The ending -ewski on Wiśniewski tells us this is another name indicating place of origin -- in this case, from any of a jillion villages named Wiśniewo or Wiśniew, all taking their names from the root wisznia, "cherry-tree." When a surname comes from a place name this common, you'd expect the surname to be common also, and Wisniewski is: as of 1990 there were 104,418 Polish citizens by that name, living in huge numbers all over the country.

... One last question. Could you recommend any web sites where I could look up the addresses of family members in Poland?

No, I'm afraid so far there are no such web sites. They're just starting to get Polish phone directories on the Web - so far as I know, the Poznan directory is the only one up and running - and phones in private homes are less common in Poland than here - so even when all the directories are on- line, they won't be very complete listings. As of now I don't know of any way, on-line or not, to get addresses, other than to use the phone directories. The PGSA and its sister society PGS-Northeast (8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053) have sets of such directories and will search them for specific names for a fee; contact them if you want to know more. It's kind of a long shot, but I don't know of any other source of the info you want. Sorry!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Scigan

...I recently read that Cygan is Polish for "Gypsy." I have an ancestor named Scigan. Are these last names related?

It is true that Cygan is Polish for "Gypsy," and it is perfectly reasonable to ask if Scigan is related to that root. It's dangerous to be dogmatic about surnames, especially as regards spellings -- it's not completely out of the question that Scigan might be a mangled version of Cygan. But there is a root that matches the name much more closely, and is probably the right derivation in this case: Ścigany.

Ścigany (the ś makes it sound like a soft, hissing "sh," as opposed to the chunkier sh-sound of Polish sz, so that this name would be pronounced roughly "schee-GONE-ee") looks like a passive participle from the verb ścigać, "to pursue, hunt, chase." So ścigany would mean "hunted, pursued," and it would not be at all odd to see that -y drop off to leave Ścigan. Exactly who was hunting your ancestor I have no way of knowing, but apparently he was being chased or pursued... It's also worth mentioning that ściganka shows up in the dictionary as a term for chasing your opponents in a game to hit one of them with a ball, so it's possible the name refers to someone who was always "it" in playing a game. Also, there is a dialect term ścigany which is the name of a dance. So your ancestor's lot may not have been so terribly grim after all -- perhaps, instead of being a hunted criminal, he got this name because of playing a game or dancing! No point assuming the worst, eh?

There's one other interesting bit of info about this name: as of 1990 there were 62 Polish citizens named Ścigan, and 61 of them lived in the province of Jelenia Gora! That's in the far southwestern tip of Poland. I seldom run across a distribution pattern that's quite that clear. But if the form of the name as you have it is correct, it strongly suggests Jelenia Gora province is where you should be looking, and all the folks with that name just might be related!

Unfortunately I have no further info to help you with -- the source of my data does not give first names, addresses, ages, or anything else, just how many Poles had a particular name and what province they lived in. Perhaps you could arrange to have someone look in a phone directory for Jelenia Gora province -- surely one or two of those Ścigan's has a phone. That would provide you with the address of someone who may well be a relative. There are no sure things in genealogical research, but I like the odds.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Rakiewicz

...Any information on my surname would be greatly appreciated. All I know of my ancestry is that my grandfather emigrated to the US from Krakow early this century...

The suffix -iewicz means "son of," and the term rak means "crab," so the literal meaning of this name is "son of the crab." It might refer to the son of a fellow who made crab-like movements, or who caught or sold crabs, or ate them a lot; I'm not sure if "crab" has the same connotation in Polish of "sour, mean-tempered person," so we don't have to assume your ancestor was a crab in that way.

I am assuming the spelling here is correct. For instance, if the a is the nasal vowel written with a tail under the a and pronounced like "on," that would change the root meaning to "hand." But if this info is right, "son of the crab" is the likely meaning, and that is quite plausible -- there are a lot of Polish surnames that come from the names of animals, seafood, etc.

As of 1990 there were 63 Poles named Rakiewicz, living in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz (2), Gdansk (4), Konin (32), Koszalin (1), Olsztyn (5), Poznan (15), Slupsk (1), Walbrzych (3). The only real pattern I see is that they tend to live in areas once ruled by the Germans -- and it is interesting that in German a similar surname, Krebs (from the word for "crab"), is fairly common. I'm afraid I have no further info, such as first names, addresses, etc. for those people, the source I'm using gives only names, the number of Poles with each name, and a breakdown by province of where they live.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jajesniak

...Fred, I read your book with great interest. I thought it was both informative and entertaining as well.

I'm very glad to hear it! As you can imagine, I put a lot of time and effort into it, and it's a great pleasure to hear from folks that my efforts weren't wasted and the book helped them. I particularly love it when folks say, in surprise, "Hey, this is actually funny!" I had to wade through a lot of really DRY stuff when I wrote it, and I just had to throw a little humor in there or I'd have gone nuts.

...I'm interested in knowing more about the name Jajesniak. The family originates from an area located between Kielce and Krakow. In researching the Parish Records for the town, I noticed that many common names began with a J - such as Jadamczyk. I'm wondering if this is a peculiarity to this region of Poland...

The root in this case is almost certainly jaje, "egg." My 8-volume Polish-English dictionary mentions the term jajeśnica, saying it's a dialect form of jajecznica, a food made by spreading beaten eggs on butter or bacon (sounds like a dish my daughter would like!). This shows that the -eśniak ending does not affect the root, to where we have to go searching for some other origin -- the name derives from "egg." It might have been applied originally to a person who was particularly good at fixing this dish, or loved to eat it, or from some other association not so clear. But it was surely a nickname or descriptive name -- and fortunately not nearly as embarrassing as many Polish names!

As of 1990 there were 170 Poles named Jajeśniak, living in the following provinces: Warsaw (2), Biala Podlaska (6), Czestochowa (1), Gdansk (17), Katowice (44), Kielce (51), Krakow (24), Krosno (5), Lodz (2), Olsztyn (1), Opole (3), Poznan (6), Radom (3), Slupsk (3), Szczecin (2). The numbers for Katowice, Kielce, and Krakow provinces tend to go along well with the info you provided on origins.

There definitely are certain regions in Poland where there's a distinct tendency to take an initial A- and put a J- in front of it, as you mentioned with Jadamczyk -- other examples are Jagata from Agata, Jagnieszka/Jachna from Agnieszka, Jalbert from Albert, and so on. But in this particular case that doesn't seem to be a factor. The Ja- is an integral part of the root jaje, "egg," rather than a dialect form. So what you say is right, but is not a factor with this particular name.

... PS - I've always gotten a lot of comments about my family name. From your book, I've been able to determine that it's not too common. We've always figured that the first Piekielny must have been a "hell" of a guy...

Hey, that works for me! And Piekielny is still a long way from being one of the worse names a Pole could get stuck with!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Buczak - Piszczek - Sniegowski

...As time permits, can you please furnish whatever information you have on these family names: Piszczek, Sniegowski, Buczak.

As of 1990 there were 2,597 Poles named Buczak, spread all over the country but with the largest numbers (over 100) in the provinces of Warsaw (145), Katowice (220), Kielce (228), Krakow (214), Tarnow (122), Wroclaw (247), and Zamosc (428). The main concentration appears to be in the southern part of Poland, but beyond that I see no really useful pattern to the distribution. This name, according to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, derives either from the verb buczeć, "to hum, drone, buzz" (perhaps as a nickname from someone who hummed or droned on a lot) or from buk, "beech tree."

As of 1990 there were 4,657 Poles named Piszczek, again living all over the country and with the largest numbers (over 200) in the provinces of Katowice (948), Krakow (953), Nowy Sacz (248), Pila (313), Radom (203), and Tarnow (244). Rymut notes this name appears in documents as early as 1390, and usually comes from the term piszczek, "one who plays pipes or fife."

There were 808 Poles named Śniegowski, with the largest numbers (over 50) in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (56), Konin (122), Poznan (190), and Szczecin (65). The ultimate root of this name is clearly śnieg, "snow," but names ending in -owski usually come from a place name, so in this case we'd expect the name means "person from Śniegi, Śniegow, Śniegowo," something like that. I can't find any places with likely names in my atlas, but that probably suggests the places involved were too small to show up on maps, or have since changed their names -- not at all uncommon. If your research leads you to a specific area of Poland and you find mention of a place named Śniegi or Śniegowo nearby, chances are good that's the place this family got its name from.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Bury - Ciuła

...I'm interested in the name Ciula. I've also seen it written as Chulonga. This name is of a family from Slupiec... Also, the name Bury appears as a maiden name on records I have. Is this a Polish surname?

Bury can be a Polish surname, although of course Polish isn't the only language in which such a name can arise. But as of 1990 there were 5,825 Polish citizens named Bury, so it is a fairly common name in Poland. Those Poles named Bury lived all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (1,215), Katowice (622), Przemysl (368), Rzeszow (253), Wroclaw (233), and Warsaw (232). (This is all the data I have, I'm afraid I don't have access to first names, addresses, etc.) The only pattern I see is that the most Bury's live in the southern part of Poland. The name probably derives from the adjective bury, "dark grey," or perhaps in some cases from bura, "brawl, disturbance."

As of 1990 there were 947 Poles named Ciuła (l with a slash through it sounds like our w; the name would be propounced something like CHEW-wah). The largest numbers of Ciuła's lived in the provinces of Katowice (202), Krosno (88), Nowy Sacz (243) -- again, in southern Poland. I can't correlate the numbers with Slupiec, because I don't know which of at least 3 places named Slupiec you're referring to. I haven't seen any expert discuss the origin of this name, but it seems a decent guess it might derive from the verb ciułać, "to gather or accumulate slowly and with difficulty."

The spelling Chulonga is puzzling -- I could easily see the name spelled as Chula or Chulo in English, but that -onga is disturbing. Pronouncing that out loud, it sounds as if it might have been Ciułąga in Polish (ą = the Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it, pronounced roughly like on). However, I can find no record of such a name in Poland, and apparently you usually see it as Ciuła, so I'm not sure how to account for that.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

 

Giejda

...I saw your name under the genealogy forum...We are having trouble finding out about my husband's grandfather...His name was Jan Giejda... he came over from Poland in the late 1800's...As far as we know he came alone..and know nothing about the name or if he has family there...We have come to a dead end with this surname...any help would be appreciated.

Giejda is a pretty rare name in Poland -- as of 1990 there were only 31 Polish citizens with this name, living in the provinces of Warsaw (2), Ciechanow (5), Elblag (10), Lublin (14). (Unfortunately I have no access to further data such as names, addresses, etc.). The only root I can find that this name might have derived from is a dialect term giejda, meaning "mute, deaf and dumb." Of course I don't have enough data to say this is definitely where the name came from, but this seems a perfectly plausible origin for the name.

I realize this isn't a lot of help in finding Jan Giejda's relatives, but every little bit helps -- maybe this will do you some good. I hope so, and I wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Krafczyk - Krawczyk

...I was wondering if you had any information on the Polish surname Krafczyk. I believe the original spelling is Krawczyk. I have a birth certificate on my grandfather and the location listed is Ottynia. Any information would be helpful.

Unfortunately, the problem here is that the name's too common; there's little to learn that's helpful. The proper form of the name is Krawczyk, but that spelling Krafczyk is perfectly understandable, because in Polish pronunciation that w devoices to the sound of an f -- so it sounds like Krafczyk, and thus it's reasonable to spell it that way. As of 1990 there were 365 Polish citizens who spelled the name Krafczyk -- in the provinces of Czestochowa (70), Jelenia Gora (1), Katowice (247), Nowy Sacz (1), and Opole (46) -- as opposed to 58,246 who spelled it Krawczyk. (I'm afraid I have no further data on the 365 named Krafczyk, my source doesn't give any further details such as names, addresses, etc.; and I know of no way to get them, short of having someone search through the Polish telephone directory for the province in question, which is no sure thing).

The name comes from the root krawiec, "tailor," and the suffix -czyk means "son of," so the name means "tailor's son." That's why it's so common, it could start anywhere they spoke Polish and had tailors, i.e., all over the country.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chludziński - Hludzenski - Karwowski

...I have been trying to find the origins of my grandparents names. They are Karwowski and Chludzinski, both came from the area around Łomża in what was Russian-ruled Poland. They came to this country prior to World War One. I have very few relatives in this country and when I visited Poland I found few ther with the surname Chludzinski. At some point in this country our names spelling changed to Hludzenski.

As of 1990 there were 1,541 Polish citizens with the name Chludziński. They were scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (188) and especially Łomża (649). This name most likely derived from a place name beginning with Chlud-, and the only place I find on the map that seems to qualify is a village called Chludnie, some 10 -15 km. northwest of Łomża. It seems plausible, even likely, that this surname started out, therefore, meaning "person from Chludnie," and could have referred to a family that owned the estate there (if they were noble) and families that worked the land there (if they were peasants). The ultimate root of the place name might be the verb chludzić, "to put in order." The spelling change of Chludziński to Hludzeński is not particularly odd or unusual -- in Polish h and ch are pronounced the same, so we often see names spelled either way, and the change of the vowel i to e is not unusual, often caused by nothing more than a dialect tendency to change the sound slightly.

The name Karwowski is pretty common, as of 1990 there were 9,003 Polish citizens by this name. They were scattered all over the country, but the largest numbers (more than 500) lived in the provinces of Warsaw (1063), Łomża (1832), Sieradz (662), and Suwałki (856). Generally one would expect the name Karwowski to have originated as a way to refer to people who came from places called Karwow or Karwowo. On the map I see two places called Karwow, and 6 called Karwowo, including 3 in Łomża province. Since your family came from the Łomża area, their surname probably referred to origin in one of those 3 villages named Karwowo in Łomża province, but only detailed research could establish which of the three. The ultimate root of the place name is the term karw, "ox, especially an old, lazy one," or in older Polish karwa, "cow" -- most likely these villages called Karwow and Karwowo were places known for the raising or sale of oxen or cattle.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kuznik

...I would greatly appreciate any information on my last name, Kuznik. I also have some knowledge that some relatives spell it Kuzniki. I would also be interested on the meaning of Kuz and Nik.

In this case you can't break it down to Kuz- and -nik, the -n- is part of the root word and the -ik is the suffix. The root word is kuźnia, "smithy, forge," and a kuźnik was "one who worked at a smithy or forge, i. e., a blacksmith. This is a moderately common surname in Poland, as of 1990 there were 2,687 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country -- not surprising, the name could get started anywhere they spoke Polis and had blacksmiths, namely, everywhere! The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Czestochowa (128), Kalisz (145), Katowice (894), Konin (101), Opole (162), Sieradz (426), and Wroclaw (130). Most of those provinces are in southcentral and southwestern Poland, but beyond that I don't see any really significant pattern to the distribution.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Sędzikowski - Sendgikoski

... I have a request and you may post it as you wish. My interest is in the meaning of the name Sendgikoski. That is my family name. We haven't much of a clue about the name at all. We think it was butchered at Ellis Island. (Of course!!) But if you could help us in finding out what it means I would be ennternally grateful!!

It's tricky trying to de-mangle Polish names, but when I tried to say it out loud I suspected that Sendgikowski is pronounced roughly "sen-jee-KOS-kee." If so, it is probably an anglicized version of the Polish name Sędzikowski (the ę stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under, pronounced in most cases somewhat like en). The ultimate root of this name would be the Polish words sąd, "court of law," and sędzia, "judge." (Of course, if I'm wrong about Sendjikoski = Sędzikowski, then the rest of this is no use; but I suspect I am on the right track here.)

Breaking the name up into its components, it appears to come from Sędzik ("little judge, judge's son") + -ow- (of, pertaining to) + -ski (adjectival ending) = "person from the place owned by the judge's son." In practice surnames ending in -owski usually started as referring to a family's origin in a place ending with -ow or -owo or -owa. On my maps I can't find any place with an appropriate name, but a Polish gazetteer lists a place Sędzikowszczyzna (that -szczyzna suffix usually indicates a place name formed from the same name with -ski), a private manorial farmstead on the Radunka river about 40 km. from Lida -- this is probably now either in Lithuania or Belarus. That doesn't necessarily mean your ancestors came from that particular place -- there could well be little villages or manors in Poland with appropriate names that were too small to show up on maps or in gazetteers, yet we know such names gave rise to surnames. Unfortunately, however, if I can't find such a place on the maps I can't suggest where the family came from. But it does seem likely at some point this family either owned (if they were noble), or worked on (if they were peasants), an estate or village named Sędzikow or Sędzikowo, which in turn probably got its name from having once been owned by a judge's son.

The name Sędzikowski is not exactly rare, but not extremely common either -- as of 1990 there were 399 Poles by this name. The 10-volume Directory of Polish Surnames in Current Use does not give addresses or any other info except how many Poles bore a particular name and how many lived in each province. From this I can see that the largest numbers of Sędzikowski's lived in the provinces of Warsaw (96), Elblag (30), Lodz (52), and Torun (54); smaller numbers (less than 30) lived in several other provinces.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dziechciowski - Ratulowski

...This name is a duzzy!!! It is my cousin's name and everyone, even Polish people, had a difficult time spelling it correctly. So all the children legally changed their name to "Jeff" which is the pronunciation of the first part of Dziechciowski. I doubt if you can come up with anything on this name--it is very rare!

As of 1990 there were 217 Polish citizens named Dziechciowski; here is the breakdown of where they lived by province:

DZIECHCIOWSKI: 217; Bielsko-Biala 10, Bydgoszcz 2, Gdansk 1, Katowice 2, Koszalin 4, Krakow 3, Nowy Sacz 105, Poznan 21, Rzeszow 1, Szczecin 14, Walbrzych 11, Zamosc 10.

The name almost certainly comes from the name of a village or tiny settlement named something like Dziechciowo or Dziegciowo, most likely somewhere in the province of Nowy Sacz. I can find no such place, but that may just mean it's too small to show up in the atlases and gazetteers, or its name has changed in the centuries since the surname started. Dziechciow- is a spelling variant of Dziegciow-, caused by very similar pronunciation; the ultimate root of the name is dziegieć, "birch tar," and there is an adjective dziegciowy meaning "of birch-tar." There were people who worked collecting such tar for making various products, and presumably Dziechciowo/Dziegciowo was a village where such activity was common.

...I see from your list that there is nothing on the name of Ratulowski. Do you have any clue where or how this name originated?

Here is the data on that name's distribution by province as of 1990:

Ratułowski: 101; Bielsko-Biala 4, Gdansk 13, Kalisz 1, Krakow 7, Krosno 4, Nowy Sacz 63, Wroclaw 8, Zielona Gora 1.

This name also comes from a place name, and since the largest numbers appear in the province of Nowy Sacz, that's where I looked. Almost certainly this name comes from Ratułów, Nowy Sacz province, 15 km. southwest of Nowy Targ, 7.5 km. southeast of Czarny Dunajec, served by the Catholic parish in the latter village. A gazetteer entry for Ratułów even mentioned that there was a Maciej Ratułowski who owned the property in 1660. The place was originally called Radultów, after a local official named Radult, then later the name was mangled or changed into Ratułów.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jękot - Jenkot

...What does the surname 'Jekot' mean?

The name is spelled Jękot in Polish, where ę stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced, roughly, like en, so that the name sounds like "yen-kot" -- you might sometimes see it spelled Jenkot, too. It comes from a term jękot, apparently not used a lot, which means "one who's constantly moaning and groaning." As of 1990 there were 515 Polish citizens with this name, living all over the country but with the largest numbers showing up in the provinces of Katowice (43), Krakow (62), and Tarnow (180). All these provinces are in far southern Poland, with Tarnow stretching into southeastern Poland, not too far from the Ukrainian border. So the chances seem fairly good most Jekot's originally came from the Tarnow region or a little west of there. Unfortunately the source for this data does not give first names or addresses, so what I've given above is all I have access to.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Scislowicz - Ścisłowicz

...Am very new to this. Am researching the Scislowicz surname from Nowy Targ Poland...

As of 1990 there were 408 Poles named Ścisłowicz (pronounced roughly "schees-WOE-vich"). They lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (43), Kielce (76), Krakow (29), Nowy Sacz (114) -- all roughly in southcentral Poland, not far from the border with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The suffix -owicz means "son of," and ścisły means "compact, dense, exact," so the name would appear to mean "son of the short, squatty guy," or perhaps "son of the precise, exact fellow."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Łańczak - Marosz - Piszczek

...Could you please tell me the meaning of the Polish names Lanczak and Pisczek? Also, how long they have been around? I am also looking for the name Marosz/Marosze or Marosk. I do not know if it is Polish or not.

As of 1990 there were 4,657 Poles named Piszczek, living all over the country but with the largest numbers (over 200) in the provinces of Katowice (948), Krakow (953), Nowy Sacz (248), Pila (313), Radom (203), and Tarnow (244). Polish surname expert Dr. Kazimierz Rymut notes this name appears in documents as early as 1390, and usually comes from the term piszczek, "one who plays pipes or fife."

Lanczak is a tough one. My best guess is that this is an English rendering of Łańczak (pronounced roughly "WINE-chok"). There were 104 Poles by this name in 1990, scattered in small numbers all over; the largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (14), Leszno (18), Przemysl (9) and Torun (9). I don't see any pattern to the distribution. The root would be either łania, "doe," or łan, "field, full-sized farm." The most reasonable guess is that the name started as meaning "son of a fellow owning a full-sized farm" -- many people were too poor to own regular farms and just owned little pieces of land, this would be a farmer who owned a full 30 acres or whatever. There are other possible meanings, but this is the one that seems most likely to me.

Marosz and the other variant forms certainly can be a Polish name, although there are probably other languages such a name could originate in. It probably started as a nickname for someone named Marcin (Martin) or Marek (Mark); Poles often formed names by taking the first syllable of a common first name, chopping off the end, and tacking on a suffix, in this case -osz. So you can't really say Marosz means anything, any more than "Teddy" or "Johnny" mean something; they're just nicknames that have developed into names in their own right. As of 1990 there were 593 Poles named Marosz, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (50), Bydgoszcz (81), Krakow (60), and Poznan (49). There were also 1,836 Poles named Maroszek -- the other spellings you mentioned suggest this might this name might be relevant. That name would just mean "little Marosz" or "son of Marosz." This name is rather common, and the largest numbers for it appear in the provinces of Warsaw (192), Kalisz (129), Katowice (394), Krakow (128), and Radom (266) -- pretty well spread out all over the country.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Mruk - Tylenda

... I am trying to trace my family roots and recently seen your book Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings advertised for sale. However I was wondering about ... my 2 family surnames... They are: Mruk, my grandfather was born in Moszczenica in Poland; Tylenda, my grandfather was born in the Suwałki region of Poland.

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, Mruk comes from the basic root seen in the Polish words mruk, "man of few words, gloomy fellow," and the verb root mruczeć, "to mumble." It is a fairly common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 2,915 Polish citizens named Mruk. They were scattered pretty much all over the country, which is not surprising, since the name could arise any place Polish was spoken and there were taciturn or glum fellows around, i. e., anywhere.

Tylenda is harder to pin down; Rymut mentions it, but cannot say for sure which root it comes from. It could be from the term tyl, "rear, back," or from tyle, "how much?", or from the Germanic first name Till. I do see in my 8-volume Polish-language dictionary that there is a very similar-sounding word, tylędzie (the ę stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail and pronounced much like en), which means "back or blunt side of a knife" or "the back of something" in general. Poles were quite imaginative in their use of nicknames, sometimes we can tell a name came from a particular word without quite being able to figure out what the association was -- I think that's true in this case. As of 1990 there were 475 Poles named Tylenda, scattered all over the country but with by far the largest concentration in the province of Suwałki (302) in northeastern Poland, near the border with Lithuania and Belarus. The spelling Tylęda, which would be pronounced the same way, is far less common, only 32 Poles by that name, with 31 of them living in Suwałki province. This suggests to me that far northeastern Poland is probably where this name originated, or at least where it's most common by far -- and that fits in with your information, too.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Płóciennik - Pluciennik - Plucinik

...My last name is Plucinik. My research shows that the original spelling is Plociennik, which later became Pluciennik, and then the present spelling. Some of my cousins who I've never met still spell it as Pluciennik. Can you provide any meaning or story behind the name?

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, this name comes from the Polish word płóciennik (pronounced roughly "pwooh-CHEN-nick"), which means "dealer in linen or cloth." Even in Poland the name can be spelled Płóciennik or Płuciennik. As of 1990 there were 3,265 Poles named Płóciennik and 3,242 named Płuciennik, so it is a pretty common name. The people with this name live all over Poland, with the largest numbers of Płócienniks in the provinces of Kalisz (492), Konin (292), Lodz (233), Poznan (275), and Sieradz (270); the most Płucienniks live in the provinces of Warsaw (222), Konin (282), Lodz (350), and Sieradz (373). So the name is found all over -- which is normal with names deriving from terms for common occupations -- but the main concentration seems to be in the central part of the country. (I'm afraid more detailed info, such as first names, addresses, etc., is not available, what I show here is all I have). The name is a fairly old one, it appears in records as early as 1395!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Ksen

...Do you have any information on the last name of Ksen?

The letter combination ks is not native to the Polish language, usually it shows up in words or names borrowed from Greek or Latin, especially by way of Ukraine or Belarus, because their ties to the Orthodox church caused them to borrow many names and words from Greek. In this case I'm fairly certain the name derives from either the Ukrainian feminine name Kseniya or the masculine name Ksenofont (for which Ksen' is a recognized nickname, in Cyrillic it looks like K C E H b). The latter name comes from the Greek roots xenos, "foreign" + phone, "sound," so apparently it originally meant "one who sounded foreign" -- but that was in Greek, I suspect by the time Eastern Slavs heard of the name it had become just a name, and few had any idea what it actually meant. The feminine name Kseniya, from the Greek xenios, "hospitable," is a bit more common, and the surname could also derive from it. In Poland and Ukraine surnames formed from first names are very common, especially from a father's name, but in Ukraine names formed from mother's names are not uncommon. So it's plausible to say this surname comes from one of these two first names.

Since Ksen' is distinctly Ukrainian (or perhaps also Belarusian or Russian), I'm not surprised that it's not very common in Poland, at least within its modern borders (back in the days of the Polish Commonwealth western Ukraine was ruled by Poland, and Polish and Ukrainian names mixed to a considerable extent). As of 1990 there were only 72 Poles named Ksen', living in the provinces of Warsaw (4), Elblag (5), Katowice (4), Kielce (16), Koszalin (2), Olsztyn (1), Opole (5), Poznan (2), Rzeszow (10), Szczecin (12), Tarnobrzeg (6), Tarnow (2), Walbrzych (3). They are scattered pretty much all over Poland, but that is probably due to all the forced relocations of displaced persons after World War II; I'd bet if we had data from before 1939 you'd find most of the people named Ksen' lived in or near Ukraine or Belarus. (Unfortunately I don't have access to more data, such as first names or addresses; what I give here is all I have).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Surdyka

...Do you have any background on Surdyka?

When I worked on my Polish surname book, I couldn't find any discussion of this name by the experts I prefer to rely on. So I had to make the best guess I could -- usually my "educated guesses" prove right, but not always, so don't take this for Gospel truth!

I found a verb in Polish szurdać się, which means "to pout, sulk." In Polish names it is not at all uncommon to see s and sz switch back and forth, any name with S might have a counterpart with SZ, and vice versa. So it's plausible to say Surdyka and the other names with the same beginning (Surdacki, Surdej, Surdek, Surdel, Surdy, Surdyga, Surdyk, Surdykowski, Surdynski, Szurdak) come from this root. If so, the name probably started as a nickname for someone who sulked a lot, or perhaps some who had a kind of pouty look to his or her face. As I say, this is only plausible, I don't have any solid evidence, but my batting average on such guesses is pretty decent.

Surdyka, and the closely related name Surdyk, are not rare; as of 1990 there were 392 Poles named Surdyka, and 1,077 named Surdyk. The Surdyka's lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Rzeszow (81) and Tarnobrzeg (143), thus mainly in southeastern Poland. The name Surdyk appears in many provinces in small numbers, none more than 43, except for one huge group in Poznan province (560!). So if Surdyka is the correct form (it could easily be a grammatical form of Surdyk, so you want to make sure that -a really belongs there), southeastern Poland or Galicia is likely to be where it came from; if it's Surdyk, the Poznan region seems the best bet. Unfortunately, I don't have any more data such as first names or addresses, so I can't help you locate any of those Surdykas or Surdyks.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Csehill - Tsehill

...Post the following in the ... surname site if you think it is accurate and would be helpful to others.

RE: Csehill

The Cs suggests Magyarization. Do you have how the name was/is written in Cyrillic? That would help in its interpretation because the name, in addition to being Magyarized, was also anglicized.
________

Lavrentij Krupnak

**********************************************

I read a little more about the Magyar language and have some information which may help decipher the meaning of the name Csehill. In 1910, when the Hungarian language orthography was modernized, the cs consonant combination was eliminated. It was replaced with ch and ts.

The ch is pronounced like "ch" in "CHeap" and ts is pronounced like "ts" in "iTS."

RE: Csehill. Perhaps this spelling is the version based on the pre-1910 Magyar orthography. Today, it maybe in Magyar written as Tsehill (here also preserving the anglicized form).

Ts is pronounced like the 27th letter of the Ukrainian alphabet. The Ukrainian word tsehla means "brick" or "tile." A tsehl'nik is a "brick-maker." Perhaps the surname Csehill is based on the Ukrainian word for "brick" or "tile."
________

Lavrentij Krupnak

Note: I can't think of anything to add -- I doubt I would ever have thought of this particular connection, but it strikes me as plausible.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
 

Niemoj - Niemojewski

...I was looking thru your Polish Surname book, which I recently purchased, for a translation of a family name, Niemojewski. I tried matching up with all possible variations for a meaning but I didn't have any luck. Can you please help me out?

People who bought the book and want to contact me with requests for more info are welcome to do so! There are so many Polish surnames I couldn't hope to include them all, and I could not include all the info I have on the ones I did list. But E-mail and the Web allow me to share some of the info there was no room for in the book.

As of 1990 there were 175 Polish citizens named Niemojewski (one reason it wasn't in the book, as a rule I didn't have room for names borne by fewer than 300 people). They were scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers (20 or more) living in the provinces of Warsaw (30), Lodz (20), Radom (21), and Skierniewice (22). This suggests the name is most common in the central part of Poland (in its current borders).

Names ending in -ewski usually derive from a place name, especially ones ending in -ew, -ewo, -ewice, etc., so Niemojewski probably started out meaning "one somehow connected with a place named Niemojewo/Niemojow," etc. Unfortunately, there are several different villages in Poland with names that could yield this surname, Niemojewo, Niemojewice, Niemojki, Niemojow, etc. One was an estate called Niemojewo near Inowroclaw in modern-day Bydgoszcz province; it was served by the post office in Parchanie, about 5 km. away, and the Parchanie Catholic parish church is probably the one to which people in Niemojewo went to register births, deaths, and marriages. As of 1583 this village was owned by a Mikolaj Niemojewski. I mention it to prove that this is at least one place the surname could come from; but as I say, there are several others, and without much more detailed info on your family there is no way to know which one applies in your family's case. However, with luck and perseverance you may uncover enough info to settle the matter -- if you trace your ancestors back to a specific area and one of these Niemojewo's or Niemojki's or Niemojow's is nearby, that's probably the place!

The root of these place names is interesting. Niemoj is an old Polish first name; Niemojewo and Niemojow just mean "Niemoj's place." Niemoj could have arisen in a couple of different ways, one from a term meaning "mute," but one meaning is literally "not mine" (nie = "not," mój = "mine"). Sometimes in olden days when parents had lost one or more child and ascribed it to evil spirits, they would name a child "Niemoj" in hopes of convincing the evil spirits to leave it alone -- "This one's not mine, no point bothering it, I don't care." Probably later on people just named kids that without thinking about what it meant, but that is one way we know the name got started! ... I wish I'd had room for more info like this in the book!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Marchewka - Marchefka - Marhefka

...Could you please e-mail me with a short message regaurding the city or region of origin for my last name, Marhefka? Possibly spelled Marchefka.

Unfortunately, the name Marchewka (the standard Polish spelling, of which the others you mentions are variants) is very common in Poland; as of 1990 there were 6,800 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country. The largest numbers showed up in the provinces of Warsaw (422), Czestochowa (790), Katowice (501), Krakow (561), Radom (855), but the only pattern I see to the distribution is that Marchewka's are a bit more common in the southern part of the country. The name comes from the noun marchewka, which just means "little carrot," I believe often used as a kind of nickname for red-heads, so the name could arise anywhere Polish was spoken and there were people with red hair, i. e., anywhere in Poland.

So, like the majority of Polish surnames, this one doesn't offer any helpful clues on where the families bearing it originated. It's pretty clear many different, unrelated families from many different parts of the country ended up with this name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kumiega

...I am not big into genealogy, just interested in my heritage. I have not been able to obtain any information on my name or history from relatives or informal sources. The information that I have been able to obtain indicates that my grandparents came to the US in the time period of 1897-1902 from the area of Tarnow in SE Poland. I would be happy with any information you might be able to provide, even if it is only to put a meaning to the surname, much like the surname "cooper" refers to the barrel makers trade.

I can't provide as much info as I'd like on Kumiega, but I have a little info that may be relevant.

First, the frequency and distribution of the name. There are two forms, Kumiega and Kumięga (here the ę represents the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it, pronounce much like en). As of 1990 there were 215 Kumiega's; the overwhelming majority (168) lived in the province of Tarnow, with small numbers in a few other provinces. Kumięga was a bit more common and more spread out, there were 568 Kumięga's, but again, the huge majority lived in the neighboring provinces of Tarnow (271) and Tarnobrzeg (96) in southeastern Poland. This strongly suggests that your ancestors came from the heart of Kumiega country, and that the area you've identified is likely to be the area where this name originated and is most common.

Unfortunately I have no access to any further data, such as first names, addresses. If you want such data, you might try seeing if you can find someone to do a search of the Tarnow province phone directory; the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053, does this at reasonable prices, but I'll warn you, there are problems. The way these books are organized, a search for a particular name tends to take several hours, plus phones in private homes are not as common in Poland as they are here -- so there's no guarantee any of the Kumiega's listed would be any kin to you, or at least not close kin. Still, it's the only way I know of to try to get specific addresses. If you want to go this route, you'd probably be better off pursuing your research to find out first what specific villages in Tarnow province your ancestors came from, since the name is so common in that area -- focusing on a specific village or two would narrow the focus of the search and increase the chances of a respectable pay-off.

As to the origin of the name, the only root I can find in Polish (or any other Slavic language) is the word ... which means "godfather," also "crony, pal." Poles (and Russians and Ukrainians) often use this term to refer to close buddies, guys you hang around with, as well as an actual godfather. There is a related verb kumać się, "to hobnob." The -iega suffix is not an extremely common one in Polish names, but we do run into it occasionally. In this context Kumiega or Kumięga would probably refer to "my buddy's kin," something like that. So if someone was regarded in the village as a good old boy, everybody's pal, the name Kumiega might get attached to his family as a kind of nickname, eventually becoming their surname.

That's the best explanation I can come up with. None of my sources discuss this name, so I'm having to make an educated guess, so to speak -- but I think the chances are good this is reasonably close to the truth.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Mochowak - Mokhovak - Mohovak

...I have another favor to ask. On my grandfather Mohylowski's death certificate, signed by my father who is now 7 years deceased, I see the maiden name of my great-grandmother. This is written in, everything else is typed. The death certificate is from 1947. It gives her name as Rose Mohovak. I see no Mohovak in your book, and of course, Mohovak with a "v" doesn't seem Polish to me, anyway. What do you think? This is another surname I have never come across. I'll do a search on the Internet -- Switchboard -- to see if there are any occurences of this name in the US.

No, this doesn't make sense as a Polish name. However, it seems there's a Ukrainian connection to your family, and Mohovak could be a rendering by English phonetics of a name such as Mokhovak, which in Cyrillic would look like MOXOBAK. I looked that up in my big Ukr. dictionary, and the root mokhov- deals with "moss" (in Polish the same term is mech). Some words from this root include mokhove boloto, a term for "moss-bog," and mokhovik, a term for the wood grouse, a kind of bird. So a surname Mokhovak makes sense as a reference to where a person lived (near a mossy area) or perhaps as a reference to this or some other kind of bird or animal. (By the way, the word Moch in German means something similar, "marshy place"!). This name is apparently not used by anyone in Poland, though there are a couple of Mochowicz's; and I have no data for Ukraine, but I bet it's not so rare there!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dębowski - Dembowski - Krusiński - Kruszyński

...I am researching the names Krushinski and Dembowski (Debowski) from one or all of theses areas - Poznan, Dulsk, Ripien. I am not able to find any information at all. Can you help me?

In Polish spelling the names you're interested in would be spelled Krusiński or Kruszyński and Dembowski or Dębowski. Both these names probably originated as references to the names of places with which the families were connected -- if noble, they owned them at one point, if peasants they worked and lived there or traveled there often.

Krusiński probably originated as meaning "person from Krusin" or something similar. There is at least two places by this name, Krusin in Czestochowa and Torun provinces. It might also be Kruszyński, which suggests an association with places named Kruszyn, Kruszyna, etc. There are at least 15 villages with names that could, and probably did, generate the surname Kruszyński. So without very detailed info on the family there is no way to say exactly which places are referred to. If you can find a Krusin or Kruszyn near your families ancestral villages, that is likely to be the right place. As of 1990 there were 5,573 Poles named Kruszyński and 862 named Krusiński, but the names are too common and too spread out to offer any useful clues.

The same is true of Dembowski/Dębowski (spelled either way). The root is the word dąb, "oak," and there are at least 20 villages named Dębow, Dębowo, etc., all meaning essentially "the place with the oaks," or else "place associated with a fellow named Dąb or Dęb" (probably as a nickname). As of 1990 there were 9,745 Poles named Dębowski and 2,475 named Dembowski.

So unfortunately with both these names there are too many places the name might refer to -- only detailed info on the family will let you make an educated guess which one your particular ancestors were associated with. This is true of most Polish surnames coming from place names -- it's a shame, but that's the way it is. However, it sounds to me as if you have some info that may help you focus on the right areas, so with some luck and persistence in your research you may uncover enough info to zero in on the right ones.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gaszyński

...Hi, my ... maiden name [is] Gaszynski. I am looking for any information you might have on the name Gaszynski. I'm not sure where to start to get ancestor information. I'm not sure if anyone is even left alive in the family that could provide anything.

The name Gaszyński is not extremely common in Poland, but it's not rare either. As of 1990 there were 486 Polish citizens by this name, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (45), Bydgoszcz (63), Kalisz (30), and Poznan (40), and smaller numbers in many other provinces. So they're pretty well scattered, and I don't see any useful pattern in the distribution. Unfortunately, I don't have access to more detailed info such as first names, addresses, etc.

It's tough saying exactly what the name came from. It probably refers to a person with a name beginning with Gasz-, a name root coming from first names such as Gabriel, Gawel, etc. Poles often took the first couple of sounds of a first name, dropped the rest, and added suffixes to form nicknames or by- names, so that the names I mentioned would yield Ga-, the suffix -sz- would be added, and then further suffixes would be added to that. So you can't say it really means anything, it's just a form of a first name, sort of like "Ted" vs. "Theodore," "Jack" vs. "John" in English.

There is a village called Gaszyn in Sieradz province, and there might be more villages with similar names too small to show up on my maps -- chances are your ancestors lived or worked in such places, or owned them if they were noble. Those places, in turn, got their names from the Gasz- I mentioned above. So in most cases I would expect Gaszyński meant "person from Gaszyn," which in turn was named for a prominent citizen who had a name beginning with Gasz- (or possibly Gach-, that's also a root that could yield Gasz-).

I know this isn't really a lot of help, but that's not unusual for Polish surnames. Sometimes they give you a helpful clue, most of the time they don't. If, however, you have some luck with your research and trace your ancestors to a specific area, then you learn that there's a nearby place with a name beginning with Gasz-, chances are reasonably good you've found the place they took their name from.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pusiak

...If you could assist me on the meaning/origin of my surname Pusiak, it would be very appreciated. The information on my family history is limited to that I know they were in the Bukowina province of the Austrian Empire as of 1850. This line converted from Greek Orthodox to Roman Catholic approx. 1880. I know from internet sources that a Pusiak was in Tartakow (north of Lvov) in the 1930's. Also through the International Genealogical Index, I know that there was a Pusiakin Marggrabowa, Ostpreussen who's Christening date was 1711.

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut's book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], Pusiak comes from the root pusz- as seen in old Polish pusz, "tuft of feathers," or puszyć się, "to prance, preen, swagger" (the root seems to mean about the same thing in Ukrainian, which is relevant in your ancestors' case). Presumably it originated as a kind of nickname, perhaps for someone who wore feathers as an ornament, or had a tuft of hair that stuck out, or who went around prancing or preening -- all these centuries later it's hard to say exactly what the connection was, we can only say what the word meant and speculate on why this particular name stuck.

Pusiak is not a very common name, at least not in Poland. As of 1990 there were only 176 Polish citizens with this name -- of course, remember that data was only available for people living within the borders of modern Poland, so if this data were available for 100 years ago, or included Ukraine, the numbers might be higher. The Pusiak's lived in the following provinces: Warsaw (9), Chelm (12), Jelenia Gora (6), Kalisz (4), Katowice (8), Legnica (1), Leszno (24), Pila (1), Poznan (39), Szczecin (9), Walbrzych (1), Wroclaw (2), Zielona Gora (60). (Unfortunately I have no further data such as first names, addresses, etc.)

This distribution may seem odd -- why are there so many Pusiak's in western Poland and so few in eastern Poland, which is where you'd expect to see them? I've seen this before, and think I know the answer: Operation Vistula. This was a massive program of relocation undertaken after World War II, when thousands (maybe millions?) of Ukrainians living near the new border with Poland were packed up and shipped off to populate the western parts of Poland, which had been seized from Germany and given to Poland. Huge numbers of Germans left the area to go to East Germany (not always voluntarily), and this left those newly-created western parts of Poland underpopulated. So vast numbers of people living in what had been eastern Poland were forced to relocate to western Poland. Ukrainians still have very bitter feelings about it and blame the Poles for it -- which may be justified, but I strongly suspect Joseph Stalin is the one who deserves the blame. Anyway, it was a wrenching experience, and it also muddled things for those of us doing research. Very often the descendants of people we know came from western Ukraine now show up in western Poland. Chances are very good many of the Pusiak's in Zielona Gora and Leszno province were living in Ukraine just a few generations ago.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pęczkowski - Penczkowski

...I would like it if you could tell me what the name Penczkowski translates or derives from. The name is my mother's maiden name and I've also seen it spelled Pinkowski and Penkowski by other aunts and uncles, but my grandfather always used the cz and said that was the correct spelling.

Pinkowski and Penkowski are legitimate names in their own right, but it sounds to me as if you have reason to believe Penczkowski was the original form of the name, and that's certainly plausible. I should mention that whenever you see a Polish name with en, you must also consider the likelihood that it will also be spelled Pęczkowski or Pączkowski, where ą and ę (which are often interchangeable) refer to the Polish nasal vowels written as a with a tail under it and e with a tail under it, pronounced like on and en, respectively. Thus you're not just looking for Penczkowski, but also Pęczkowski, maybe even Pączkowski. The most likely form is Pęczkowski, as of 1990 there were 950 Poles by that name, only 10 named Penczkowski -- so this affects the spelling you want to look for. The Pęczkowski's were scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (74), Bydgoszcz (100), Ciechanow (65), Czestochowa (54), Katowice (52), Konin (60), Lodz (60), Lublin (52), and Poznan (67). I'm afraid I don't see any helpful pattern in that distribution, the name is not concentrated in any one area.

Usually names ending in -owski refer to a place name ending in -i, -y, -ow, -owo, etc. So this name probably started as meaning "person with some connection to a place called Penczkowo, Pęczkowo, Pączkowo, Pączki," etc. As you might expect from so many alternatives, there are several different villages in Poland this name might come from, including 2 Pęckowo's in Pila and Poznan province, Pączkowo in Poznan province, and a few other possibilities. Without much more detailed info on the family, I can't suggest any one place as the one likely to be relevant in this case. However, if you have a little luck with your research and manage to trace the family to a particular area, and a village with a name beginning with Pęczk- is anywhere close, chances are good you've found the place the name originally referred to.

I know this isn't a lot of help, but unfortunately that's the way it usually is with Polish surnames -- sometimes they provide a really helpful clue, but most of the time there are just too many possibilities, especially considering spelling variations, multiple places with the same name, etc. So if this info isn't a lot of help, at least you're not the only one with this problem!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Żuraw

...I'm wondering if you happen to have any info on the name Zuraw. Apparently in Polish the word zuraw means "crane" or "gantry". Does that have any significance?

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions the name Żuraw (Ż, pronounced like the "s" in "measure") in his book on Polish surnames, and he says that the derivation of the surname is from the noun Żuraw, "crane," referring to the bird -- apparently the meaning "gantry" came later. By the way, the Ukrainian word, though spelled in Cyrillic, is pronounced and means the same thing. Rymut mentions that in old Polish the word was Żoraw, and it appears in records as early as 1204. I suppose the name may have started as nickname because someone reminded folks of a crane -- maybe he was thin and walked a certain way? All these centuries later it can be hard to figure out exactly why a certain name got stuck to certain people, the best we can do is examine what the name means and suggest plausible interpretations. There are a lot of names from this root, including Żurawek (little crane), Żurawicz (son of the crane), Żurawik (little crane, or crane's son), and Żurawski (coming from a place named for cranes). Żuraw itself is one of the more popular ones -- as of 1990 there were some 1,400 Poles with this name. They live all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (80), Kalisz (88), Lublin (119), Rzeszow (89), Siedlce (101), Sieradz (85), Tarnobrzeg (228), and Wroclaw (96). The name seems to be a bit more common in southern and especially southeastern Poland, but not so much so that it suggests anything helpful to me.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Banaszak - Dembkowski - Sikola - Sikora

...I am a professor of French whose mother was French. My father was either of Polish, Ukraine or Hungarian ancestry. He was born in 1910 and placed in an orphanage at age two. I never gave much thought about my father's origins, but now that he is no longer with me, I do wonder about it. His last name was Sikola, but he also went by the last name Banaszak at one time (when very young). His mother's name was Dembkowski or something like that I think.

Well, Dembkowski is a common Polish surname, so that's likely enough to be right, but it doesn't help much because there are Dembkowski's all over Poland. Banaszak is a name meaning something like "Ben's son" -- Banach is an old nickname, so to speak, from a variant form of Benedykt, "Benedict" (Benoit, s'il vous plait!), and when the suffix -ak ("son of") was added to it, the guttural ch sound modified to the "sh" sound of sz: Banach + -ak = Banaszak. As of 1990 there were 5,410 Poles named Banaszak, living all over Poland, so that one doesn't help much either.

Sikola is a rare name, as of 1990 there were only 2 Poles by that name, living in the province of Walbrzych in southwestern Poland (unfortunately I don't have access to any further data such as addresses). It appears to come from a root meaning "to trickle, spurt," and in vulgar usage "to piss." Names ending in -ala and -ola usually denote someone who was in the habit of doing whatever the root of the word indicated, so this suggests Sikola was a name meaning "one who was always trickling, spurting." I know this isn't very complimentary, and I'm not trying to be offensive here, but all I can do is say what the word appears to mean -- and I've heard of people with names with this root changing them precisely because they got sick of people making fun of them (cmp. the notes under Krzywosika). So it's at least conceivable your father may have gone by Banaszak because that's a perfectly ordinary, common name, not so easily made fun of... However, that's pure speculation, which probably isn't much help to you.

To be honest, when I saw Sikola I wondered if it was a variant of Sikora, an extremely common name (39,850 Poles by that name in 1990), coming from sikora, the titmouse (a kind of bird). I may be completely wrong, mislead by the similarity in sound, but I have seen r and l interchanged occasionally in names, and Sikora was the first thing that came into my mind. I just wanted to mention it so you can keep it in the back of your mind, just in case it ever comes up.

...On one form he filled out in WWII he said she was born in Russia, on another, Ukraine, on another, Poland. When I asked him about it, he said that the territory had changed ownership several times over history and he wasn't sure. His half-sister, now deceased, said their father had Hungarian blood.

The most likely explanation is that he came from what was called Galicia, now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine -- though from the late 18th century to 1918 this area was ruled by Austria, it has also been ruled by Poland and Russia, so the varying data on those forms would be quite comprehensible if he came from there. Also, when you get into that area there's quite a mixing of ethnic groups over the centuries, it's not out of the question that you might run into ethnic Hungarians. That whole area was ruled by Austria-Hungary, so there are some possibilities of connections.

As for how you could try to learn more, I don't do research, but I think it's worthwhile suggesting you join the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053 -- I believe their dues are $15 a year, they put out a very fine newsletter twice a year, and they have some pretty good sources for research throughout the northeastern U. S. (and many of their members come from Galicia). If there's any group in the U. S. that might be able to offer some ideas for leads, especially regarding the Pennsylvania connection, PGS-NE is the one.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Golaszewski - Stasiak

... Found a name on your web site and I want to thank you for that information. Do you have anything on Golaszewski or Stasiak??

Stasiak comes from a nickname for "Stanislaw" -- Poles often take the first couple of sounds from a popular first name, chop off the rest, and start adding suffixes; so Staś is a popular nickname for Stanislaw, and when you add on the -ak you get Stasiak, probably meaning "Stan's son." Surnames meaning "son of" someone with a common name are themselves very common -- as of 1990 there were some 19,870 Poles named Stasiak, living all over the country. Which only makes sense: this name could get started anywhere Polish was spoken and guys named Stas' had sons, namely, everywhere in Poland!

Golaszewski is also a fairly common name, there were 4,302 Poles by this name as of 1990, scattered all over the country. The ultimate root of the name is gol-, "bare," but this surname probably originated as a reference to a place name, meaning basically "person from Golasza or Golasze or Golaszewo" -- any of those place names could generate the surname Golaszewski. As you might suspect, there are several different villages bearing those names, so we can't pin down which one is that one your relatives took their name from. If you have a little luck with your research, however, you may find something that lets you focus on a specific area in Poland. If you do, and you locate a village nearby with a name beginning with Golasz-, that's probably the one your ancestors came from.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Schoch - Szoch

... If you are still offering your services to provide basic information about Polish surnames, I would like to know if you have any information on my family name. My grandfather, Donat Szoch, immigrated to the USA in either 1900 or 1902.

Assuming that Szoch is the correct form of the name -- and I have to, if we start trying to deal with possible variants we'll never get anywhere, there are too many -- there are a couple of likely sources for it. In Polish there is a rather rare or dialect term szoch meaning "bulrush," of which the dictionary says: "1. Any of various aquatic or wetland herbs of the genus Scirpus, having grasslike leaves and usually clusters of small, often brown spikelets. 2. Any of several wetland plants of similar aspect, such as the papyrus and the cattail."

The other root I find is German Schoch -- a Pole hearing that name would spell it Szoch, so a German by that name who lived among Poles might well come to spell it that way. In German Schoch is a name from an old German word meaning "hay barn." So it appears we're dealing with a Polish name meaning "bulrush" - - and many Polish names do come from plant names, so that's plausible -- or a German name meaning "hay barn." In both cases, the name probably got started as a reference to a feature near where someone lived; he lived near a prominent growth of bulrushes, or near a hay barn. From the info I have available, those seem the two most likely derivations.

The name is pretty rare in Poland. As of 1990 there were 71 Polish citizens named Szoch, and here is a breakdown by the provinces they lived in: Warsaw 10, Białystok 14, Bydgoszcz 18, Katowice 1, Łomża 4, Lodza 1, Olsztyn 2, Ostrołęka 1, Radom 1, Siedlce 10, Suwałki 9. Unfortunately I don't have access to any more details such as first names or addresses. For what it's worth, however, the name seems more common in northeastern and northcentral Poland, and Warsaw, Białystok, and Suwałki provinces were areas ruled for a long time by Russia, so it would make sense a person coming from there would be listed on the census as born in "Russia-Poland."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Zacharek - Zachemski

... Wondered if you have info on the surnames Zacharek and Zachemska. They lived near Nowy Targ before 1900. My wife's grandfather who came from Hungary thought Zacharek was of Bohemian origin but my grandparents and my father who was born in Budapest Hungary spoke Polish.

Regarding Zachemski (the -ska is just the feminine form, no other difference), here are notes I wrote on this name, also spelled Zahemski, for another researcher:

...This one did not appear in the book because it is so rare. 1990 government databases list no Polish citizen by this name. However, h and ch are pronounced exactly the same in Polish, so the spelling Zachemski is also relevant, and as of 1990 there were 21 Poles by that name, all living in the province of Nowy Sacz, in south central Poland. I have to wonder if this is a mangled form of some other name, because I can find no Polish root that Zachemski would come from.

[Added note, 27 Feb 1998: Unfortunately, I do not have any details such as first names, addresses, etc., for those 21 Zachemski's in Nowy Sacz province. You might be able to get that info if you have a search done of the Nowy Sacz provincial phone directory. No guarantees, but that's the only way I can think of to get such info. The PGSA and the PGS-Northeast, 8 Lyle Road, New Britain CT 06053, can do such searches, contact them if you'd like to inquire about what's involved -- WFH].

You know, it could be we're dealing with a variant of a more common name, affected by dialect, mispronuncation, misspelling, something. The za- part makes perfect sense, it's a prefix and a preposition meaning "past, beyond, on the other side of." It's possible, for instance, that this name was originally something like Zachełmski, meaning "from the other side of Chełm," or "person from Zachełmie," the name of several villages that were "beyond, past Chełm." This makes sense too because that ł is pronounced so softly that sometimes it is just dropped, which would yield something sounding very like "Zachemski."

Also, a name Zachemba appears in the Surname Directory (very rare, only 8 bearers), and when the suffix -ski is added on that b sound would tend to disappear, again yielding "Zachemski." That name doesn't appear in the Directory either, but to me either Zachełmski or Zachembski sounds "more Polish" than Zachemski.

That's the end of the note on Zachemski. Zacharek is a name meaning "little Zachary" or "son of Zachary." As of 1990 there were 953 Poles with this name, living all over Poland but with the largest numbers (more than 40) in the provinces of Warsaw (41), Bydgoszcz (73), Gdansk (47), Koszalin (81), Olsztyn (49), Ostrołęka (140), and Torun (270). This suggests the name is most common in northcentral Poland, but is found elsewhere -- which is really what you'd expect with a surname formed from a popular first name. Such surnames could and did originate anywhere Polish was spoken and there were fellows named Zachariasz (in Ukrainian Zakhar) who had sons, i. e., anywhere in Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chmelyk - Juzda - Yuzda

...I really don't like to take advantage, but I have always been curious about the family surnames of Chmelyk and Yuzda from Galicia.

Chmelyk is not tough, that's a Ukrainian form, equivalent to Chmielik in Polish, and it refers to hops, the plant used in beermaking. Most likely the surname started out meaning "hopster" or perhaps "son of the hopster." As of 1990 there were 13 Polish citizens named Chmelik, a spelling variation of Chmelyk. But as I said, Chmelyk is a Ukrainian form, it's probably quite a bit more common in Ukraine, although unfortunately I have no source of data with which to check. (in Poland there are 372 Chmielik's, so it's not a really common name in Poland, but not rare either).

Since the sources I have are mainly in Polish, and Yuzda is a phonetic spelling of a name originally written in Cyrillic, I looked for the Polish spelling Juzda (Polish j is pronounced like our y) -- but I struck out, no Juzda's at all. At first I couldn't find any root it might derive from. But then I noticed in the dictionary a note that helped -- it mentioned, in connection with another word, that sometimes words beginning with J/Y are dialect variants of words with neither. In other words, Juzda/Yuzda can very well be a dialect variant of Uzda; this happens with other words, e. g. the word for "already" in Polish is już (pronounced sort of like "yoosh"), but in Russian and Ukrainian it's uzhe -- the main difference is that one puts a Y sound before the u, the other doesn't. And uzda I can find, in Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian --it means "horse's halter, bridle." That may sound odd as a name, but there are many other similar terms that became surnames, probably starting as nicknames because a man made halters, or sold them, or used them, something like that.

So it's plausible -- not certain, but plausible -- that Juzda is simply a variant of Uzda and meant originally "halter, bridle." Neither name is common in Poland, but might be a little more common in Ukraine -- as I say, I have no data on that.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Story

...I checked "the book", pp 468 for Story but the closest name is Storc. Story is on a baptismal certificate twice. Penmanship is very poor however I remember the surname Story being used at home a long time ago so I do believe it is a legitiminate Polish name. Unfortunately I've been blessed with rare surnames: Budarz (11) and Charamut (13). Is this another one?

You need to travel back in time and tell your ancestors to get easier names!

However, by comparison, this is a common one: Story was the name of 246 Polish citizens as of 1990. They were scattered all over, with the largest numbers (more than 10) in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (11), Elblag (14), Gorzow (25), Olsztyn (14), Rzeszow (38), Tarnobrzeg (40), Wroclaw (24).

As for the meaning, there are a couple of possibilities. The dictionary mentions stora as a variant of sztora, which means "window blind." That seems unlikely as a surname root, but I've learned never to say "never"... However, when I first saw this name I thought "That just might be a dialect variant of Stary, 'old.' I wonder if it is?" Well, here in the Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland, right after Story, is an entry for Storybrat -- now I know that is a variant of an established name, Starybrat, literally "old brother." This proves that Story can occasionally be just a variant of Stary, also not an extremely common name (192) but not rare either. Given a choice between "window blind" and "old," I'd go with "old" every time. Besides, in Polish the pronunciations of O and A are similar, they're easily confused and switched.

So that's my best guess: you're dealing with a dialect variation of the word meaning "old."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jaks - Joks

...I have an ancestor with the last name Jaks/Joks. Is there some connection with Jaktor/Hektor? The first entries of this name appear in the register of the catholic church in the village Mikstat in the province Kalisz (formerly province Poznan) in 1803. I searched for this name in registers of several surrounding catholic, Jewish and Lutheran parishes. I could not find any references before 1803.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions Jaks in his book on Polish surnames, saying that it derives from short forms or nicknames of the first names Jakub (Jacob) and Jakim (Joachim) -- possibly others, too, but those would be the main ones. Another expert, Maria Malec, lists it among the derivatives of Jakub. So in most cases I would expect Jaks to be a short form of Jakub; in an individual case it might derive from the name Jaktor/Hektor, but those names are a lot less common in Poland than Jakub, so odds are Jakub (or Jakim) is the connection in question. One problem with this name is that it probably was, originally, just a nickname, and a halfway common one at that; with nicknames that became frozen as surnames, you can only go so far back before you don't know whether the name should be treated as a nickname or surname.

It's interesting that there's a work called the Dictionary of Old Polish Personal Names [Slownik staropolskich nazw osobowych], a collection by scholars of the first few appearances of names in old documents. Jaks is mentioned briefly in a 1485 entry in the Poznan Council Records ("Iakx, cerdo ruff[us])", and again in 1486. There are numerous citations of the name Jaksa/Jaksza/Jaxa. So these are old names. However, Jaks is probably common enough that you shouldn't jump to the conclusion this fello was an ancestor of yours -- I just wanted to show you that the name has been around a while!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Piłsudski

...Thank you for putting together the very informative home page regarding Polish surnames. Unfortunately I did not find Pilsudski. This was my mother's maiden name. I would appreciate any information you may have regarding the surname of Pilsudski.

Piłsudski (the l with a slash through it is pronounced like our w) is a surname deriving from a place name, and the Polish name of the place is Piłsudy, in what is now Lithuania. I cannot find it on maps, so I do not known the Lithuanian name, but it is surely very similar, probably something like Pilsude. I did find this information in an 1890's Polish gazetteer (Polish names are given first, Lithuanian names are given in brackets, when I could find them):

Piłsudy, 1) a village in Rossienie [Raseiniai] county, parish of Gierdyszki [Girdiske]. 2) a manor and village, Rossienie [Raseiniai] county, parish of Skawdwile [Skaudvile], property of the Wojdyllos.

So there were actually two places named Piłsudy, both fairly close to each other, near the town of Rossienie [now Raseiniai] in Lithuania; the inhabitants of one went to the Catholic parish in Gierdyszki to register births, deaths, and marriages, the inhabitants of the other went to the church in Skawdwile. The Polish leader Gen. Jozef Piłsudski was surely of noble birth, and usually when you have a Polish noble name in -ski from the name of a place, it is connected with a manor -- so I imagine the 2nd one was the seat of the noble Piłsudskis, even though another family (Wojdyllo) owned it as of 1890 or so.

As of 1990 there were only 8 Polish citizens living in Poland who had the name Piłsudski, living in the provinces of Warsaw (1), Gdansk (1), and Kielce (6). (I have no access to further details such as names and addresses, so I'm afraid the info I give here is all I can have). However, that data deals only with people living within Poland's current boundaries -- there may be more Piłsudskis living in Lithuania, but I don't have any info on that.

Since Piłsudski was so important in Polish history, there are probably books on him and his family -- you might write to see if one of the volunteers can find anything in the Library of the Polish Museum of America that would give background on the family. You might also want to write a gentleman named David Zincavage (jdz1@delphi.com), he is very interested in Lithuanian research and nobility, he might have more info on the surname, the village, etc. If not, he may be able to recommend some places where you could learn more. It wouldn't hurt to ask.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Szulczewski

... I ran across your web page while searching for info, places, & history on the net. My last name is Szulczewski...anything you can tell me about would be greatly appreciated.

Names ending in -ewski usually -- not always, but usually -- derive from the name of a place, and that name tends to end in -ow, -owa, -owo, -ew, -ewa, -ewo, or sometimes -y or -i. The most likely name would be something like "Szulczewo," though any of the other possibilities (and more!) can enter into it. I can't find mention in my gazetteers or maps of a specific village by the right name, although there was a Szulcowo some 80 km. from Kaunas in Lithuania, and another not too far from Vitebsk in Belarus. The fact that these places are no longer in Poland is no issue, at one time they were ruled by Poles and Poles lived there, also the inhabitants of the areas often identified themselves as Polish citizens regardless of their ethnic origin... There are also a few villages called Szulec that might come into play, but I see nothing to point to any particular one.

It's worth mentioning that any name in Szulc- usually derives from szulc, the Polish spelling of German Schultz, equivalent to Polish sołtys, meaning a kind of village headman or bailiff. So Szulczewski probably started out meaning "person associated with the village of Szulczewo (or the other possibilities)," and the name of that place in turn meant "the headman's place." This is relevant because a name like that could refer to just a very small settlement or farm that was owned by the local village administrator. So that name might be one used only by local inhabitants, it might never show up on any map or in any gazetteer, and yet such names generated surnames.

As of 1990 there were 1,159 Polish citizens with this name, so it is not rare. They lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (73), Bydgoszcz (74), Gorzow (70), Lodz (99), Płock (140), Poznan (145), Szczecin (94), and Wloclawek (126), and smaller numbers in virtually every other province. The only pattern to that distribution I see is that the name tends to be found mostly in central and western Poland, in areas once ruled by Germans (which is not surprising in view of the Schultz link). I should add that I have no access to more detailed info, such as first names and addresses.

I'm sorry I couldn't offer you more in the way of specific pointers, but it's that way with the majority of Polish surnames -- there are just too many places with names from which a particular surname could arise. You're going to find people with names begining Szulc- all over Poland, but especially in the areas closest to Germany. There just isn't any clue in the name itself to help pin it down.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Ogitzak

... I have been recently searching for my grandmother's maiden name to begin the quest of tracing my heritage. Her sister in law has tried, in the past, however, to no avail. Finding your website may give me a better chance at understanding just who I am, and possibly give my grandmother the gift of better knowing hers. The surname that I am looking for is Ogitzak.

I have looked through all my sources, and I'm afraid I have to admit I'm stumped. I can find nothing that appears to be related to this name. To start with, that is not a Polish spelling, although the name definitely appears to be Slavic; in Polish the tz would be spelled c, so I tried looking for Ogitzak or Ogicak, and found neither. There was no one in Poland with either name as of 1990, and none of my books shed any light on them. The only possibility I can think of -- and it's pretty far-fetched -- is that the family with this name might have lived in the part of Poland ruled by Russia, and the name was changed. Russian doesn't use the sound h, and Russians regularly turn h into g, so that in Russian I am called "Goffman" instead of "Hoffman." If that's relevant, the name might originally have been something like Ohidzak or Ohydzak; phonetically speaking, that is at least plausible. There is a Polish root ohyda that means "something horrible, dreadful, frightful, monstrous," and it is theoretically possible that a surname Ohydzak might derive from that and then turn into Ogitzak due to Russian phonetic influence. If so, the name would mean something like "son of the frightful one, hideous one." This is not a particularly pleasant name -- although I've seen plenty of Polish surnames that meant things like this, and worse. I wouldn't blame you a bit if you don't take it this too seriously, especially since I've had to make several stretches just to get to it; also, there was no one in Poland with this name or any likely spelling as of 1990. So it's far-fetched, as I said. But it's the only thing close to an explanation I can find!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kuss

...Please can you help? My wife is a Kuss from Lodz. Where might her family have originated from?

The short answer is, there's no way to know. Kuss, in that form, appears to be a German name, perhaps from the root Kuss, meaning "kiss." But it may be a variation of a nickname for a first name such as "Kosmo," or it might be a Germanized spelling of a Polish name beginning with the root kus-, which can mean "small chunk of bread," "tempt," "short, scanty," "a young boy," etc. There just isn't enough info to say anything more definite.

As of 1990 there were 70 Polish citizens named Kuss, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 2, Białystok 3, Bydgoszcz 17, Ciechanow 2, Czestochowa 1, Elblag 1, Gdansk 5, Katowice 5, Legnica 14, Lodz 4, Lublin 5, Poznan 2, Szczecin 2, Torun 4, Wroclaw 3. If you are determined, you might be able to get hold of a Lodz province phone directory and see if any of the Kuss'es in Lodz are listed (they may not be, phones in private homes are by no means universal in Poland), and that might provide an address for someone to write to. Other than that, I'm afraid I'm out of ideas. The source from which I got the above data does not contain any more details such as first names and addresses, and I have no access to any such data. A telephone directory search is by no means certain to succeed, but it's the only way I know of you might be able to learn more.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Formański

My grandfather was born in Biavestake (sp?), Poland. Do you know anything about this surname [Formanski]?

In Polish it is spelled with an accent over the N and pronounced roughly "fore-MINE-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 169 Polish citizens by that name. They were scattered in small numbers all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it is a variant of Furmański, from furman, "coachman." So Formański or Furmański would mean "of the coachman," presumably referring to the kin of one who made his living that way.

I can tell you there is no place in Poland named "Biavestake" -- that name has been badly mangled somewhere along the way. I don't know what it would have been originally. It might, possibly, have been Białystok, written with a slash through the L and pronounced roughly "b'yah-wee-stock." It is a sizable town in the far northeastern corner of Poland. One problem with this theory, however, is that the Surname Directory shows no one named Formański living in the province of Białystok as of 1990; so if your kin did live in the area once, it appears they no longer do.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Górski - Gurski

I have been told many things over my life about my heritage, it just seems that I can't tell what is true. My surname is Gorski, and yes I state it with pride. I am wondering if you can tell me what it means, and approximately how old it is.

In Polish the name Gorski is spelled with an accent over the O, Górski, pronounced roughly "GOOR-skee" -- the accent over the O causes it to be pronounced like Polish U, and that's why you also see it spelled Gurski sometimes, but Górski is the standard spelling. As of 1990 there were 41,790 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area; a Górski family could come from practically anywhere.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1386. The root of the name is góra, "mountain, hill." So górski is just an adjectival form meaning "of, from, pertaining to, connected with the mountain or hill." Sometimes the name just means "hill-guy, the guy who lives on the hill," and sometimes it refers to any of the jillion villages with names formed from that root góra, thus "one from Góra, Góry, Górka, Górsko, etc." Or in other words, this name developed among Poles much the same way the surname Hill developed among English-speakers.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Graboski - Grabowski

I was wondering if you find me something definitive on the name Grabowski

In Polish this name is generally pronounced "grah-BOFF-skee," or in everyday speech it would often sound like "grah-BOSS-kee" -- which is why one may sometimes see it spelled Graboski. But Grabowski is the standard form (with Grabowska used when referring to females).

It is a very common surname among Poles. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 54,652 Polish citizens named Grabowski. They lived all over the country in large numbers, so it's highly likely there are many separate Grabowski families, not just one big one, and they are found all over Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1387, and generally derives from the name of a place where the family lived or worked at some point centuries ago. It could refer to any of a large number of places with names beginning Grab-, including Grabowo, Grabów, Grabowa, Grabowo, Grabowice, Grabówka, Graby, etc. In such cases there is no possible way to know which of those places a given Grabowski family was connected with, short of doing genealogical research that traces them back to a specific region.

Those place names, in turn, derive from the root seen in such Polish words as grabie, "rake"; grab, "the hornbeam tree"; and grabić, "to plunder." Thus a place name like Grabowo would often have started out meaning "place of the hornbeams," and the surname Grabowski would mean "one from the place of the hornbeams." But place names beginning Grab- could also have been named for an owner or founder named Grab, and that name could come from the expression for "plunder" or "rake" or "hornbeam."

So there are no specific answers available through general research; only research into the past of a specific family can uncover facts that will establish the exact origin of this name in that family's case, and perhaps why it seemed appropriate to call them that.

I should add that sometimes surnames in the form X-owski can mean just "kin of X." So Grabowski might, in certain specific cases, mean "kin of Grab," referring to an ancestor by that name. But as a rule these -owski names tend to refer to place names. If you trace your Grabowski family to a specific area in Poland and then find a place nearby with a name beginning Grab-, chances are fair that's the place the name referred to. (Of course, you couldn't be positive unless and until research established it -- there are just too many places in Poland with names that qualify).

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gucwa

I am interested in finding out the meaning of the surname Gucwa. If you have any info, I would appreciate it.

Gucwa, pronounced roughly "GOOTS-vah," is a moderately common name by Polish standards. As of 1990 there were 1710 Polish citizens by that name, living all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the southcentral and southeastern part of Poland, in the provinces of Katowice (164), Krakow (163), Nowy Sacz (278), and Tarnow (455).

I have a book by a Polish name expert that focuses on names from that region, and it mentions Gucwa, saying that it may come from a short form of the old Germanic first name Guttwein or Gottwin. This is not as implausible as it might seem; it is credible that Poles might modify that name into Gucwa, and historically large numbers of Germans have lived in those regions. So absent any more definitive source, I'd have to say that's the best explanation I can offer.

The Germanic name was introduced in the area centuries ago with German soldiers, prisoners of war, and colonists who came to settle in southcentral and southeastern Poland, and over time Poles modified that name Guttwein or Gottwin, which sounded very foreign to them, into something a little more consistent with their phonetic preferences. They took Guttwein, dropped the last few sounds, turned the T sound into the "ts" sound spelled as a "c" in Polish, and changed the ending to -wa, a suffix that shows up fairly often in Polish names.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jaskólski - Jaskulski

I am trying to locate information about my last name Jaskulski... Please advise of any information about the history of my name...

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He explains that it comes from the root seen in the noun jaskółka, which refers to the bird we call a swallow. In Polish the O has an accent over it and the L has a slash through it; and sounds like "yoss-KOOW-kah." The accented O is pronounced the same as U in Polish, which is why you often see names spelled either way. That's the word the surname comes from.

Jaskulski sounds like "yoss-KOOL-skee," but it can also be spelled Jaskólski, pronounced the same way (when the -ski is added, Ł changes to normal L). You want to keep an eye open for either spelling, since the same person might be Jaskólski in one record and Jaskulski in the next. Literally this name would mean "of the swallow," and might refer to an ancestor whom people associated with swallows for some reason. An ancestor might have imitated a swallow, or dressed in clothes that reminded people of a swallow's coloring, or lived in an area where there were lots of swallows -- hard to say which derivation might apply in a given instance.

Rymut points out that this name can also refer to the names of places in Poland derived from the word for swallow. In other words, Jaskulski or Jaskólski can also just mean "one from Jaskółki." There's more than one place by that name, and only detailed research into your family's history might uncover facts that would clarify which one your particular Jaskulskis came from.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,867 Polish citizens named Jaskólski. There were another 5,113 who spelled it Jaskulski. Both names were common all over the country, and give no clue what area a given Jaskólski or Jaskulski family might have come from. As I said, only research into the history of your particular family would establish that; the surname itself gives no clue.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kaniewski

Any ideas on the origin of Kaniewski from the Torun area circa 1905 immigration?

In Polish Kaniewski would be pronounced roughly "con-YEFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 7,194 Polish citizens named Kaniewski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 924, Bydgoszcz 221, Katowice 292, Kielce 303, Lodz 235, Pila 315, Poznan 424, Siedlce 212, Skierniewice 222, and Wloclawek 545. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

Names ending in -ewski usually refer to the name of a place the family came from centuries ago. In this case, one would expect the name means "one from Kanie or Kaniew or Kaniewo," or some similar place name.

Unfortunately, there are a number of places in Poland that would fit. There are a couple of villages named Kaniewo in the former (1975-1998) province of Wloclawek, including one about 25-30 km. south-southwest of Torun, and another farther south, near Lubraniec. Either of these could plausibly be the place the surname refers to in your specific case. But only genealogical research might uncover facts that would allow you to say for sure "This is the one." Without that kind of detailed info, I can only suggest possible candidates. I think chances are good one of those Kaniewo's is the one the surname refers to, but I don't have enough information to be certain.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kasprzycki

Do you have any idea what the name Kasprzycki means, if there is a meaning.

It's pronounced roughly "kosp-ZHIT-skee" (with the -a- in the first syllable sounding halfway between a short o and "ah"). It means more or less "son of little Casper" or "kin of Casper's son." In Polish Casper is either Kacper or Kasper. Add the diminutive suffix -yk to Kasper and it becomes Kasprzyk, "little Casper, son of Casper." Kasprzycki is literally an adjective meaning "of Kasprzyk," but in practical terms the name would usually mean what I indicated above.

Scholars are not positive what that name Kasper comes from, but they think it might be from Persian kansbar, "treasurer, keeper of the treasure." This name caught on among Christians because medieval tradition said it was the name of one of the three Wise Men or Magi who visited the infant Jesus, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (the other two were Melchior and Balthazar).

Kasprzycki could also conceivably mean "one from Kasprzyce" or some such place name, which in turn would have meant "[place] of Casper's son." But offhand I couldn't find any place with a name that fits, so I'm inclined to think it began as a reference to a person rather than a place. I should say, however, that there are many surnames derived from names of places that are too small to show up on most maps, or that have disappeared or been renamed. But even if the name does refer to a place called Kasprzyce or something similar, that name in turn started as a reference to a Casper or son of Casper who owned or founded the place at some point centuries ago. So one way or another, it all comes back to Casper.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,949 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kucharski

Surname is Kucharska

Kucharska is the feminine form of Kucharski, pronounced roughly "koo-HAR-skee." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1395, and usually refers to a family's origin in or connection with any of a number of villages named Kuchary. The basic root kuchar- means "cook," so that Kucharski could mean simply "kin of the cook." But in most instances it would refer to a family's coming from one of those villages named Kuchary, which in turn presumably got that name because of some connection with cooks. The only one to find out which one your particular family came from would be through genealogical research, tracing the family generation by generation till you find documents that tell exactly where they come from. At that point it may be possible to identify a nearby village Kuchary, which would probably be the one the surname referred to.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 30,949 Polish citizens named Kucharski. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Mastalerz - Masztalerz

Hi. My father is Stanley John Mastalisz.

All he knows is that his surname was changed, he thinks, from Mastalerz or some other such spelling. I do have some living relatives in Poland still.

They would be on my father's mother's side. Can you give me any info?


Mastalerz is probably the right spelling. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun masztalerz, "court master of the horse." So it was a ceremonial position of honor held by a noble in the court of a king or lord; he was theoretically responsible for seeing to the state of the lord's stable. Of course, he had peasants who did all the actual work -- but that's what the word means.

Mastalerz is pronounced roughly "mos-TALL-esh." It is a variant of that noun masztalerz, which sounds more like "mosh-TALL-esh."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,897 Polish citizens named Mastalerz. There wasn't any one area in which they were concentrated; a Mastalerz family could come from practically anywhere in Poland. (There were another 1,203 Poles who used the form Masztalerz.)

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Mielcarek - Mielczarek

I'm a high school student at Resurrection H.S. in Chicago. My U.S. History class was given the assignment of researching our family history, including name origin, if possible. While the paper is due within the next week, I would appreciate it greatly if you could forward any information you might have on the Mielcarek family name, simply to satisfy my family's own curiosity.

In Polish the name Mielcarek is pronounced roughly "m'yell-TSAR-eck." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying that names beginning Mielcar-, Mielczar-, and Milczar- come from an archaic noun, mielcarz, "maltster, brewer." The suffix -ek is a diminutive, so Mielcarek would mean literally "little maltster." It might have begun as an affectionate nickname for one who produced or sold malt, or it might simply have meant "son of the maltster." Many X-ek names do just mean "son of X." Either way, the name clearly indicates that an ancestor was associated with malt in some way.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,723 Polish citizens named Mielcarek. They lived all over Poland, with particularly large numbers in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 520, Kalisz 1,112; Konin 348; Leszno 319; and Poznan 1,144. This name was most common in the western part of the country.

Even more common was the form Mielczarek (11,379) ("m'yell-CHAW-reck"), meaning the same thing; it's just a slightly different form of the same name. If you researched the family you might find the name spelled Mielcarek one time, Mielczarek the next -- such variations are very common in the records.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Modrzejewski - Modrzewski

Would the surnames Modrzejewski and Modrzewski be the same regarding origin and meaning? If not can you tell me about Modrzejewski please?

The answer "by the book" is that these aren't the same surnames. Modrzewski sounds like "mo-JEFF-skee," whereas Modrzejewski sounds like "mo-jay-EFF-skee." I should add that in everyday talk there's a tendency to drop the "ff" sound spelled W in names with the endings -ewski and -owski, so that Modrzewski would often sound more like "mo-JESS-kee" (which Poles would spell phonetically Modrzeski), and Modrzejewski would sound more like "mo-jay-ESS-kee" (Modrzejeski). Both would almost certainly refer to the name of a place the family came from at some point centuries ago. Modrzewski would point toward a place with a name Modrze or Modrzew or Modrzewek or Modrzewie; Modrzejewski would point toward a Modrzejewo or Modrzejowice.

Unfortunately, there are a number of places by all those names I mentioned, so only research into a specific family might uncover info that will clarify exactly which place they came from. Just from the surname there's no way to tell whether a given Modrzewski family came from this village or that village (there are at least 8 with names Modrzew, Modrzewo, Modrzewie, etc.). And there are at least two places Modrejewski could refer to, Modrzejewo and Modrzejowice. That's not counting smaller places that may exist but don't show up on my maps.

But as I say, if we go by the book, the names are distinct, referring to different places of origin, and in theory should not be confused.

The way things are on planet Earth, however, people don't always go by the book. Obviously these two names sound similar and are related semantically. It's not at all unlikely that people might slur the pronunciation of Modrzejewski to where it was easily confused with Modrzewski. A good illustration is the fact the famous Polish actress Helena Modrzejewska spelled her name Mojeska and Modjeska when she came to the United States. She realized Americans had trouble spelling and pronouncing it, so she changed to a form that more closely resembled the way it sounded, in terms of English phonetics. Strictly speaking "Mojeska" would be spelled phonetically Modrzeska (or properly, Modrzewska) by Poles, which is not the same as her real name. But the point is, the way people pronounced her name, it sounded a lot like Mojeska or Modrze[w]ska.

So the two names should be distinct. But in plain everyday talk, they are easily confused.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,873 Polish citizens named Modrzejewski (which includes females named Modrzejewska). They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 553, Gdansk 282, Lodz 341, Poznan 275, and Wloclawek 586. This indicates the name is most common in central to western Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

As of 1990 there were 880 Poles named Modrzewski (and Modrzewska), so it's a less common name. The largest numbers lived in these provinces: Warsaw 110, Biala Podlaska 89, Elblag 65, and Olsztyn 103. So it's more common in northeastern and eastern Poland. But both names are found all over the country.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Motowidlak - Motowidło

I was wondering if you can give me some history on my last name, Motovidlak. I'm curious how old it is and the nationality of it.

Also, how many Motovidlak's there are. Thank you.


In Polish this name is spelled Motowidlak, pronounced roughly "mo-to-VEED-lock." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 10 Polish citizens by this name. They lived in the following provinces: Katowice 4, Rzeszow 6. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses.

There's one thing you might try. In the July 2000 issue of the Polish-American Journal, the PAJ Answerman suggested one can find individuals or families "by contacting the one office in Poland that has on file the addresses of all people currently living in Poland: Centralne Biuro Adresowe, ul. Kazimierzowska 60, 02-543 Warsaw, POLAND." I have no idea whether this works or not, and it's of no help if a name is scattered all over the country. But in instances where a name is highly concentrated in one area, I pass the info along, because if this Central Address Office does succeed in providing you with addresses, chances are very good those addresses belong to relatives. It's worth a try.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. It comes from the noun motowidło, "a reeling-machine, spool." An ancestor presumably got that name because he made or sold or worked with such a machine. The suffix -ak in surnames generally means "kin of, son of, one associated with," so it seems likely this surname began as a way of referring to the son or kin of one called Motowidło because of a connection with reeling or spooling. The name Motowidło is more common, borne by 361 Poles as of 1990; a diminutive, Motowidełko, "little reel, little spool," was borne by 59 Polish citizens as of 1990.

I am assuming this name is Polish. It could develop in other Slavic languages; I don't know. I deal mainly with Polish names, so that's all I can talk about. Thinking about it, though, it's certainly possible the same name, spelled with a V instead of a W, could develop in other languages, too, such as Czech. It would presumably mean more or less the same thing, however.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Agopsowicz

Do you have any information on the surname Agopsowicz ??? If you do, could you please send me info?

Regarding the last name Agopsowicz. Thats my maiden name. If you have any info regarding this name. I live in Regina, Sask, Canada. Where there is a lot of Agopsowicz's here form the Zehner area. Love to hear from you regarding this name.


This one is fascinating. The suffix -owicz means "son of," so this means "son of Agops." But I had never run across that name before, and the -ops ending did not sound right for a Polish or Slavic name. But then I looked in a book on Polish surnames by Jan Stanislaw Bystron, Polskie Nazwiska, and sure enough, he mentioned Agopsowicz! It is listed among names coming originally from Armenian, and means "son of Jacob" -- apparently in Armenian this name is Agop or something similar. So the name, at least, would suggest an ancestor of the family was Armenian, but later came to Poland or the Slavic regions east of Poland. If they had held fast to their Armenian roots, the name would be something like Agopyan, since most native Armenian names end with that suffix -yan. The fact that the name ends in -owicz suggests they came to be Polonized, since that suffix is Polish (or, in the spelling -ovich or -ovych, Ukrainian or Russian or Belarusian).

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 67 Polish citizens named Agopsowicz. They were scattered in tiny numbers all over the country. The only "concentration" was in southcentral and southwest Poland, in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (8), Krakow (8), and Wroclaw (13). These numbers show just how widely scattered the name is, if these are the largest numbers in any provinces. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

I also looked in an index of names appearing in the 15-volume Polish gazetteer Slownik geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland), published in the late 1800's. It shows that there were several villages or estates owned by people named Agopsowicz, so clearly this name can be one borne by nobles. Here are the four places this work mentions and their owners as of the time of publication:

Balince, village, Kolomyja county, owner Jakob de Hasso Agopsowicz [Vol. I, p. 88]. Bazar, village, Czortkow county, owner Jozef Agopsowicz [Vol. I, p. 121]
Buczaczki, village, Kolomyja county, owner Kajetan Agopsowicz [Vol. I, p. 437] Czernelica, village, Horodenka county, owner Antoni Agopsowicz [Vol. II, p. xvi].

All these places are now in the country of Ukraine, which used to be ruled by Poland. If you want to find these places on a map, it is possible you might be able to find them at this Website: http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm

Or you might find some useful material at the InfoUkes Website: www.infoukes.com

Or at this Website, which specializes in research in Galicia (the former crown land of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that consisted of what is now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine): www.halgal.com

Since at least some Agopsowiczes were noble, you might be able to learn more about them if you post a question to the mailing list Herbarz-L. It is frequented by gentlemen with access to various armorials and libraries, and very often they are able to provide some information on specific noble families and their coats of arms. To subscribe (which costs nothing), send an E-mail message with just the word SUBSCRIBE to this address:

HERBARZ-L-request@rootsweb.com

No one reads this note -- a computer will process it automatically, add you to the mailing list, and send you a brief note explaining procedures. Then you can post a note to the list itself, where it will be read by the members, at this address: HERBARZ-L@rootsweb.com


It's possible they can tell you more about this name or family.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Moździerz

My grandmother was from Szarwark, Poland, and her maiden name was Mozdzierz. I am doing my genealogy and would like to know what this name means or where it came from.

In Polish Mozdzierz is usually spelled with an accent over the first Z. So this name would be spelled Moździerz, and is pronounced roughly "MOZH-jesh."

You might also sometimes see it spelled with that first Z having a dot over it instead of an accent. This reflects a subtle difference in pronunciation, and to be honest, it's not significant for our purposes. Just remember it might be spelled with a dotted Z instead of an accented one, and this is just a minor spelling variation. As of 1990 there were 37 Poles who spelled it that way, scattered in small numbers all over the country.

Polish name experts say Moździerz derives from the noun moździerz, which means "mortar." Thus it probably began as a nickname for an ancestor whom people associated with mortar. Perhaps he made or sold mortar, or used it extensively in his work. That's typically how such names get started, although one can never be sure of the exact meaning of a nickname without detailed research into the specific family that came to bear the name. Still, it makes sense that a family wouldn't have come to be called "Mortar" unless an ancestor had some clear, obvious connection with the making, sale, or use of mortar.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 952 Polish citizens named Moździerz. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 69, Krakow 46, Tarnow 491, and Wroclaw 91. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data makes it clear the name is found all over Poland but tends to be concentrated primarily in southwestern to southeastern Poland, especially near the city of Tarnow in southeastern Poland. This is consistent with your info, since the only place I can find named Szarwark was in Tarnow province under the setup in force 1975-1998; it's northeast of Tarnow. So the Tarnow area is where you need to concentrate your research.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Surname 8 Combined File

MSZAŃSKI

I believe there is a town named Mszana in Poland which means Mass???

There is a town in Poland named Mszana, but it doesn't mean "Mass" (although that's a reasonable guess). The name of that town comes from mszany, which, believe it or not, is the adjectival form of mech, "moss." So Mszana was called that because it was the "mossy" place. (The adjectival form of Msza, "Mass," is mszalny).

Does my name (Mszanski) mean I am from Mszana??

Mszana is a good candidate, but unfortunately it's not the only one. There are quite a few places in Poland with names from that root meaning "mossy," places called Mszana, Mszanka, Mszanna, Mszano, etc. This surname could refer to any of them. Suffixes were often dropped before adding -ski, so that Mszański could mean "one from Mszanko" or any of the other places mentioned. I think the Mszana in Nowy Sacz province (which actually consists of Mszana Dolna, "Lower Mszana," and Mszana Górna ("Upper Mszana") may be the place the surname is most likely to refer to. But you can't rule out the other possibilities without detailed research into a specific family's past.

In Polish the name is spelled with an accent over the N, and is pronounced roughly "M'SHINE-skee." It's not a very common name. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 85 Polish citizens by this name. They lived in the following provinces: Gdansk 3, Jelenia Gora 10, Katowice 7, Konin 21, Krakow 8, Krosno 3, Lublin 6, and Nowy Sacz 27. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data indicates the name is scattered all over Poland, with some concentration near the towns of Nowy Sacz and Konin. The ones near Nowy Sacz, obviously, would be especially likely to refer to Mszana Dolna and Górna, since they are fairly near Nowy Sacz.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


NIEMCZYK

Have been trying to locate the origin of my last name for some time to no avail. Any info you might have would be greatly appreciated.

The name Niemczyk is pronounced roughly "NYEM-chick." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying it appears in records as far back as 1376. He says it comes from the term niemiec, "German." Niemczyk would mean simply "son of the German," and as such, we'd expect it to be found pretty much all over Poland, since Germans came to resettle all over that country -- especially in the western parts, but not exclusively.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 7,453 Polish citizens named Niemczyk. They lived all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 830, Bydgoszcz 402, Gdansk 471, Katowice 1,736, Krosno 511, Rzeszow 295. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data confirms the surname is found throughout Poland, so we can't pin down where a particular Niemczyk family might have come from just from the surname alone. Only genealogical research might establish that, by tracing the family back, generation by generation, till you find a document that tells exactly what part of Poland they came from.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


PAJĄKIEWICZ

Today I was reading PolishRoots and I found that you could tell me something brief about my surname... As you could see, my surname is Pajakiewicz and my grandfather was born in (for what I know) in Kurowice around 1901. I was trying to find some reference of Kurowice, but I couldn't.

In Polish the second A in this name is usually the nasal vowel Poles write as an A with a tail (ogonek) under it, pronounced somewhat like "on" in French bon, sometimes even like "on" in English "on."  So I write the name online as Pająkiewicz, pronounced roughly "pah-yonk-YEAH-veech," but of course in Polish that second A would have a tail under it, not a tilde after it.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 60 Polish citizens by this name. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 8, Jelenia Gora 3, Katowice 4, Opole 3, Poznan 6, Walbrzych 15, and Wroclaw 21. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. The first part of the name comes from the noun pająk, "spider," and the -ewicz part means "son of." So the name means literally "son of the spider," and probably began as referring to the son of one nicknamed "spider," perhaps because he reminded people of a spider, perhaps because he was associated with spiders in some other way.

As for Kurowice, there are several places by that name in Poland. I'm afraid your only hope is to find some document that specifies which one is the one your ancestors came from -- maybe a letter with an address, or a form that asks for place of birth. By itself, Kurowice just doesn't tell you enough to go on.

If you'd like to see maps showing at least some of these places, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm 

Enter "Kurowic" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of various places in Poland with names starting Kurowic-. For each, click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


PAWLISZYN - PAWŁYSZYN

Pawlyszyn is the name I am researching.........late of Przemysl. Poland.

Pawlyszyn is actually a Ukrainian name -- which is not at all unusual. Przemysl is near the border with Ukraine, and we see a lot of mixing of Polish and Ukrainian names in that area. But the -yszyn suffix is distinctively Ukrainian (except that's a Polish way of spelling it).

This name is formed by taking the Ukrainian first name Pavlo (Paul), adding the suffix -ykha (woman of, wife of) and the suffix -yn (son of). The guttural -kh- turns into an "sh" sound when the -yn suffix is added. So it breaks down to "son of Paul's wife." Names ending in -ishyn or -ishin or -yshyn or -yshin (or as Poles spell it, -iszyn or -yszyn) are quite common in Ukrainian, whereas there is nothing quite like this in Polish. So while the family may have come from an area within the borders of Poland, and the spelling of the "sh" sound as -sz- is definitely Polish, there was at least some Ukrainian blood somewhere along the line, or this name would not have taken this form.

In Polish Pawlyszyn would be spelled not with plain L but rather with the L with a slash or crossbar, which is pronounced much like our W. So Pawłyszyn would sound like "pahv-WISH-inn." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 43 Polish citizens by that name. They lived in the following provinces: Elblag 3, Jelenia Gora 2, Lublin 1, Lodz 2, Olsztyn 14, Ostrołęka 2, Slupsk 19. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

No Pawłyszyns were listed as living in Przemysl province as of 1990. This could be due to missing data -- data was lacking for about 6% of the population -- or it could be due to post-World War II forced relocations of many, many Ukrainians from east to west. In other words, most Pawłyszyns may have lived in the east and southeast before 1939, but by 1946 many of them had been forced to pack up and move west. Which makes tracing families these days that much harder.

A name meaning the same thing is Pawliszyn, pronounced "pahv-LEE-shin." The only difference is that the L is pronounced like L, not W, and the vowel after it sounds like "ee" instead of the short "i" spelled Y by Poles. In effect, this is the same name, just pronounced and spelled a little different. As of 1990 there were 643 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country, but with 18 of them in Przemysl province. As I said, I have no data such as first names or addresses; but it proves this name, at least, still survives in the Przemysl area.

Since Ukrainian names developed a little differently, and are usually spelled in the Cyrillic alphabet, any Ukrainian name is essentially being written in a foreign alphabet when spelled by Poles or others who use the Roman alphabet. Thus Polish Pawłyszyn and Pawliszyn might be two different ways of spelling the same Ukrainian name, which would look kind of like this in the Cyrillic alphabet: Павлішин

The letter И in Ukrainian sounds like short i (which Poles spell Y); but in Russian it sounds like "ee" (which Poles spell I). This causes a lot of spelling confusion.

My point is simply that as you do your research, keep an eye open for Pawłyszyn and Pawliszyn. The spelling difference doesn't necessarily mean much. It could be nothing more than a slight difference in how Poles tried to represent in the Roman alphabet a name originally written in the Cyrillic alphabet -- and when that happened, there was room for variation in spelling. So you might see it spelled Pawłyszyn one time, Pawliszyn another.

So to sum up, whichever way it's spelled, this is a name of Ukrainian linguistic origin meaning "son of Paul's wife." As such, it offers little in the way of specifics on where a given family came from.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


PIĄTEK - PIONTEK

Would it be possible to receive any information on the origination/meaning/history of the name Piontek.

I live in Yorkshire, England, and only know of family members with this name. I know that my paternal grandfather came across from Poland, via Germany in WW2, but unfortunately, I am no longer in contact with him to ask him such questions.

Piontek is pronounced roughly "P'YON-teck" in Polish, and is an alternate spelling of the name I represent as Piątek online. The Polish nasal vowel written as an A with a tail under it and pronounced much like "on" in French bon; the nasal E written as an E with a tail under it and pronounced much like "en". So Piontek is a reasonable phonetic spelling of Piątek, and in fact one may see the name spelled either way, even in Poland. But the form with the nasal vowel is the standard one.

The name comes ultimately from the root piąty, "fifth." At one time Poles counted the days of the week starting with Monday, so that Friday was the "fifth day," and piątek means literally "little fifth one," so that's the name they gave Friday. As a surname Piątek began as a sort of nickname for one associated with Friday -- he might have had some particular duty to perform on Fridays, or was born on a Friday, something along those lines. I can't rule a connection with the meaning "fifth," so that Piątek might have been a name given the fifth child of his parents; but generally we'd expect the primary association to be with the word for Friday.

This is a rather common name in Poland. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 19,796 Polish citizens named Piątek. They lived all over the country, so a family by that name could have come from anywhere.

There were 2,018 who used the spelling Piontek, with particularly large numbers in the region of Silesia in southwestern Poland, mainly the provinces of Katowice, 971, and Opole, 409. I suspect the spelling is common there because that region has a particularly strong German influence, and Germans can make no sense of the Polish nasal vowels, so they usually spell them phonetically as ON (for Ą) and EN (for Ę). This spelling is, however, found in other parts of the country as well, just not so frequently.

In a specific family's case one might find the name spelled either way. In other words, you may find your ancestors listed as Piontek or Piątek, and the difference would not necessarily suggest anything reliable in terms of family connections. Not all Pionteks would necessarily be related, and many whose name was spelled that way in the past probably go by Piątek today. Piątek and Piontek are simply two different ways of spelling the same name, and spellings in the records were often inconsistent.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


STACHOWIAK

... I have recently become extremely interested in researching my family history and the history/meaning of my surname.

At this time I do not know anything about my surnames other than -owiak possibly means "son of".

Stachowiak would sound roughly like "stah-HOVE-yock," except the Polish CH is a bit more guttural than English h -- closer to the guttural "ch" in German "Bach."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says the suffix -owicz means "son of," and Stach is an ancient nickname that developed from various Polish names beginning Sta-, especially the first name Stanisław; so the name means basically "son of Stach" or "one of the kin of Stach." Poles often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So they would take Sta- from Stanisław, drop the rest, and add the -ch to form Stach. Once that name existed, it was only a matter of time before people began referring to the sons or kin of a fellow named Stach as Stachowiak, and eventually that name "stuck" as a surname.

Incidentally, Stanislaw is the name with which Stach is most likely to be connected, but there are others, especially the first name Eustachy, the Polish equivalent of "Eustace."

As of 1990 there were 13,372 Polish citizens named Stachowiak. They lived all over the country, with some concentration in the western provinces of Bydgoszcz, 848, Kalisz, 765, and Poznan, 5,200. So while people named Stachowiak live everywhere in Poland, they are especially common in the western part of the country.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


ŻEBROWSKI

Do you have any info on the meaning and origin of the name Zebrowski?

My family is from the northeast near Białystok. A village called Grabowo

In Polish this name is usually spelled with the first Z dotted. Żebrowski is pronounced roughly "zheb-ROFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 10,150 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the following provinces: and Łomża 973, Olsztyn 551, Ostrołęka 1,637. There were 147 by this name in the province of Białystok. So the name is concentrated to a significant extent in the northeastern part of Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

There were also 109 Poles who spelled it Zebrowski, no dot over the Z, pronounced more like "zeh-BROFF-skee." However, it's not clear how many of them really spelled it that way, and how many of those 109 were really Żebrowskis, but the name was keyed in wrong. There are, however, some parts of Poland where people tend to take Ż in the standard form of the language and turn it into plain Z. So some of those Zebrowskis may really spell and pronounce it that way. In general, however, we're justified in figuring that the form with plain Z- is probably just a variant of the standard form with Ż-.

Names in the form X-owski usually mean "one from X," that is, from a place with a name beginning with the X part, which may or may not have various endings added. As a rule we'd expect this surname to refer to a family's connection with a place named Żebrowo or Żebry or something of that sort. If they were noble, they owned an estate there at some point centuries ago; if they were peasants, they lived and worked there at some point.

The problem is, there are several places in Poland with names that qualify. There is a Żebrówka near Siedlce in southeastern Poland, and there are several places named Żebry or Żebry + a second name in the areas of Ostrołęka and Łomża. This is consistent with the large number of Żebrowskis in northeastern Poland, near those towns. It all suggests that the surname usually means "one from Żebry" -- but the problem is, which Żebry? There's no way to tell based on the name alone. Only detailed research into the history of a specific family may uncover information that establishes which Żebry your particular Żebrowski ancestors took their name from.

  

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


BALIŃSKI - PASTUSZYŃSKI

Could you please tell me anything you know about the names Pastuszynski and Balinski?

In Polish Pastuszyński is spelled with an accent over the N and pronounced roughly "poss-too-SHIN-skee." Baliński also has an accented N and is pronounced roughly "bah-LEEN-skee."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 141 Polish citizens named Pastuszyński. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 47, Gdansk 13, Katowice 11, and Kielce 26. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data tells us the name is scattered all over the country, with about a third of them living near Warsaw. That's probably not much help, but then relatively few surnames are concentrated in any one area to the point that it helps you trace where a given family would have come from. You usually have to trace the family back in the records, generation by generation, to establish that.

While Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut doesn't mention this exact name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], he does mention others beginning Pastusz-, and it's quite clear this name comes from the same root: pastuch, "herdsman, one who watches the herd." The guttural -ch at the end of that noun changes to the "sh" sound that Poles spell -sz- when suffixes are added. So Pastuszynski means literally "of the herdsman's _," where the blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't have to be spelled out -- usually either "kin" or "place."

So it is quite possible this surname refers to the name of a place along the lines of Pastuszyn or Pastuszno, which would have started out meaning "place of the herdsman." I can't find any places by such names in my sources, but then sometimes these surnames referred to little settlements or subdivisions of a village. So a Pastuszyn or Pastuszno could have been small, not likely to show up on any maps, and yet could have generated a surname. Again, only detailed research into the specific family is likely to give a really firm, reliable answer that question.

But to be honest, I think in this case it is quite likely the name just means "kin of the herdsman." These X-yński surnames often refer to place names, but not always. And "kin of the herdsman" is a pretty plausible interpretation of the name.

So if I were you, I'd figure that's probably what it means. Still, as you research, keep an eye open for a place with a name beginning Pastusz-. If you find there was such a place somewhere near where your ancestors came from, it is entirely possible the surname referred to it. What we can say for sure is that the name means either "kin of the herdsman" or "one from the place of the herdsman."

As of 1990 there were 3,374 Polish citizens named Baliński, living all over the country, with no really significant concentration in any one part. The largest numbers tend to show up in provinces near the center of the country, especially Warsaw (365), Kielce (232), Lodz (232), Torun (188), and Wloclawek (145), with another chunk in southwestern Poland (Katowice 254, Wroclaw 148). But again, there's not really a clear pattern -- a Balinski family could come from practically anywhere.

Names in the form X-iński are like those in the form X-yński -- they usually refer to places. Baliński usually means "one from Balin or Balino." The problem is, there are several places in Poland with those names, and the surname gives no clue which one is being referred to in a given case.

If you'd like to see maps showing at least some of these places, go to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm 

Enter "Balin" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of various places in Poland with names starting Balin-. For each one, click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc. This may help you may a connection if your research helps you pin down a particular part of Poland that your Balinskis came from, and thus may help you establish which Balino or Balino they took their name from.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


CHOJNACKI - HOJNACKI

Hello, I am soon to be wed! My fiance's surname is Chojnacki. His grandfather is originally from Poland. I was wondering if you could please give me some information on my surname-to-be.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

In Polish Chojnacki is pronounced roughly "hoy-NOT-skee," although the initial sound is a bit more guttural than English H; it's like the "ch" in German "Bach."

Chojnacki is a fairly common name, borne by 24,744 Polish citizens as of 1990; they lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area. A Chojnacki family could come from practically anywhere in Poland.

The surname refers generally to the name of place where a family by this name lived or worked at some point centuries ago. A particularly good candidate is Chojnata, east-southeast of Skierniewice in central Poland; but there may be other places with names that qualify as well. "Chojnata" probably comes from the basic root choina, "fir, spruce tree," so that Chojnacki can be interpreted as "one from the place of the spruces," and thus it might not always refer to a specific place you can find on a map -- it might refer to any family who lived in an area with a lot of spruces. But as a rule I'd expect it to refer to a family's origin in Chojnata or some other place with a similar name, which probably referred to firs or spruces in the area.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


CERAN- CYRAN - CYRON

I am a physician in Hershey, PA and am researching my surname. Could you/would you be able to educate me regarding the surname Cyran?

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "TSI-ron" where the first syllable has a short i sound like that in English "ship."It comes from the noun cyran, meaning "teal" (a kind of duck), according to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut. Presumably it began as a nickname for one whom people associated with teals in some way, perhaps because he lived in an area where they were frequent, or he liked to hunt for them, or wore clothes colored like a teal -- something along those lines.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,541 Polish citizens named Cyran. They lived all over Poland; there was no one area with which the name was particularly associated. There were also a number of Poles using variants of this name, including Ceran (609) and Cyron (747).

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


DUSZA

I have looked quite a bit for info on my maternal grandparents name Dusza

Any help would be appreciated.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions Dusza (pronounced roughly “DOO-shah”) in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as early as 1456 and comes from the basic root seen in the verb dusić, "to suffocate," and the noun dusza, "soul, spirit." In Polish, as in many other languages, the word meaning "soul, spirit" comes from the native root meaning "breath," but in Polish that root's meaning is modified in the verb meaning "to suffocate, choke off breath."

The simplest way to translate dusza is "soul," perhaps meant as an endearment, as if to say "You're a dear soul." I know in Russian you hear a diminutive of this same word, dushenka, used as a term of endearment. I suspect that's how it was meant as a surname in Polish -- sort of like saying "Now there's someone with a soul!"

As of 1990 there were 5,002 Poles by this name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area; it was more common in the southern part of the country than in the north, especially in the provinces of Katowice (1,278), Nowy Sacz (335), Opole (202), Radom (299), and Wroclaw (216). Still, you can't really say there's any one part fo the couontry a Dusza family would have come from; they could come from pretty much anywhere.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


FRĄCZAK - FRONCZAK

I have been researching the Fronczak family and have heard it was spelled Frączak. I'm not very sure about this and needed some help on making this strange curly letter.

In other words, Frączak in Polish is actually spelled Fraczak, but that first A has a tail under it. That letter is normally pronounced like "on" in French bon, or a little like the "on" in English "bone," but without quite finishing the n sound. But for all practical purposes, Poles pronounce Frączak and Fronczak exactly the same -- "FRON-chock."

In Polish, Frączak and Fronczak are two different ways of spelling the same name; some spell it with the nasal -ą-, some with -on-. It doesn't really make a lot of difference which way you spell it. Either way, it means "son of Frank," coming from a short form of the Polish first name Franciszek, "Francis."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,871 Polish citizens named Frączak. They lived all over the country, with the largest concentration, 556, in the province of Warsaw. There were 2,022 Poles who spelled the name Fronczak, and again, the largest number, 668, lived in the province of Warsaw. But people by both spellings lived all over Poland, so there's no way to say where a given Frączak or Fronczak family would have come from, just by looking at this data.

What all this means for you in practical terms is this. 1) The surname is a moderately common one, simply indicating that an ancestor was named Franciszek or some short form or nickname of that first name. 2) The surname may be spelled either Frączak or Fronczak. In old records spelling was often inconsistent, as the priest or clerk would simply write it down the way he heard it. You might see the same person called Frączak in one record, Fronczak in another. So as you research, you need to keep your eyes open for either spelling.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


FRANCZAK - FRAŃCZAK

I am doing a project for school. We have to look up the origin of our last name.

My last name is Frencho, but it was changed in 1893 when my ancestor Jan Franczak came over on the boat. Could you look up the meaning of Franczak?

I'm glad you were able to establish the original form of the name -- I couldn't have guessed that Frencho came from Franczak.

Franczak in Polish is pronounced roughly "FRON-chock"; the first syllable rhymes more or less with the English words "gone" and "on."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says the name Franczak appears in records as early as 1696 (and of course may go back a lot further; that's just the earliest appearance they've found so far in surviving documents).

The Francz- part comes from the first name Franciszek ("fron-CHEE-shek"), the Polish version of "Francis" (from Latin Franciscus). Poles often formed nicknames and affectionate short forms of names by taking the first few sounds, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So much as we get Frank and Frankie from Francis, Poles took the Franc- part, dropped the rest, and added -ak; in the process Franc- was modified to Francz-. That suffix -ak is a diminutive, so that Franczak means literally "little Franc." But usually in surnames you can translate the -ak part as "son of" or "kin of." So Franczak should normally be interpreted as meaning "son of Franc," or, as we'd say it, "son of Frank." The surname simply indicates that an ancestor was the son of a guy called Franc or some other very similar nickname from the first name we know as "Francis."

It's also possible an ancestor was known as Franek or Franko, two other nicknames from that same first name, and the -ek or -ko turned into -cz- when the -ak was added. I felt I should mention this because it's another way this surname could have developed. But in practical terms it makes little difference -- it still boils down to "son of Frank."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,131 Polish citizens named Franczak. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 323, Krakow 466, Lublin 342, Nowy Sacz 261. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates that the name is found all over Poland but tends to be a bit more common in the southcentral to southeastern part of the country.

There is one other possibility I should mention. In Polish there are two letters N, one plain and one with an accent over it. So when I type Frańczak, just remember that it should be an accented N. That accent changes the pronunciation, so that Frańczak sounds more like "FRINE-chock," with the first syllable rhyming with "pine."

That name means the same thing, "son of Frank"; it's just some people in some areas had a tendency to modify the sound of the N, and some didn't. You run into a lot of this sort of thing with Polish names -- little subtleties of pronunciation that don't really affect the meaning of the name, but do change the way it sounds. We don't have anything quite like this in English, so it's hard to explain. The simplest way to say it is that Franczak and Frańczak are two different names that mean the same thing.

When a Frańczak came to an English-speaking country such as the United States, no one knew what to make of that accent over the N, so it was usually just dropped. Thus both Franczak and Frańczak usually ended up becoming plain Franczak in this country. And of course there could be further modification of the name later on, as there was in your case. Immigrants realized that people were having trouble with their names, so they'd modify them to make them a little easier for English-speakers to deal with. Frencho still retains some of the sound of the original name, but is easier for Americans to spell and pronounce. Or it's possible some official was filling out papers for your ancestor somewhere along the way, misheard the name, spelled it wrong, and the mistake stuck. Only detailed research into the family history might establish exactly what happened and when. But it all comes down to the same basic thing: the original name sounded too "foreign" and was modified to something a little easier to say and spell.

As of 1990 there were 1,290 Polish citizens named Frańczak, living all over the country, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Przemysl 113, Rzeszow 91, and Tarnobrzeg 285. Those provinces are in the southeastern part of the country. So Franczak tends to show up more toward southcentral Poland, whereas Frańczak is more common a little farther east.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


JAGELSKI - JAGIELSKI

My grandfather's surname was Jagelski. Can you give me any information about my family's past, or tell me of any resources that might prove fruitful?

Jagelski is a spelling variation of the surname usually spelled Jagielski, pronounced roughly "yog-YELL-skee." The rules of Polish orthography say that the letter E may not follow the letter G unless an I is interposed (because in standard Polish the hard G sound cannot be followed by E with palatalization, which is indicated with the insertion of the I, -g + -e = -gie-). So Jagelski is not "correct," but Jagielski is... In practice, however, not everybody followed these rules all the time, especially in old records and in the context of immigration. The standard form, however, is Jagielski, of which Jagelski a variant.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 6,696 Polish citizens by this name. This name is found all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area. (By contrast, there were 9 Polish citizens who spelled it Jagelski, living in the provinces of Gdansk, 7, and Torun, 2).

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions the surname Jagielski in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], and he says it comes from an adjective formed from the noun jagła, "millet" (the Polish L with a slash through it is pronounced like our W in English). So Jagielski can mean nothing more than "the millet guy," perhaps referring to one who grew or sold or liked millet; or it might refer to a family's origin in a place such as Jagiele in Suwałki province, and the place name, in turn, is what came from the noun for "millet."

Some have asked me whether this name might be connected with Jagiełło , the Lithuanian prince who married Polish Queen Jadwiga in 1385 and thereby began the joining of Poland and Lithuania as the Commonwealth of Two Nations. As I say, Rymut finds the connection to be mainly with the word for "millet."

Another name expert, however, points out that Jagielski can also refer to the name of a place such as Jagiełła in Przemysl province, or Jagiełła in Siedlce province. I don't know for sure, but those places might derive their name from some tenuous connection with the name of the Lithuanian-Polish king; they may have meant "place of Jagiełło or his kin." It's unlikely the surname refers to any direct connection with Jagiełło himself, although of course you never know. But more often such names referred to a servant or property of the great man himself, rather than to any blood link with him.

Jagiełło, by the way, is a Polonized form of his original Lithuanian name, Jogailo. It is thought to come from the Lithuanian roots jo-, "to ride (on horseback)" and gail-, "mighty," so that his name probably meant something like "mighty rider." When he married Queen Jadwiga and accepted Christianity he took a Christian first name and was known thenceforth as Ladislaus Jogailo; but he became better known by the Polish forms of those names, Wladyslaw Jagiełło.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


KOŚNIK

Hello, my name is Ashley and I am trying to find out what my Great Great Grandfather's name means, I believe it is spelled Kosnik. He came to Michigan, USA in 1883 at the age of three. I have not been able to locate his name on any passenger ships or anything. Do you think the spelling may be wrong?

Well, that's always a possibility you have to take into account. But I'm inclined to think the spelling hasn't been modified, because there is a Polish surname Kosnik, and I can find no other name that really matches well. But in Polish Kosnik is usually spelled with an accent over the S. So when I type Kośnik, remember that the S is with an accent over it.

In Polish that name is pronounced roughly "KOSH-neek." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,048 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 133, Gdansk 86, Katowice 60, Łomża 88, Olsztyn 72, and Ostrołęka 319. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, but tends to be more concentrated in northeastern Poland, near the cities of Warsaw, Łomża, and Ostrołęka. You can't conclude that's definitely where your ancestors came from, but it suggests that general area might be worth special attention.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it generally comes from the noun kośnik, which means "mower, haymaker." It might also be connected with the adjective kośny, "hay-growing," but I think most likely it began as a reference to an ancestor's occupation. He helped mow the fields and make hay, and thus was nicknamed Kośnik. At some point that name stuck and became established as a surname.

As I say, chances are decent Kosnik is the right spelling (the accent, of course, was usually dropped in non-Polish-speaking countries). But I should add that names of Eastern European immigrants were frequently misspelled at various points along the way, and this could affect your search. Thus if a Pole who couldn't write (and most immigrants couldn't) showed up at a German port such as Hamburg or Bremen and gave his papers to a German official, the German might spell the name the way it sounded to him, like Koshnick. Or an English-speaker might spell it Koshnik or Koschnik or even Coshnick or Coshnik. There wouldn't necessarily be any intention of changing it; but when people encounter a name that sounds "foreign" to them, the name often ends up being modified.

It's conceivable, for instance, that your ancestor was Kośnik, but the name was misspelled at some point, and since he couldn't read or write he had no way of knowing. Once he got to the U. S., however, he might have been around other Poles who could help him spell it right again. So it might have started out correct on his original papers issued near his ancestral village; then got misspelled somewhere along the way; then was corrected once he settled down in America. There are jillions of ways this scenario might play out, any of which could cause a wrong spelling to show up just where you're looking for it. That's why with surnames you have to wrack your brain to try to think of every possible spelling variation.

One other thought comes to mind. If your family settled in Michigan, you might find that the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan can offer some help. They've developed lots of resources to help researchers find info on families that settled in that state. If you'd like more info you can visit their Website at http://www.pgsm.org. I don't want to pressure you to join them -- I'm just saying quite a few folks have found their assistance helpful.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


MROCZKA - WOJNAROWSKI

Mroczka. From Southeastern Poland near Toki. My dictionary had an obscure reference to bat, or does it come from the root word for darkness?

The modern meaning of words from which names are derived can be misleading. What matters is what the word meant centuries ago, when names were developing. Polish name experts say Mroczka (pronounced roughly "M'ROTCH-kah") comes from the root seen in the noun mrok, "darkness," and the verb mrokotać, "to squint," and especially the noun mroczek, "one who squints, especially due to scotoma." So Mroczka probably began in most cases as a nickname meaning "squinter."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 1,183 Poles by this name. They lived all over Poland, but the largest numbers lived in the southeastern provinces of Krosno, 184, Przemysl, 119, and Rzeszow, 142 (Jaslo was in Krosno province in 1990). So the name is most common in southeastern Poland, the part of the country that, with western Ukraine, was seized by Austria during the partitions and ruled by Austria as "Galicia." Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Second name, Wojnarowicz Is the root word war? Does it mean then Son of War or something similar? Same area of Poland but this time Jaslo.

Yes, according to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], this name does derive from the word meaning "war," and -owicz does mean "son of." So "son of the warrior" is probably the closest English translation. As of 1990 there were 680 Polish citizens by this name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Tarnow, 86, and Zamosc, 89. Wojnarowicz is pronounced roughly "voy-nahr-OH-veech."

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


PARADA

I would appreciate it if you could advise me of the meaning of my maiden name Parada. My daughter is doing a project for her 4th grade class, and we have been having difficulty with this.

In Polish Parada is pronounced roughly "pah-RAH-dah." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 974 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 50, Chelm 128, Katowice 70, Kielce 141, Lublin 63. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun parada, "show, exhibition, ceremony, pomp" -- in other words from the same origin as our word "parade." It is thought to have come from Old French parade, "exhibition," from parer, "to embellish," from Latin parare, to "prepare."

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


SOBOLEWSKI

Should you be so kind, I would love to get an interpretation of my maiden name….Sobolewski.

In Polish Sobolewski is pronounced roughly "so-bo-LEFF-skee," or, in some areas, more like "so-bo-LESS-kee" -- which explains why it is sometimes spelled Soboleski. But the standard form is Sobolewski, of which Sobolewska is the feminine form.

It's a moderately common name by Polish standards. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 15,631 Poles by that name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area. A Sobolewski family could come from practically any part of Poland.

Names in the form X-ewski usually mean "one from _" where the blank is filled in with the name of a place beginning with the X part. So we'd expect Sobolewski to mean "one from Sobole or Sobolow or Sobolewo" or some similar place name, meaning "the place of the sables." There are a number of villages in Poland with those names, and the surname gives no clue which one a given family would have come from. Only genealogical research into the history of a specific family might shed light on that question. Without that kind of detailed info, all I can tell you is that the name means "one from Sobole or Sobolow or Sobolewo" or some other place with a name beginning Sobol-, which, in turn, comes from the word meaning "sable."

Incidentally, sometimes X-ewski can also mean "of the kin of X," so that it is theoretically possible this name might mean "kin of the Sable," referring to an ancestor who was nicked Sobol, the Sable, for some reason. We can't rule that out with further research. But I doubt that's applicable. Most Sobolewskis would have gotten that name because of a connection with a place Sobolewo, Sobolow, etc.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


WOJCIECHOWSKI

I am looking at the surname Wojciechowska, I have no info on this name and be most grateful if you could help.

Names in the form X-ska are almost always feminine versions of the same name ending in -ski. So a female would be called Wojciechowska, pronounced roughly "voj-cheh-HOFF-skee," and a male would be Wojciechowski ("voj-cheh-HOFF-skee"). The latter is regarded as the standard form of the name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 63,519 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over Poland, so the surname gives us no clue as to where a specific family by that name might have come from. They could have come from anywhere in Poland.

This surname started out meaning either "kin of Wojciech" or "one from Wojciech's place." Most of the time, I think the latter would apply -- the name would mean "one from Wojciechy or Wojciechow or Wojciechowo," and there are a great many villages by those names, all of which mean basically "the place of Wojciech." The Slavic name Wojciech is closely identified with the Germanic name Albert/Albrecht/Adalbert, because the original St. Wojciech was confirmed by the bishop of Magdeburg, Adalbert, and honored him by taking his name as his own confirmation name. Since then Wojciech and Albert have been regarded as equivalents (though linguistically they have no link at all). Thus Wojciechowski could be interpreted as meaning "one from Albertville."

But that's a little fanciful. In most cases it just means "one from _" where you fill in the blank with any of a number of place names meaning "[place] of Wojciech." The only way to determine which one your particular family was connected with is through genealogical research, which might provide details enabling you to focus on a specifc area in Poland and thus find the most likely Wojciechowo or Wojciechowice or whatever -- a much more promising prospect than having to search through all the places in Poland with names that fit. Unless, of course, the name simply means you had an ancestor named Wojciech. Usually, however, names in the form X-owski do refer to places with names beginning with the X part.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


WOJNAROWSKI

I was very impressed reading the descriptions of the histories of various Polish surnames on the internet through the PGSA website. I did not see my surname and am quite interested in what you can find out. My surname is Wojnarowski. My grandparents arrived from Pilsno, Poland at the turn of the 20th century (1900-1910ish). I know no other info beyond that. I would appreciate anything you could find on the name.

This name is pronounced roughly "voy-nah-ROFF-skee." Names ending in -owski usually refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago. We would expect Wojnarowski to refer to a place named Wojnary or Wojnarow or Wojnarowo or Wojnarowice -- something beginning Wojnar-. There are at least two villages the name might refer to, Wojnary near Nowy Sacz in southcentral Poland, or Wojnarowice near Wroclaw in southwestern Poland. Without detailed info on a given family's background there is no way to know which place the surname refers to in their given case.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,304 Polish citizens named Wojnarowski. They lived all over Poland, with no concentration in any one area.

 

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


HARABURDA

I am very surprised to find that the surname 'HARABURDA' is not listed in your database. I am looking for the origins and meaning of the word - someone suggested that 'haraburda' is a derivative of an old ukrainian word 'halaburda'. Can u help??

No need to be surprised; a Polish government agency database showed over 600,000 surnames borne by Polish citizens as of 1990 -- and that does not include another 200,000 surnames with a frequency of 0 (meaning the name existed in the database but the entry was incomplete or corrupted; many of these were probably just misspelled). Some 40,000 surnames were borne by over 100 Polish citizens. That means roughly half a million surnames were borne by fewer than 100 Poles as of 1990. That's an awful lot of names. The fact that a specific name doesn't appear on the Website simply means no one has asked about it before -- not surprising, in view of the numbers.

As of 1990, according to the data I referred to above (from the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland, now available online at http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html), there were 722 Polish citizens named HARABURDA (pronounced roughly "hah-rah-BOOR-dah"). The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Białystok 149, and Suwałki 356. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this data indicates this surname is found all over Poland but most often in the northeastern part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it is indeed a variant of hałaburda, a term meaning "brawler, one who causes disorder, one who engages in debauchery." (the Polish L with a slash through it is pronounced like our W). This noun means essentially the same thing in Ukrainian, although in Ukrainian the primary meaning is "brawling, disorder, trouble, debauch," whereas in Polish it refers to one who engages in such behavior. All in all, it seems likely the name began as a nickname for an ancestor who had a tendency toward rowdy behavior; the name stuck, and eventually became established as a surname inherited by his children.

It is not odd to see a name vary between forms with L (Halaburda) and R (Haraburda). These sounds are considered to be related phonetically, and we often see interesting variations involving them (for instance the Polish name Rolbiecki also appears in the form Lorbiecki). Probably in some areas there was a dialect tendency to turn that L sound into an R, so the word was pronounced haraburda instead of halaburda, and that fact is reflected in the surname form.

It is interesting to note that as of 1990 there were 226 Polish citizens who went by the name HALABURDA with plain L (pronounced roughly "hah-lah-BOOR-dah") and another 339 who spelled it with the Polish L with a slash through it, which sounds like English W ("hah-wah-BOOR-dah"). So 3 different forms of this noun gave rise to three different surnames, which are related linguistically (but that would not necessarily imply any relation in terms of kinship between families bearing these names).

If you'd like to study the data on the frequency and distribution of these names, go to this Website, http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html, and type "*a?aburda" in the box, then click on "Szukaj" (Search). Use of the wild cards * and ? will help match many different spellings of the name -- Chalaburda, Galaburda, etc. (I would ignore Malaburda, Małaburda, Maraburda, Naraburda, and Staraburda -- they are probably something else entirely, although I could be wrong). Studying the data this way can be fascinating, and can also sometimes prove to be very helpful. If I hadn't looked at it, it would never have occurred to me that this name could also appear as Alaburda (initial H sound dropped), Chalaburda (H and CH are pronounced the same in Polish, and thus often appear in variant spellings), and Galaburda (the H sound was written as G due to Russian influence).

If you need help understanding the data, you can read my article The "Slownik nazwisk" Is Online!" in the August issue of the free e-zine _Gen Dobry!  It's fascinating, too, to note that the original form, with L instead of R, persists in the different forms, Alaburda, Chalburda, Galaburda, etc. -- but the most common form is the one with R, Haraburda! This is just the sort of odd and unpredictable fact you run into all the time with surnames!

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


MARCINKIEWICZ

MARCINKIEWICZ is pronounced roughly "mar-cheenk-YEAH-veech." The suffix -ewicz means "son of"; Marcin is the Polish form of "Martin"; and the -k- is a diminutive, so that Marcink- is short for Marcinek or Marcinko, meaning literally "little Martin," but possibly also used in the sense of "son of Martin." So the surname Marcinkiewicz means literally "son of little Martin," but could also be interpreted as "son of the son of Martin." It simply indicates that an ancestor was named the Polish equivalent of "Martin," or "little Martin" as a nickname.

As of 1990 there were 4,385 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country, with no concentration in any one area; a Marcinkiewicz family could come from practically anywhere. To see the data you can search for the name at this site: http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html. If you need help understanding how to use it, you can read my article The "Slownik nazwisk" Is Online!" in the August issue of the free e-zine _Gen Dobry!

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 

  

 

 

 

 


GANSCHINIETZ - GESINIEC

Already for a long time, I am trying to trace the origin of my ancestors´ name "Ganschinietz".I only know that they came from Russia, presumably from Belorussia. Can you inform me why and when the ending "ietz" has been introduced and where can I find some literature on it, preferrably in German?

I'm afraid I don't know of any literature on this subject in Russian, but -ietz is a German phonetic spelling of a suffix that is quite common in the Slavic languages. In Polish it is spelled -iec, and it appears in many nouns, including Niemiec, "German" (root niem-, "mute," + -iec), kupiec, "merchant" (root kup-, "buy" + -iec), starzec "old man" (root star-, "old" + -iec). So a name in the form X-iec or X-ec means "one who does X, one closely associated with X."

I can add that Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions GANSCHINIETZ in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. It is a German phonetic spelling of a Polish name written GĘSINIEC, with the Polish nasal vowel written as an E with a hook or tail (Schwänzchen) under it.

The basic root of the name GĘSINIEC is the noun gęś (hook under the E, accent over the S), which means "goose" (its sound is similar to that of the German word Gänse, actually).  Rymut says the surname GĘSINIEC comes from a noun that can be spelled with nasal a or nasal e, gąsiniec or gęsiniec. He defines this noun as "chlew gęsi," "a trough for geese." (Das polnische Wort chlew übersetzt man gewöhnlich Schweinestall, aber hier bedeutet es ein Stall für Gänse, nicht für Schweine.)

It is difficult to say how a person came to bear this name, but it probably began as a nickname -- perhaps one who worked on a farm and often fed the geese might be called Gęsiniec. I think that is the most likely explanation -- the name meant "the one who often works at the trough for geese."

As of 2002, according to the best data available (a database maintained by an agency of the Polish government), I was amazed to see that this name appears in several different spellings. As of 2002 there were 5 Polish citizens who spelled the name GANSCHINIETZ. One, a female, lived in the powiat (much like a Kreis in the old German administrative divisions) of Grudziądz in Kujawsko-Pomorskie province. The other 4, 2 males and 2 females, lived in Strzelce Opolskie powiat of Opole province.

There were 273 Polish citizens who spelled the name GANSINIEC. Most fo them lived in Śląskie province, near Katowice, which is roughly the heart of the area Germans call Schlesien and English-speakers call Silesia. There were 6 who spelled it GENSINIEC, all living in or very near the town of Łomża in northeastern Poland. This area was part of "Russian Poland" from roughly 1815 to 1918.

There were 12 who spelled it GĘSINIEC. 8 of the latter (5 males, 3 females) lived in Wroclaw powiat of Dolnośląskie province, and 4 (2 males and 2 females) lived in the actual _powiat_ of the city of Wroclaw. So those who spell it GĘSINIEC all live in or very near Wroclaw (Breslau).

This data may not help you actually find relatives. But it may at least help you gain a perspective on where in Poland these various different forms of the name appear. At some point that may become helpful in your research.

I should add that people now living in southwestern Poland may not have been living there long. After World War II, when the Allies took lands long ruled by Germany and gave them to Poland -- the territory that is now western Poland -- many ethnic Germans fled, to resettle in East Germany (the DDR). The Communists wished to repopulate those regions, and also undercut resistance from people living in eastern Poland. So they forced many to relocate from east to west. Thus it is possible some of those people named GANSINIEC and GANSCHINIETZ and GĘSINIEC now living in southwestern Poland have only been there since 1945 or 1946. Before then they may well have lived in eastern Poland, in regions once ruled by Russia.

To sum up, GANSCHINIETZ is a fairly accurate German phonetic spelling of the Polish name GĘSINIEC; that is to say, if a German heard a Pole say Gęsiniec and tried to write it down, he would probably write it as GANSCHINIETZ. The name itself is of Polish origin, from a word meaning "trough or sty where one feeds geese." It probably began as a nickname for one whose job on the farm was to take care of the geese. A great many Poles came to live in Belorussia over the centuries, so it is possible your ancestors were Poles who lived there. But by the early 1800s Russia ruled all of what is now Belarus, Lithuania, and most of eastern and central Poland. So Poles who lived "in Russia" might have lived in any of those places -- and there were many Poles who lived in Belarus and Lithuania, as well as in Poland.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


SKRAKOWSKI

please excuse my intrusion but i am interested in finding out something about my surname, skrakowski. it has proved to be a fruitless if somewhat enlightening search on the internet as there are only a handful of entries at most in the search engines i have tried it on, yet other names produce many. it seems that my family does not have an ancestry that goes back beyond the present generation yet the nature of the name seems to be one that is old. by this i mean that its very meaning is 'from krakow' and as such must have come into existence in my mind at a time when people could still be distinguished by the place they were from. seems that my ancestors either left, or had to leave krakow sometime in early history, so why so little reference on the net? can you help

This is a fascinating question, and I must say up front I don't have a definitive answer. I often find such puzzles with names: X will be common, but X-owicz, "son of X," which you'd expect to be common also, turns out to be rare. Or vice versa. Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to why a name did or not catch on.

But if you read notes written by foreigners who've studied English, you'll notice that often what they write is perfectly correct grammatically, and makes sense -- but it sounds wrong. We just don't say it that way. This phenomena is common in languages; a particular formulation is perfectly plausible, but "we just don't say it that way." The same thing happens with names. This one is common, that one is rare, and it's damned hard to figure out why.

Since I can't give you a definite answer, let me mention this. You can get an opinion from the real experts if don't mind spending about $20. You can write the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. The staff consists of Polish scholars specializing in name origins, with access to large collections of material on the subject; there is surely no one else in the world better qualified to answer questions on Polish names. They can correspond in English, and the charge for researching a single name is seldom more than $20-30. You write to them with your request, and the individual who does the research will reply, and will tell you how much he/she is charging and how best to send payment. It is usually quite painless, and most people I hear from are very satisfied with the results; but the staff has been a bit slow lately in answering letters -- they have lots of other work to do, after all -- so patience is advisable. Now let me tell what little I can about SKRAKOWSKI.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland, available online at http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html), there were 26 Polish citizens by that name. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 8, Białystok 1, Gdansk 2, Gorzow 2, Jelenia Gora 6, Koszalin 2, Walbrzych 3, and Wroclaw 2. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data tells us the name is scattered all over the country in tiny numbers; there's no significant concentration that would help us point to a specific area and say, "Ah, that's where the name comes from." But this data is important in one way: it establishes that the name, however rare, does exist in Poland. So it is NOT an Anglicized distortion, such as Yastrzemski from Jastrzebski. It may be a variation of a more common name, but there are Poles who go by the name Skrakowski, and that is significant.

I have to differ with you on the basic interpretation of the name; I don't think it means "from Krakow." The reason is, in my experience you very seldom see names constructed that way, S-X-owski, where the S means "from" and X is the name of a place. It's redundant: KRAKOWSKI, without the initial S, already means "from Krakow."

When nobles first began using secondary names to clarify their identity, back in the 12th and 13th centuries, at first they used Latin formulations, since Latin was the language of all writing and record keeping. Thus a Pole Jan who had an estate at Grabowo would appear in the records as something like "Joannes de Grabouo." But later Polish became an acceptable language for keeping records, and Poles naturally tended to use native expressions meaning the same thing. At first you see "Jan z Grabowa," an exact Polish rendering of Latin "Joannes de Grabouo," and closer to what a Pole would say in everyday life.

But it wasn't long before Poles dropped that formulation as a foreignism and began using a Polish way of expressing the same thing: Jan Grabowski. That adjectival usage means "of Grabow/Grabowo," as well as "from Grabow/Grabowo." For some reason Poles liked the feel of it better than "z Grabowa." So nobles began using that formulation in a big way -- more and more went by X-owski, where X stands for the first part of the name of their estate. Gradually these names became hereditary and thus became surnames, and peasants began using them to. In that way "Grabowski" went from meaning "[lord] of Grabow or Grabowo" to "[one] from Grabow or Grabowo."

So you see, there's no need to express "one from Krakow" as SKRAKOWSKI, because KRAKOWSKI already says that. Of course you COULD theoretically use SKRAKOWSKI. But in my experience Poles just didn't do that.

Now you may write the Institute and they may tell you I'm all wrong about this. But I can only go by what I've seen and learned, and my gut feeling is that SKRAKOWSKI has nothing to do with Krakow.

So what is it? Good question. Usually X-owski means "one from a place with a name beginning X," but I can find no Skraki or Skrakow or Skrakowo. Often a rare name with A is a variant of a more common name with O, so I looked for SKROK- as well, and didn't find anything encouraging. The form SKRAKOWSKI could conceivably be a variant of SKRZAKOWSKI, with the -RZ- simplified to plain -R-; but again, I found nothing to substantiate that. So to level with you, I'm baffled.

But names in the form X-owski USUALLY (not always, but usually) refer to places of origin bearing names that meant, "of X." And surnames often referred to names of places that were small and don't appear on any map or in any gazetteer. In Poland even a bend in the road can have a name, especially if centuries ago, when names were originating, it was a significant center of commerce or activity. Very often we find it difficult to track down what place a surname refers to, but it does in fact turn out to come from a place name. Rare surnames are particularly likely to preserve old or dialect variations of names, so that the place in question may now called something besides Skrak-. The hard part, of course, is figuring out what or where it is.

The bottom line is that in many, many cases the only hope of getting the right answer is through genealogical research. If you trace your family back to their ancestral village, and then talk to people there, they may say, "Oh, yeah, that name refers to that field over there. They say once there was a farmstead there, but it disappeared long ago. But we still call that place Skrakowo because a man named Skrak supposedly owned it."

That's the best answer I can give you. I hope the scholars at the Anthroponymic Workshop may be able to tell you more. If you do write them and they give you a good, substantial answer, I'd be very interested in hearing what it was. You've intrigued me -- I'd love to know just what the heck Skrakowski meant, and why it's so rare! I want to know, even if the answer is, "You blew it, Hoffman. The pros say it is indeed a very old way of saying 'one from Krakow.'"

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


WOLICKI - WOLITZKI

Hello...and can you please help with just the 1 name Wolitski and possibly it's origin and where in poland i may look at to dig up more history on it? My grandfather came to saskatchewan canada in about 1905????? And i myself still live here!

Wolitzki is an alternate spelling of the name Poles usually spell Wolicki. The Poles pronounce the letter C as we pronounce "ts" in "cats," which is also the way Germans pronounce "tz." Poles pronounce the name Wolicki roughly "vo-LEET-skee," and when Germans, for instance, wrote that name down, they often spelled it Wolitzki or Wolitzky. But that's all simply spelling variation -- it's all the same name, and the standard Polish spelling is Wolicki.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 1,132 Polish citizens named Wolicki. They lived all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the following provinces: Kalisz 103, Konin 117, and Tarnobrzeg 101. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is not concentrated in any one part of the country.

Incidentally, this source showed no one named Wolitzki or Wolitzky. That's to be expected -- only foreigners would spell the name that way. Poles would always tend to spell it Wolicki.

Polish name experts say this name usually refers to a family connection with a place named Wolica or Wolice, so that it means literally "[one] from Wolica/Wolice." The problem is, there are a number of places in Poland with those names -- at least 27 named Wolica, and 2 named Wolice. There's no way to tell just by looking at the surname which one a given Wolicki family came from. Only genealogical research might establish that. That means tracing the family back in documents, generation by generation, till you find something that tells yuo exactly where in Poland your particular Wolickis came from.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


CHODKOWSKI

i make research about my grand father Théophile Chodkowski. He was born in Dobrolecka M'Chi 17 january 1892. His father was Jean (Jan) Chodkowski and his mother was Félixa Kossakowska.

My grand father came in France in 1905-1910 (i don't know exactly when). He came from the Ostrołęka area. He was too a self made man, and a veteran of World War 1.

The "legend" said that he had a brother, (or a nephew, or a oncle) called Kasimir, and this one go to the United States.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland, which can be searched here), there were 1,801 Polish citizens named Chodkowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 295, Ciechanow 277, Olsztyn 166, and Ostrołęka 455. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data indicates that the name is found all over Poland but tends to be most common in the northeastern part of the country, especially near Ostrołęka. So that at least indicates that your ancestors came from the area where this name is most common.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this surname in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He explains that most surnames in the form X-owski refer to the name of a place beginning with the X part. Thus we would expect Chodkowski to mean "one from Chodkow or Chodkowo" or some place with a similar name. Unfortunately, there are several places named Chodkow and Chodkowo, and it is impossible to tell which one a given Chodkowski family came from except through detailed research into that family's history.

I can tell you, however, that there are four small villages west of Ostrołęka with compound names beginning Chodkowo-: Chodkowo-Biernaty, Chodkowo Kuchny, Chodkowo Wielkie, and Chodkowo-Zalogi. If your family came from the Ostrołęka area, chances are good that their surname refers to a family connection with one of these villages. It is very common to see villages in that area with compound names. Most likely there was a connection at some point centuries ago, and one large estate was called Chodkowo, a name meaning "[place] of Chodek or Chodko"; later it was subdivided into four separate villages distinguished by adding a second name to the Chodkowo- part.

It is even possible your ancestor was noble, and that his family name originally indicated that they were the owners of the estate of Chodkowo. However, one cannot assume that. It is equally possible the family consisted of peasants who took this name because at some point they had lived or worked at Chodkowo. Again, the only way to shed light on any of these is through research into your family's history. I cannot do that, but you can, if you desire.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


GODLEWSKI

I am interested in the Origins of my family's surname- Godlewski. I would be happy to purchase your book if this information is contained in the volume. If not, what information can I supply to assist you in answering my request?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland, which can be searched here), there were 11,754 Polish citizens named Godlewski. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area; the name is somewhat more common in northeastern Poland than anywhere else, but not to the extent that this offers any useful lead in research. A Godlewski family could come from practically anywhere.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it -- like most names ending in -ewski and -owski -- derives from the name of a place where the family came from, or was associated with, at some point centuries ago. He specifically mentions Godlewo, Nur district, Łomża province, as a place the surname refers to.

I would add that there are few Polish place names that are unique, and there are other places with similar names (Godlewa, Godlewo, etc.) the surname could refer to. If you'd like to see some of them, go to this Website:

    http://www.jewishgen.org/shtetlseeker/loctown.htm

Enter "Godl" as the place you're looking for, select "Poland" as the country to be searched, and select "All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of various places in Poland with names starting Godl-. For each, click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc.

This is often the case with Polish surnames deriving from place names. Very often there's more than one place a name might refer to. The only way to determine which one the name refers to in a given family's case is through genealogical research. Thus if you determine the family came from a specific area, and you find a place nearby named Godlewo or something similar, chances are good that's the place the name originally referred to. In any event, I can only help with "quick and dirty" analysis, and cannot do the kind of detailed research necessary to establish this.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


 

 

KONCZAL - KOŃCZAL

 

Hello, I was wondering if you have any information on the name Konczal. We have been in this country a long time and no one seems to know anything about our origins. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

There are two possible names here, because in Polish there are two N's. One is normal N, and with that N the name Konczal would sound like "CONE-chall." The other is an accented N; the form of the name with Ń is pronounced roughly "COIN-chall"; that accent indicates a slight softening of the N that affects the pronunciation of the vowel as well.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 95 Polish citizens named Konczal. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Biala Podlaska 10, Bydgoszcz 13, Chelm 36; the rest were scattered in tiny numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

As of 1990 there were 1,088 Poles named Kończal. The name was found all over the country, but was highly concentrated in two provinces: Bydgoszcz, 533, and Poznan, 235. So this name is most often found in northwestern to western Poland.

The name with normal N, Konczal, is thought to come from a nickname for the first name Konrad, which also appears in German as Kuntz and in Polish as Kunc. Konczal would just mean more or less "kin of Conrad." This is the name most common in far eastcentral Poland, near Biala Podlaska and Chelm on the border with Belarus and Ukraine.

The more common form with Ń comes from a root seen in the verb kończyć, "to end, finish," and in the noun koniec, "end." In Polish names of the form X-al or X-ala the usual meaning is "one always doing X, one of whom X is typical." So Kończal would mean something like "the one who ends it, the one who finishes it; the one at the end." Thus it might have started as a nickname for a guy who tended to finish things; or it might well refer to one who lived at the end of a certain property or at the end of a village. I find that interpretation a bit more likely, because there are several names in Polish that mean that. "One who ends it" seems just a bit figurative for a name interpretation; more often than not, names are pragmatic. So I suspect the name referred to one who was somehow associated with a place at the end of a village or road or property. However, I can't rule out the other meaning; a Kończal might have been the kind of guy who said, "OK, you started this; I'm going to end it."

In theory Konczal and Kończal could be confused. In fact, some of those Konczals living in Bydgoszcz province were probably Kończals whose names were mistyped. And some names come in two forms, one with an accented consonant and one without, reflecting slight regional differences in pronunciation. I think in most cases, though, Kończal would prove to be the standard form, and it probably derives from the root meaning "end, final," rather than from a variant nickname of Konrad.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


LITWA

We are trying to find information on the name and ancestry for Litwa. We currently have little information on Albert Litwa, possibly from yonkers ny, parents may have migrated from binarowa, poland. We are doing the research for personal family history..... any help with the meaning or origin of this name would be greatly appreciated.

I'm afraid the nature of this name is such that I may not be able to tell you much. Litwa, pronounced "LEET-vah," is just the Polish word for "Lithuania." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying that it appears in records as early as 1372; he confirms that it comes from the word for Lithuania.

As such, it probably originated as a nickname for a Lithuanian who came to live among Poles, or for a Pole who had some connection with Lithuania -- perhaps he went there once, or went there on business sometimes, or even had a tendency to hang around Lithuanians instead of Poles. It's hard to say what the nature of the connection was, because there are many different possibilities, and no way to tell which one applies in your particular case. But a family bearing a name meaning "Lithuania" obviously must have had some connection of some sort with Lithuania, or perhaps with a place in Poland called Litwa because of a Lithuanian connection.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 826 Polish citizens named Litwa. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Kalisz 60, Krakow 192, Nowy Sacz 51, Ostrołęka 74, Rzeszow 52, Wroclaw 54. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. (Binarowa was in Krosno province in 1990, and there were at least 17 persons named Litwa in that province as of that year. There may have been more -- data from Krosno province was not complete in the databank, so the actual number may have been somewhat higher.)

It seems odd, at first glance, that this name is most common in southern Poland, especially the southcentral part of the country (near Krakow and Nowy Sacz). That's a long way from Lithuania! But if you think about it, actually it does make sense. Surnames developed to help distinguish people, so that you wouldn't confuse this Jan with that Jan or this Piotr with that Piotr. Suppose you live in northeastern Poland, near the border with Lithuania -- what point would there be calling someone there Litwa? Half the people you met could be called Litwa; the name didn't distinguish you. It'd be like everybody in Texas calling each other "Tex" -- sort of pointless. But if you run into persons of Lithuanian heritage down near Krakow or Nowy Sacz or Krosno, they're a long way from home. In that case a name meaning "Lithuanian" would distinguish them by pointing to something about them that made them stand out in a crowd. So actually it makes sense that the name would show up most often among people with a Lithuanian connection who had long since moved far away from Lithuania.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


MACHOWIAK - POLCYN - WACHOWIAK

Machowiak, Wachowiak, Polcyn.

Would like origins of the names.

These surnames from old Polish first names to which suffixes were added that mean more or less "son of, kin of." Thus Polcyn, pronounced "POLT-sin," comes from the ancient first name Połka, a Pomeranian variant of a name seen elsewhere in Poland as Pelka (this Polka has nothing to do with the dance; the Polish slashed L pronounced like our W.) The suffix -yn means "kin of, son of," so Polcyn would mean nothing more than "kin of Połka." It can also come from the place names Polczyno or Polczyn, the names of several places in Poland), meaning "place of Połka." Either way, the name itself is not particularly enlightening.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 1,209 Polish citizens named Polcyn. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 152, Pila 340, and Poznan 331. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. Clearly this name is found most often in western to northwestern Poland.

As of 1990 there were 5,012 Poles named Wachowiak, living all over Poland but especially in the western half, especially the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 361, Kalisz 341, Leszno 485, Pila 528, and Poznan 1,733. This name developed from nicknames derived from first names beginning with Wa-, such as Waclaw and Wawrzyniec. Poles often formed nicknames from popular first names by taking the first few sounds of the name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So they would take Wa- from one of those first names mention, add -ch- to form Wach, then add -ow (which means basically "of") = Wachow-, "of Wach," and then further suffixes could be added to that. So Wachowiak would mean roughly "kin of Wach." But it doesn't really mean anything, any more than "Teddy" means something -- it's just a name that developed from another name that did originally mean something.

Machowiak is exactly the same sort of thing, except it developed from first names beginning with Ma-, such as Maciej (Matthias) and Mateusz (Matthew). So Machowiak, pronounced roughly "mah-HOV-yock," would just mean "kin of Mach's sons." As of 1990 there were 605 Poles by that name, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Legnica 41, Leszno 267, and Poznan 89. So this name is found most often in west central Poland, in the former Provinz Posen [Province of Poznan].

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


MAJERCZYK

I am writing this e-mail in hope that you can tell me where the surname Majerczyk origin. It would mean a lot to my nephew, niece and brother-in-law if they new a little more about their polish ancestry. They are part polish part mexican but they have very little information about their polish heritage. My brother-in-laws father was named Val. I believe that either his parents of grandparents were famous opera singers. That is all he knows about his family. Oh yes his father served in the military. So if you could please give me an answer I would really appreciate it.

I don't have any information on specific families, so there is nothing I can tell you about any Majerczyks who were opera singers. I can tell you that I went to http://www.google.com, did a search for "Majerczyk," and came up with a number of hits that looked like they might have good information. If you haven't tried that yet, you really should.

In Polish Majerczyk is pronounced roughly like a combination of the English words "my-AIR-chick." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 832 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 84, Krakow 58, and Nowy Sacz 371, Walbrzych 79, and Wroclaw 50; the rest lived in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates tha name is most common along the southern broder of Poland, especially near the town of Nowy Sacz in southcentral Poland.

The suffix -czyk usually means "son of," although sometimes it can mean "assistant, small." Majer comes from the German name Maier, Majer, Meier, or Mejer, which started out as a term for the overseer or administration of an estate. It's a common name among Germans, and many Germans resettled in Poland, so it's not rare to see Polish names that started as adaptations of German names. So Majerczyk means "son of the estate administrator," or perhaps "assistant to the estate administrator." It would be one of the many Polish surnames that refer to an ancestor's occupation.

Now I should add that this is true if the family was Christian. Among Jews the name Majer has a different source, coming from a Hebrew given name which is most often spelled Meier (but Poles spell it Majer), from a word meaning "illuminated." So if the family in question were Jewish, the surname would simply mean "son of Meier." From what you say I suspect this is not relevant in your family's case, but I wanted to mention it in case it is. The names of Polish Jews and Polish Christians can differ even when the name itself is spelled the same, as in this case.

So if the family was Christian, the name means "son of (or assistant to) the estate administrator," referring to the descendants of one who originally bore the German name or title Maier/Meier. If the family was Jewish, the name simply means "son of Meier."

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


PARADOWSKI

I am of polish descent and my mother's maiden name is Paradowski. That is the only spelling that I know of. Have you come across this name and what is it's origin and meaning? Any help would be kindly welcomed.

In Polish Paradowski is pronounced roughly "pah-rah-DOFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 5,239 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 811, Bydgoszcz 284, Lodz 294, Płock 260, Skierniewice 380, Torun 248, and Wloclawek 373. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. Basically, this data tells us the name is found all over Poland, but tends to show up most often in the central part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the root seen in the noun parada, "exhibition, display, show" (from the same Latin root as our word "parade"). Surnames in the form X-owski mean literally "of X's _," where the blank is to be filled in with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out -- usually "kin" or "place." So in some cases X-owski can mean "kin of [the] X." But most often it refers to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place name beginning with the X part, which may have various suffixes that were detached before the -owski was added. If the family was noble, they owned an estate there; if not, they lived and worked there. So while X-owski can just mean "kin of X," it generally means "one from the place of X."

So this name may simply mean "of the exhibitions, of the shows, of the parades," possibly referring to ancestors who were associated with these shows and displays. Or it may mean "one from Paradowo" or some other places with similar names. I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual. The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may now be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. It's also quite possible the place name or surname, or both, have changed somewhat over the centuries. I'm afraid only genealogical research might uncover facts that would clear up exactly what place the surname originally referred to.

To sum up, the name is not all that rare by Polish standards, and is found all over the country, but especially in the central part. It means literally "of the parades," and could refer to ancestors who were connected with putting on displays or exhibitions; or it could mean "one from Paradowo" or some similar place name. Only detailed research into your family's history is likely to establish which analysis is relevant in their case. So you're more likely to get the final answer to this question than I am!

By the way, I went to http://www.google.com and did a search for "Paradowski" and found quite a few hits. If you haven't tried that, you should -- you never know what connection you may make that way.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


PODOLAK

My mother's maiden name was Podolak. I was born in 1938.

Podolak is pronounced roughly "po-DOE-lock." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 2,518 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 102, Ostrołęka 256, Przemysl 244, Szczecin 126, and Zamosc 488. So while the name is found all over the country, it tends to be most common in southeastern Poland.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles].He says this name means "one from Podolia," which is the name of an area in southwestern Ukraine. That's why it's not surprising the name is most common in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine and therefore not too far west of Podolia. You'd expect such a name to show up most often in areas reasonably near the region to which the name refers, and that's the case here. Surnames developed centuries ago, and there's been enough time for people bearing this name meaning "one from Podolia" to spread far and wide. But they still are most common in the part of Poland nearest Podolia. This name is also presumably fairly common Ukrainians, too, but I have no data for that country.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 


POŚLEDNIK - PUŚLEDNIK

I read your articles in polishroots and I kindly ask you where the name Puslednik comes from and what the meaning of it.

In Polish this name is usually spelled not with plain S, but with accented S, pronounced somewhat like English "sh." So the name is spelled Puślednik, pronounced roughly "poosh-LED-neek."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 104 Polish citizens by that name. They lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 12, Gorzow 1, Jelenia Gora 4, Kalisz 6, Leszno 48, Opole 1, Szczecin 15, Wroclaw 11, and Zielona Gora 6. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found primarily in western Poland, especially near the Leszno.

If you want to search the database for yourself, go to that site, http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html, and enter "P*LEDNIK" in the box, then click on "Szukaj" (Search). That will bring up Puślednik as well as other names that are very similar. It can be useful to compare different names and see how common they are and where they were common.

If you need help understanding how to read this data, you can read my article "The 'Slownik nazwisk' Is Online!" in the August issue of the free e-zine Gen Dobry!

None of my sources specifically mention the derivation of this name, but I looked in an extensive 8-volume Polish-language dictionary I have, which was recommended to me by Polish scholars as a good source of information on terms that often became surnames. It mentions a noun puślednik as a different way of spelling półślednik (accent over the O, slash through the L, accent over the S), which would be pronounced almost exactly the same way. That noun means "a farmer or peasant who works a 'half' farm." In Polish pół means "half," so this is a "half-farmer."

What that means needs a little explanation. Originally Polish peasants were allowed by nobles to work land that belonged to the nobles. A full-sized farm was one that was big enough to supply food for a family for a year. The size varied from place to place, but that's what a "full farm" was. However, as time went on and property was split among descendants, what began as a full-sized farm might become two half-farms, or 4 quarter-farms, and so on. A półślednik was a peasant who owned or worked a "half-farm" -- not one quite big enough to support a family by itself, but still much more land than many peasants had.

Now Poślednik (a more common name, borne by 500 Poles as of 1990, with the largest number by far, 267, in Leszno province) probably comes from a different word, poślednik, meaning "one who comes after; descendant." However, it can sometimes also mean the same thing as Puślednik. Probably the only way to find out for sure which meaning is relevant in a given family's case is through detailed research into their history, which might turn up some information that would shed light on this question.

There are other words in Polish that mean much the same thing, such as półkmieć and półrolnik. The fact that Puślednik and Poślednik are most common near Leszno province makes me wonder if it was a tendency for people in that area to prefer these terms, instead of the others? I don't know, but it does seem likely, in view of the fact that the surnames Poślednik and Puślednik are most common in that area. This might be a good indication that your family is likely to have come from that area originally.

Copyright © 2003 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

LIEBOWITZ

I was perusing your site in search of some information on my last name, Liebowitz. I saw that the ending -owicz means "son of" and am assuming that -owitz is an Americanized version of it. Is this a reasonable assumption?

You're close. The -owitz form is associated mostly with German, either directly or by way of Yiddish. An English-speaking person who heard the ending -owicz and tried to spell it phonetically would tend to write -ovich or -oveech. But Germans have a tendency to turn -owicz into -owitz (pronounced roughly "oh-wits"). This may just be a German tendency for no particular reason; or it may go back to early contact with Poles, who originally tended to use suffixes -ic ("eets") and -owic ("oh-veets"), and only later, due to Belarusian influence, changed the final sound from -c ("ts") to -cz ("ch").

I've never had a chance to find out WHY -owicz became -owitz under German influence, and my speculation above may be completely wrong. All I know is that you do often see Germanized forms of Polish names with -owitz (less often as -owitsch, even though phonetically that is more accurate).

However, Lieb is not a first name I have ever heard and it is not listed on behindthename.com, an exhaustive but surely incomplete listing of first name etymologies. Is "lieb" perhaps another word in Polish, a noun or adjective? And if so, how can the "son of" ending be reconciled with this? Or perhaps "lieb" is a modified spelling of "leib" (e.g. Annie Leibovitz) which has some other signficance?

LIEB is a German adjective meaning "dear, beloved," and it appears in first names, especially associated with Jews, either in German spelling or modified by Yiddish influence. So we see the feminine first name Liba or Liebe, masculine first names Liber or Lieber, Libman/Lipman or Liebmann/Lipmann, and so forth. (Note that Germans spell the "ee" sound as -ie-, but in Yiddish it is spelled with the vowel yodh, usually rendered in our alphabet as -i-; so Yiddish Liber is pronounced just like German Lieber).

As I said, these names tend to show up mainly among Jews. It wouldn't surprise me if you see them occasionally among Christians -- it would be natural for any people to call a child a name meaning "dear one," after all. Still, when I have seen names with Lieb- or Lib-, they most often turn out to be borne by Jews.

In any case, LIEBOWITZ is presumably a German version of LIBOWICZ, "son of Lib or Liba" or some similar first name deriving, directly or through Yiddish, from that Germanic root meaning "dear, beloved."

I should add that confusion is possible with another first name used exclusively by Jews, Leib or (as Poles spell it) Lejb, pronounced roughly "lape" as if rhyming with "tape." This is an ancient Hebrew name from the Bible (Genesis 49:9), and strictly speaking has nothing to do with those much less ancient Germanic names from the root meaning "dear" that I mentioned above. But factor in dialect variations, human error, and other factors, and is entirely possible that LEJBOWICZ, "son of Lejba," might sometimes end up being rendered LIEBOWITZ. It's not "correct," but many of the things you run into with surnames are not correct.

Thus for instance I believe the surname of Annie Leibovitz is Jewish and means "son of Leib." If everyone was an expert on languages and names and no one ever made a mistake, it would be regarded as completely distinct from Liebowitz, not to be confused with it. But in fact the names are often confused, and it's easy to understand why.

For more background info on Jewish names, there are several good files at this site: http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/#Names

To sum up, names ending -owitz are usually German or Yiddish versions of names Poles use with the ending -owicz (and Russians with -ovich, although of course they spell it in the Cyrillic alphabet). The name you're asking about should generally mean "son of Lib or Liba," referring to an ancestor with a given name derived from the German root meaning "dear, beloved" and used in a number of given names popular historically among Ashkenazi Jews. But due to the similar sound and spelling it can easily be confused with LEIBOVITZ or LEJBOWICZ, "son of Leib," which is an ancient Hebrew name associated with Judah.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


TRIKOWSKY

I have a looking for some sort of background information on my surname. It is TRIKOWSKY. I have been able to trace the name back to a small village in what was Bessarabia Russian. It was an area of Germans born in Russia. My confusion lays in the name itself I am finding conflicting information of the origins of the name .Is it originally from Poland then possibly they migrated into Russia or is it a Russian name. One last twist is that my family has always spoke German and consider themselves German. But when I started digging around I began to have questions. Most of the very few people I have found to posses the name lived in Germany but I was not able to contact them. Really what I'm looking for here is whether my name is Polish, Russian, or German

The first thing we have to be clear on is that ethnic identity may have nothing to do with a name's linguistic origin. If you go back to your 128 closest ancestors and it turned out 127 of them were Poles but 1 was German, his name might be the one you'd happen to inherit. So even though in this hypothetical case you are by blood 99% Polish, yet your name would be German. This subject gets very complicated, but I want to make clear from the start I'm talking about what LANGUAGE the name originated in.

We can scratch German -- it is definitely not of German linguistic origin. That ending spelling -owski or -ovsky or -owsky originated in a Slavic language, not a German one. Talking about a German named Trikowsky is like talking about a Swede named Yamaguchi; the two don't go together. Now since people can and do travel and relocate, you might have a Trikowsky living in Germany -- in fact, it's not at all unusual to find Germans bearing Slavic names, since the Germans and Slavs have been mixing and mingling for
centuries. And as I say, it's possible 99% of a Trikowsky's ancestors were German. But the name is not.

It's tougher saying whether the name is Polish or Russian, because many, many names and other words are similar in the various Slavic languages. From the form alone it is often difficult or impossible to tell whether a specific name is Polish or Czech or Russian or Ukrainian.

However, of all the Slavs, Poles are the ones most likely to bear a name ending -owski or -ovsky or -ovsky. The formation X-owski is one that most often originated among Poles. Thus the composer Tchaikovsky seemed to be as Russian as they come; but his name appears to be a Russified version of Polish Czajkowski, meaning "of or from Czajki or Czajkowo" or some other place with a name beginning Czajk- (as Poles spell it) or Tchaik- (as we spell the Russian version in our alphabet). So somewhere in his ancestry there was probably a Pole or Ukrainian who either came from or owned a place with a name beginning that way.

I would be lying if I said all names in the form X-owski or X-owsky were Polish. You do see Ukrainians and Belarusians with names of that sort. But they tend to be rarer, especially among Russians. They tend to use just the ending -ov or -ev, with any -ski added. You can read more about this.

All things considered, I'd say TRIKOWSKY is the name Poles spell TRYKOWSKI, pronounced roughly "trick-OFF-skee." Poles normally avoid the combination -RI-, preferring -RY- (but Russians have no problem with the combination (-RI-). Also Poles never spell it -sky, always -ski.

But if you look at the name and sound it out, you'll realize TRIKOWSKY and TRYKOWSKI are just slightly different spellings of the same name. Inconsistent spelling of names is extremely common when dealing with people from central and eastern Europe; it doesn't pay to get too hung up on spelling, better to deal with the sounds involved. This name could show up in records as TRYKOVSKY or TRICKOFFSKE or TRIKOWSKY, etc. But the standard Polish spelling is TRYKOWSKI. I suspect TRIKOWSKY is a Germanized version of that name, which would look kind of like this in the pre-1917 Cyrillic alphabet: T P N K O B C K I N

The 3rd letter looks like a backwards N, and the final letter looks like a backwards N with a little curve over it. The other letters look just like ones we use, but P is like the sound we write R, B is like our V, and C is like our S.

While frequency and derivation of this name in Poland is not directly useful to you -- since your ancestors seem to have been Poles who resettled in Bessarabia (which was not uncommon) -- such data can sometimes be helpful. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database at http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html), there were 283 Polish citizens named Trykowski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 31, Elblag 28, Gdansk 38, and Torun 87. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data tells us the name shows up most often in northcentral to northwestern Poland. I have no data for Bessarabia or any other country, so I can't give you any ideas on how common the name may be there.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it can come from the root seen in the noun tryk, "an ungelded ram," and in the verb trykac, "to butt with the forehead." Names in the form X-owski mean literally "of the _ of X," where the blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't have to be spelled out -- usually "kin" or "place."

So TRYKOWSKI probably started out meaning either "of the kin of the ram" or "one from the place of the ram." The Tryk part may have been a nickname of an ancestor who raised rams or reminded people of a ram, or something along those lines. Then Trykowski would have been the way people referred to his kin or to people who came from a village or settlement or farm he owned or founded. It's quite possible the family got the name in Poland, then later moved to Bessarabia. As I said, that was not particularly uncommon; we find names of Polish origin all over that whole area.

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
    

Wojtkiewicz

... Just found your page...very interesting. If you could, tell me anything you can about my maiden name Wojtkiewicz.

The -ewicz suffix means "son of," so Wojtkiewicz means "son of Wojtek, Wojtko," something like that. The first part of the name could come from two sources: it can be a nickname for a person named Wojciech, meaning basically "son of Wojciech"; or it can come from the term wójt, an official who was a sort of village headman. So the name means either "Wojciech's son" or "the wójt's son." It is a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were at least 2,624 Poles named Wojtkiewicz.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pryla - Pryła

... I was just wondering if you would be able to search for the name Pryla. I was told by my grandfather that the correct spelling is Prywa. I've never met or heard of anyone with that name besides my immediate family and have been very interested in finding out why. I wonder if I'm the last male able to carry on the family name?

Reading those first two sentences, I wonder if the story got mixed up a little? Saying the name Pryla should be spelled Prywa is kind of hard to explain -- but it makes perfect sense to say the name Pryla should be pronounced Prywa. That would mean the original Polish form was Pryła, where ł stands for the Polish l with a slash through it, which is pronounced like our w. So maybe your grandfather meant it was originally Pryła, pronounced "PRI-wah" (the first syllable sounds like the start of the word "prim"); or maybe his parents told him that and it got confused somewhere along the line... In Polish Prywa would be pronounced "PRI-vah," and there's no reason that should be spelled Pryla; but as I say, Pryła pronounced "PRI-wah" makes perfect sense.

All these names appear to be related to an old Germanic first name Bryl or Brill or Prill. I can't find anything on what that name might have meant, but it was a name used among Germans and Poles hundreds of years ago. So the surname Pryla or Pryła would mean basically just "Pryl's son."

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland with the name Prywa, but there were 50 Polish citizens with the name Pryła. They lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz (33), Gorzow (3), Katowice (6), Torun (7), Zielona Gora (1). There were also 15 named Pryla (no slash through the l and pronounced like an l), living in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz (10), Elblag (5). I'm afraid I have no further details such as first names, addresses, etc.

If you wanted to try to get addresses, there's only one way I know of to try: have someone search the telephone directory for the province in question. This is not a sure thing, phones in private homes are far less common in Poland than here. But a search of the Bydgoszcz province phone directory, for instance, might turn up one or two Pryła's and give you their addresses; you could write (the letter would almost certainly have to be in Polish) and see if there are any connections...

As you can see, it's not an easy way to do things, and there are no guarantees. But I know no other way to try to connect with relatives in Poland, unless your research has already allowed you to establish exactly where they came from.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Romanczuk – Romańczuk

I was also curious about my family name of Romanczuk. I found the site to which you directed [name deleted] with the maps. It is fascinating. Unfortunately, I don't know Polish although I am a French teacher. Is there a way to find a translation of that page?

Romanczuk in Polish can be spelled two different ways: with plain N, pronounced roughly "rome-ON-chook," or with accented N, pronounced roughly "ro-MINE-chook." While they mean essentially the same thing, "son of Roman," one is a lot more common in Poland than the other. You can see the maps on these pages:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/romanczuk.html

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/roma%25C5%2584czuk.html

I know of no way to translate the Polish pages into English. Google and others have translating tools; sometimes they work fairly well, sometimes they're downright pathetic. I doubt they’ll help much here, so I’ll summarize the relevant info for you.

The spelling with accented N was borne by 3,515 Polish citizens as of 2002, while the version with plain N was borne by only 43 (and you have to wonder how many of those were misspelled and should have had accented N). In either case, the name is most common in the areas along the eastern border of Poland with Belarus and Ukraine. For instance, the largest numbers of Romanczuks with accented N lived in the county of Tomaszów Lubelski, 241. In municipal Bialystok county, there were 203; in Sokołów Podlaski county 165; in Hajnówka county 156, and so on.

Note that on the maps, if you position your cursor over a county, its name appears. That's how you tell which is which.

There is a reason for that concentration near the eastern border. Surnames ending in -uk or -czuk almost always originated among the Eastern Slavs who live in the general areas of Poland's current eastern borders. The -uk ending is characteristic of surnames that developed among speakers of the language that eventually developed into modern Belarusian and Ukrainian. Centuries ago, those languages were less differentiated than they are now, and it can be pointless trying to decide whether a name was of Belarusian or Ukrainian origin. We usually just say it's East Slavic, except that classification includes Russian, and the -uk names developed east of what is now Poland and west of what is now Russia.

The ending, whether in the form X-uk or X-czuk, meant basically "son of X." So Romanczuk, with or without the accent on the N, just meant "son of Roman." That's a fairly common first name in eastern Poland and western Belarus and Ukraine, so it's no surprise we find people by this surname all over eastern Poland. If we had comparable sources of data for Belarus and Ukraine, we'd probably find the name is quite common in those countries, maybe more so.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no source of comparable data for Belarus and Ukraine. But it can be instructive to key in the Cyrillic spelling of Romanczuk (since Belarus and Ukraine both use the Cyrillic alphabet), Google it, and see what Websites it appears on. The Cyrillic spellings of ROMANCZUK are РОМАНЧУК for the name with plain N and РОМАНЬЧУК for the version with accented N. The Google search brought up lots of Russian Websites, probably because the Russian and Communist Empires incorporated so many Belarusians and Ukrainians into Russia; many Belarusian sites are actually in Russian, not Belarusian. But I notice quite a few sites registered in Belarus (.by) feature the name as well.

If your system can display Cyrillic characters, you might find it interesting to look at the Google results:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS312US312&q=%d0%a0%d0%be%d0%bc%d0%b0%d0%bd%d1%87%d1%83%d0%ba

If that link doesn't work, maybe this TinyUrl will:

http://tinyurl.com/ygtgaa6

That’s for РОМАНЧУК. I also Googled РОМАНЬЧУК, and it also shows up quite often on Russian sites, as well as Belarusian. I'm a little puzzled it doesn't appear more often on Ukrainian sites, but maybe that particular name is more common among Belarusians than Ukrainians.

http://www.google.com/search?q=%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8C%D1%87%D1%83%D0%BA&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLL_en

If that link doesn’t work, try this one:

http://tinyurl.com/ygddcs5

In any case, that's about all I can tell you.
 

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Wierzchołek

...Interested in knowing if you have any information on Wieszcholek or Wierzcholek.

Wierzchołek (ł stands for the Polish l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w) is the standard spelling of the name, but it might also be spelled Wieszchołek because the Polish rz in that particular position is pronounced the same as Polish sz, like our "sh" -- the name would sound to us roughly like "vyesh-HOE-wek." This name comes from the Polish word wierzchołek, which means "top, summit, peak." It might have been used as a nickname for someone very tall, or perhaps it referred to where someone lived, near the top of a hill -- with names that originated centuries ago we can't always tell exactly what they meant, only make reasonable guesses.

This is not a very common name, as of 1990 there were only 64 Polish citizens named Wierzchołek, living in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 1, Jelenia Gora 1, Kalisz 35, Nowy Sacz 1, Opole 2, Rzeszow 11, Wroclaw 13. They're kind of spread out -- Kalisz and Wroclaw provinces are in southwestern Poland, Rzeszow in southeastern, so there doesn't appear to be any helpful pattern to the distribution. Unfortunately the data I just gave is all I have, I don't have access to first names, addresses, or any other info that might help you get in touch with the Wierzchołeks in Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Szczudło - Szczudłowski

...Can you please give me a general meaning of my family's name, Szczudlo?

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, Szczudło is an established Polish name (the name sounds like "shchood-woe"). It comes from the term szczudło, "crutch, wooden leg," and appears in Polish records as early as 1407. Presumably an ancestor got this as a nickname because he used a crutch or wooden leg, and the name stuck. It is a moderately common name, as of 1990 there were 1,051 Polish citizens named Szczudło, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Czestochowa (57), Katowice (157), Krakow (234), and Pila (76), and smaller numbers living in virtually every province. This suggests the name is most common in southcentral Poland, but is not restricted to that region.

... Another variation of the name that has cropped up is Szczudlowski.

Yes, obviously that name comes from same root, but you want to be very cautious about concluding that Szczudło and Szczudłowski are variations of the same name. They both come from the same root, and in a rare cases the same family might have gone back and forth between the two versions before settling on one. But in most cases they prove to be different and unrelated in any way except linguistically. The -owski suffix usually refers to a connection with a place name; in this case, you'd expect it to mean "person from Szczudłow, Szczudłowo, Szczudła," something like that. (I can't find any such place on my maps, but that probably means it was too small to show up on them). The place, in turn, would take its name from that root szczudło, perhaps because they made wooden legs there or sold them, something. So the two surnames are related in meaning and origin, but in most cases families bearing them would not be related.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Reetz

... I would simply like to ask if the surname Reetz is a Polish name. I have learned that there is an area of Poland by this name.

In Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon he lists Reetz and says it is a Slavic place name in the Prignitz area and east of it; he says there was also a Reetze near Luechow. So this is one of many names that started out Polish or Czech and became Germanized -- there are a great many such names, especially in western Poland and eastern Germany. After all these centuries it is hard to say what Reetz started out as in Polish; another of my sources lists a village called Reetz by the Germans which the Poles call Recz (near Choszczno in Pomerania), and there was another called Reetz which the Poles call Rzeczyca Wielka (near Miastko in Pomerania). So there isn't just one place I can point to and say "This is Reetz," and thus there isn't one Polish surname I can give as the equivalent of German Reetz. But the Polish equivalents would probably start either Rec-, Recz-, Redz-, Rzec-, Rzecz-, or Rzedz-.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Pogorzelski

I have just started looking into my family history, and would appreciate your research, as your schedule permits, into the Pogorzelski surname.

Unfortunately, there is no one left on this side of my family to help with detail, so I was hoping your research may guide me to a starting point on a possible town.


I can certainly understand your hope, and it's worth a try! But surnames very seldom offer any useful clue whatever as to where a specific family came from. Polish surnames are no different from English surname -- most are too general in nature, or too common, or too rare. Even when they come from place names, as these two probably do, the problem is there are too many places with names that fit. With most Polish surnames you're very lucky if you find a concentration in a specific province or region; a specific town is usually too much to hope for. Still, it can't hurt to take a look at the data.

Pogorzelski is pronounced roughly "po-go-ZHEL-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 5,620 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over Poland, with some concentration in the northeastern part of country, near Białystok and Ostrołęka and Warsaw.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. It comes ultimately from the root pogorzały, "one who's lost his property in a fire, one who's been burned out," from the root gorz-, "burn, fire." So it could just mean "kin of the one whose home burned down." But it can also refer to a family's connection with any of a number of places with names beginning Pogorzal- or Pogorzel-, which probably got that name because they burned down at some time or another centuries ago. There's no way to tell which particular village is relevant in a given case without detailed research into that specific family's history. About the most we can say is that the name usually means "one from Pogorzałka, one from Pogorzel, one from Pogorzelec," etc.

I wish I could tell you more, but I find it cruel to mislead people with false hopes that will inevitably be dashed. Best to tell you what I can, hope it helps you a bit, and let you proceed from there.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bielat - Bielatowicz

...The question: How common/uncommon is Bielatowicz? ( I assume it's root comes from "white"). Do you have any data on the surname? Is it isolated to this area of Tarnow? (Honestly I've been searching for this name as a present day surname with little luck anywhere)

Bielatowicz means "son of Bielat," and yes, that name is connected with the root meaning "white"; it may have referred to a person who had a pale complexion, or white or fair hair, something like that. There were 366 Poles with this name as of 1990. As for distribution, it isn't absolutely isolated in the Tarnow area, but that's definitely the most likely area to find it. Here are the figures, broken down by province: Białystok (5), Gdansk (8), Katowice (12), Koszalin (10), Krakow (38), Legnica (6), Lodz (3), Nowy Sacz (5), Poznan (1), Rzeszow (24), Tarnobrzeg (2), Tarnow (250), Torun (2).

I notice that the name Bielat itself is a little more widely spread; there were 667, with 207 of them in Tarnow province, 92 in Kielce province, and 78 in Tarnobrzeg province, and no other province having more than 50. This means we can't assume all Bielatowiczes originally came from Tarnow province, that's stretching the data a little farther than it will allow. But I think it is fair to say that most Bielatowiczes, and an awful lot of the Bielats, must surely have their roots in the southeastern part of Poland, with particular concentration in the Tarnow area.

I hope this is good news for you -- so often I have to tell folks, "Sorry, your name's common and there's no hint on any area you should concentrate on." At least with this name the data is pretty suggestive.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Sala

... I am curious about the name Sala. I am aware that it means "hall, meeting place, salon," etc. in several languages, so I assume that it comes from a common root -- perhaps Latin. It does not appear to be a very common Polish name and seems to be more common as an Italian name -- even as the name of several Italian towns. Could it be that there was some migration from Italy to Poland? I would appreciate any thoughts you might have on this subject if you have the time.

Your ideas on this name can be right, but there are a few things I should add.

Sala certainly can come from the Romance root meaning "hall, meeting place." This word exists in Polish, too, with the same basic meaning. So while it's certainly true there were Italians who came to live in Poland -- and we do find Italian names mixed in among the Polish ones -- that doesn't mean people in Poland named Sala are of Italian descent. They might be, but they might have gotten their name from an Italian word that came into Polish, rather than from Italian people who came into Poland.

Also, Sala originated in other ways. In fact, for most Poles named Sala the surname probably started out as a nickname for Salomon (Solomon). Sala would be a little like Sol or Sal in English, with the final -a in many cases meaning "of Sol, of Sal" and thus referring to Sal's children. In Kazimierz Rymut's book on Polish surnames, the "Salomon" connection is the only one he mentioned for Sala; in my book I added the possible link to the noun meaning "hall, room" because I thought it might be pertinent in some cases and thus was worth a mention.

By the way, as of 1990 there were some 4,502 Sala's in Poland, living all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (343), Katowice (378), Kielce (717), Krakow (678), Rzeszow (203) -- this is an interesting pattern, it appears the name is most common in southcentral Poland, with some spillover to the southwestern and southeastern part of the country. However, there is virtually no province that doesn't have at least a few Sala's in it.

Anyway, that's a little info on this name. Your ideas about an Italian connection are plausible and may well prove correct in some cases; and as I said, there definitely were Italians who came to live in Poland. But for most Poles the connection with the name Salomon would probably prove to be relevant.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dobilas - Dubilas

... I say, could you possibly advise us on the frequency of the name Dubilas in Poland? We are doing research for some long-lost relatives in Argentina, whose grandmother was a Dubilas. Quite an unusual name, I believe, and it doesn't sound particularly Polish. Maybe Lithuanian?

As of 1990 there were 107 Polish citizens named Dubilas, living in the provinces of Lodz (87), Piotrkow (19), and Zielona Gora (1). In this case, too, there appears to be a strong connection with Lodz province --Piotrkow province is just south of Lodz province, so we are talking about a very small, specific area in the center of the country.

Dubilas is an interesting name, because dub and las both make sense as Polish words -- dub- is a root meaning "nonsense, idiocy," and in other Slavic languages means "oak" (in Polish "oak" is dąb), and las means "forest, woods." So you'd think Dubilas would mean "oak forest" -- and yet the expression doesn't seem to exist in Polish, I couldn't find anything on it! You might be right that the name sounds Lithuanian, there is a word in Lithuanian dobilas meaning "clover," also "sweetheart."

I don't have a lot of information about Lithuanian names, but you might write to Dave Zincavage. Dave is interested in Lithuanian names and has some books that may give some additional information about the name, whether it appears in Lithuania, how common it is, etc.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



 

Bejger - Bejgier

... Could you please tell me the meaning of the surname Bejger and an approximate location for this name. A possible original spelling of this name is Bejgier or Bejiger...

This sounds and looks like a German name that has been somewhat polonized; there are and long have been a great many ethnic Germans who came to settle in Poland, German names are very common there. I can't quite tell what the original German spelling would have been, it might have been Beiger or Beuger or several other possibilities. It only matters because I can't really tell what the name meant originally without knowing what its German form was... As for Bejger vs. Bejgier, Polish spelling rules say -ge- is not a permissible combination, it has to be -gie-; so Bejger is closer to the original German form, Bejgier has been a bit more polonized because that spelling rule has been applied. But they are the same name, just spelled differently. Bejiger is almost certainly a misspelling or error in copying.

As of 1990 there were 628 Polish citizens named Bejger, scattered in small numbers all over the country, but with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (65), Torun (201), and Wloclawek (156), all in northwestern Poland and in areas that were long ruled by Germany and have many, many descendants of Germans living there... Bejgier is less common, there were 228 Poles by that name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgodszcz (16), Jelenia Gora (16), Łomża (20), Torun (43) and Wloclawek (70). Again, these areas are almost all in the former German partition, lands ruled by Germany from roughly 1772-1918 or, in some cases, 1945.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Ruszkowski

... I would like to learn more about the surname Ruszkowsk. If you have information or can recommend sources, I would be most appreciative.

Names ending in -owski usually started as references to place names, often ending in -y, -i, -ow, -owo, etc. So we would expect Ruszkowski to have meant "person, family associated with a place called Ruszki or Ruszkow or Ruszkowo." My Polish atlas shows 14 villages named Ruszki, Ruszkow, Ruszkowice, or Ruszkowo, and the surname could have gotten started as a reference to any one of them. As is often the case with a surname coming from place names applying to more than one place, the surname Ruszkowski is moderately common in Poland; as of 1990 there were some 3,820 Polish citizens by that name.

So unfortunately the name gives no clue as to a specific part of Poland the Ruszkowskis might have come from. However, if you have some luck with your research and find your ancestors came from a specific area, and then find a Ruszki or Ruszkowo near there, chances are excellent that is the place the family was named for.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Koprowski - Kosel

... Can you tell me about my maternal ancestory names, Kosel and Koprowski?

Koprowski comes ultimately from the roots koper, "dill," or kopr, "copper." But usually names ending in -owski derive from place names, so we would expect Koprowski to mean "person or family associated with Kopry, Koprow, Koprowo," something like that. I can't find any places by those names in my atlas, but that may just mean they were too small to show up, or have had their names changed, or have since disappeared or merged with other villages -- it's not uncommon to come across surnames derived from places of names we can't find any more. As of 1990 there were some 4,921 Polish citizens named Koprowski, so it's a pretty common name.

Kosel isn't necessarily Polish in origin, but if it is Polish it probably comes from the roots kos, "blackbird," or kosa, "scythe." As of 1990 there were 331 Polish citizens named Kosel, scattered all over Poland but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (99), Łomża (33), Radom (31). I can't see any pattern to the distribution (and, since many people ask, I should explain I don't have access to any further data such as first names or addresses). The similar name Kosela is more common, there were 913 Poles by that name.

I should add that I recently received a book on Polish names of German origin, and it mentions Kosel as a Germanized form of a Slavic name, from Polish Kozieł or Czech Kozel, presumably from the root kozioł, "goat." It also says the name can come from a number of places in Silesia called Kosel, of which the largest was Kosel, now called Koźle, in Opole province -- here again a connection with the root meaning "goat" appears to be relevant. So the name could be Polish from the roots for "blackbird" or "scythe," but in a lot of cases it's probably a Germanized form of a Polish name from the word for "goat."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 


 

Charlap - Kharlap

... I saw your 'Notes on Polish Surnames' on the internet. I'm a (VERY) beginner at researching my family heritage. I know, for example that my great-great and great grandfathers lived in Slonim, Poland in the mid to late 1800's. The names that I have are as follows:

Mishel Charlap - son, Yosef (Joseph Charloff/Charlaff) who married Sarah/Sara. They had a son, David Charlaff (dates believed to be 1878-1944).


The names you mention lead me to believe we're dealing with Jewish ancestry, correct? This does matter, because while there is obviously considerable overlap in research methodology for Jews and Christians from Poland, there are also factors that can make the practical issues involved very different. Just for example, most Polish Gentiles had surnames by the 1700's, often a century or two earlier, whereas most Jews living in the Commonwealth of Poland (which included modern-day Lithuania, western Ukraine, and Belarus, which is the country Slonim is in now) did not take surnames until required to by authorities in the 1800's. This means that Jewish surnames were given during a period for which many historical records still survive, so we can trace them back sometimes and say things much more definitively about them than we can about Christian surnames, many of which were established long before the earliest surviving records.

If I'm right and the family was Jewish, I recommend using the library to try to get a look at two books. One is Alexander Beider's A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire, ISBN 9626373-3-5, published 1993 by Avotaynu -- you can learn more about it by visiting Avotaynu's Web page at www.avotaynu.com. Beider mentions this name under the spelling Kharlap (as a phonetic rendering of the Cyrillic spelling); he also mentions it in his book on Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland (spelled there as Charlap because of Polish phonetics), and the info in both books is similar, but the Russian book has extensive introductory comments more relevant in your case. Beider briefly discusses the origin and meaning of the name, and gives references that tell "about the story of this family."

Another book that might prove very helpful to you is the just-published Jewish Roots in Poland by Miriam Weiner, 1998, ISBN 0-96565-080-4. For more info see the Web page at www.rtrfoundation.org. It is a wonderful book, enormously helpful for doing research in Poland. Since your family appears to have come from what is now Belarus, it would be less helpful, but might still prove very useful.

Both these books are expensive, that's why I recommend trying to get a peek at them through a library; you may find them well worth the money, but it'd be best to see them and know first. Weiner's book is $50 + $8 shipping, Beider's is $75 + shipping (right now I can't find the catalog, so I don't know how much shipping comes to).

Beider's book suggests strongly that there is some real info available about the Charlap family, so I really think you want to get a look and see about following it up. A lot of times I have to tell people there probably isn't much material on their specific families -- in your case it just might be otherwise. I hope so, and good luck!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Charłos - Harłos

...I am researching my family's roots and would like to know if my surname means anything. My ancestor was born in Zrenica, Posen and had the following variations of the surname: Harlos, Harłos, Charłos.

The variations all make sense: in Polish h and ch are pronounced exactly the same, kind of like our h but a bit more guttural, and we often see names spelled either way without it necessarily having any significance. The ł is pronounced like our w, so the name would sound like "HAR-wose" (rhyming with the Spanish name "Carlos") -- and we often see it and the normal l confused, partly because in some regions of Poland there was a preference for one over the other, partly because foreigners are confused by the ł and often just write it as l (e. g., when Poles emigrated).

This is not a very common name in Poland. As of 1990 there were only 4 Polish citizens named Harłos, 2 living in Poznan province and 2 in Zielona Gora province (I'm afraid I don't have access to further data, such as first names or addresses). There were 13 named Charłos, 6 in Gdansk province and 7 in Leszno province.

None of my sources discuss this name, so I'm left to look in dictionaries for terms that might have been its source. I note that in Polish there is a root charł- that means "poor person, beggar, wretch"; I also see there's a Ukrainian root that Poles would spell the same way and means the same thing. So while the words beginning with charł- are not all that common, they do exist, and they refer to a poverty-stricken person, a wretch, a beggar; and it seems likely Charłos is a name deriving from that root. While -os is not one of the more common suffixes we see added to Polish roots to make names, it's hardly unheard of, either.

All in all, that's the best guess I can make -- that the name comes from some rather rare words that all means basically "person who was poor and having a very tough time of it."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Grajewski

[Note: Mr. Grajewski's original note, asking about his surname, was in Polish. My answer, in Polish, is followed by a translation in English.]

Szanowny Panie Grajewski! Nazwiska na -ewski i -owski zwykle wskazuja na zwiazanie z nazwami miejscowosci, wiec Grajewski prawdopodobnie znaczy "osoba lub rodzina pochodzaca z Grajewa lub Grajowa" -- z miasta "Grajewo" w woj. lomzynskim, lub ze wsi "Grajewo" w woj. suwalskim, moze byc takze "Grajow" w woj. krakowskim. Jest takze mozliwe, ze inne miejscowosci istnieja lub kiedys istnialy, z nazw ktorych to nazwisko moze pochodzic, ale takich nie znalazlem w atlasie. Polski uczony dr. hab. Kazimierz Rymut pisze w Nazwach miast Polski, ze nazwa miasta Grajewa w woj. lomzynskim pochodzi z nazwy jeziora, nad ktorym miasto powstalo. Ta nazwa byla staropruskiego pochodzenia, a Polacy przejeli ja w formie "Grajwo, Grajewo" (1577 r.).

W 1990 r. bylo 2,756 polskich obywatele o nazwisku Grajewski. Mieszkali w nieomal wszystkich wojewodztwach, z wiekszymi liczbami w tych woj.: warszaw. 107, bialostock. 119, bydgosk. 260, gdansk. 210, katowic. 110, poznan. 288, suwal. 313, torun. 189, i wroclaw. 98. -- Z tego wynika, ze to nazwiska wystepuje rzadziej w Malopolsce, a czesto w innych czesciach Rzeczypospolitej.

[English translation:]

Dear Mr. Grajewski,!

Names ending in -ewski and -owski generally indicate a connection with the names of localities, so Grajewski probably means "person or family from Grajewo or Grajów" ? from the town of Grajewo in Łomża province, or from the village Grajewo in Suwalko province, possibly also Grajów in Krakow province. It is also possible that other places exist or once existed from whose names this surname could derive, but I found none in the atlas. The Polish scholar Prof. Kazimierz Rymut wrote in Nazwy miast Polski that the name of the town of Grajewo in Łomża province comes from the name of the lake on which the town developed. That name was of Old Prussian origin, and Poles transformed it into the forms "Grajwo, Grajewo" (1577).

In 1990 there were 2,756 Polish citizens named Grajewski. They lived in almost all provinces, with the largest numbers in those of Warsaw (107), Białystok (119), Bydgoszcz (260), Gdansk (210), Katowice (110), Poznan (288), Suwałki (313), Torun (189), and Wroclaw (98). From this it appears that this name appears more rarely in Malopolska and more often in the other parts of the Republic.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Wojton

... I saw your message on the Polish Genealogical site. If you have the time I need some help. Our family name is Wojton. My father emigrated from Poland around 1922-24 from a town/village called Janow. The problem is I don't know what province. Mapquest shows 20 "Janow" listings in present day Poland. I thought that maybe you might be kind enough to tell from the surname where I should focus my search. I thank you in advance for your help.


I was afraid I wouldn't be able to help at all -- so often with Polish surnames there is no real clue to the specific area they came from, and as you've discovered, there are lots of Janow's. But I looked up the name, and there is some info that might be helpful. Here's the distribution by province for the 428 Wojton's living in Poland as of 1990:

Wojton 428: Bydgoszcz 5, Czestochowa 3, Gdansk 10, Jelenia Gora 6, Kaliz 2, Katowice 32, Kielce 190, Krakow 5, Krosno 3, Legnica 7, Lodz 6, Olsztyn 13, Opole 6, Pila 7, Piotrkow 10, Płock 13, Przemysl 4, Radom 6, Rzeszow 66, Sieradz 2, Skierniewice 1, Slupsk 1, Szczecin 3, Tarnow 6, Walbrzych 7, Wloclawek 9, Wroclaw 5.

Obviously you may be unlucky and your Wojton's might have come from one of those provinces with only 2 or 3 -- but if you play the odds, it seems the most likely place to start is Kielce province. With 190 of the 428 Wojton's (almost half), chances are reasonably good that's where your Wojton's came from. I notice there are at least 2 Janow's in Kielce province, but at least searching them might be a manageable job... If you have no luck there, Rzeszow province, with 66, seems like the next place to try.

I wish this data could have simplified your task a lot more, but at least it might be some help. Now you know focusing on a Janow in Kielce province is more likely to pay off than looking in, say, Tarnow province. You still may have a lot of work to do, but I hope maybe this will save you some trouble.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



 

Brytka - Levitsky - Lewicki

... Thanks so much, William, for your translations of my ancestral surnames. I just recently ordered your book from the PGS. I also thank you for listing some village names that I will definitely look into to see if great-great- greats came from perhaps these other villages.

I'm glad my info helped, and I hope you find the book even more helpful. I like the idea of the book and Web page because they complement each other. In the book I didn't have room for a lot of info on individual names, so I discussed background info at length; on-line I don't have time for a lot of background info but I can discuss individual names in more depth. Put them together and I think you have a pretty good source of information... As for the villages, they are crucial -- Slavic names seldom contain enough info in them to tell you exactly where they originated, but if you can match them up with a specific area, your chances of hitting paydirt are much better.

Could you possible look at two other surnames? They are: Levitsky...

The name Lev/Lew is definitely part of the picture. Actually the name Levistky could get started several ways, but the most likely way in most cases is this: a fellow named Lev has sons, who are called Levichi or Levitsy (the suffix just meaning "son of"), and then places associated with them end up being called Levichi or Leviche or Levitsy or Levitse, then people who come from there are called Levitsky (Polish spelling Lewicki). So usually Levitsky would break down as meaning "person associated with or coming from the place of Lev's son." It wouldn't have anything to do with the city of Lviv, in fact most likely you're looking for a village named Levitsy, Levitse, something like that.

... 2. Brutka (Ukrainian surname) from Strilbychi, Ukraine. My cousins pronounce it : Brit-ka (first syllable is stressed and has a short i sound). I dont know its original Cyrillic spelling, but it would have to be pronounced either: Britka or Brutka (Broot - ka).

I can't find anything under the Brut- root. There is a Ukrainian root that would be rendered bryt- in the Roman alphabet, meaning "shave, shaved" -- in Cyrillic it looks like this:  БРИТ-

Names from this root would be pronounced with a short i sound and stress on the first syllable. It seems plausible this root could be related to the name, "Brytka" may have originated as a nickname given to a person who was clean-shaven -- that would set him apart, which is how nicknames got started -- and eventually the nickname might have stuck as a family name... Anyway, that's the only thing I can find that appears likely to be relevant.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Wozniak- Woźniak

... Interested in any information on the surname Wozniak. It was my paternal g-grandmother's maiden name.

This is a very common name in Polish, as of 1990 there were 81,390 Poles named Woźniak. The root is woz, wagon, cart, and woźniak is a term meaning "saddle horse." This surname would probably be much like "Carter" in English, referring to a fellow who drove a cart. It might also be connected to woźny, a court crier or beadle, but in most cases I expect it's linked to the meaning "carter."

... Do you have any information on Dygton?. I am not absolutely positive of the spelling. It appears to be one of my paternal g-grandmothers. I think she was from Tarnow.

There was no record of anyone by that name in Poland in 1990, and I must say it doesn't even look "right" to me -- I have to suspect the spelling has been mangled. If the spelling's right, none of my sources give any info on the name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Strzelecki

...If you would be so kind i would like information on the surname "Strzelecki..."

As for the name Strzelecki, in 1990 there were 11,467 Polish citizens by that name; they lived all over the country, with some of the larger numbers appearing in the provinces of Warsaw (1,061), Bydgoszcz (540), Katowice (620), Kielce (539), Lodz (714), Poznan (476), Radom (473), Torun (583), and Wloclawek (607) -- in other words, the name appears to be fairly evenly distributed, with no obvious concentration in any one part of the country.

The root this name derives from is strzelec, "shooter, marksman," referring to someone who shoots a gun or, in older times, a bow and arrow. The name Strzelecki could come directly from this noun, thus meaning "[person or kin] of a marksman." Also, there are a some 20 or more villages named Strzelce and at least one Strzelec, and the name could also refer to an association with those places, thus "person or family from Strzelce or Strzelec." So this name probably arose independently in many different places, thus there is no such thing as one Strzelecki family -- the name is borne by many separate families, coming from different parts of Poland.

Common names such as this present their own problems -- it's not hard finding Strzelecki's, but you can't assume they're related to your ancestors; rare names have different problems -- it's hard to find info on them, but if you do, chances are they are relatives. Some Strzelecki's may be of noble descent, since surnames taken from place names originated when nobles took a last name from the name of the estates they owned; but in other cases Strzelecki's are probably descendants of peasants who worked on those estates. Only detailed research will establish which case is relevant to your ancestors.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Niziolek - Niziołek

... Is the name Niziolek in your book or do you have any references to it -- family trees, immigrants about 1900, locations in Poland etc. If so let me know, I may be interested in your book.

It is mentioned, but no name is discussed in great detail -- there just wasn't room in the book, instead I concentrated on giving an extensive list of names, tell what basic root they come from, and say what kind of names they are. Then readers can go to the first half of the book and read the chapters that give more info on how names of that sort arose. So if you want anything detailed, I'm sorry, I just didn't have room for it. What I give is basically this: Niziołek (the ł is pronounced like our w) comes ultimately from the root niz- meaning "low, short." One Polish name expert links it with the term niziołek meaning "imp, sprite." It is a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were 3,429 Poles named Niziołek, and another 2,592 named Nizioł, which is the same root without the diminutive suffix -ek.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kołacki

... I happened to come across your links site, and was just wondering if you had any info on the name Kolacki, I didn't see it in your list, that is my grandfathers name, he came from Warsaw, I am trying to trace some lineage back to poland, but so far have not had any luck, any info on the name would be greatly appreciated, thank you

Kołacki (the ł is pronounced like our w) is a moderately common name. As of 1990 there were 1,179 Poles by that name, living all over the country; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (130), Konin (116), Leszno (71), Lodz (73), Poznan (217), Szczecin (64) (there were 40 living in Warsaw province).

Determining what the name comes from is pretty difficult, because there are several possibilities. It could come from kołacz, "cake, wedding-cake" -- if you've ever heard of the Czech pastries called "kolaches," it's basically the same thing -- or it could come from kołat, "noise, din." Without any really solid info to go on, my guess is that it comes from a place-name, meaning "family from __." The problem is, there are several places that qualify, for instance, the villages of Kołata and Kołatka in Poznan province. Those 217 Kołacki's in Poznan province probably got their name from there. However, it's harder to say exactly what place a Kołacki in Warsaw would get his name from.

I know this doesn't really help you much, but it's so often that way with Polish names. You often can't point to one origin and say "This is definitely it." And I'm afraid this is one of those names.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Budrewicz

... I have just begun a search of my family name. What info I have is very limited. I have researched only a handful of Budrewicz's in America and have had contact via the internet to a Budrewicz in Poland who explained that the name was not widespread to say the least there. I would appreciate any info that you could give me...

The suffix -ewicz means "son of," so the name means "son of Budry, Budre, Budrus" something like that. So the question is, what does that root budr- mean? Ancient records mention a first name Budrys or Budrus which comes from Lithuanian budrus, "alert, watchful"; also in Polish budrus is a term meaning "a Lithuanian." So the name means "son of Budrus" = "son of the alert one," or else "son of the Lithuanian." It is not at all unusual, by the way, to see "Polish" surnames that are connected in form or meaning with Lithuanian names or words, and vice versa.

All things being equal, you'd expect to find a name like this most often in northeastern Poland, near the border with Lithuania (in fact, there is a village Budrowo, from the same root, in Suwałki province, which is in that area). However, over the course of time people have scattered quite a bit; also after World War II millions of people were forced to relocate from the areas east of modern Poland to the western part of Poland, so we find Lithuanian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian names scattered all over Poland. As of 1990 there were 644 Polish citizens named Budrewicz, and they were literally all over the country. The provinces with the largest numbers (more than 30) were: Warsaw (40), Elblag (47), Gdansk (40), Jelenia Gora (34), Olsztyn (52), Slupsk (36), Suwałki (31), Szczecin (45), and Wroclaw (54). Most of those provinces are in northern Poland, but I see no really useful distribution pattern there; it's a shame we don't have data from before World War II, when things got mixed up so badly.

By the way, the Lithuanian form of this name would be Budrevicius or something similar. You might want to contact Dave Zincavage to ask if he has any sources that shed light on the name and whether it's found in Lithuania. He is quite interested in Lithuanian names and might be able to add something to what I've given.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chechliński - Hechliński

...Hello, I am researching my father's family name Hechlinski (Chechlinski originally I think. I am having a lot of trouble finding out anything about this name...

Since Polish ch and h are pronounced exactly the same (kind of like "ch" in German "Bach"), either spelling is possible. But as of 1990 there were only 13 Poles who used the spelling Hechliński, living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (8), Gdansk (3), and Katowice (2). On the other hand there were 109 Polish citizens named Chechliński, living in the follow provinces: Warsaw 16, Gdansk 4, Jelenia Gora 3, Katowice 9, Koszalin 3, Krakow 9, Lublin 41, Lodz 5, Nowy Sacz 2, Poznan 4, Rzeszow 2, Tarnobrzeg 6, Zamosc 5. These suggests a concentration in southeastern Poland (Lublin, Rzeszow, Tarnobrzeg, and Zamosc provinces) but shows that it is found elsewhere.

According to the Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut, the ultimate origin of the surname is the verb chechłać, "to drench or to cut with a blunt instrument," but it also is connected with place names such as Chechły and Chechło -- those place names derive from the verbal root by way of the old word chechło, "damp meadow, damp area." There are quite a few villages by those names, so without very detailed info on your family I can't suggest which of them your particular ancestors were named for. But it probably suggested origin from a place with a name beginning Chechl-, and that place in turn got its name from the fact that it was situated on damp, marshy ground.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Borowski - Burowski - Buruffski

...I recently found your web site through a link from genealogy search web site. After reading your page I thought perhaps you could help me. I am trying to find information on the Polish surname Buruffski. The name belonged to my maternal grandfather (who I never knew)...

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Buruffski, and that spelling looks all wrong to me. Most likely the spelling was changed at some point, to make it easier to pronounce; this may have happened during the course of emigration, or it may have happened while your ancestors were still in Europe. If, for instance, they lived in the areas ruled by Germany about 1772-1918 the Germans, who tried to wipe out the Polish culture and language, may have changed it without asking. In any case, that spelling is not likely to be the correct original spelling, which you will probably need to get anywhere with your research. The question is, what was the spelling? I can't be sure, there are many possibilities. The two most likely, from a phonetic point of view are Burowski or Borowski -- the first is pronounced something like "burr-OFF-skee," the second like "bore-OFF-skee." It's not hard to see how either could be mangled into Buruffski. Going by numbers alone, Borowski is the more likely choice: as of 1990 there were 24,889 Poles named Borowski, living all over the country, as opposed to only 84 named Burowski (of whom 55 lived in Krakow province, and a few scattered here and there in other provinces). In some ways, that first syllable of Buruffski suggests it was Burowski, and that might be easier for you -- the other name is so common it's hard to get anywhere with it. Still, with names you really can't jump to conclusions, sometimes you look at the original form and what it ended up as and you're left scratching your head and wondering "How on earth did it get changed to that?"

I'm afraid you'll have to try to find some other records that give the names and especially the place of birth in Poland for your ancestors - the surname alone just doesn't give you enough to go on. That's usually the case, by the way, folks often contact me hoping I can give them a hot clue that'll take 'em right where they need to go. Usually I have to disappoint them (and I hate disappointing people). Still, better to tell the truth than encourage them with false hopes that will inevitably be dashed!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Dankowski

...My name is Anthony Dankowski... Is Dankowski a common Jewish name? And what does Dankowski mean? I do not know anything about my grandparents but I am told they were killed during the war...

Names ending in -owski usually started as a reference to an association between a person and a particular place, and the names of those places generally end in -i, -y, -ow, -owo, etc. I would expect Dankowski to mean "person from Dankow, Dankowo," something like that. There are at least 8 villages named Danków, plus several more named Dankowice that the surname could conceivably derive from. So unfortunately the name Dankowski does not narrow things down much, families coming from any or all of those places could end up being called "Dankowski." The names of those places, in turn, come from names meaning "of, belonging to Danek or Danko," and would refer to some connection between the place and men named Danek or Danko who owned them, founded them, were prominent in them, etc. Danek in turn is a nickname or short form of such first names as Daniel and Bogdan.

Dankowski can be a Jewish name, but it doesn't have to be; Jews or Christians could have a first name Daniel or Bogdan (which means "God-given" and is thus a Slavic translation of Hebrew-based Biblical names such as Nathaniel or Jonathan), so a "Danków" or "Dankowo" could be a place where either religion lived, and thus Dankowski could be a name used by Christians or Jews. There just isn't anything about the name that gives a clue either way. There are some names that by their very nature are unlikely to be borne by Jews or Christians, but this isn't one of them. As of 1990 there were 2,539 Polish citizens named Dankowski, living all over the country. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (233), Poznan (268), Torun (173), and Wloclawek (324), so the numbers are particularly large in north central and west central Poland; but those are provinces with large populations anyway, so I don't know that there's much to be concluded from that pattern.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Golec - Goletz

... looking for the surname Goletz. Have looked for it but haven't found it. Talked to parents and they think it came from Golec. Can you help me?...

Well, I can help a little. Goletz is indeed a German or English spelling of the name Poles spell Golec (the Poles pronounce c as ts or tz), so your parents are probably right about that. As of 1990 there were 16 Polish citizens who spelled their name Goletz, as opposed to 6,474 named Golec, so it seems likely the spelling change took place after your ancestors left Poland; it makes sense they would change it so people around them would have an easier time knowing how to pronounce it... The 6,474 Poles named Golec lived all over Poland, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Katowice (733), Opole (467), Tarnobrzeg (564), and Tarnow (593); I see no pattern there, apparently the Golec's are not particularly concentrated in any one area. The root of this name is gol-, meaning "bare, naked." Specifically, golec is or was a term meaning "naked person, poor person," in the sense of one so poor he couldn't afford clothes. This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but there are a lot of words in Polish meaning the same basic thing, so we have to figure there were plenty of folks so poor they went nearly naked. (As best we can figure, my wife's ancestors' surname, Holochwosc, means basically "bare- assed"!). This may not be the most complimentary of names, but believe me, when you start looking at the meaning of Polish surnames, this is a long way from the worst I've seen!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Mosiniak

... I understand my family name Mosiniak is a rather uncommon name in most places in the world. Can you tell me something about it ? Or a place to look? I have read your book on surnames.

Mosiniak is not an overly common name in Poland, only some 161 Polish citizens bore this name as of 1990. The root of the name is Mos-, which is like a short form or nickname for such first names as Mojsław (literally "my glory") and Mojzesz (Moses). Poles often took the first couple of sounds from a name, dropped the rest, and added suffixes. Thus Mos- could arise from Mojslaw or Moses, then Mosin would mean "of, belonging to Mos)," then -iak probably means "son of." So to whatever extent you can translate the name, it would mean something like "son of, kin of Mojslaw or Moses." That may seem kind of fuzzy, but names are that way -- what does "Ted" mean? It's just a short form of a name, "Theodore," which did originally mean something ("gift of God" in Greek), but by the time the nickname "Ted" arose no one associated any meaning with it any longer. Same with this Polish name: it just means "son of Mos, son of Mosin, Mosin's kin."

There is also the possibility it might refer to a place: -iak with a form of a personal name usually means "son of," but sometimes it's use with place names. There is a village in Poznan province named Mosina, I can't rule out the chance that Mosiniak started out meaning "person from Mosina." The chances are good enough to be worth mentioning.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 



Plech - Zarobski

... I am interested in finding out about my family's history. All I know is that my parents came from Poland to the US about 1950. My maiden name is Plech. My mother's maiden name is Zarobski. If you could give me some information about my surname, or how to find out more about my Polish history, I would appreciate it.

With Plech it depends on what the original Polish spelling was. If it was Plech, Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions this in his book as deriving from the noun plech, "cuirass" (a certain part of armor, if I remember correctly). If it was Plecha, it could come from that root, it might also come from the term plecha, "bald spot, bare spot." If it was Płecha (with ł which sounds like our w), then it probably comes from the root płcha, "flea." As of 1990 there were 476 Poles named Plech, 76 named Plecha, and 460 named Płecha.

Zarobski is a bit of a puzzle. It's not a very common name -- in 1990 there were only 33 Zarobski's living in Poland, most of them (25) living in Lublin province in southeast Poland. The name might refer to a village or community named Zarob, Zaroby, something like that, or it may come directly from the verb root zarobić, "to earn, merit." None of my sources mention it, so that educated guess is about the best I can do.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.




 

Rosen - Wallach

...Hello my name is Ben Rosen I have been doing my family tree and I was wondering if you know any informaion about the last name Rosen or Wallach. I can't find much stuff on either, I believe Wallach is either Russian or Polish and Rosen is German or Russian not sure.

Rosen and Wallach are both originally of Germanic (Yiddish) linguistic origin, meaning "rose" and "foreign" respectively, but there were lots of people with those names who lived in Germany, Poland, Russia, all over eastern Europe. One problem is that both names were so common that it's hard to really pin anything down without detailed info one exactly where the specific families involved came from. There are three books you might be able to access through the library that will tell you more. One is Benzion Kaganoff's A Dictionary of Jewish Names and Their History, Schocken Books, NY 1977 -- I believe a new edition has recently been put out, but don't have the relevant publication info handy. Still, with any luck you should be able to find a copy thru a library. Kaganoff gives good explanations, his book is very readable and not too expensive, but sometimes his derivations are suspect.

More accurate, but less readable and considerably more expensive, are Alexander Beider's two books, A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland and A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire." For more info on them, see the Webpage of Avotaynu, Inc. at www.avotaynu.com. Either book gives good background info, as well as some specific data on where people with particular names lived and what the names meant. With these books I would definitely recommend trying to get a look at them through a library or genealogical society -- you wouldn't want to spend the money to buy a copy unless you've seen first whether it's worth it to you. But they do have some really good info.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Trochowski

...I feel so lost. I have been doing genealogical research for 26 years, mostly in this country. I avoided the Trochowski branch for a lot of reasons. Now that everyone who resisted my efforts to connect with the "old" country is dead I can start really from scratch. Any info on the name Trochowski (Trohoski) would be helpful. I know my g-grandfather settled in Erie, PA and died there.

Names ending in -owski usually originated due to some link between the family and a place name, generally ending in -ow, -owo-, -y, something like that. I can't find any villages named Trochy or Trochowo on my maps -- there are probably such places but they are too small to show up. In any rate, that's what the surname most likely comes from -- it meant "person from Trochy/Trochowo." The place, in turn, probably got its name from the root trocha, "small, little." As of 1990 there were 509 Polish citizens named Trochowski, scattered all over Poland but with significant concentrations in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (144), Elblag (36), Gdansk (222), and Torun (33). These are all in a relatively small region, the northcentral part of Poland, in areas long ruled by the Germans.

If your ancestor settled in Erie, PA, you might want to investigate the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, 8 Lyle Rd, New Britain CT 06053. They have a number of members in Pennsylvania, they might be able to help you make some contacts that would prove useful. The Polish Genealogical Society of America is also pretty big in Pennsylvania, and has a lot of members from the part of Poland the Trochowski's live in -- you can learn more about the PGSA at their Website, www.pgsa.org.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



 

Kazimierz - Kusmisz

...HI, My last name is Kusmisz. My family is from Poland (Warsaw and Kaszimierz). The last name may have been changed, originally being Kaszimierz. Uncertain. Any info is appreciated, or help with how to find any information on my Polish relatives or where the name derives...

There are a couple of other names Kusmisz could conceivably come from, but if you have reason to believe it was originally Kaszimierz, that is certainly plausible. Actually the standard Polish spelling is Kazimierz, and it's an ancient Slavic name dating back to when the Poles were pagans and gave their children names formed by joining two root-words to express a kind of hope or prophecy for their children. So Kazimierz comes from the root kazi-, "to destroy" + mir, "peace" -- thus naming a child Kazimierz was expressing the wish that he would grow up to be a destroyer of peace, i. e., a great warrior ("peace" as ancient Slavs thought of it was not necessarily the wonderful thing we consider it, they gloried in war).

Kazimierz is an extremely popular first name in Poland, and has been for a long time -- it's one of the few Polish names that is even used in English, in the Latinized form Casimir. It is not all that common as a surname -- as of 1990 there were only about 202 Polish citizens with Kazimierz as a surname. But other names formed from it are extremely popular -- for instance, Kazimierczak (5,095), Kazmierczak (28,198) [both of which mean "son of Kazimierz"), and Kazmierski (5,240). The latter basically means "of, pertaining to, belonging to Kazimierz," and in many cases probably means "coming from Kazimierz" -- there are several places by that name in Poland.

So to some extent the questions in your case are, what was the original form, and when and where was it changed? As of 1990 there was no Polish citizen with the name Kusmisz, and only 8 with the name Kusmirz (in this case the RZ and SZ are pronounced the same, like our "sh"). I think you'll have to answer those questions before you can make much progress. Part of the problem is, surnames from this name are too common for the name itself to do you much good.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Olshefski - Olszewski - Stypułkowski

...You were so very helpful when I asked about my Puchiks, Moizuks, Judyckis etc, that I wondered if you could assist me with the origins and meanings of two more names: Olshefski and Stypulkowski...

Like most surnames ending in -owski, both of these are probably derived from place names. Olshefski is an anglicized spelling of Polish Olszewski, which is pronounced roughly "ol-SHEF-skee," so that spelling in English makes sense. The list of villages this name could refer to is pretty long, as there are quite a few villages named Olszew, Olszewka, Olszewo, so it's not surprising there are a lot of Olszewski's in Poland -- as of 1990, some 44,638, living all over the country! The root of the place names, in turn, is the word olsza, "alder tree." So Olszewski means basically "person from the place(s) associated with alder trees."

Stypułkowski appears to derive ultimately from the root stypuła, "drumstick," and there are several villages with compound names, "Stypułki" (literally "little drumsticks") + a second name, e. g. Stypułki Borki, Stypułki Giemzin, etc., in Kobylin Borzymy and Sokoly parishes of Łomża province; there may be more elsewhere, too small to show up on my maps. It's hard to say exactly why these villages got that name, perhaps there was a geographic feature that looked like a drumstick, or perhaps there was a family in the area that made drumsticks, or perhaps the places belonged at some point to a person with the nickname "little drumstick" -- the names probably originated centuries ago, so it's tough to say just how they got started. In any case, Stypułkowski would mean roughly "person from the place associated with little drumsticks," or just "family from Stypułki."

As of 1990 there were 1,636 Polish citizens named Stypułkowski, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (176), Białystok (344), and Łomża (551). The concentration in northeastern Poland is enough to make me wonder if most of the Stypułkowskis did, in fact, come from the area of those villages I mentioned above, and then spread out. I don't know if that's true, or if there are other Stypułkis in other parts of the country, too small to show up in my sources.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Chlewiński - Klevinski - Klewiński

...Could you please research my family name Klevinski. My father thinks the original spelling started with "Ch". My grandfather came to America from Poland around 1890. Thank you in advance for your help.

The problem here is trying to figure out what the original form of the name was in Poland. The v is wrong because Poles don't use v; but that's not a big problem, Polish w sounds like v and thus is often spelled as v by non-Poles. So we can say Klewiński is the way the name would be rendered by Poles. But what about the first letter? Your father could be right, non-Poles often had trouble with the guttural ch or h sound in Polish and turned it into k, which is the closest sound in English. So we might be dealing with Chlewiński.

But Klewiński is a recognized Polish name -- as of 1990 there were 72 Poles named Klewiński, living in the provinces of Warsaw (18), Bielsko-Biala (5), Gorzow (16), Jelenia Gora (1), Leszno (3), Lublin (6), Olsztyn (22) and Opole (1). There's no recognizable pattern to this, they're scattered all over the country. But the point is that this name is possible. It derives most likely from Klewe, a German place name, and generally Klew- in German comes from a short form of the first name Niklaus (Nicholas); there is a village Klewinowo in Białystok province.

If the name was originally Chlewiński, it comes from the root chlew, "pigsty." There were 238 Poles named Chlewińskias of 1990, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Olsztyn (40) and Pila (52), in northcentral Poland, the area formerly called Prussia and ruled for a long time by the Germans.

So either name is possible, and there's really no way I can tell you for sure which is right in your case. I guess you'll just have to hope you can find some record (immigration and naturalization papers, ship passenger lists, parish records in this country) that will establish what the original form was and where the family came from.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Jamroży

...I have been trying to find information on my maternal grandmother. She was said to be polish. Is the surname Jamrozy Polish?...

Yes, Jamroży is Polish (ż is the dotted z, pronounced like "s" in "measure"). It is actually a polonized version of the first name "Ambrose," in Latin Ambrosius. In Polish the standard form of this name is Ambroży, but in medieval Polish records we also see it in the form Jamroży (pronounced "yahm-ROZH-ee"). It was back in that same time period it began to be used as a surname, also; and although it is seldom seen as a first name anymore (as I said, Ambroży is the standard form of the name these days), it has survived as a surname. In 1990 there were some 1,045 Polish citizens with the surname Jamroży (and 4,399 named Jamro'z, from another form!). There doesn't seem to be any particular pattern to where they lived, so we can't say this name is more likely to come from one part of Poland than another -- but that's usually the case with surnames derived from first names.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Ścisław

...Yes, I have an odd surname. The name Scislaw has NOT been changed, shortened, etc from Poland to the US. (I have seen marriage documents-1890s- in Zuromin Poland for the name Scislaw.)

The name has a mark over the Cap "S" or "c" (sorry I can't remember) and a slash through the "l". My grandmother pronounced the name "Shish Waff" or "Chish waff"

The ONLY time I have ever seen the name in any form is from the town of Mstislav in Russia today. In the 1700s when Poland owned it...it was shown on a map as Mscislaw (same accent marks as mine...but with an M). I don't know if that means anything but I do know that Mstislav is a first name and not a surname....but then again, there is an M in front... ANY CLUES???


This is an unusual name, no question, and I'm glad you've done a good job of documenting it. Your grandmother's pronunciation is fairly accurate -- in standard Polish the name Ścisław (spelled as you indicate) would be pronounced roughly "SHCHEES-waff," and could very easily be pronounced in everyday use as your grandmother did.

As of 1990 there were only 9 Polish citizens with the surname Ścisław. They lived in the provinces of Ciechanow (8) and Torun (1). Unfortunately I do not have access to further details such as first names and addresses, but at least we know the name has not died out in Poland -- and if you ever do find a Ścisław in Poland, chances are excellent he/she is a relative!

The name could fool us because it looks and sounds like a couple of the ancient pagan Slavic names formed by joining two roots to create a kind of name of omen or prophecy for a child. You mention Mścisław (in Russian "Mstislav," there is a famous Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich), from the roots mści-, "avenge" + -sław, "glory," thus meaning "one famed for taking revenge." But in that name the M- is such an integral part of the meaning and the name that it would be rare for it just to drop off. So it probably has nothing to do with your name... There are other names such as Czesław, but these, too, probably have nothing to do with your name.

What is likely is that this name derives from the root ścisł-, "compact, dense, exact." There are several common names from this root, including Ścisło, Ścisłowski, etc. Name expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions these and others, including Ścisławski (24 Poles by that name as of 1990), as coming from that root -- he does not specifically mention Ścisław, but if Ścisławski derives from it, it's a good bet Ścisław does, too. The suffix -aw- is adjectival, and we often see it added to roots (e. g., Bielawa < bial-, biel-, "white"). So strictly from a linguistic point of view the name probably originated as meaning "person with a compact, dense body," thus someone who was short and thick and powerful. Ścisło is a more common one meaning the same thing.

There is also a plant in the myrtle family called ścisławin, Latin name beaufortia. I'm not familiar with it, but I'll bet it got this name because it grows thick and dense. It might be connected with your name, but not necessarily -- I mention it only because it proves that names can be formed from the root ścisław-.

So I can't be 100% certain, but it is very plausible that this is a variant of other names from the same root that happen to be a bit more common. There is nothing odd or strange about a Polish name formed by taking a root such as ścisł- and adding the adjectival suffix -aw. This is all perfectly natural and plausible, and that's my opinion as to how the name was formed. I could be wrong, but my gut feeling is this is right.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Ciszewski - Malewicki

...noticed you had information on Czyzewski and Malewicz. I was wondering if the info for those names are the same for Ciszewski and Malewicki? If not, do you have any info on these names you can share with me?

The Malewicz info would be very similar -- this means basically "son of the little guy," or perhaps "son of Mal" with Mal being a short form of a longer name such as Malomir. This is a moderately common name, with 1,113 Poles by this name as of 1990. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (109), Białystok (117), Bydgoszcz (173), Gorzow (82) and Szczecin (82). I really don't see much in the way of a pattern to the distribution, which makes sense -- a name like this could got started anywhere Polish was spoken and there were short guys who had children!

Czyzewski comes ultimately from the root czyz, "green finch, siskin," but more directly from a place name such as Czyzewo, Czyzew, etc. -- and there are a lot of those. As of 1990 there were 10,543 Poles named Czyzewski, living all over the country. So I'm afraid it's one of those names that's too common to help much. It can help in one way, however: if you do good research and pin down the part of Poland the family came from, and you notice there's a place called Czyzew or Czyzewo nearby, chances are good that's the particular village the name derived from in your case.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Ampuła - Mydło

...Could you please provide any available information on the following names: Ampuła and Mydło?...

As of 1990 there were 167 Polish citizens named Ampuła, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (25), Ciechanow (24), and Kalisz (60). It apparently comes from the noun ampuła, from Latin ampulla, a container used in church for wine or water at the Eucharist. In more modern Polish ampuła means the same thing as the English term "ampoule" or "ampule," a small glass vial. It's tough to say how a person would get this surname -- perhaps the family made or sold such items? Or I suppose it could be a nickname based on a person's shape. Without going back several hundred years to the time and place of the name's origin, it's a little tough saying exactly how it got started.

Mydło is a moderately common name, as of 1990 there were 472 Poles named Mydło. It comes from the noun mydło, "soap," perhaps indicating a person who made or sold soap, or maybe even a nickname for a very clean person. Poles by that name live all over the country, but there is a definite concentration in the provinces of Olsztyn (80) and Ostrołęka (192) in north-central and northeast Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Felenak - Stanczewski

...About the only information I have on them is their last name. If you could find the time to research these 2 names, I would appreciate it very much: Felenak and Stanczewski...

The name Felenak is either slightly misspelled or else very rare -- as of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Felenak. There were 62 Poles named Felenczak, and 640 named Feliniak. It could be the name was Felenak and as such was a pretty rare variation of a name such as Feliniak, or perhaps somewhere along the way the spelling was accidentally changed. Either way, names beginning with Felen- and Felin- come from nicknames or short forms of such Polish first names as Feliks (Felix) or Felicjan (a name seldom used in English, we'd probably spell it Felician). Poles often took the first syllable of a popular first name, dropped the rest (much as we turned "Theodore" into "Ted") and added suffixes. Felenak or Feliniak would both mean something like "son of Feliks or Felicjan." Unfortunately none of these names shows any particular distribution frequency, so I can't suggest a specific part of Poland where this name is most likely to be found -- it could show up almost anywhere.

Stanczewski also derives ultimately from a short form of a first name, in this case Stanisław (in English and Latin Stanislaus), often abbreviated by Poles as Stan or Staś; a name such as Stanczak or Stanczyk means "Stan's son," so that may be where the -cz- comes from. However, names ending in -ewski usually derive from a place name such as Stanczewo, something like that, and those places names in turn meant "Stan's son's place," referring perhaps to a man who once owned or founded the village. So Stanczewski probably started out meaning "person or family from Stanczewo, i. e., Stan's son's place." I can't find any such place on my maps, but most likely that just means it was too small or has since changed its name or been absorbed by another village. As of 1990 there were 242 Poles named Stanczewski, with the largest numbers showing up in the provinces of Pila (70) and Torun (39) in northcentral Poland. There were another 263 named Stańczewski, with larger numbers in the provinces of Tarnow (26), Torun (43), and Wloclawek (36).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



Makowski - Sztukowski

...Could you tell me the name origins for my great grandparents names? Sztukowski and Makowski...

Names ending in -owski usually derive from a place name the family came from or was otherwise associated with. Typically, those place names end in -ow or -owo, although there are other possibilities. Thus Makowski means "person or family associated with Makow/Makowo"; if the family was noble, they probably owned the estate or village at some time, and if they were peasants, they probably lived and worked there. There are several Maków's and at least one Makowo in Poland, so it's tough to tell which of them your particular Makowski's might have come from. As is usually the case when a surname can come from several different place names, Makowski is a very common name in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 25,340 Poles by that name, with no apparent concentration in any one part of the country. Warsaw province has the most, with 3,155, but virtually every province has at least a few hundred Makowski's living in it. The ultimate root of the name is mak, which means "poppy," so that "Makow" or "Makowo" may have started out meaning "the place with lots of poppies." In some cases it can also come from short forms of first names such as Maksym and Makary, kind of like our English nickname "Mack"; in those cases Makow or Makowo meant "Mak's place." So Makowski means either "person from Mak's place" or "person from the poppy place."

Sztukowski is less common, though still not rare; as of 1990 there were 1,011 Polish citizens named Sztukowski. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Kalisz (378) and Suwałki (232), with much smaller numbers in virtually every other province. The interesting thing is, I can't find a place named Sztuków or Sztukowo or even Sztuki on the map, which surprises me. Of course, there could be several little villages by this name, too small to show up on maps or in gazetteers, or there may be one or more places that used to have this name and changed it, or were absorbed into other communities -- since surnames typically originated several centuries ago, a lot can change and make it hard to find the place referred to. The ultimate root of the name is sztuka, "piece, part," from German Stueck.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Drwięga

...I was wondering if you can help me to find out a little more about the origins of my last name: Drwięga. I'm from Poland and I know that most of my family came from city Sanok in eastern Poland...

I'm surprised to find that none of my sources mention Drwięga -- as of 1990 there were 669 Polish citizens by that name, so it is hardly a rare name, and I would have expected that somebody would have written about it. Your link to Sanok does make sense, in that of those 669 Drwięga's, 383 lived in the province of Krosno. The others are scattered in small numbers all over Poland, with no other province having more than 40.

That information may be a little help, but I'm afraid I just cannot find anything else. This is a case where I recommend writing to the Pracownia Antroponimiczna Instytutu Jezyka Polskiego in Krakow, especially since you can probably write them in Polish, and letters in Polish are easier and quicker for them to answer. They don't do genealogical research, they just do research into the origins of names; from what others tell me, it's rare to pay more than US$20 for their analysis, and I have heard from many who were very happy with their work.

I'm sorry I could not help you, and I hope the scholars at the Pracownia can. If you do write them and they provide a good answer, I would be very interested in hearing what they say, so that I could include this information in the next edition of my book -- and thus pass the information on to other people with Drwięga ancestors!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Soroczyński

...We are just beginning our search for the location of the town where our Father was born: Uscilug, Wolyn, Poland in 1905--family name Soroczynski...

Uscilug is now called Ustilug, and it is in Ukraine (Wolyn is the Polish name of a region of Ukraine, called Volhynia in English); it's about 120 km. north of Lvov (Ukr. name L'viv).

Soroczyński comes from the root soroka, "magpie"; the root is the same in Polish and Ukrainian. Specifically, names ending in -iński or -yński usually refer to a family's connection with a town or village, so that I would expect this name to mean "family from Sorocko, Soroczno," something like that, and those names in turn would mean "place of the magpies," i. e., an area notable because there were a lot of these birds around. I can't pin it down as to which particular village the name refers to because there are a number of possibilities, especially if the territory now in Ukraine has to be considered. As of 1990 there were 978 Polish citizens named Soroczyński (I have no data on how many Ukrainians might have this name). In Poland the people named Soroczynski were scattered all over, with some of the larger numbers in the provinces of Białystok (56), Gorzow (80), Szczecin (102), Walbrzych (56), Wroclaw (91), and Zielona Gora (75) -- all over the map.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Moryl - Różycki - Ruzicki

...I am researching my genealogy and I came across your page on the Internet saying that you might be able to tell me about my surname. The names I have are Moryl and Ruzicki (I don't know if this is the right spelling). If you could tell me anything about their origins I would greatly appreciate that. I believe they were from the region of Galicia (do you know if Galicia the same as Selisia)?...

Galicia was the name given the area ruled by Austria from about 1775-1918; it covered southeastern Poland (from about Krakow east) and western Ukraine. "Selisia" is probably Silesia, the name of an industrial region in southwestern Poland and the western part of the Czech Republic -- it was called Schlesien by the Germans (who ruled it for a long time) and Śląsk or Szląsk by the Poles. So no, the two aren't the same -- both are in what is now southern Poland, but Silesia is west of Galicia.

Moryl could come from two different sources: there is a term morela, "apricot," and Morel was a sort of short form or nickname for the name Maurelius. So the name may have originated as a reference to the apricot (perhaps to someone who loved to eat them, or grew or sold them, or lived near a place where they were grown), but it might also mean nothing more than any other nickname -- just as "Ted," "Ed', "Jack" don't really mean anything in English, they're just short forms of first names. As of 1990 there were 480 Polish citizens named Moryl, scattered all over the country but with larger numbers in the provinces of Lublin (86) and Tarnow (138), both of which are in eastern and southeastern Poland; Tarnow province would have been in Galicia, I don't think Lublin province was, I think it was in the area ruled by the Russian Empire.

Ruzicki comes ultimately from the Polish form of the word for "rose," spelled as róża (sounding like our word "rouge" with a final -a tacked on). It's a tough name to get a handle on because there are potentially so many different ways this root can be spelled. Ruzicki probably originated in most cases as meaning "person or family associated with a place named Ruzyce or Ruzice or Rózyce" -- there are many, many places with names this could come from. Polish accented ó and Polish u are pronounced the same, so almost any place with a name beginning with Róz- or Ruz- could spawn this name. The form Ruzicki is rather rare (only 42 as of 1990), but Różycki was the name of 10,411 Poles as of 1990. So it's rather important to try to trace the family back as far as possible and see if you can determine the original spelling. If it really was Ruzicki, there aren't many of them left in Poland, they may be hard to track down but odds are decent they're related; but if Ruzicki is just an anglicized form of Różycki, there are thousands of them.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Nieuzyla

...I took your advice about contacting the Prof. in Krakow, in fact I went to see him at his office (after making an appointment of course). The attached file which I hope works is his written answer after 2 months, I would , and I presume he would not mind, is to put it on to your site for future reference, and hopefully other "Nieurzyla's" will see it and maybe contact me. Hoping that you find this interesting. Regards and thank you.... John Nieurzyla.

Krakow, November 6, 1997.

Dear Mr. Nieurzyla,

During your visit in the Polish Language Institute in Krakow, in September this year, we talked about the suspected origin of your surname Nieurzyla. As I wanted to consult some additional sources in order to look for the existence of different bases Nieurz- and Nieui- I promised you to write to you, after some time. Now, I can surely say that such a base as *nieurz- does not exist in Polish. In the book entitled: Slownik nazwisk wspoIczesnie w Polsce uzywanych (A dictionary of surnames borne at present in Poland), Vol.VI, Krakow 1993, published by professor Kazimierz Rymut, which I showed you, there are people who bear the same surname in different spelling, namely: Nieurzyla, Nieuzylla, Nieuzyla, Nieuzylla and Nieużyla. All these variants belong to one and the same proper Polish form Nieuzy*la. There are only 4 people in Poland who bear Nieurzyla as their surname. They live, at present, in the Bielsko-Biala province (3 people) and in that of Katowice (1 person). thus in the historical province Upper Silesia (=Gorny Slask). The surname in the form Nieużyla is borne in Poland by 347 people. Most of them (238 people) live also in the Upper Silesia, namely in the Katowice province. In the Lower Silesia (Dolny Slask), in the province of Opole reside till to-day 94 people named Nieu*zyla. The rest are spread all over Poland. This means that the surname Nieuzyla (the same refers also to other variants was borne mainly on the Silesian territory and that just there was the nest of this family. As, in the past, Silesia was ruled successively by Polish, Czech and German princes and kings the Slavic etymology of your surname might be of both Polish and Czech origin. The base of the surname might come from both old-Czech past participle neuz^il or neuz^ily and old-Polish nieużyly, modern Polish: nieuz(*yty, in both languages meaning the same:'a hedgehog'. The form ending in -a, thus Nieużyla instead of Nieu*zyly came into existence as a result of the so called "paradigmatic derivation". During this process the verbal (participial) form nieuzyly was introduced to the substantival paradigm, in this case to the feminine grammatical paradigm ending in -a - Nieuzyla. In Polish there are a lot of surnames of men which are declined according to the feminine grammatical form. We must for example le say: nie widzialem dzisiaj pana Nieużyly - (To-day, I haven't seen Mr. Nieuzyla) or Kupowalem te ksiatke z panem Nieużyla (I have, bought this book together with Mr. Nieuzla) and so on.

Another interesting consideration. If the surname Nieu*zyla (Nieurzyla) were of Czech origin it would first to be Polonicized, as the original Czech form would have to be spelled Neuz^il. As you remember I found such a surname in a book devoted to the Czech surnames. Therefore, we may say that the form Nieużyla is either a Polonicized form of a Czech Neuz^il or an original Polish form Nieużyla. To sum up it is to say that the form of the surname Nieurzyla, used by you, is an incorrect orthographic form of the proper Polish one: Nieużyla. Such incorrectness originated therefore that from the 17th century the sound spelled in Polish rz and ż was pronounced with us in the same way, namely as ż (in English marked phonetically as this sound you can find in the English word "measure." ) Till nowadays many people in Poland make mistakes in spelling, by writing rz instead of ż and vice versa. The newest example: At present, an American first name Jessica became very popular in Poland. It occurs that even in Polish Register Offices this name is registered against Polish rules of spelling, namely Drzesica, although the proper Polish counterpart of Americam Jessica should be spelled rather Diezika. In Polish linguistic circles, however, there is opinion that the names borrowed from those of foreign ones should be spelled according to their original foreign forms. Alas, there are with us also some linguistic purists who want that foreign names were adapted to Polish spelling rules. This is all I could tell you on the linguistic origin of your surname.

With best greetings

Klimek

 

Białobrzeski

...I am looking for the history of my last name. Bialobzeski, I have found so far that the correct spelling is Bialobrzeski. If you have any information at all please e-mail me back and let me know...

You're right about the correct spelling, it is Białobrzeski (the ł is pronounced like our W, so that the name sounds kind of like "bee-yah-woe-BZHEH-ski," with "zh" standing for the sound in the name "Zhivago" or like the "s" in "measure"). It is one of many names formed from the names of places; it could come from Białobrzeg, Białobrzegi, and Białobrzeskie, and they all mean basically "white shore, white coast." Unfortunately there are more than a dozen places in Poland bearing these names, so the surname itself gives no clue which of those villages any one Białobrzeski family came from (and most likely there's more than one family by this name). But such names usually originated because of a connection between a family and those places, so that the surname means "person/family from Białobrzeg/Białobrzegi/ Białobrzeskei," or, to break it down further, "family from the place with the white shore." If a family by this name was noble, it probably owned the villages at one point; if not, they probably worked the land there, or traveled there often on business.

As is normal with surnames derived from common place names, this is a fairly common surname in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 1,910 Polish citizens named Białobrzeski. There's no one area where the name is most common; we see the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (507), Łomża (153), Ostrołęka (286), and Wroclaw (110), but there are people by this name in virtually every province of Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jabłecki

...I am writing to enquire if you can assist me in tracing the origin and meaning of the name Jablecki. My great grandparents were Felix and Susanne Jablecki and they remained in Poland. I have some details of family history and I would really like to learn more. I have recently discovered that the surname of jablecki was taken by some Jewish families, but to my knowledge, my ancestors were Catholic. Any help will be much appreciated...

The original spelling of the name in Polish would be Jabłecki (where ł is pronounced like our W, so that the name would sound like "yahb-WET-skee.") The ultimate root is the word jabłko, meaning "apple," and there are a number of common surnames from it, including Jabłoński, Jabłkowski, Jabłonka, etc. I suspect Jabłecki is likely to be associated with a place name, perhaps a village called Jabłko or Jabłek, something like that. I can't find any such place on my maps, but that doesn't mean anything; some of the place names that gave rise to surnames have since changed, or the places have been renamed or absorbed into other communities. Such place names would mean "place of the apples," so they probably got the name because there was a stand of apple trees in the area. So you might construe the surname as "one from the place of the apples."

This is a fairly common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 1,042 Polish citizens named Jabłecki. There were Jabłecki's living in virtually every province, with larger numbers (more than 50) in the provinces of Warsaw (194), Katowice (69), Łomża (85), Ostrołęka (94), Poznan (79), and Przemysl (97). As a map will show, these provinces are scattered all over Poland, so there is no one area we can point to and say "This is where the name came from." Most likely, there were tiny communities with names like Jabłko, Jabłek, Jabłecko all over, so the surname originated as referring to families coming from any or all of those places.

By the way, surnames of this type could easily be borne by Christians or Jews -- there may have been Jews named Jabłecki, but you could hardly say it was a "Jewish" surname. Alexander Beider does not mention Jabłecki in his Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland," which suggests it was not borne by many Jews, at least not in the eastern part of what is now Poland. And your ancestors' first names were definitely Christian (although Susanna can be Jewish, it is normally seen in a form reflecting Yiddish origin and pronunciation, such as Szoszana). So if the family was Jewish, it probably converted several generations back -- which was by no means rare.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Paraszczuk

...I have been researching my surname and its origins and was wondering if you had any information about it. My name is Joanna Paraszczuk and my family are originally from Buczacz in Galicia (now part of Ukraine). I really would be very grateful if you could tell me anything you know!...

While none of my sources specifically mention Paraszczuk, I think I can give you a pretty good idea of its origin. It almost certainly means "son of Paraska," and Paraska (a variant of the Greek-derived first name Prakseda or Parakseda) is a feminine name far more common among Orthodox and Greek Catholics than among Polish Roman Catholics. This fits in well with your info -- you'd expect a name like this to show up more in what is now Ukraine than in Poland. From a social standpoint, too, this makes sense -- names derived from metronymics (mother's names) are far more common among Ukrainians than among Poles, who generally preferred patronymics (names derived from the father's name). So at some point in your family history there was a woman named Paraska who was prominent enough that her family came to bear a surname pointing to origin from her. In Ukrainian the Cyrillic spelling of this surname would look something like this: Паращук. It would tend to be spelled "Parashchuk" by our phonetic standards, but Poles spell the Slavic combination "shch" as szcz.

This name is, as we'd expect, rather rare among Polish citizens -- as of 1990 there were only 137 Paraszczuk's in Poland, scattered all over (probably due to post World War II forced relocations of Ukrainians to western Poland). I imagine the name's a lot more common in Ukraine, but have no data on that. You might visit
to learn more about Ukrainian language, customs, history, etc.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



Kornatowski

...I would like to know more about my last name- Kornatowski. Anything that you would be willing to tell me would be great (better than I know know)...

The surname Kornatowski, like most names ending in -owski, almost certainly refers to a place name, meaning something like "person or family associated with Kornaty or Kornatowo." In older times (not so much anymore) when Polish added the -ski suffix other suffixes had a tendency to drop off, so there are a number of names theoretically possible that Kornatowski could derive from. On my maps I see a village Kornaty in Konin province, perhaps 20 km. east of Wrzesnia, in west central Poland; also there's a village Kornatowo in Torun province, about 30 km. north of Torun, not that far northeast of the other one. People coming from these villages, and others too small to show up on maps and in gazetteers, could easily end up being called Kornatowski as a reference to lands they owned (if they were noble) or worked on (if they were peasants). These place names, in turn, derive from Kornat, a variant of the first name we know as "Conrad," so that the surname means basically "person from Conrad's place."

This is a moderately common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 1,280 Kornatowski's living in Poland, in virtually every province. The largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (218), Ciechanow (207), Gdansk (93), and Poznan (84), but as I say, the name is found in almost every part of Poland. This is not unusual -- places were often named for their owners or founders, and surnames derived from those place names, so this name could show up almost anywhere they spoke Polish and had guys named Kornat, i.e ., almost anywhere in Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Dzierżanowski - Kowalczyk - Podowski - Rutecki

...I found your page on the net which explains name origins and am interested in finding the meaning or origin of my families original name. If you have time any assistance would be appreciated...

The name Dzierżanowski, like most surnames ending in -owski, almost certainly began as a reference to a person or family's connection with place names -- in this case we'd expect it to mean "one from Dzierzanow, Dzierzanowo," etc. In older Polish when they added the suffix -ski prior endings had a tendency to drop off, so quite a few different places could yield the same name. I see on the map a village Dzierżanów in Kalisz province and villages Dzierżanowo in Ostrołęka and Płock provinces, and there could easily be more too small to show up on the maps. All these place names, in turn, derive from an old first name Dzierżan, from a root meaning "to hold, keep," so the villages originally meant something like "Dzierżan's place" (Dzierżan was probably the name of a founder or owner at some point), and the surname means "person from Dzierżan's place. It's a common surname in Poland, as of 1990 there were 1,526 Poles named Dzierżanowski, scattered all over but with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (241), Białystok (138), Ciechanow (164), and Katowice (113).

Kowalczyk just means "smith's son," and is very common -- as of 1990 there were 87,690 Poles by that name, living all over the country.

Rutecki is a moderately common name, as of 1990 there were 1,526 Poles named Rutecki. This is probably also derived from a place name such as Rutka or Rutki, and there are several villages by those names in Poland. The ultimate origin of the name is either ruta, "rue" (a kind of plant) or a variant of rudka, a place where iron ore could be found.

Podowski is a tough one, I'm not sure what that comes from. If you write the Institute in Poland, this may be the one they can help you most with, if the form is correct -- it may be the name was originally spelled otherwise, but it was mangled somewhat over the course of years or during immigration. As of 1990 there were 216 Poles named Podowski, so the name is not unknown in Poland; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (30), Ciechanow (53), Gdansk (20) and Olsztyn (48), with a few others scattered here and there. But I've never run across it before, and my sources don't give any clues what it might come from.

... I will also take your advice and contact the institut in Poland...

That's a good idea. But don't waste their time with Kowalczyk, that's just too common and they wouldn't be able to add much to what I've said. Dzierżanowski is probably also a little too common to be much good. But their notes on Rutecki and Podowski are especially likely to prove informative.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Wydrych

...I have been trying to locate any information on the above name, Wydrych. I know it is Polish...

Wydrych is a Polish name, as of 1990 there were 805 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Czestochowa (93), Katowice (79), Kielce (181), and Krakow (81), which are all in southcentral Poland. Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book on Polish surnames, saying that names beginning with Wydr- usually derive from the word wydry, "otter"; perhaps because a person caught otters, or made a noise like one, or somehow otherwise reminded people of an otter. Many surnames started out as nicknames, and it can be tough to figure out why a nickname originally seemed appropriate (there was a character named "Otter" in the movie "Animal House," and I haven't a clue why that was his name). I should also mention that this name might also derive from the verb wydrzyć, "to tear out or away, to pluck."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Drzewucki - Dzerwucki - Staroń

...Do you have any info on my maternal grandparents names? My grandfather was a Dzerwucki from the Poznan area. My grandmother was a Staron from the Lwow area...

How firm is that spelling of Dzerwucki? Because I've never seen that name before, and as of 1990 there was nobody in Poland named Dzerwucki. The combination Dzer- is rare in Polish, Dzier- is a bit more likely, but there wasn't anyone named Dzierwucki either. Is there any chance the letters have been switched and it was Drzewucki? That is a moderately common name; as of 1990 there were 438 Drzewucki's living in Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (99), Gdansk (34), Szczecin (33), Torun (37), Wloclawek (180). If Drzewucki is the original form, the name probably derives from the root drzew-, "tree, wood"... I'm not saying Dzerwucki can't be right, it can; but it would be quite rare, and it doesn't really look or feel right to me. I think verifying the original form could be pretty important here.

As of 1990 there were 3,230 Poles named Staroń, living all over the country but with the largest numbers (more than 100) in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (244), Katowice (601), Kielce (100), Krakow (106), Krosno (154), Lodz (122), Rzeszow (166), Warsaw (115), Wroclaw (192), Zamosc (144). Most of these are in southcentral and southeastern Poland, but I don't see any pattern more specific than that. The name comes from the root star-, "old" (in Polish and Ukrainian), so Staroń probably began as a nickname meaning "old fellow" or something of the sort.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Cielęcki - Cielencki

...I would be interested in any information you could help me find on my surname, Cielencki. I have seen several variations of the spelling over the years and am unsure if this is correct...

Are you a member of the Polish Genealogical Society of Texas? With your family's roots, it would seem a logical place to look for help with your research. For more info visit the Website:

Michalski - Stopczyński

… To my knowledge my fathers family other than one brother were all killed. He came from Warsaw my Fathers name was Tomasz Stopczynski, dob: 21st December 1908 , his only surviving brothers name was Stefan of the same surname dob: unknown.

The ultimate root of Stopczyński is clear: it comes from stopa, "foot." But Stopczyński doesn't come directly from that; more likely, it comes from a place name such as Stopka or Stopki, and that name in turn derived from the root meaning "foot," perhaps because of some geographical feature or landmark that reminded people of a foot. There are at least three places in Poland that the name Stopczyński could come from (and possibly many more too small to show up on my maps, or places that have changed names in the centuries since the surnames were established): Stopka in Bydgoszcz province, Stopki in Olsztyn province, and Stopki in Siedlce province. Obviously I have no way of knowing which of these a particular Stopczyński family was connected with; the most one can say, without considerable detailed research into the individual family's history, is that the surname derives from a place name, and Stopka and Stopki fit the pattern.

As of 1990 there were 577 Polish citizens named Stopczyński, with the largest numbers in the provinces of: Warsaw (57), Ciechanow (87), Lodz (58), Szczecin (44), and Wroclaw (58). There are smaller numbers scattered in many other provinces, but those are the ones with the largest concentrations. I'm afraid I don't see any particular pattern to that distribution, so we can't specify one area of Poland and say that's where your family probably came from. (This, by the way, is how it usually is with Polish surnames; there are comparatively few that offer clear leads as to exactly where they originated). I should add that I have no access to further data such as first names or addresses for any of the people living in the provinces mentioned.

… My mother who lives with me came from Oberniki, her mother had died when she was 8 months old, and very little of her she married a man (my grandfather who's name was Mihalski). They had 3 children, Roman, twins Lokardia, Cecylia (my mother).

I'm afraid I can't find an Oberniki on the map, but there are two Oborniki's, one in Poznan province, one (also called Oborniki Slaskie) in Wroclaw province... Mihalski comes from the name Michael (standard Polish form Michał, where ł represents the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W). Michalski is a very common Polish name, as of 1990 there were 51,325 Poles by that name, and large numbers of them lived all over the country. There was no one who spelled the name Mihalski. That, however, is not surprising. In Polish the ch and h are pronounced exactly the same, so a name spelled with a ch can very easily be spelled with h instead without any significance at all to the change. Until this century most Poles were illiterate, so there was no great pressure to spell names uniformly. Once the Communists set up compulsory elementary education for all Poles, there began to be more emphasis on spelling names the "right" way. So a great many of those Michalski's now living in Poland probably had ancestors whose names were spelled Mihalski in records... What I am saying is that in doing your research, you want to keep an eye out for both spellings, because from a practical point of view they're both the same name.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Ptaszek - Walaszkiewicz

… When you said the Polish name Bendyk probably derived from the first name "Benedict" you really didn't tell me what that name meant. Also we have two other names coming up a lot in the family, Ptaszek and Walaszkiewicz. When you have time I would greatly appreciate any description you may be able to obtain on them.

I'm sorry, I deal so much with obscure names that I get to assuming people are familiar with the meanings of more familiar English names, such as Benedict. It comes from Latin benedictus and means "blessed."

Ptaszek comes from the root ptak, "bird"; ptaszek is a diminutive form, meaning more or less "little bird, birdey" or "son of the bird." It's hard to say exactly why a person might get this name – perhaps they lived near birds, raised birds, had mannerisms that reminded people of birds. In any event, as of 1990 there were 2,234 Poles named Ptaszek, so it's a reasonably common name and distributed fairly evenly all over the country.

Walaszkiewicz could come from several different roots. With this one it makes a big difference what the original Polish form was: if the L has a slash through it, the name means "son of the geldling," and as you might imagine, it's not a very common name (only 66 in Poland as of 1990). But if the L doesn't have the slash, it could be a name meaning roughly "son of little Wal," where Wal is a nickname for several different common first names, including Walenty, Walerian, etc. This, too, is rare, only 36 Poles by that name in 1990. Or it could mean "son of the Wallachian," referring to a tribe of people who lived roughly in what is now Romania. So for this name there is no one simple, obvious answer; different people with this name might descend from folks who got it for different reasons.

… My great grandfather came from Szaflary, Poland which to the best of my ability I came up with south west Poland. You send most people with the name Bendyk are in the Mid central part of Poland. How did you find this?

I have a 10-volume set listing every surname in Poland as of 1990, telling how many Poles had that name in the whole country, then breaking it down by province. Sometimes this info is helpful, usually it's not -- there's no real concentration in any one area. If I think the data might be helpful, I mention it; if it doesn't tell us anything, I skip it. I don't have access to any further details such as first names and addresses; the Polish government agency that allowed its database to be used for the 10-volume set refuses to give anyone further details. So the most I can give anyone is data on surname frequency and distribution by province.

In this case, I only mentioned it to show that more people named Bendyk are in mid-central Poland than anywhere else; but of course, that doesn't mean that's where your family came from. If 100 live in Warsaw province and 2 live in Wroclaw province, the 2 in Wroclaw province might still turn out to be the ones you're related to! It's a matter of probabilities and odds. In my answers I emphasize the high-probability approach because by the nature of things I can't help with specifics. But I always try to remind people they should go mainly by the info they've uncovered; you're far more of an expert on your family than I can ever hope to be.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Przedziękowski - Przedzienkowski - Przedzieńkowski

… Does the name "Przedzienkowski" have any particular meaning? Is it a common Polish surname?

This is a very rare name. As of 1990 there were 21 Polish citizens who spelled the name Przedzienkowski, 4 who spelled it Przedzieńkowski, and 19 who spelled it Przedziękowski (ę stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and usually pronounced roughly as en) – all these spellings would be pronounced almost identically. The 19 Przedziękowski's lived in the provinces of Elblag (10) and Torun (9), and the Przedzienkowski's showed 3 in Elblag province and 8 in Torun province, so those seem to be the areas where this name is most common. (I do not have access to any further data such as first names or addresses).

I'm not quite sure what the ultimate root is -- David Zincavage may be right about the "spin thread" root, but if so I'd expect the initial nasal vowel to show up somewhere, i. e., Przędziękowski or Prządziękowski. As it is, I can't tell whether the name should be broken down to prze-, "across, through, very, thoroughly" + dzięk-, "to thank," or przed-, "before, pre-" + dzień, "day." Part of the problem is it's hard to say which of those spelling is the "correct" one; if we knew Przedziękowski, or instance, was the one that most accurately reflected the name's origin, it would appear to mean "one from the place where they thank you thoroughly"! Somehow I don't find that convincing.

But whatever the ultimate root, I think David's right that the name originally referred to a place of origin. I haven't spotted many likely candidates -- there's a Przedzeń in Kalisz province, that might work, but I kind of doubt it. Probably the surname did refer to the name of a place beginning Przedziękow-, but in the centuries since the surname was established, that place has vanished, been absorbed by another community, changed its name, etc.

So the short answer is, it's a rare name, and it probably referred to a place -- but good luck tracking that place down!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Rakowicz

I am a member of the PGSA and also have purchased your book the second edition on the Orgins and Meanings of Polish Names, however I still know nothing of my grandfather's name Josef Rakowicz. He was born 30 Nov. 1871 in Sierki, Łomża, Poland. I would appreciate any help that you could give me on this name. Thank you so much for the wonderful work that you are doing.

I certainly appreciate your kind words! I hope the material I write is some help to you and others trying to do genealogical research.

Rakowicz comes from the suffix -owicz, which means "son of," plus the root rak, "crab." So the literal meaning is "son of the crab." It is tough to say exactly why a person would end up with such a name. Perhaps the name was first applied to the sons of a fellow who caught and sold crabs, or who loved to eat crabs, or who walked like a crab or somehow otherwise reminded people of one. This name appears in records as far back as 1354, so it can be hard to figure out exactly what it meant centuries ago -- and the name probably originated independently in different places and times, so that it may have had different meanings in different cases. But there was some connection with "crab," that's the one thing that seems pretty certain.

As of 1990 there were 558 Polish citizens with the name Rakowicz, living in virtually every province but with larger numbers in the provinces of Białystok (101), Bydgoszcz (46), Pila (72), and Poznan (119). Sierki is now in Białystok province, so some of those 101 Rakowicz'es in that province may be relatives. Unfortunately I do not have access to more detailed info such as first names and addresses -- what I've given here is all I have... The interesting thing is that Rakowicz is only moderately common -- 558 isn't all that many -- yet the name it comes from, Rak, is quite common; there were 11,730 Rak's in Poland as of 1990. I haven't a clue why there'd be such a disparity!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Rakowski - Rekowski

… Blase Rekowski born 1852 in poland where? family names? any imformation would be great.

I'm afraid I don't have enough information to be able to help much with individuals. Relatively few Polish surnames provide clues that are much use in tracking down where a family came from; most often you have to have found out where they came from through researching records (naturalization papers, ship passenger lists, parish records in this country, etc.).

Rekowski is no exception. As of 1990 there were 2,313 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country. However, the greatest concentration of them by far is in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (528), Gdansk (970), and Slupsk (308). This the part of northwestern Poland associated with an ethnic group called the Kaszubi, in English the Kashubs -- they are closely related to Poles, but have their own language and culture that set them apart. In terms of linguistic origin, Rekowski is probably a northern Polish version of the very common name Rakowski, which just means "one from Raków/Rakowo" or other villages with similar names, of which there are a great many. So where most Poles would say "Raków" or "Rakowo" or "Rakowski," folks in northern Poland tend to turn that a into an e and say "Reków, Rekowo, Rekowski." And the Kashubs are the people among whom this name is most common.

There is an organization called the Kashubian Association of North America (KANA). I suggest you check into this, it's quite possible they can give you some useful clues and info.

 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Poręba - Poremba

… My name is ... Porambo, when my grandfather came to america our surname was changed from Poremba. He settled in the city of Lansford, Pennsylvania at the turn of the century. Oddly enough there were about 5 different families who lived in Lansford with the Porambo surname who were not related. I have no family to ask about our name.

The name Poremba is also spelled Poręba, where ę is the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced somewhat like en or, before b or p, like em -- so that Poremba and Poręba are pronounced the same, and that's why the spelling can go either way. The name comes from the term poręba, "clearing in the woods," and probably referred to where a family lived or to the fact that they made a living by chopping down trees. As of 1990 there were 3,036 Polish citizens named Poręba and 483 more who spelled the name Poremba, so it is a moderately common name. Poręba's lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (254), Nowy Sacz (966), Tarnow (293) -- thus the name is most common in southcentral to southeastern Poland. Historically this was an area where people were often given charters by local lords to found new settlements by going in to the woods and clearing spaces for buildings; such settlements were often granted relief from taxes or other payments for 10-20 years so they could get off to a good start. This surname probably refers in most cases to people connected with such a settlement.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pilitowski

… I wondered if you could be so kind as to tell me information about the surname Pilitowski, on my great Grandmothers tombstone it states Pilitowska. On her insurance paperwork it states that she was from Zalesz, Poland but I have never been able to find such a place.

Well, first the -ska/-ski business. You may already know this, but in Polish names ending in -ski change the ending when referring to females: it's Pan Kurski (Mr. Kurski) but Pani Kurska (Mrs. Kurska). So, as you rightly assumed, Pilitowski is the standard form of the name.

Names ending in -owski usually refer to a connection of some sort between a person or family and a place with a similar name ending in -y or -ów or -owo. So we'd expect Pilitowski to mean "one from Pilitów or Pilitowo." I notice on my maps only one place that qualifies, a village named Pilitowo, just a few km. south of the town of Plonsk in Ciechanow province -- my guess is the parish church in Plonsk is where folks from Pilitowo would go to register births, deaths, marriages, etc. I don't know whether any records would survive that you could link to your family, but it might be worth a look.

As of 1990 there were 280 Polish citizens named Pilitowski; larger numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (91), Ciechanow (78), Pila (22), Płock (20), and Szczecin (19), with smaller numbers scattered in a few other provinces. That distribution pattern shows that the name is most common in central and northcentral Poland, which is consistent with a Pilitowo connection.

"Zalesz, Poland" is tough because there's no exact match, but there are literally dozens of places this might refer to. There are jillions of villages called "Zalesie" (literally, "beyond the woods," quite a few named Zaleze ("beyond the bog"), etc. There is, for instance, a Zalesie some km. north of Plonsk, and thus not very far from Pilitowo -- it might be the place you're looking for. But I must caution you not to get your hopes up: there really are literally dozen's of Zalesie's, and other names that could easily be turned into "Zalesz." Odds are you could pick any spot in Poland at random and you'll find a Zalesie or Zaleze nearby. Still, this one might be worth a closer look. The nearest place with a Catholic parish church appears to be Glinojeck; if I were you, I'd go to the nearest LDS Family History Center, see if the records for that parish (Glinojeck in Ciechanow province) are available on microfilm, and ask to have them sent to the FHC for you to look through. No guarantees, you understand, it's a matter of playing the odds.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pisarcik - Pisarczyk

… I would like some information on the name Pisarcik. Is it related to the Polish name Piszczek?

No, there's no connection. Piszczek comes from a basic root meaning "squeal," and probably derives directly from the noun piszczek, "one who plays pipes or fife." Pisarcik looks to me like a Czech equivalent of the Polish name Pisarczyk (they are pronounced almost exactly the same) -- both mean "son of the writer, clerk, scribe." Pisarczyk is a fairly common name in Poland, there were 2,015 Poles by that name in 1990; as of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Pisarcik. The root pisar-, "writer, clerk, scribe," and the suffix -cik/-czyk, "son of," are used in several Slavic languages, so I can't be sure Czech is the one Pisarcik comes from -- but it strikes me as the most likely. Of course, it is also conceivable the name may have been Polish Pisarczyk spelled differently because of some external influence.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pierzchała - Pieszchała - Turacki - Turak

… I am having difficulty in finding anything on the surnames Pieszchala and Turack if you can help me with these names I would surely appreciate. These were my g-parents and my mother died young so I have nothing to go on!

Pieszchala is almost certainly a spelling variation of the name Pierzchała; the ł is pronounced like our w. In Polish the combination rz is usually pronounced like "zh" in "Zhivago," and sz like the "sh" in "ship"; but under certain conditions the rz "devoices," as linguists call it, to the "sh" sound, so it sounds like Pieszchała, and that's why the name is sometimes spelled that way. To our ears it would sound like "pyesh-HA-wah." According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, this name, first seen in legal records from 1429, comes from the verb pierzchać, "to flee, run away," and the suffix -ała usually implies continuous repetition of an action, so Pierzchała would mean "one always running away."

I'm not sure this name has to be considered uncomplimentary -- as of 1990 there were 4,548 Poles by this name, so it's kind of common, I doubt it would be that common if it were necessarily thought of as negatively. In any case, it is found all over the country, so I can't really point to one area and say "That's where it comes from"... The spelling Pieszchala is interesting, because only Poles would turn that rz into sz (a German would turn it into sch, an English-speaker into sh), so that suggests the name may have been spelled that way in Poland, and not changed when your ancestors emigrated. But as of 1990 there were only 8 Polish citizens who spelled the name that way, so I don't think the spelling is going to give you any leads. Until after World War I most Poles were illiterate, so spelling tended to be far less standardized; but once most Poles were taught to write, the "correct" spellings of names became standard. In other words, more than 50 years ago a lot of those Pierzchała's might have sometimes been spelled "Pieszchała," so the spelling itself isn't a reliable clue.

Turack might be a couple of names: it could be Turacki with the I dropped, or it could be Turak with the k changed to ck under German or English influence. Either way, we're dealing with a rare name; as of 1990 there were 3 Poles named Turacki (all 3 living in the province of Ostrołęka in northeastern Poland), and there were 28 named Turak (in the provinces of Biala Podlaska 5, Katowice 4, Lublin 5, Suwałki 1, Tarnow 9, Torun 4). I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I give here is all I have. If you have any luck in finding passenger ship records, parish records, naturalization papers, something like that which gives you more details on where in Poland your ancestors come from, at that point the rareness of the name starts to work in your favor -- if you do find someone by that name, the odds are fairly good he/she is related! In any case, according to Rymut the name comes from either tur, "auerochs," or turać, "to roll." The -ak suffix seems to me more likely to mean "son of" and the name probably means "son of Tur," with "Tur" being a kind of nickname for someone big, strong, hairy, like an auerochs. Rymut says the name Turak appears in legal records as early as 1488, so the name may not be common but it's old!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Patora

… Do you have any info on the name "Patora?" A surname book in the public library listed my former surname as meaning evil, clumsy, and inept. Were we all a bunch of clumsy evil people? How can this be possible? Did we attempt to overthrow the government and get punished with the surname?

I don't have anything really firm on Patora. In his book on Polish surnames Kazimierz Rymut mentions Patorek and Patorski as coming from the Latin term pater, "father," and if he's right about that, it's highly likely Patora comes from the same root -- from a linguistic point of view, Patora would almost certainly come from the same root that generated Patorek and Patorski. Derivation of a Polish surname from a Latin word may seem unlikely, but you have to remember that many Poles were Catholic, so when they went to Mass or had sacraments administered they would hear Latin words and naturally associate them with things holy. The word pater showed up all the time in the Catholic liturgy, referring to an earthly father and especially to a heavenly Father, so the word would not be unknown to Poles and would have a certain class and sanctity associated with it. It also was the Latin title by which a priest was called, literally "Father." So all in all, it's not that far-fetched a notion that pater could end up generating a Polish surname, perhaps associated with a relative of a priest, or a rather religious father. I, for one, consider this the likely derivation of the name.

I don't know where that surname book got that meaning of "evil, clumsy, inept," but I get mad when I hear from people who've been given utterly false information from so-called "experts." It makes me angry that there are people out there running their mouths without knowing what they're talking about!... OK, end of tirade, back to the subject. The only possible link I could find was a dialect term patorny that means "loathsome, hideous." It could be connected with your name, but it seems to be rare in Polish; and I see no reason to assume the name has to mean something awful (although I must admit, many Polish names do have pretty ghastly meanings!).

As of 1990 there were 1,144 Polish citizens named Patora; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Lodz (571), Płock (117), and Sieradz (154), with much smaller numbers scattered all over the country. This indicates the name tends to be concentrated in the Lodz-Płock-Sieradz area, which is right in central Poland (in its current boundaries). I'm afraid I don't have access to any further data such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is what I have.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Szysz

...His name was Michal Szysz, he did tell me he was born in Volca, Novogrodek, Poland in 1922. His parents were Maksym Szysz and Helen Wysocka.

I can't find a source that gives a definitive answer on this. I found two roots that are plausible sources for this name; I can't promise they're right, but I think odds are good one or the other is applicable.

One is a term szysz, apparently an archaic or dialect term, meaning "army volunteer." There is also a term szyszak meaning "helmet," I'm not sure whether it's related, but it probably is. If this root is the right one, it suggests an ancestor was connected with the army as a volunteer. My sources suggest this term is used more toward the northeast of Poland, and that seems to fit what you say -- more about that in a moment.

The other possibility is that Szysz- comes as a nickname from first names such as Sylwan (Sylvan), Sylwester (Silvester), and Szymon (Simon). It's well established that Poles often formed nicknames by taking the first couple of sounds of a popular first name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. And S- and Sz- often alternate in names. So Szysz could very well have started as a nickname for some popular first name, and the three mentioned above are the best candidates. If this is right, you can't say Szysz means anything, any more than "Ted" or "Joe" means anything.

As of 1990 there were 443 Polish citizens named Szysz; there were some living in virtually every province, but the larger numbers showed up in the provinces of Biala Podlaska (57), Białystok (29), Chelm (45), Elblag (45), Lublin (24), Olsztyn (35), Siedlce (25), and Warsaw (39). A glance at a map shows that the name is more common in eastern and northeastern Poland -- that fits in with your info, since "Novogrodek" probably refers to Novogrudok in Belarus (Belorussia). In other words, the area where your father was born was part of Poland then, but now is probably in the country of Belarus. This name may be more common in Belarus than Poland, but I have no data on that; what data i do have is for Poland in its modern boundaries, and it shows this name tends to appear most often in the parts of Poland near the border with Belarus.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Naskręt - Naskrent - Wietrzychowski

... Hello. Any information you could provide me on Wietrzychowska and/or Naskrent would be greatly appreciated. I'm having very little luck in my research.

Wietrzychowska is just the feminine form of Wietrzychowski, the ultimate root of which is the word wiatr, "wind." However, words ending in -owski usually indicate a connection of a family with a place that had a name ending in -ów or -owo or something similar. There is a village Wietrzychowo in the province of Olsztyn, and that's one place name the surname Wietrzychowski could refer to. Other possibilities are Wietrzychowice in Tarnów and Wloclawek provinces, and there could have been any number of places too small to show up on maps that could generate surnames. So the most we can say is that this surname means "person from Wietrzychowo" or some place with a similar name, and that place name comes from the root meaning "wind." This is not a common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were only 74 Wietrzychowski's, living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (19), Konin (12), Koszalin (5), Leszno (11), Pila 5, Szczecin (6), Wroclaw (16); unfortunately I have no further details such as first names or addresses.

Naskrent can also be spelled Naskręt, with the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced much like en; any name with ę is likely to be spelled with ę or en, and any name with en is likely to be spelled with ę. As of 1990 there were 201 Poles who used the spelling Naskrent and 1,501 who used Naskręt. I don't have solid information on exactly what the name comes from, but it probably is connected to the expression naskrzętnie, "crossways," or na, "on" + skręt, "turn, veer." Of the Naskręt's, the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Leszno (522), Poznan (372), and Wroclaw (98) -- so the name seems most common in western Poland (the pattern is the same for Naskrent).

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Bielenda

... Please, see if you can check a surname of Bielenda

I can find no source with definitive information on the meaning of the name. There are a bunch of Polish names that come from the root bial-/biel-, "white," and this may well be one of them. There is a suffix -enda sometimes added to Polish roots to make names, so biel- + -enda = Bielenda is at least plausible. If that's how the name originated, I suppose it would be something like "Whitey" in English, maybe a nickname for a person with very fair skin or light-colored hair. All this is a very plausible educated guess, however, and it could well be the name comes from something else -- I just don't have enough data to say.

If it does come from something else, it's worth noting that there is a Ukrainian verb belendity meaning "chat, chatter, stutter." That could very well be the source of this surname, because as of 1990 there were 345 Polish citizens named Bielenda. The largest concentration by far (204) lived in the province of Rzeszów in southeastern Poland, with the next-largest number (23) in the province of Tarnobrzeg, immediately to the north of Rzeszów -- and there were a few living here and there in provinces scattered all over Poland. So it would appear the name probably originated in southeastern Poland, and that's an area where Polish and Ukrainian mix to a considerable extent. So a person from that area, even though he's a Pole, might well have a name influenced by Ukrainian.

As I say, I don't have enough to prove anything either way, and this name may well come from the root meaning "white." But in view of the data on geographical distribution, I lean toward the "chatter, stutter" meaning. I suspect Bielenda started as a nickname for a person who tended to chatter away, or perhaps stuttered. If you would like to try to get something more definite, I suggest writing the Anthroponymic Workshop in Kraków.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kissel - Zając - Zajonc

Is it possible that the name Kissel was originally somthing else but changed when the family arrived. Also the same for Zajac. I've grown up being told that both are of Polish origin.

Zając (pronounced "ZAH-yonts") probably has not been changed, except for one slight difference: in Polish the second a is written as an a with a tail under it, and pronounced much like on, so that this name is often spelled Zajonc. It comes from the word zając, "hare," and is a very common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 48,349 Polish citizens named Zając, living all over the country... When people named Zając came to this country, in many cases the tail under the a was dropped and no further change was made. It is thoroughly plausible that that's the case here.

Kissel is harder, there's no basis on which to decide for sure. It certainly could be changed, for instance from Polish Kisiel, which would sound a little like "KISH-el" -- this is a common name from a word for a kind of fruit jelly; and as of 1990 there were 9,893 Poles by that name. But we can't rule out the possibility that this was a German name Kissel or Kuessel, or a Polish name Kiszel, etc.. In terms of numbers, Kisiel is by far the most common, so the odds are the name was originally Kisiel. But you can see that we don't have enough info to conclude that for sure.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Jakisz - Kępka - Kempka

...I am interested in the origins of two names. The first is Kempka and the other is Yackish. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Kempka comes from the Polish word kępa, "cluster of trees; holm" (ę is the Polish nasal vowel written as e with a tail under it and pronounced much like "en" or, before b or p, "em"); in other words, Kępka and Kempka are alternative spellings of the same name. The -ka is a diminutive suffix, "little __." So this surname probably started as an indication of where a family lived, kind of a shorthand for "the folks who live by the little cluster of trees." There must have been a lot of folks who lived near such clusters -- as of 1990 there were 5,213 Polish citizens named Kępka, and another 814 who used the spelling Kempka. They lived all over Poland, I see no significant pattern to the name's frequency and distribution; that just makes sense, this name could get started anywhere people spoke Polish and lived near trees, that is, anywhere in Poland!

Yackish is a tough one because the name has obviously been Anglicized -- for instance, Polish doesn't use Y at the start of words, also it doesn't use the combination "sh." Going strictly by phonetics, the Polish spelling would be Jakisz, and there is such a name, but it's quite rare; as of 1990 there were 24 Poles named Jakisz. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 7, Białystok 1, Katowice 2, Kraków 1, Lublin 2, Opole 2, Szczecin 5, Wroclaw 4 (unfortunately I have no access to further details such as first names or addresses). The name Jakisz appears in records as far back as 1579, and is one of many surnames that started out as a nickname for people with first names beginning with Jak-, including Jakub (Jacob), Jakim (= Joachim), etc. Poles loved to make nicknames by taking the first part of a popular first name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So basically Jakisz would be kind of like "Jake's son" in English.

Of course, without further research there's no way to tell if Jakisz is the name you're looking for -- it just seems to be the best match, based on the info you've given me. Whatever the original form was, it probably originated the same way. In any case, if the name starts Yack- in English, it probably was Jak- in Polish.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Raschke - Raszek - Raszkiewicz

... I have just started out researching my family name but have run into a great problem. My surname is Raschke, my family hails from Poland as far back as I can see, but there is also talk of my family being from Germany. Poznan is the accepted area that my family is supposedly from but I have learned that there are three distinct lines of Raschke, one of Polish origin (meaning Red breasted robin), one from Germany (meaning councillor in german) and one from Bohemia (alderman) ... Can you enlighten me as to what the name might mean, where in the area they may be from and any other info you can provide such as contacts, addresses, etc.

The only information I have is that German name expert Hans Bahlow said in his book Deutsches Namenlexikon that Raschke is Slavic in origin, a short form or nickname of the names Radslav or Raslav; Polish expert Kazimierz Rymut agrees that names beginning with Rasz- (which is how Poles would spell "Rasch-" phonetically) comes from the names Radosław and Rasław. Poles liked to form nicknames by taking the first couple of sounds from a first name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes: thus Ra- from Radosław and Rasław + -sz- = Rasz-. In Polish and most other Slavic languages the suffixes -ek, -ka, -ko, etc. are diminutives, so that Raszek or Raszko or Raszka would mean "little Rasz, son of Rasz." So the surname Raschke is a German version of Raszek or Raszka or Raszko, all meaning little more than "son of Radosław or Rasław." The original name might have been Polish or it might have been Czech, but it was definitely Slavic.

As of 1990 there were only 8 Polish citizens who used the German spelling Raschke, but there were 1,780 Poles with the name Raszka and 218 named Raszke (as well as 865 named Raszkiewicz, which means "son of Raszek/Raszka/Raszko").

I only have info on the linguistic origins of names, and nothing at all as far as contacts or addresses, so this may not be much help to you. But it's all I have access, and perhaps it will help a little. I hope so, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Latocha

...I was wondering if you had any clue how Latocha came to be a Polish surname, what it would mean, etc. It is often mistaken for a Spanish surname, but I have been assured, by my relatives here and in Poland that it is infact a Polish name. I know it has also been spelled Latocja. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Many Polish words and names sound as if they could come from Spanish or Italian, it's not surprising people are sometimes misled. Sometimes the exact same words or names develop independently in different languages, purely by coincidence. Latocha may be a Spanish name too, but it definitely can be a Polish surname; it appears in Polish records as far back as 1319. Surname experts say it derives from the term latocha, "year-old calf" (from the root lat, meaning "summer" or "year," thus a latocha was an animal that had already seen one summer). This was apparently used as a nickname for people sometimes, and eventually became established as a surname -- and not a rare one, either, since in 1990 there were 1,485 Polish citizens named Latocha. They lived all over the country, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (62), Katowice (466), Piotrków (92), and Tarnów (440); these provinces are in southcentral Poland, but that's the only pattern I can see to their distribution -- there's no concentration in one small area that would let us say "Here is where this surname started."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Schuetzmann - Schutzmann - Szycman

As you can see, my surname is Szycman. I am told that this was changed in the early 1950s from Schutzmann. From the look of that, I think it may have German origins. A bit scary, since knowing what the Germans did to the Poles. Have you any information on either name?

Yes, Szycman is clearly a Polish phonetic spelling of German Schuetzmann -- Polish sz is pronounced the same as German sch (like English "sh") and y is the closest Poles can come to the sound of German U umlaut (ü or ue). This is not unusual, there have always been large numbers of Germans living in Poland (there are thousands and thousands of Hoffmans, for instance), although after World War II a lot of them left, for obvious reasons!

German Schuetz- can refer in some cases to the root meaning "shoot," or to the root schützen, "protect, guard," so I'm not sure whether Schuetzmann would mean "marksman" or "watchman, guard," and neither of my sources on German names really settles the question definitively. But from what I see, the root with no umlaut, just Schutz-, is more likely to mean "guard," and with the umlaut, Schütz- or Schuetz-, probably refers to "shoot." So I believe this name started out meaning "marksman, archer." Once Germans by that name came to live in Poland, it was only a matter of time before the Polish influence began to affect the spelling of the name, and eventually Szycman was the result.

As of 1990 there were 88 Polish citizens named Szycman, living in the following provinces: Warsaw (10), Bydgoszcz (3), Elblag (8), Gdansk (50), Gorzów (14), Koszalin (1), Sieradz (2). Clearly Gdansk, in the area that used to be ruled by the Germans, is the main center for Szycman's. Unfortunately, I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses... Interestingly enough, despite all the bad blood between Germans and Poles especially after World War II, there are still 25 Poles named Schuetzmann, (Bydgoszcz province 6, Gdansk province 19), and 49 named Schützmann, with the u umlaut (Bydgoszcz 2, Gdansk 40, Lodz 2, Suwałki 5). It's dangerous making assumptions, but it's not entirely impossible that many of the Szycman's and Schuetzmann's and Schützmann's are related -- it was not unusual for different members of a family to come to use different spellings of the same last name. You shouldn't assume that's true, since Schützmann is probably a pretty common German surname -- but it is at least possible. If you go looking for Szycman's, don't ignore people named Schuetzmann or Schützmann just because of the different spelling!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Białousz

...I am searching for the surname Bialousz. My grandfather was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1906 and immigrated here with his family at the age of three months. Have you located this name in any of your research? I have been able to find absolutely nothing.

The name comes from the basic Slavic root bial-/biel-, "white." The form -usz- usually comes from the root ucho, "ear," so this name seems to mean "white-ear." I'm not sure how such a name got started -- perhaps as a reference to a horse or dog or animal with a white spot on its ear? And then it might be applied to the man who owned it? I don't know, none of this really convinces me, and yet Białousz (where ł is pronounced like our "w") should mean "white-ear."

This name is not extremely common in Poland, but I wouldn't say it was very rare, either. As of 1990 there were 267 Polish citizens named Białousz, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 41, Bielsko-Biala 4, Czestochowa 4, Elblag 38, Gdansk 6, Jelenia Gora 29, Katowice 19, Kraków 3, Leszno 11, Lublin 2, Olsztyn 30, Ostrołęka 42, Płock 2, Siedlce 8, Skierniewice 12, Szczecin 5, Tarnobrzeg 2, Walbryzch 1, Wloclawek 1, Zielona Gora 7. (I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses -- this is all I have). Interestingly, there were 761 Poles named Białous, which appears to mean the same thing; I would have thought Białousz would have been the more common form.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Świerzy - Świeży

...My mother's maiden name, Swiezy, has been overlooked by us. Any information you can give on this name?

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, Świeży (pronounced something like "shvyeh-zhee") is a Polish word meaning "fresh, new, in good condition." As of 1990 there were 480 Polish citizens who used this name in the spelling Świerzy (which is pronounced exactly the same) and 266 who spelled it Świeży. The largest number of Świeży's lived in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (25), Czestochowa (22), Katowice (79), and Kraków (87) -- all in southcentral Poland -- with fewer than 10 living in several other provinces.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bobrowski

...I didn't find my surname on your current list on the website. Is it possible to give me the meaning and origins of the surname Bobrowski? I've been getting conflicting information on this...

There are over 600,000 Polish surnames, so it's not surprising I haven't quite gotten to them all on the Website 8-).

The root of this name is bóbr, "beaver," but names ending in -owski usually started as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place name, often ending in -ów or something similar. There are quite a few villages in Poland named Bobrowa and Bobrowo -- all of which just mean "place of the beavers" -- and the name Bobrowski could get started from any of them. So basically Bobrowski means "person from Bobrowa/Bobrowo," or "person from the beaver place."

Since there are quite a few different places that could spawn this name, it's not surprising it's a moderately common one -- in 1990 there were 5,874 Polish citizens named Bobrowski, living all over the country.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Olejarz - Olejasz

... What can you tell me about the surname: Olejasz?

This is a variant spelling of the name Olejarz, which comes from the word olejarz, "one who makes or sells oils." In Polish the rz is usually pronounced like the "s" in "measure," but at the end of words it tends to devoice to the sound of "sh," which is spelled sz in Polish. So that's why the name Olejarz could easily end up being spelled Olejasz -- that's what it sounds like.

As of 1990 there were 2,746 Polish citizens named Olejarz, living all over the country. There were only 20 who spelled the name Olejasz, living in the provinces of Warsaw (6), Biala Podlaska (3), Rzeszów (1), and Wroclaw (10). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, so what I've given you here is all I have... It may be the people named Olejasz are the ones you should look for, but I would caution against jumping to that conclusion. Most Poles couldn't read and write back in the days of emigration, so names could get spelled any old way and people had no way of knowing better. Once the Communists took over and forced everyone to get at least an elementary education, more could read and write and name spellings tended to get standardized. A lot of folks who'd gone by Olejasz one time, Olejarz another, would have started spelling it the standard way, Olejarz, all the time. So as you do your research, be aware that the name's spelling may change along the way, and you may well find it spelled either way, even with your own ancestors.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Udziński

...In the 10 volume name listing from 1990 or in your research, have you ever seen this name. My cousins say that it was originally pronounced "whew-jhin-ski"...with a very soft initial "whew" sound...perhaps closer to "hyou-jhin-ski"... Any suggestions?? Perhaps some initial letters were dropped when they came to America??

That's certainly possible. It would explain that initial sound your cousins say it originally had. On the other hand, as of 1990 there were 87 Polish citizens named Udziński, with the vast majority living in the province of Torun (I have no access to further data such as first names and addresses, unfortunately). So it's also possible the name was spelled as shown, and that initial sound they describe was just some local dialectal or regional pronunciation... Or it could be the name was originally Chudziński or Judziński or Łudziński or something else. There's just not enough info for me to say anything for sure.

If you can't come up with more data, I'd suggest operating on the assumption that Udziński is correct, and see if you can get a line on some of those Udziński's living in Torun province. That's not a sure thing, but weighing probabilities, it seems the best bet.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jakubiak

...I am attached to the Dictionary Research Centre at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia. I am writing a book on The Multicultural Names of Australia. At the moment I am struggling through Polish names, with the help of your marvelous book.

They do present a bit of a challenge, don't they?

...As a fellow Onomastician I thought you might appreciate what has happened in Australia from the point of view of surnames. Since the end of WWII and the opening of Australia to European Immigration, the ratio of Anglo-Saxon the "foreign" names has changed from 10% to almost 50-50, especialy now that Asian immigration has increased so dramatically. It has all happened so quickly that "older" Australians find the plethora of new names bewildering. Hence my book.

I had no idea immigration to Australia had been so heavy -- although now, considering the matter, it certainly should come as no surprise! And I can well believe "older" Australians with Anglo roots would find it confusing and intimidating to have all these new ethnic elements to deal with.

...You explain everything so well that I have hesitated for many weeks to ask such a trivial question, but!! on page 24 of your second edition, you talk about Dorociak (Dorota + iak) which I assume means Dorota's daughter but I cannot find anywhere in the book which explains 'iak'. How it came about and why etc. I have the name Jakubiak to explain and I have said that it means Jacob's daughter, (you list it under Jakob on page 274) but I like to explain more about the etymology of the words etc. Would you mind very much letting me know more about -iak?


So much of my correspondence is with people who need to have the basic concepts explained to them, it will be a pleasure discussing this with an onomastician!

Essentially, the suffix -iak is the same thing as -ak; both are diminutive suffixes, but -iak differs only in that it involves softening or palatalization of the root's final consonant. Thus in some names we see -ak added directly to a root with no palatalization, e. g., Nowak, Pawlak; and in others we see the palatalization, e. g., Dorota + -iak = Dorociak, Jakub + -iak = Jakubiak, Szymon + -iak = Szymoniak.

The basic meaning of -ak/-iak is diminutive, but especially when applied to first names, it tends to have a patronymic significance. Thus "Jakubiak" means "little Jakub," but much the same way as if someone saw me walk by and said "There's Fred" (Fred's my middle name and it's the one I go by, I hope this isn't too confusing!) and then a moment later my son toddled along and he said "There goes little Fred," i. e., "Fred's son." So in most cases where -ak/-iak is appended to the root of a first name we can translate it as "son of." However, it's not used exclusively in that way, for instance there is a noun "Krakowiak" which means "one from Krakow." Polish suffixes rarely have one and only one meaning (unfortunately; life would be much easier if they did!).

I'm not sure why sometimes the suffix is added with palatalization and why it's not. No doubt Polish linguists have addressed this very question, and somewhere in my sources there is probably a learned article on this very subject. But I can't find it at the moment -- and besides, to make sense of it one would probably need a Ph.D. in Slavic historical linguistics. I think it suffices for our purposes to say that the suffix can be added either way, without palatalization (Pawel + -ak = Pawlak) or with it; and if it's added with palatalization, that is indicated either by interposing an -i- (Jakub + -i- + ak) or by modifying the root's final consonant (Dorota + -ak to Doroti- + -ak to Doroci- + -ak = Dorociak). There are ways to tell which final root consonants add -i- and which change the letter, but again, this is probably more information than you want!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Erland - Świątkowski - Świontkowski

...My wife's great-grandmother was a Waleria Erland from Lodz. It doesn't seem particularly Polish, but are there any other people with this last name in Poland?

As of 1990 there were 19 Polish citizens named Erland; 1 lived in Warsaw province, the other 18 lived in Łódz province. So there are still people by that name in the general area of Łódz (not necessarily in the city itself, but at least in the province of which Łódz is the capital). Unfortunately I have no access to further details such as first names, addresses, etc. Just possibly you could have a search done of the Łódz province phone directory, perhaps one of those 18 has a phone, and that would yield an address. I believe the Polish Genealogical Society of America can do this for a reasonable fee, or if you are persistent and ingenious you may be able to do it for yourself. It's the only way I know of that you might get an address for these Erland's.

...Her great-great-grandmother is a Teofila Swiontkowska from Warsaw. Is this name, either in this spelling or in the spelling Swiątkowska, a common one?

Yes, this is a fairly common name, although it is more common in the spelling Świątkowski -- both that spelling and Świontkowski are pronounced the same, something like "shvyont-KOFF-skee." As of 1990 there were 5,793 Poles who spelled the name Świątkowski, as opposed to only 48 who spelled it Świontkowski.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Chichłowski

...Interested in finding info on Antoni Chichlowski born in Poland in 1882. Came to U.S. around 1912-1915 with wife Michalina and daughter Estelle. Lived in Trenton N.J. where my father was born (...Chciklowski) note last name change. Family then moved to Providence R.I. area where Antoni and brother split. No known area where brother settled. Family fianlly settled in Chicopee/Springfield Mass. where I was born.

As of 1990 there were 116 Polish citizens named Chichłowski (the ł stands for the Polish slashed l, pronounced like our w); they lived in the provinces of Warsaw (6), Gdansk (3), Gorzów (17), Katowice (1), Kielce (21), Konin (6), Legnica (6), Leszno (5), Opole (4), Poznan (7), Siedlce (3), Suwałki (2), Szczecin (12), Wroclaw (23). I don't have access to any further details such as first names or addresses, so that info may not be a lot of help, but for what it's worth, there it is.

Names ending in -owski usually started as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place with a name ending in -ów or -owo or something like that. So this name probably started out meaning "person from Chichłowo" or some similar name. I cannot find any place by that name, but there is a village Chechłowo, served by Sledianów parish, in Białystok province, 13.5 km. northwest of Drohiczyn, that has been called Chichłowo in the past -- the surname could refer to that village. The root chechło means "marshy depression, wet meadows," so a village in or near such wet ground could get the name Chechłowo or Chichłowo or Chychłowo, and the surname could come from that. This is not necessarily the only place this surname could refer to, but it strikes me as the most likely candidate, without further details.

With your roots in R.I. and Mass., have you looked into the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast? They have done a lot of research on origins of Polish families living in Mass., Rhode Island, and New Jersey, including compiling indexes of those buried at Polish cemeteries in the Northeast. If you haven't tried the PGS-NE, you might want to consider joining it and seeing if it can offer you some leads.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Otfinowski - Otwinowski

...I am wondering if you have any information on the Polish surname Otfinowski or Otwinowski. My great grandparents went by Otfinowski but were buried as Otwinowski. I think it originates from a town named Otfinow(ska), in the Tarnów region of Poland, or perhaps maybe there were just alot of Otfinowskis who lived there. Your information would be helpful in pinpointing an exact location.

In my book on Polish surnames, Otfinów (also spelled Otwinów) in Tarnów province is the place I suggested as the origin of this name. Usually -- not always, but usually -- names in -owski refer to a place with a similar name ending in -ów or -owo, so you expect Otfinowski or Otwinowski to mean "person from Otfinów/Otwinów." And that was the only place I could find in Poland with a name that qualified. There might have been more, too small to show up in my sources, but I think this village in Tarnów province is by far the most likely one to have served as the source of this surname. If so, it's an exception -- very few names can be traced back to just one place, most of the time if there's one village in Poland with a particular name, there'll be 2, 3, even 20 more!

Please realize, though, that surnames typically originated 200-400 years ago, sometimes more, and records don't go back that far (except, sometimes, for nobility). So there may not be any records that go back far enough to settle the matter of exactly when and where this surname and this village linked up. But it does seem likely that's where the Otfinowski's came from -- that name, Otfinów, is unusual, I doubt there are too many other places with similar names, and my references show none.

As of 1990 there were 425 Polish citizens named Otfinowski, and 931 named Otwinowski, so these aren't rare names. Of the Otfinowski's, the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice (36), Kielce (120), Kraków (36), Tarnów (57), and Walbrzych (54), so they were all in the southern part of the country, from southeast through to southwest. The Otwinowski's were really scattered all over, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (102), and Kielce (253) -- only 3 in Tarnów province. This distribution may suggest there was more than one place that could spawn this name -- or it may just be that the name has been around a long time and people have spread all over. Kielce and Katowice provinces are in southcentral Poland, just north and west of Tarnów province, and that could still be consistent with origin in Tarnów province... All in all, it's not 100% certain that all the Otfinowski's and Otwinowski's came from that village in Tarnów province, but that's the most likely place of origin.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jarek

... I saw your address on a website and you said that you'd be willing to help people found out a little about their Polish surname. I'm hoping you can help me with the name Jarek.

This is one of many surnames that derive from old first names dating back to the days when the Poles were pagans. Before they were converted, the Poles generally gave their children names formed by taking one or two basic roots and putting them together to form a kind of simplified wish or prophecy for their children's future; thus the root jar-, "sharp, strict, severe" + the root gniew, "wrath, anger" could be combined to make the first name Jarogniew, meaning something like "may his wrath be harsh" (i. e., may he be such a tough guy that no one will dare mess with him). There were several such names with that root jar-, which could also mean "robust, young," and there were also several nicknames or short forms from those names, including Jaroch, Jaron, Jarosz, and Jarek.

Jarek is actually that root plus the diminutive suffix -ek, meaning in effect "little Jar" or "son of Jar," where "Jar" stands for any of those nicknames for names beginning with the root Jar-. Many surnames started this way, and have remained fairly common in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 2,403 Polish citizens named Jarek. In Polish the J is pronounced like our Y, so Jarek would sound like "YAW-rek" (rhyming with "law" + "wreck"). There is no one part of Poland where this name is concentrated, you run into it all over the country, so it offers no clues as to where an individual family named Jarek might have come from.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jarocewicz - Jarosiewicz - Jaroszewicz

... I am searching for information on my family history... Any information that you can give me about my family history would be much appreciated. The name is Jarocewicz. I have been told by my Grandmother that it is spelled the same in Polish and pronounced like Yarosevitch.

The suffix -ewicz means "son of," so this name would mean "son of Jarota" or some similar first name. That, in turn, probably started as a nickname or short form from one of the old pagan Slavic names with the first root jaro-, "sharp, harsh, severe," such as Jarosław (spelled Yaroslav by English phonetic values), Jaromir (there's a Czech-born hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins named Jaromir Jagr), etc. So all this name really tells you is that about the time surnames were becoming established, there was a fellow named Jarosz or Jarota or something like that who was well enough known in the community that folks started calling his kin by this name, much as the name "Johnson" or "Davidson" got started in English.

Jarocewicz is a pretty rare name, as of 1990 there were only 61 people by that name in all of Poland. The largest numbers of them lived in Białystok (24) and Siedlce (12) provinces -- I'm afraid I don't have access to more details, such as first names or addresses... Jarocewicz would be pronounced roughly "yaw-rote-SAY-vich." If the name was pronounced something like "yaw-row-SEV-itch," as your grandmother suggests, I can't wondering if it was Jarosiewicz, a much more common name (1,071 Poles by that name as of 1990), or Jaroszewicz, borne by 2,612 Poles. Both names sound something like "yah-row-SHEV-itch." Jarocewicz may be correct, but the other two are a lot more common and I thought I should at least mention the possibility that that's what the name will turn out to be.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jastrowicz

... We are looking for info onthe surname Jastrowizc.

The correct spelling would be Jastrowicz. The suffix -owicz can almost always be translated "son of," so Jastrowicz means "son of Jaster" (or Jastro or something like that). The only source I have that mentions this root jastr- says that there was an archaic word in Polish jastry meaning "swift, quick," so Jastrowicz may mean "son of the swift one," or it may mean "son of Jaster" where "Jaster" is a name or nickname, kind of like "Swifty" in English.

As of 1990 there were 220 Polish citizens named Jastrowicz. They were scattered all over the country, with larger numbers living in the provinces of Kalisz (53), Sieradz (24), Szczecin (27), and Zielona Gora (33). There isn't much of a definite pattern to this distribution, except that the name seems more common in western Poland, in the areas formerly ruled by the Germans. But the name itself is definitely Polish, not German.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jaszyna - Ozga - Ożga

... My mother's parents' surnames were Ozga and Jaszyna. Can you tell me anything about the origins of these names?

According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, Ozga comes from a root ożga (the z with a dot over it is pronounced like the "s" in "measure"), which means "fire." It's a common name, as of 1990 there were 4,204 Polish citizens named Ozga and another 1,739 who bore the name in the form Ożga.

Jaszyna is much rarer, as of 1990 there were only 53 Poles with this name, of whom 35 lived in the province of Tarnobrzeg in southeastern Poland, with the rest scattered in small numbers all over the country. None of my sources mention this name, so I can only make an educated guess: it's probably like most other names beginning with Jasz- in that it derives from nicknames for people with first names such as Jan, Jaromir, etc. Poles often formed names by taking the first couple of sounds from a first name -- such as Ja- from Jan or Jaromir or Jakub -- and adding suffixes to them, kind of like the way English formed "Teddy" out of "Theodore." Jaszyna could be a name formed that way from Jan, Jaromir, etc... That's not 100% certain, it's just the best I can come up with, given the info I have.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jażdżewski - Pietrowski

... I am searching for information on the names of Jasdzewski and Pietrowski. Both of my parent's families are from central Minnesota. One person has informed me that Jazdzewski might be the correct spelling of the first name, and that Piotrowski is a more common name than the latter.

That person who informed you sounds like knowledgeable -- so often when people write and say "I was told that..." what comes next turns out to be utter garbage. Piotrowski is more common than Pietrowski; as of 1990 there were 2,031 Polish citizens named Pietrowski, and 57,934 named Piotrowski. From the viewpoint of name derivation, however, we can treat those two as more or less the same -- the ultimate root of both is the first name Piotr, the Polish version of "Peter." And it is almost certain that Jasdzewski (no one by that name in Poland as of 1990) is a variant form of Jażdżewski (2,374); very possibly someone misread a z as an s somewhere along the line. Or at one time the name may well have been spelled that way also, but in the last century literacy has become far more common among Poles, and along with it came normative influences that tended to standardize spelling -- a phenomenon I'm sure you're familiar with. So variants such as Jasdzewski would tend to be standardized as Jażdżewski. (the Polish name is spelled with dots over both z's — giving them the "zh" sound of "Zhivago," so that the name would be pronounced roughly "yazh-JEV-skee").

Polish names ending in -ewski or -owski usually began as references to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name, typically ending in -ew, -ewo, -ów, -owo, -y, -i, etc. Thus we'd expect Jażdżewski to mean "person from Jażdżewo or Jażdżew, etc.," and Pietrowski would mean "person from Pietrów, Pietrowo, etc." Names ending in -ski are actually adjectival in origin, and when this suffix was added to toponyms other endings tended to drop off, so that different toponyms such as Pietrów, Pietrowo, even Pietrowice could all end up with the same adjectival form, Pietrowski. At one point in Polish history these surnames derived from toponyms were used only by the nobility, but as time went on that exclusivity could not be maintained; thus if you see Pietrowski in a record from the 15th century, it almost certainly refers to a noble family that owned an estate or village named something like Pietrów, Pietrowo, etc. -- all of which mean "[place] of Peter." But as time went on the name that originally implied "noble owning the estate of Pietrow/o/ice" came to mean no more than "person or family from Pietrow/o/ice."

There are numerous villages and towns in Poland with names that could produce the surname Pietrowski or Piotrowski (in Slavic languages there is a linkage between o and e, it is not rare to see forms with either vowel), so I have no basis on which to indicate one as the place most likely connected with your ancestors. This is not surprising, when you realize how common a name Piotr is in Poland -- there could be little "places of Peter" all over, and thus the surname meaning "one from the place of Peter" can also have developed all over. So unfortunately the data on frequency and distribution of either Pietrowski or Piotrowski isn't much help -- it just tells us these are common names, although Piotrowski is by far the more common.

Jażdżewski refers to a place named Jażdżew or Jażdżewo, and that in turn derives from a root jazd-/jezd- meaning "to travel, ride," referring to travel by some conveyance as opposed to on foot. So the name literally parses as "of, from, having to do with or connected with the place of riding," but more often we'd render it simply as "one from Jażdżew or Jażdżewo or Jażdy." It's odd that this is a moderately common name (as I said, 2,374 Poles bore this name as of 1990), but I can't find any corresponding toponyms on my maps; I would have expected to find at least a couple of Jażdżew's or Jażdżewo's. This is not too unusual, however; these surnames typically developed at least two centuries ago, often more, and since then the place they referred to could easily have disappeared, changed its name, be absorbed by another, larger community. So it's sometimes very difficult to track down the place the surname originally referred to.

I have a 10-volume source that lists every name in Poland as of 1990 and how many Poles bore that name (it's the one I've been citing data from all along); this source also breaks the total down by province. So I can tell you that Jażdżewski is found in many provinces, but is most common by far in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (736), Gdansk (832), Slupsk (340). These are all in northcentral to northwestern Poland, and that geographical concentration suggests these names may be associated with the Kaszubi, a very interesting ethnic Slavic group closely related to the Poles but with their own fascinating culture and language. You might wish to visit the Website of the Kashubian Association of North America, it's very possible they could give you some good info or leads on the Jazdzewski side -- possibly the Pietrowski side as well.

Also with the Minnesota connection you might want to investigate the Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kajdasz

... Your web site is very interesting ! Any information on the meaning and origin of Kajdasz.

Glad you liked the web page. As for Kajdasz, the only source I can find that mentions it suggests it comes from the Hungarian first name Kada, or the Hungarian surname Kaydi. This is not as odd as it sounds, there was considerable contact between Poland and Hungary (at one point Polish territory actually bordered on territory ruled by Hungary), so you run into Hungarian names in Poland and Polish names into Hungary rather often... Another possibility (but one none of the experts mentions, so I don't know how reliable it is) might be derivation from the Polish noun kajda, a term for a haymaker's whetstone holder, or a pleat over the belt. I know that seems kind of far-fetched, but Poles have made names out of some of the most obscure things, so I can't rule out the possibility. That's the best I can come up with; if you'd like to see whether the best experts have anything firmer, you could write the Anthroponymic Workshop in Kraków.

As of 1990 there were 217 Polish citizens named Kajdasz; the distribution breakdown is short, so I'll quote the whole thing -- remember this is by province, not just in the cities named but in the provinces of which they are the capital: Bydgoszcz (33), Elblag (8), Gorzów (10), Jelenia Gora (1), Kalisz (4), Katowice (51), Poznan (91), Sieradz (3), Szczecin (2), Torun (8), Wroclaw (6). In this case Poznan and Katowice provinces seem to be the focal points -- I'm not sure that helps much, but it might be worth knowing. Interestingly, the name Kajdas, without the final z, is more common -- as of 1990 there were 624 of them, with more than half in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (234) and Katowice (141), and much smaller numbers in the other provinces.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Hamm - Kaider - Kajder

... I am currently (4 yrs.) researching my Polish roots. I checked your surnames and found Kajdasz, however, my research found Kajder changed to Kaider. Could this be the same? My grandfathers papers read Galicia. Grandma is a mystery....Maiden name Ham or Hamm also from Galicia. My father was fostered as a child.....deceased now and I know very little about my Polish Roots.

Kajder or Kaider (just different ways of spelling the same thing) would probably not be the same as Kajdasz; it probably started out as a German name, rather than Polish. This is not unusual, there were many Germans who came to Poland in the 12th-15th century, settled down, and became "Poles"; their names often stayed the same but were spelled differently, according to Polish rather than German phonetic values. Just going by the sound, I'd say the original German name was probably spelled Kaider, Käuder, Keider, or Keuder. I can't find any of those names in my sources, but I don't have as much on German names as I do Polish.

As of 1990 there were 163 Polish citizens named Kajder; they were scattered all over the country, with no real concentration in any one place. We must also remember that "Galicia" was that part of the former Commonwealth of Poland that was ruled by Austria, and it covered what is now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. So you may find your ancestors came from what is now Ukraine.

Ham or Hamm is probably also German, although it could also come from Polish cham, "yokel, rustic." As of 1990 there were 8 Polish citizens named Ham, living in the provinces of Lodz (1) and Tarnów (7). There were 7 named Ham, living in the provinces of Katowice (3), Lodz (3), and Zielona Gora (1). Unfortunately I only have access to this data and no more, so I can't get first names or addresses of individuals by those names.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Labus - Łabus - Łabusz - Łabuz

... Labus is my last name. I found it listed as a Polish surname in 1790. There is a town called Labus, just north of Koszalin in what is now Poland, but in the past had been Pommerania, Germany. Labas is also a Lithuanian word meaning "good" and is used as a greeting. Any ideas?

This is a tough one, because there are several plausible derivations, and I have no basis on which to single out one and say "This is the relevant one in your case."

Labus certainly could come from the Lithuanian term -- I have often seen names of Lithuanian descent show up in the general area of Pomerania (which is not exactly what you'd expect from looking at the map). But I have a copy of a 2-volume work on Lithuanian surnames, and it seems to say this isn't a name used all that often. The names Labys, Labuŝaitis and Labuŝeviĉius appear, but not Labus or Labuŝ. Of course some names have died out since our ancestors emigrated -- I know that for a fact from Polish data -- and both Labuŝaitis and Labuŝeviĉius mean "son of Labuŝ," so clearly that name has been used and may have been more common a century or two ago.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions Łabus, Łabusz, and Łabuś among names deriving from the Polish root łaba, "paw"; the Polish L with a slash through it is pronounced like our w, and the s with an accent over it, pronounced somewhat like our "sh." I suppose such names originated as nicknames for a person with big hands or feet. In any case, among ethnic Poles, that would seem the most likely derivation... I can't help but wonder if in some cases the name might be connected with Łaba, which is also the Polish name for the river Elbe? I would think Rymut would have mentioned it if it was probable, and he didn't -- but then no one is right all time. I think it's worth keeping in mind.

But I also should mention that the term łabuz exists in Polish, from labuz in Ukrainian, "weed"; there is also a Ukrainian verb labuzytys', "to wheedle, coax, fawn, flatter," and under some circumstances a name Labus could conceivably come from that. I wouldn't expect it to be relevant unless research shows your family had a strong link with Ukraine, but if any such link does show up...

All three of these origins are possible, but choosing one as most probable depends on the family background. If you find a strong Lithuanian connection of any sort, origin from labas, "good," becomes much credible. Likewise, a Ukrainian connection would boost the chances of the "weed" or "wheedle" link. But if your people seem to have been ethnic Poles as far back as you can discover, then the link with łaba, "paw," seems strongest. As I say, I can't make that judgment -- but maybe you can!

As of 1990 there were 101 Poles named Łabus, 580 named Łabuś, and 1,685 named Łabuz (I think that has to be mentioned, because it would not be at all strange to see Łabus as a variant of Łabuz -- they are pronounced almost identically). If I had to bet, my money would be on Łabuś because your people were probably Poles and because the ś is often modified to simple s in many dialects. On the other hand, in 1990 none of the Poles named Łabus or Łabuś lived in Koszalin province, and only 7 of those named Łabuz lived there. (Unfortunately, I don't have access to more detailed info such as first names and addresses). Łabuś was most common in the provinces of Czestochowa (117) and Katowice (207) in southcentral Poland; Łabus was most common in Katowice province; and Łabuz was also most common in southcentral and southeastern Poland, e. g., provinces of Katowice (143), Kraków (205), Nowy Sacz (256), and Tarnów (380). It is highly likely those Łabuz'es had some Ukrainian roots.

I know I haven't handed you a nice, easy answer to the question of your name's derivation; but sometimes there isn't any one clear-cut answer, and I'd be a liar if I pretended there was. I hope this information may help you, especially as you combine it with what your research uncovers about your family's roots. I do think it's pretty clear-cut that with Poles the "paw" root is the best bet, with Lithuanians it's "good" root, and with Ukrainians it's the "weed" or "wheedle" root.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Indyk - Indyka

... I am hoping you can help me. I am interested in my surname, Indyk (Yndyk?) which my grandfather carried over to America in the early 1900s from Galicia (Blizianka). I understand this is the same surname of Martin Indyk, American ambassador to Isreal. I have not been able find any information except an obscure village in Holland (Indijk). Is there any relation?

I doubt the village in Holland has any connection (although when it comes to names you never know!). According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut the Polish name Indyk comes from a noun indyk, which means "turkey." Please note that the name has none of the comic overtones in Polish that it has in English! It's just one of a great many surnames taken from the names of birds and other animals. I suppose a fellow might have gotten that name originally as a nickname, referring to some connection with turkeys. He might have raised them, sold them, like to eat them, walked like one, wore clothes that somehow reminded people of a turkey -- the exact connection is hard to reconstruct centuries later, and probably in different cases the name developed from different connections.

As of 1990 there were 855 Polish citizens named Indyk, and another 636 named Indyka, which is basically the same name, meaning perhaps "of the turkey" rather than just "turkey." The name is found all over Poland, but the largest numbers are in the provinces of Krosno (178) and Rzeszów (182) in southeastern Poland -- part of what used to be Galicia. Note that my sources cover only Poland in its current borders, so there may well be plenty of Indyk's living in western Ukraine, which was also part of Galicia. The root is the same in Ukrainian, Indyk (as we'd spell it when transliterating from Cyrillic), and means "turkey, turkey-cock," and also "presumptuous young man."

[Note: later Dan Indish sent me the following update]:

I contacted you some time ago with a request for info on the Indyk surname and possible ties to Holland and the town of Indijk (a.k.a. Indyk). I appreciated the info and I thought I would give you an update for your files. I found this web page that you might be interested in: Dutch populace

It talks about a mass migration of Dutch (Mennonites) into Poland, then Russia in the mid 1500s. It talks about the Dutch as reclaimers of swamp land. The name Indijk may have been derived from their profession. The Dutch verb "indijken" means: to build a dyke around a lake or swamp, in order to pump the water out.

The information about indijken is fascinating, and in some cases certainly could be connected with the Indyk surname. It seems to me Polish onomastics experts are justified in saying that most Slavs bearing the name Indyk would get it from some connection with the word for "turkey" somewhere along the line; the origin of the word and name Indyk has been traced back to Latin indicus, and predates the immigration of the so-called Olendry (Hollaender) into Slavic lands. But the info you cite certainly makes the argument plausible that in some cases it could be of Dutch derivation instead. I intend to add this info to my Webpage in the near future.

You see why I hesitate to make sweeping dogmatic statements without qualifying them at least a little? It may seem gutless, but the truth is there's always an exception to the rule. And in name research we run into this sort of thing rather often. The same word (pronounced the same, if not spelled the same) can develop in different places, totally independently, with no link in meaning. Then somewhere along the line the Dutch dikers and the Slavic turkeys get together just long enough to confuse us!

By the way, it's ironic you quoted that page -- they don't mention it there, but I'm the one who translated that article from Polish to English (eight years ago -- can it really have been that long already?)

...You indicated that the largest numbers of Indyks are in the provinces of Krosno (178) and Rzeszów (182) in southeastern Poland. Aren't these cities along the same river?

Yes, they are, on the Wislok river. It'd be fascinating to learn if there's any mention in the town histories of Dutch immigration and dike-building.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Balonek - Bałonek - Kajfasz

... Do you have any information on the orgin of the following Polish surnames: Balonek and Kajfasz.

I only found one source that mentioned Balonek or Bałonek (the Polish l with a slash through it sounds like our w). It said it can come from balon, "balloon, circular object," or bałon, "person with large, staring eyes." It seems likely someone would get this as a nickname because something about him was large and round, and his eyes seem the most likely candidate. As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Bałonek, and there were 113 Polish citizens named Balonek; the vast majority lived in the province of Bielsko-Biala, in far southcentral Poland, southwest of Kraków. There were a few scattered in other provinces, but the main concentration was definitely in Bielsko-Biala province.

The same source -- a book on surnames in the area of Cieszyn, which is in Bielsko-Biala province, right on the Czech border -- also mentions Kajfasz. It says Kajfasz comes from the Biblical name rendered in English as "Caiaphas," the by-name of a Jewish high priest involved in the trial of Jesus. When I see people with names like that or Judas or Pilate -- names you would hardly expect devout Christians to give their children -- I can't help wondering if a person might have gotten that as a nickname because he played that character in a Passion play or similar religious activity? I can't account for it otherwise. Anyway, as of 1990 there were 271 Kajfasz's in Poland, with the larger numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala 119, Gdansk 23, Katowice 23, and Kraków 32 (there were also 48 who spelled the name Kajfosz, 31 in Bielsko-Biala province and the rest in neighboring provinces).

This data seems to suggest strongly your family came from the area of Bielsko-Biala, that part of southcentral Poland that protrudes down near where the Czech Republic and Slovakia meet. That doesn't necessarily have to be true, but the numbers sure make it seem likely. If you have no information on where the families came from, this might be a helpful clue, although it still leaves a lot of area to cover. Unfortunately I have no access to first names or addresses or any other data besides what I've given above, so I have no way to help zero in on a specific town or village.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kapelski

... Can you tell me if this is a German or Polish name: Kapelski.

Germans don't use the suffix -ski to end their names, that's completely foreign to them; -ski is a Slavic suffix, so the name is most likely of Polish origin -- it might also be Czech, but Czechs tend to spell it -sky rather than -ski. The surname probably derives from the Latin word capella, "chapel," perhaps by way of German, in which it is spelled Kapelle and can also mean a musical band. Large numbers of ethnic Germans have lived in Poland over the centuries, and from about 1772 to 1918 Germany ruled what is now the western half of Poland. So what with one thing and another, it is very common to find ethnic Poles living in "Germany," and ethnic Germans living in Poland. But as far as the linguistic origin is concerned, the -ski definitely indicates Slavic, and probably Polish, origin... As of 1990 there were 198 Polish citizens named Kapelski, scattered all over the country but with particularly large numbers living in the provinces of which the capitals are Poznan (104), which the Germans called Posen, and Bydgoszcz (35), which the Germans called Bromberg.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kulwiec

...I was wondering if you knew the origin of the name Kulwiec. I realize that the original spelling was probably along the lines of Kulawczyk or Kulawiecz, but, since my great-grandfather left his siblings in Poland and died young here in the U.S., that information was never passed down. I am currently picking away at some genealogical research, and I am just beginning to learn what resources are available to me.

Kulwiec may well be the original form of the name. It is a recognized name in Poland, though not very common -- as of 1990 there were only 33 Polish citizens by this name, living in the provinces of Warsaw (3), Białystok (5), Bydgoszcz (5), Gdansk (9), Katowice (1), Krakow (4), Lodz (1), Pila (1), Wroclaw (4). (I'm afraid addresses, first names, etc. are not available, this is the only info the Polish government made available for compilation in a directory of surnames).

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut lists this name under those deriving from the root kul- in the noun kula, sphere, bullet, crutch, or in the verb kulic się, to crouch, cringe. The term kulawy means lame, limping, and many other words with this root are used in reference to the lame or cripples, so I'm tempted to say the most likely meaning of this is son of the cripple. Perhaps not very flattering, but as Polish surnames go, believe me, this is better than many!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Prosofsky - Prosowski

… I was told that you have a book about people that lived in Poland years ago. What I am trying to do is search my roots in Poland. The surname is Prosofsky or Prosowski.

As of 1990 there were 199 Polish citizens named Prosowski (the other spelling is just a phonetic variation; Prosowski, when pronounced, sounds like "Prosofsky," so sometimes it might be spelled that way by non-Poles). The larger numbers of Prosowski's lived in the provinces of Warsaw (22), Katowice (52), Płock (41), and Tarnobrzeg (32), with much smaller numbers living in other provinces. (I'm afraid I have no access to further data such as first names, addresses, etc.). There is no obvious pattern to that distribution, so we can't say there's just one part of Poland where various families named Prosowski came from -- the name may well have originated in several different places independently. Names ending in -owski usually refer to a connection between a person or family and a place with a name ending in -ow, -owo-, -y, something like that; so we'd expect this name to mean "person from Prosów or Prosowo." Offhand I can't find any places by those names; it could be they're too small to show up on maps, or have changed names in the centuries since the surname originated. It's also possible Prosowski is a variant and the name originally took a different form, such as Prusowski or Proszowski. But without detailed info on the family, there's no way to know which of several feasible forms the surname developed from -- if it changed at all!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Ługowski - Resel - Roesel

… I am looking for information about my grandparents family names, Lugowski & Resel.

The name Ługowski (the Polish l with a slash through it is pronounced like our w), like most names ending in -owski, initially referred to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name. In this case we'd expect Ługowski to mean "person from Ługi or Ługów or Ługowo," something like that. There are several villages named Ługi and at least a couple more named Ługów, so there's no way to say which one a particular Ługowski family came from. The ultimate root of the place name is probably either ług, "lye," or a variant of łęg, "marshy meadow." As of 1990 there were 3,992 Polish citizens named Ługowski, living all over the country, so there is no one region we can point to and say "That's where they came from." The surname probably started independently in several different places in reference to a nearby Ługi or Ługów.

As of 1990 there were 147 Poles named Resel, with larger numbers living in the provinces of Czestochowa (39), Opole (54), and Walbrzych (16) and a few living in other provinces scattered here and there. The provinces mentioned are in far southcentral and southwestern Poland, in areas with large German populations. That may be significant, because Resel does not appear to be of Polish linguistic origin -- there is no similar Polish word or root. It is most likely a Polish phonetic spelling of a German surname such as Ressel or Roessel or Roesel. According to German surname expert Hans Bahlow the name Roesel is found among Germans in that general area, and means "rose-gardener, one who sold flowers." It is perfectly plausible that the spelling of the name of a German family Roesel who lived among Poles might eventually be modified so that Poles would pronounce it correctly, and Resel fits. So that strikes me as the most likely derivation of this name -- though I can't be 100% certain.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kanczuzewski - Mindykowski - Rakoski - Rakowski

...my Dad's parents were from Poland..my Grandfather's name was Adam Kanczuzewski, I haven't found what city he was from. I heard he was from the Russian side of Poland. He came to the U.S. sometime between 1895-1900. My Grandmothers name was Teofila Mindykowski...(Her mothers maiden name was Rakoska)...

Names ending in -ewski or -owski usually started as references to a connection between a person and a particular place, which seems helpful -- the names may tell where the family came from. Unfortunately, they're not often all that helpful, because the places involved are too small to show up on maps, have changed their names over the years, have been absorbed by other communities, or a number of different villages use the same name. Thus Rakoski (Rakowska is just the feminine form) is a variant of Rakowski, which suggests origin in any of several dozen places named Rakow, Rakowo, etc. Those places got their names from some association with crabs, as rak is the word for "crab." As of 1990 there were 11,007 Polish citizens named Rakowski, living all over the country, so I'm afraid that particular name doesn't do much to help focus on a specific area.

As of 1990 there were 261 Poles named Mindykowski; the vast majority lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (113) and Gdansk (93) and Pila (25), all of which are in north central Poland. So in this case the name's distribution pattern does help a bit -- chances are very good your Mindykowski's came from a rather small part of Poland around and west and south of the major city of Gdansk. I cannot find any villages named Mindykowo, Mindykow, or anything like that on my maps, but chances are there are or were one or two villages by those names somewhere in the area, and most likely the surname originated as a reference to those places, whose name comes ultimately from the root minda, "coin."

The name Kanczuszewski probably comes ultimately from the noun kańczuga, "whip, lash," but again, it probably comes from a place that took its name from that word. There is a village Kanczuga in Rzeszow province (far southeast Poland), the surname could refer to that, or it could refer to other places too small to show up on my maps. As of 1990 there were only 7 Poles named Kańczużewski, living in the provinces of Warsaw (1) and Gorzow (6). There were 45 with the name spelled Kańczurzewski (pronounced exactly the same, so it can be regarded as essentially the same name), living in the provinces of Gdansk (1), Gorzow (9), Katowice (1), Konin (29), Poznan (1), and Zielona Gora (4). (Konin province is the province due east of Poznan province, and you can usually find Poznan on any map of Poland, so that will give you at least a general idea of the area where the most Kanczurzewski's can be found). Unfortunately I do not have access to more details such as first names, addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



Michalewski - Michałowski

I have been searching for the history of my last name - Michalewski. Is there anything you can help me with.

In Polish, MICHALEWSKI is usually pronounced roughly "mee-ha-LEFF-skee." The Polish CH is not quite like our H, it's a little more guttural, like the "ch" in German "Bach"; so if you can make the first sound of the second syllable a bit more guttural than English H, it'll be perfect.

You can see 2002 data on its frequency and distribution, along with colored maps -- for both the masculine form, MICHALEWSKI, and the traditional feminine form, MICHALEWSKA -- here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/michalewski.html

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/michalewska.html

They show the name is not terribly common in Poland; there were 607 Poles bearing the masculine form and 646 bearing the traditional feminine form.

The name comes from the Polish first name Michał, and means basically "of the kin of Michael." It could also mean "one from the place of Michael," possibly referring to villages or estates or settlements with names beginning Michal-. More often, however, those place names begin Michalow-, and produce the surname MICHAŁOWSKI. Both MICHALEWSKI and MICHAŁOWSKI mean more or less the same thing, "of the _ of Michael," where the blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out, usually either "kin" or "place." As it happens, the forms with Michalow- are more often associated with place names than the forms with Michalew-. That's why I say MICHALEWSKI is more likely to mean "of the kin of Michael." But Polish surnames often switch -LE- and -LO- easily, and you can't rule out either meaning. 

The only way to be sure how to interpret the surname is to trace the family history. Sometimes, that will uncover information that makes it clear whether MICHALEWSKI referred to the kin of Michael or the place of Michael -- and if the latter is applicable, family history may clarify which particular place it refers to. There are dozens of places in Poland with names beginning Michalow-, and from the surname alone, one cannot say from which one a given Michalewski family took its name.

If you're interested, you can see data on the name MICHAŁOWSKI here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/micha%25C5%2582owska.html

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/micha%25C5%2582owski.html

The spelling MICHALEWSKI and MICHAŁOWSKI are distinctively Polish. But very similar names, meaning approximately the same thing, appear in other Slavic languages, because the forms of the name Michael are similar in those languages, for instance, Ukrainian Mykhailo and Russian Mikhail. Surnames ending in -owski/-ewski or -ovsky/-evsky are usually either Polish or Ukrainian in origin, however. Russian names are more likely to end in -ov or -ev. I notice you spell your name MYKHAYLEVSKY, which looks to me like a Ukrainian equivalent of Polish MICHALEWSKI. Of course, many people living in Russia have Ukrainian roots, and that's why we also see this name in Russia.

To sum up, the surname means "of the kin of Michael," or perhaps, in some cases, "one from the place of Michael." The latter may refer to specific villages or estates with names derived from Michal-; but more often, those place names take forms beginning Michalow- and thus produce the surname MICHALOWSKI. But MICHALEWSKI and MICHAŁOWSKI are very similar, and mean more or less the same thing. Only research into the history of the specific family may shed light on exactly why that family came to bear that name.

I hope this is some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck.

William F. "Fred" Hoffman
Author, Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings 
www.fredhoff.com


Copyright © 2010 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kapera

... I have just visited your site on the net and thought that you may be able to assist with the origins of the family name Kapera. The name is thought to have come from the Kraków area in recent times. I noticed after searching the net that there is a school/suburb in Estonia called Kapera.

This is one of many names that are hard to pin down exactly. For one thing, it could easily be a variant of the name Kopera, from kopra, "dill," or kopr, "copper"; we often see names with -o- showing up with variant spellings with -a-, and Kopera is a fairly common name (1,752 Poles named Kopera as of 1990)... By contrast, there were 864 Poles named Kapera, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Katowice (56), Kraków (374), and Tarnów (55). So southcentral and southeastern Poland definitely seems to be the main area for this name.

It might also be a variant of Kasper, "Casper." There is mention in records from 1452 of a "Caper," and apparently that was from Casper, so it seems clear sometimes the -s- drops out.

If the root is, in fact, kaper, there are a couple of possible derivations. There is a noun kaper that comes from the Latin word for "goat," and there are other Polish names that come from Latin words; and the Polish word for "goat," kozioł, is the source of some of the commonest names in the country. So that is at least feasible... Also, there is a term kaper meaning "pirate," coming from a Dutch word. Finally there is a verb from Ukrainian, kaparyty, meaning "to be poor, miserable," so in some areas the name could come from that and be applied to a poor, sickly wretch.

Unfortunately, I have nothing that allows me to pick one of these and say, "Yes, this must be it." I can only present the possibilities. If you'd like to see whether Polish scholars have come up with anything more solid on this name, you could try writing the Anthroponymic Institute in Kraków.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 

Łuczyński

...My grandfather Kazimierz Luczynski immigrated to the United States on the15th of May, 1917. His petition for naturalization states that he was born on the 4th of December, 1885, at Zabno, Poland.... A search on the Fourteenth Census of the US: 1920 - Population shows his place of birth as Galicia, PO-A. I am searching for information on his name.

Galicia was the name of the territory ruled by Austria after the partitioning of Poland (beginning in 1772). It covered the southeastern part of Poland and the western part of what is now Ukraine. PO-A is probably "Poland-Austria" or something similar -- census takers were told not to accept "Poland" as a place of birth because technically, no such nation existed; they had to specify German Poland, Russian Poland, or Austrian Poland. As for Zabno, there are at least three villages by that name in what used to be Galicia (plus several more in other parts of Poland); without more data there's no way to tell which of those Zabno's is the one you want.

...I have also noticed that in 1733 Stanislas Leszczynski was elected King of Poland. Could Luczynski be derived from Leszczynski?


Well, to start with the question about Leszczynski, no, it's highly unlikely Luczynski and Leszczynski have anything to do with each other. You never say "never" when it comes to surnames, but from a Polish point of view those two names would have no more to do with each other than, say, "Arthur" and "Artemis" -- just a purely coincidental sharing of a couple of sounds.

Łuczyński (the Polish L with a slash through it is pronounced like our w) probably derives from a place name. There is, for instance, a village named Łuczyna in Wroclaw province -- Łuczyński could very well have started out meaning "person from Łuczyna." Łuczynów in Radom province is also a possible candidate; and there may be more too small to show up in my sources. The place names, in turn, might come from the Polish forms of the first names Lucy or Lucas (meaning something like "Lucy's place, Lucas's place), or from the rather rare or dialect term łuczyna, which means pieces of wood dried and smeared with oil and burned to provide illumination -- "torch" would be the closest translation in English, I'm not sure "torch" is exactly what's meant here, but it's pretty close.

As of 1990 there were 4,320 Polish citizens named Łuczyński, so it's not a rare name. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (501), Kielce (266), Lodz (574), Piotrków (284); this suggests a concentration in the central part of the country, but as I say, there are Łuczyński's living in virtually every province.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Opat

...What can you tell me about the name of Opat. I undersand that it means "abbot" and that it may have been given to certain people for their work. It has not been shortened from another name in at least 4 generations. My in-laws came from the kepino area and have family there in Kaliz. Most of the other people we have found with the Opat name are Czech.

There's not a great deal I can add to what you already know. Opat probably does come from the term opat, meaning "abbot," but such names don't necessarily refer to the man himself. Just as a name meaning "king" might refer to a servant of the king, or someone who was the "king" of a group and called that as a nickname, a fellow might be called "abbot" in jest, as a nickname, or because he worked for or served an abbot, etc. We sometimes think of abbots as simple men of prayer, but in medieval times, an abbot was actually a person of considerable power. He often owned vast estates, technically the property of the monastery but in fact run by him; he might have all kinds of retainers and servants. So we can't say for sure exactly what "Opat" might mean as a surname, except that it was somehow connected with "abbot."

As of 1990 there were 184 Polish citizens named Opat, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 2, Biala Podlaska 2, Białystok 5, Bydgoszcz 5, Chelm 9, Ciechanów 3, Elblag 1, Gdansk 14, Gorzów 11, Katowice 12, Konin 9, Legnica 5, Leszno 26, Lublin 27, Lodz 3, Olsztyn 4, Ostrołęka 5, Pila 5, Poznan 16, Torun 2, Zielona Gora 10. I'm afraid I don't have further details such as first names or addresses, and I have no data on Czechs at all, so I can't shed too much light on that.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 

Gieraltowski

Do you know anything about my own surname Gieraltowski? Do names that end in -ski or -cki generally just imply "from the.." or "of the.."? Is there more meaning to such names?

The endings -ski and -cki in Polish are adjectival, and as such they don't necessarily mean more than "of, pertaining to." So a piekarz is a "baker," and piekarski means "of the baker, baker's." In a particular context you can sometimes read a little more into them -- for instance, if you find a -ski or -cki name in a record from 1300, it's virtually certain that person was noble. But most of the time, just "of" or "from" is all the suffix means.

As for Gieraltowski, it means "person/family from the place of Gerald." Gierałt is one form the German name Gerald took in Polish; "Gierałtów" or "Gierałtowo" is a name that might logically be given to a place owned or founded by a man named Gierałt; and Gierałtowski is a surname meaning a person came from that place, owned it (if he was noble), travelled there often on business -- had some kind of connection with that place that caused people to refer to him by that name. There are several villages whose names this surname could come from, including a Gierałtów in Jelenia Gora province, a Gierałtowo in Poznan province, and several Gierałtowice's. As of 1990 there were 617 Polish citizens named Gierałtowski; particularly large numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (150), Białystok (66), and especially Łomża (247), with just a few scattered here and there in other provinces.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

Nieużyła

... Hello fellow Genpoler, I hope that this is not to much of an imposition, but could you inform me if the names Nieurzyla or Nieuzyla are in your book. This is not possible to check out in the United Kingdom. If they are in then I will purchase the book via the internet.

I'm glad you asked -- these names are not in my book, and it would have been a shame if you'd gone to the trouble to order it only to come up empty!

The reason these names are not in the book is that I have never come across them before. Looking in the Directory of Surnames In Current Use in Poland, I see that Nieurzyła (the Ł is pronounced like English W) was a name borne by only 4 Poles as of 1990--3 in Bielsko-Biala province, 1 in Katowice province. Nieuzyła was borne by 5 Poles, one in Gdansk province, 2 in Katowice prov., 2 in Opole prov. The real jackpot is the spelling Nieużyła (the Z with a dot over it is pronounced like 'zh' in 'Zhivago)-- there were 347 Poles by that name, in the following provinces: Gdansk 1, Katowice 238 (!), Lodz 1, Nowy Sacz 2, Opole 94, Płock 1, Poznan 1, Torun 2, Walbrzuch 1, Wroclaw 6. From an onomastic point of view all these names are variants of the same name, spelled slightly differently due to error, dialect differences, different pronunciations, etc.; but as often happens, one particular spelling is by far the most popular, and in this instance that spelling is Nieużyła.

The Directory does not have further data such as first names or addresses, and I know of no way to get hold of such data, except perhaps by consulting Polish telephone books; the latter is a long shot, as phones in private homes are not so common in Poland as in the U.S. and the U.K. But a look at the directory for Katowice province, and perhaps also Opole province, would presumably yield addresses of at least a few Poles by this name.

Without further data it's tricky trying to analyze the derivation of this name. It appears to come from nie-, "not," + a form of użyć, to use; Nieużyła would seem to mean something like "not used" or "useless." None of my sources mention it, however, so I want to make it clear that I am only making an educated guess.

There is a soure that might be able to give you a firmer derivation: the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute.

I'm sorry I could not help you directly, but I hope this information may prove useful to you. I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Polakowski

I've been researching my husband's family line - Polakowski and am having a very hard time finding anything on the original ancestor to immigrate to America and the link back to Poland. I saw a little on the site about this surname but not much, could you elaborate for me?

Usually there is very little about surnames, whether English or Polish, that offers useful leads in tracing individual families. People often write to me hoping I'll be able to say, "Oh, your surname proves your family was noble and owned the estate at X located 10 km. south of Warsaw, and your ancestor was 5 foot 6 inches and red-haired, and had seven kids and three dogs." All most Polish surnames tell us is "Your ancestors came from somewhere in Poland -- or maybe Belarus or Lithuania or Ukraine, or some other area where lots of Poles lived at some point."

Polakowski, pronounced roughly "po-lah-KOFF-skee," is a good example. The root of the name is Polak, which means "Pole." In terms of structure Polakowski means literally "of the Pole's _," where the blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out -- usually either "kin" or "place." So Polakowski could just mean "of the kin of the Pole."

More often names in the form X-owski refer to places with names beginning with the X part, places where the family lived or with which they were connected at some point centuries ago. So Polakowski most likely started out meaning "one from the place of the Pole," referring to some specific village or settlement with a name beginning Polak-. Unfortunately, there are a number of places in Poland with names that fit, and the surname gives us no clue which one it refers to in a given family's case. Your Polakowskis might have come from Polaki in the province of Siedlce, or Polakowo in Koszalin province, or Polakowice in Wroclaw province, etc. The only way to find out which one applies in a given family's case is through detailed and successful genealogical research.

In other words, I can't tell you what you want to know. You're far more likely to determine where your Polakowskis came from than I am.

Once in a while a name will turn out to be concentrated in a specific area to the point that that concentration provides a useful clue. But I'd estimate that happens in fewer than 5% of all cases. And to be honest, we wouldn't expect a name meaning "kin of the Pole" or "one from the place of the Pole" to be restricted to any one part of Poland.

And that's what the data shows. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,133 Polish citizens named Polakowski. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area. A Polakowski family could come from anywhere.

So the bottom line is, I answer questions about name meanings and origins primarily to satisfy people's understandable curiosity. Once in a while I'm able to dig up some bit of info that actually helps trace a given family. But that's pretty rare, and I'm afraid it didn't happen in this case.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Budrewicz

I have some additional info about last name Budrewicz, that I would like to share with you. You've mentioned the village near Suwalki called Budrowo, but I believe most of Budrewiczes come from area of what is now Belarus and Lithuania. My grandfathers last name was Budrewicz and he was born in 1917 in the small village called Budrewicze near Lida (now Belarus). It's very close to the border of Lithuania and not so far from Wilno. The village still exists and I was even able to trace it on one of the Internet maps.


I'm interested in the subject as I believe that the origins of the name Budrewicz come from Lipka Tatars, that were invited to settle and given the land and noble titles in Lithuania over several centuries (small piece from Wikipedia below).

The migration of some Tartars into the lands of Lithuania and Poland began during 14th century and lasted until the end of the 17th. (...) According to some estimates, by 1591 there were about 200,000 Lipka Tatars living in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and about 400 mosques serving them. According to the Risāle-yi Tatar-i Leh (an account of the Lipka Tatars written for Süleyman the Magnificent by an anonymous Polish Muslim during a stay in Istanbul in 1557-8 on his way to Mecca) there were 100 Lipka Tatar settlements with mosques in Poland. The largest communities existed in the cities of Lida, Navahradak and Iwye. There was a Lipka Tatar settlement in Minsk, today's capital of Belarus, known as Tatarskaya Slabada.

Monika Talarek

 

Fikus

...I am interested in my surname: Fikus. My father (and mother) were from Poland, and the spelling was not changed in recent history. My father, Witold, was a concentration camp survivor, 1915-1996...

Fikus is a perfectly good Polish name; as of 1990 there were 1,138 Polish citizens with this name, so it is not uncommon in Poland. The Fikus's lived all over, with larger numbers in the provinces of Gdansk (102), Kalisz (163), Katowice (139), Opole (281), Poznan (59), and Wroclaw (63), and smaller numbers in many other provinces. I don't see a real pattern there, except that the name seems to be more common in western Poland, in the areas ruled by the Germans most of the last two centuries... None of my sources say definitively what the name derives from, but the most likely origins are from the noun fik, a variant of the word for "fig-tree," or from the verb fikać, "to kick, jump." It's quite common to see surnames derived from terms for trees, fruit, etc. -- it might mean an ancestor lived by a fig-tree, or liked to eat figs, or sold them. Or the name could have originated as a sort of nickname for someone who was always jumping and kicking, a very active person, full of nervous energy. Those seem the most likely origins for this name, although all this is just educated guesswork on my part, since, as I say, none of my sources discuss the derivation of the name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Naumowicz

...Having read your web page on Polish names I didn't see mine - Naumowicz - do you have any information on its origin?...
You must understand that there are over 800,000 Polish surnames -- some very common, some extremely rare -- so I rather doubt I will live long enough to list them all on the Web page. But I'm glad to add to the list as I can.


Naumowicz is a fairly common name; as of 1990 there were 1,564 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers of them lived in the provinces of Białystok (195), Gorzow (120), Suwałki (290), and Zielona Gora (92), and smaller numbers were in virtually every other province. Suwałki and Białystok provinces are in northeastern Poland, whereas Gorzow and Zielona Gora provinces are in far western Poland; but it's possible that name was originally concentrated in eastern Poland. After World War II the so-called Operation Vistula forced millions of people to relocate from what had been eastern Poland to the western regions taken from Germany and given Poland; so we often see names of Ukrainian or Belarusian or Lithuanian origin showing up in large numbers in western Poland, far from where we'd expect them to be -- all due to the post-war relocations.

I'm fairly certain that this name originated in eastern Poland (and Belarus and Ukraine, which were historically part of the Polish Commonwealth) because Naumowicz means "son of Naum," and Naum is a name used mainly by Orthodox Christians; you don't often see Polish Catholics using it. We have this same name in English, usually spelled Nahum -- it's the name of one of the minor prophets of the Bible (see the Book of Nahum) and comes from a Hebrew word meaning "consolation, compassion." For some reason this name never became all that popular among Roman Catholics and other Christians of western Europe, but it did become moderately popular among Orthodox Christians, and also among Greek-rite Catholics (so-called Uniates). So even though the spelling of Naumowicz is Polish, in most cases the families bearing the name will prove to be from eastern Poland and the lands adjoining it.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Wiater

...Hi. I would like a quick and dirty analyses for the name Wiater. My grandfather immigrated from the village of Tyczyn near Rzezsow in 1906. That is the area of my interest...

The name Wiater comes from the Polish word wiatr, "wind." While it's difficult to say now -- centuries after the name originated and began to be applied to different families -- exactly why such a name stuck, we can make plausible guesses. It could have been applied as a nickname to someone born on a windy day, someone who tended to be rather windy, possibly even someone who made or ran a windmill; and in the course of time it came to be used as a surname.

It is a common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 1,658 Poles with the name Wiater, and another 3,815 with the name Wiatr. As far as distribution, the name seems to be common found all over the country, with no real concentration in any one area; this is not surprising, obviously no one part of Poland would have a monopoly on wind, so we wouldn't expect the name to show up only in certain places.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Stankiewicz

... looking for the family name of Stankiewicz. Please if you can help me find any info on this family name...

This one is fairly easy. The suffix -owicz or -ewicz means "son of," so this name means "son of Stanek" or "son of Stanko." These are both nicknames or diminutives of the name Stanisław (in English Stanislaus), a very ancient and popular first name in Poland; Poles loved to take the first syllable of popular first names, drop off the rest, and add suffixes (not unlike our "Eddy" from "Edward"). So Stanek or Stanko would be kind of like "Stan" or "little Stan" or "Stan's son" in English; and the sons of a man by either of these names would be referred to very often as Stankiewicz. Eventually it stuck as a surname.

Surnames derived from diminutive or affectionate forms of popular first names tend to be pretty common, and that's true in this case. As of 1990 there were 19,826 Polish citizens named Stankiewicz, distributed more or less evenly all over the country. This makes sense, the name could and probably did get started anywhere they spoke Polish and had guys named Stanisław, i. e., all over Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Babicki

..The family tradition says that Babicki means "ladies' man." Can you confirm this? (My grandparents come from an area that is now Belarus)...

Well, it could possibly mean that. The root bab- in Polish (also Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, etc.) does mean basically "woman," and several words from that root do mean "ladies' man." We can't rule out the possibility that that's what the name meant when first applied to your family.

In general, though, Babicki is more likely to have started as a reference to the name of a place the family was associated with; if they were noble, they owned it, if they were peasants they worked there, or if merchants, they traveled there often on business. There are several possible place names that could spawn the name Babicki, including Babica and Babice, and unfortunately there are quite a few villages by those names (not just in Poland). So the sound, scientific answer is to say that this surname means "coming from Babica or Babice"; and most likely later on, once people had forgotten what the true origin was, they proposed a perfectly simple and natural explanation based on what the name sounded like. And in individual cases it might even be right! But I'm afraid most of the time the truth's a little more boring. Instead of "ladies' man," it probably just meant "one from Babica/Babice"; those places, in turn, may have gotten their names from some association with women, but there's evidence that baba was sometimes used in names to mean "hill, elevation, free-flowing river" (supposedly by some rather far-fetched analogies with the female body!?).

Sorry to be a killjoy, but I'll say this -- compared to some names I interpret for people, this is a fine one. The other day I had to tell a woman her ancestral name means "pees crooked," and I had to tell a man his name meant "manure." In comparison with a lot of Polish names, this one is pretty nice!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kochański

...My name is not listed. I wonder if you have any information that you could share with me or suggest where I may look...

Kochański (ń = the n with an accent over it) could come ultimately from several roots, but the most likely is kochany, "beloved," or kochanek, "lover, sweetheart"; it appears in Polish legal records as far back as 1471. It's hard to say whether the name came directly from those roots or from a place named something like "Kochany" (which, in turn, surely came from those roots); in theory, the name could have developed either way. I don't see any place by that name, but some might have existed centuries ago, when surnames were being formed -- there are several villages named Kochanów, but that name would tend to generate a surname in the form Kochanowski, not Kochański.

It's a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were 5,266 Polish citizens named Kochański. They lived in every province of Poland, with larger numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (523), Białystok (291), Bydgoszcz (270), Katowice (273), Kielce (264), Lublin (226), Olsztyn (206), and Torun (224); but as I say, there were Kochanski's living in every province, and there doesn't appear to be any significant regional concentration that would let tell us anything useful about where it originated. Most likely it developed in many different places, so all Kochanski's are not all part of one big family.

It's worth mentioning that the ch and h are pronounced the same in Polish (kind of like the ch in German "Bach"), and when a sound can be spelled more than one way you usually will see it spelled more than one way. So don't be surprised if you occasionally run into the spelling Kohański -- it's rare, but it could happen, and it wouldn't necessarily indicate any real difference.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kochański

… I just came across your web page on Polish Surnames. Thought I would toss my father's name your way to see what you might know or have it in your notes. The closest surname on your list was Kochowski; was wondering if ours had a different origin. Seems to me that I once heard that the original spelling had a "mark" (needless to say I don't know any Polish to speak of) under the "n" but I'm not really sure. I do know that my father never knew where his father came from (Russia he thought), nor whether he had any aunts or uncles.

The Polish form of the name would be Kochański; the name is pronounced something like "ko-HINE-skee." It comes from a Polish word kochany, meaning "beloved." I believe the name Kochan was used in ancient times, kind of a way of saying a child was especially dear to this parents and others, and the surname would derive from that name or some similar usage. For instance, it might refer to a person who came from a place with a similar name, although offhand I can't find any place with a name likely to produce Kochański (there are a number of places that could produce the similar name Kochanowski, but less likely to produce Kochański). About the most we can say is that it means "of, from, pertaining to the beloved one," perhaps with Kochan used as a first name, thus "kin of Kochan," or even "one from the place of Kochan."

It's a pretty common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 5,266 Poles by this name, living all over the country, so we can't really pin one area down and say "That's where they came from." I'm afraid that's true of most Polish surnames, I'd estimate only 5% or so offer any kind of helpful lead as to where a family by that name originated. Since Russia at one time ruled most of central and eastern Poland, the "Russia" clue isn't a whole lot of help either. About the most I can say is that this probably is a Polish name rather than Russian, because Russian doesn't use the root koch- to mean "love, dear," that's more a Polish usage.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Brytan

...I was wondering if could assist me in establishing the origins of my surname, which is Brytan. all my family comes from Janow Jubelski in Poland.

I was a little surprised to see that as of 1990 there were 352 Polish citizens named Brytan -- that's more than I would have expected. They lived in many provinces, with larger numbers in the provinces of Elblag (30), Krakow (86), Tarnobrzeg (34), and Zamosc (63). The ones in Tarnobrzeg and Zamosc provinces are the ones most likely to be related to you, since that's the general area of Janow Lubelski (which is in Tarnobrzeg province, near the southern border with Zamosc province). Still, the distribution data shows that the name does appear elsewhere.

None of my sources discuss the origin of the name, but it seems likely to come from the root Brtyan-, "Britain, British." There is a term brytan that means a kind of large dog, and it comes from that root; all the words in the dictionary beginning with Brytan- have some connection with "Britain," usually referring to something associated with the British. Sometimes people got place-derived names because they came from that place, sometimes because they traveled there on business, but that would have been quite a commute! So it seems reasonable to figure the Brytans generally had some British blood in their family tree. This is not unheard of, there were quite a few foreigners living in Poland over the years -- the Scots, in particular, who often came to Poland to work as peddlers. It's not out of the question that a Scot who settled in Poland might end up with the name Brytan, since to Polish peasants the distinction between Scot and British might be kind of nebulous. But a Brytan could certainly have had British ancestors; there were Germans, Swedes, Scots, etc. in Poland, why not a few British?

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Siebiedziński - Sztermer - Zdanowicz

... I have been searching for information on 2 Polish surnames that do not seem to be very common. I am researching the names Sztermer and siebiedzinski. Could you give me any information on the origin and/or meaning? (Quick and dirty is just fine.)

Sztermer is a Polish phonetic spelling of the German name Störmer (2 dots, the umlaut, over the o), so that either name sounds sort of like "shtare-mer." This comes from the German root Storm, "storm," and according to German surname expert Hans Bahlow, originated as meaning "man with a stormy disposition," i. e., one who storms his way through life. While German-derived names are not at all rare in Poland, this one happens to be pretty rare: as of 1990 there were only 29 Polish citizens by this name, living in the provinces of Warsaw (1), Czestochowa (1), Kalisz (6), Legnica (2), Łomża (3), Ostrołęka (1), Suwałki (6), Szczecin (1), Wroclaw (4), and Zielona Gora (4). (I'm sorry to say I have no access to further details such as first names or addresses).

Siebiedziński is a good Polish name, but it, too, is rather rare -- only 27 Poles bore that name as of 1990, living in the provinces of Warsaw (2), Kraków (3), Suwałki (21), and Walbrzych (1) -- Suwałki province is in northeast Poland, near the border with Lithuania and Belarus. In form Siebiedziński appears almost certainly to be one of many Polish surnames derived from place names, probably something like Siebiedzin or Siebiedzino. I can't find any such place mentioned in my sources, but that's not too unusual. Surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they came from were tiny hamlets (the name may have been used only by locals and never would have appeared on any map), or have since been renamed, or absorbed into other communities. If you have any luck tracing your ancestors to a particular area of Poland, and you see any mention of a place named Siebiedzin or anything like that (most likely in the Suwałki area), that is probably the place your ancestors got their name from. But it may take a lot of digging to find it!

...Also, I saw your explanation of the name Danisiewicz, is the name Zdanowicz just a variation? Thank you in advance for any help you can provide...

No, Zdanowicz is a separate name, meaning literally "son of Zdan." That, in turn, is a short form of an ancient Polish first name such as Zdamir, dating from pagan days, before the Poles were Christianized and starting naming their children after Christian saints. The original name meant something on the order of "gives peace," as best I can tell; and Zdan would be a short form, kind of like "Ted" from "Theodore" in English. This name appears in legal records as far back as 1460, so it's a good old Polish name. As of 1990 there were 3,994 Poles named Zdanowicz, living pretty much all over the country with no apparent concentration in a specific region, although the provinces of Białystok and Suwałki in northeastern Poland had some pretty good numbers (616 and 121 respectively).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Daszkowski

I have often wondered the origin and meaning of my family name and wondered if you could shed any light in this matter. The surname is Daszkowski...

The name Daszkowski, like most names ending in -owski, probably started as a reference to a connection between a family and a particular place, in this case named something like Daszków or Daszkowo. I found only one place with a name that fits: a village that no longer exists, which was called Daszkowo or Doszkowo. It was near Gasiorow and Biezdziechow in what is now Poznan province, apparently just a few km. west of the town of Wrzesnia in Poznan province. It's possible other places existed with names this surname could derive from, but I can't find any others, so this just might be the place. It was referred to in 159 records as Daszkowo, but in most other records it was called Doszkowo. It seems fairly likely that that's what Daszkowski started out meaning, "person or family from Daszkowo/Doszkowo." The name of the village, in turn, means "Daszko's place" -- Daszko is a name we see in old records, used as a kind of nickname for popular first names such as Daniel or David (kind of like "Ted" from "Theodore"). So there was apparently a fellow named Daszko at some point who owned or established this village, and it was named for him, and your family had some connection with that place -- usually, it would just boil down to the fact that they lived there.

The name Daszkowski is moderately common in Poland, as of 1990 there were 1,084 Polish citizens named Daszkowski -- which is why I can't help but wonder if there were other small places named Daszkow or Daszkowo, which were too small to show up on maps, or changed their names, or were absorbed into other communities; it just seems odd that that many people could have gotten their name from one little village that doesn't even exist any more. Still, who knows? That's the only Daszkowo I could find. In any case, the Daszkowski's lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (183), Bydgoszcz (78), Gdansk (185), Lodz (60), Slupsk (74), and Torun (104). It appears they're more common in the northcentral and central part of Poland than elsewhere, but there isn't enough of a pattern to let us pin it down any more precisely than that.

[Follow-Up On Daszkowski]

...Thanks for the information. I have since learned that my family is of Polish nobility and comes from the town called Daszki, which was given to them when they became nobility. The town of Daszki (which I am not sure if it still exists) was near Gdansk. My family had a large estate there until my great-great-great grandfather sold it (or lost it somehow) and immigrated to America. I know that some of the family ended up staying in Poland and had many children. This could explain at least some of the Daszkowski population (at least in that region)...

This is an excellent example of what I mean when I tell people "If you do a good job researching your family, you'll end up being far more of an expert on your names than I can ever hope to be!" None of my sources mentioned Daszki near Gdansk, and it's not on any of my maps. But you got the information, and it sounds fairly reliable to me. For a lot of Daszkowski's what I wrote would have been correct, but there's always one in every crowd 8-).

So ignore what I wrote about the derivation -- but at least the distribution data I gave you may be some help. And I'm pleased to hear you were able to come up with this info. It just proves, it's smart to listen to the "experts," but never take what they say as Gospel, and never stop digging on your own!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Novletsky - Nowolecki - Winograd

...I am trying to do research on my father's family. Nobody seems to know much about them. I know that both of my father's parents came from an area near Warsaw, in a shtetl named Bendzin. I'm wondering what info you could give me regarding each of their last names. One of them, Winograd, which is also my name, has been said to mean "vinyard" in several languages...

Winograd does indeed mean "vinyard" in Polish (and other Slavic languages, if you adjust the spelling slightly in view of each language's phonetics). It's difficult to tell in a given case whether an ancestor got this name because he lived near a vinyard, owned a vinyard, or worked in a vinyard -- about the most we can say for sure is that there was some kind of connection with a vinyard... I was surprised to see that as of 1990 there were only 46 Polish citizens named Winograd, I would have expected a lot more (however, there were 526 with the related name Winogrodzki). The 46 lived in the following provinces: Białystok (6), Bydgoszcz (11), Legnica (1), Skierniewice (1), Walbrzych (3), Wroclaw (13), and Zielona Gora (11), so they were scattered pretty much all over the country. (I'm afraid this data is all I have access to, I don't know how to get details such as first names and addresses).

Alexander Beider mentions Winograd in his Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland (which included the Warsaw area), so it clearly is a name sometimes borne by Jews. But I haven't run into it often enough to know whether it's justifiable to conclude anyone named Winograd would probably be a Jew. In theory, it's one of those names that could be used by any religion; in practice, sometimes such names do prove to be associated primarily with one or another. In view of Jewish dietary precepts, however, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if this name is primarily associated with Jews; if so, that might have something to do with why it's less common than I expected, and it may have been considerably more common before the Holocaust.

Novletsky or Novlotsky is a bit of a problem. The form doesn't really "sound" right to me, and as of 1990 there was no one by either name in Poland. Even if you adjust for phonetic differences, turning it into Nowlecki or Nowlocki (Poles write the sound "ts" with the letter c, and the sound "v" with the letter w), it still doesn't seem quite right. However, an extra O can often get lost quite easily, and as of 1990 there were 12 Nowolecki's living in Poland, all in Warsaw province. I can't be positive this name is connected with the one you're asking about, but from a linguistic point of view such a connection is plausible, and the area seems to be about right... Oddly, Beider's book doesn't mention any of these names, and usually he is pretty good about listing any name borne by Jews living in the eastern 1/3 of modern Poland. As for the meaning, its form suggests it is derived from a place name, probably something like Nowolec or Nowolek. I can't find mention of any such place in my sources, but this is not necessarily odd -- surnames originated at least two centuries ago (although Jewish names are often of somewhat coinage), and the places they originally referred to might have been too small to show up in any official map or gazetteer, or might have been renamed, or absorbed into larger communities. Often we have a very hard time finding the places surnames came from.

If you would like more help, perhaps you can find some useful leads at the Website of the publication Avotaynu
, or from Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation. These are connected with folks who have greater expertise in Jewish research than I, and you just might be surprised what you can find if you hunt for records of the Bendzin shtetl or other such sources.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Pyrtek

...researching family please help if you can thanks nancy...

The name Pyrtek does not appear in any of my books by Polish name experts, but it seems plausible that it comes from the root pyrt- or perc-; there is a Polish term perć (connected with Slovak prt') which means "a steep path along a mountain-side, a steep passageway." If this connection is correct -- and I can find nothing else in Polish that appears to be relevant -- it probably belongs to the category of surnames derived from references to places. Perhaps an ancestor lived near such a path, or often traveled on such a path.

As of 1990 there were 348 Polish citizens named Pyrtek, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 6, Bielsko-Biala 3, Gdansk 11, Katowice 231, Koszalin 1, Krakow 37, Nowy Sacz 20, Torun 2, Walbrzych 5, Zielona Gora 32. It's interesting that by far the majority live in provinces in southcentral Poland (Bielsko-Biala, Krakow, Nowy Sacz, and Katowice), near the Czech/Slovak border. This makes sense in terms of geography and also in light of the fact that this name may not have originated as native Polish -- it seems more likely to have come from Slovak. That's not to say your ancestors weren't Poles, there are lots of Poles with names of non-Polish origin; but at some point there might have been some Slovak blood in the family. That's guessing on some rather slender evidence, but the chances are good enough to make it worth mentioning.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Czeberowski - Gargasz - Glozor - Zięba - Ziemba

...Would like to know information about the surnames Gargasz, Zieba, Czeberowski, and Glozor...

Czeberowski is a rare name, as of 1990 there was no one in Poland with this name or any of the likely spelling variations such as Cieberowski. Names ending in -owski usually refer to an association with a particular place, in this case probably a place name something like Czeberów or Czeberowo, so that the surname means "person from Czeberow[o]." I can't find any such places, although there are a couple of villages in Białystok province in northeastern Poland named Czeberaki -- that name comes from an old first name Czeberak, which is thought to be related to the term ceber, "bucket." It's not unusual to find that a name ending in -owski doesn't match up with any village still in existence; sometimes surnames were formed from references to names used only by locals, names of very small villages or farmsteads that never appeared on any map, or have since been changed. But that's my best guess as to what the surname comes from, "person from Czeberowo."

Gargasz is also not too common, but it's not unheard of. As of 1990 there were 419 Poles named Gargas, 140 named Gargasz, and 238 named Gargaś (ś stands for the Polish s with an accent over it, pronounced like our "sh," and the sz is a similar sound -- so all three of these spellings can reasonably be regarded as minor variants of the same name). While this name can be found all over Poland, it is a bit more common in southcentral Poland, especially the area around the cities of Kraków and Nowy Sacz; and Gargaś shows up a lot in southeastern Poland, in the provinces of Tarnów (43) and Rzeszow (80). The name Gargasz appears in legal records of the Nowy Sacz area as far back as 1561. Name experts are not sure of its origin, but think it comes from an old German first name Garge, or perhaps from a verb garguleć, "to decay."

Glozor is a mystery; there was no one by that name in Poland in 1990, and none of my sources mention it. I'm afraid I've come up empty on this one.

Zieba is usually spelled Zięba in Polish (the ę is pronounced either en or em, in this case em, so that the name sounds like "ZHEM-bah"). The probable root is zięba, "finch," although a connection with the root zięb-, "chill" is possible. But many Polish surnames derive from the names of birds, and that's probably the case here. It may have started as a nickname, perhaps because a person lived in an area with many finches, or perhaps because something about the person reminded people of a finch. As of 1990 there were 19,024 Polish citizens named Zięba, so it is a very common name. Because it is pronounced much like Ziemba, you may also sometimes see it spelled that way, that's not unusual -- there were 3,846 Ziemba's in 1990, so either spelling of the name is pretty common.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Klafke - Klawke - Klawki

...Klafki (1810, Ostpreussen), Klawki (1830, 1852 in Brazil), Klauki (1852, in Brazil), Klawke, Klaffke and Klafke (now-a-day). My ancestors came from Ostpreussen in 1852 but I think the name is not a German name but a Slavic name. One has suggest the meaning of the name may be Woodcutter, or Son of Klaus (Klauski).

The best evidence suggests that in most cases this name derives from Klawka, which is a Polish short form of the name Mikołaj = German Nikolaus (short form Klaus) = English Nicholas. I believe you are right to think the name is Slavic rather than German, because German usually forms diminutives of names by adding suffixes with the letter -L (Haensel = "little Hans (John)," Gretel = "little Margaret"); but Slavic languages use suffixes with the letter -K-, such as -ek, -ka, -ki, -ko. There are many areas in eastern Germany and western Poland where Germans and Poles lived close together, and their languages influenced each other's names, so that a Polish name might change somewhat to fit German phonetics. Thus we sometimes see the name Jahnke, which looks German; but it's actually a Germanized form of Polish or Czech "Janek, Janko." I think something similar happened with your name.

The root Klaw- is clearly a Slavic adaptation of German Klaus, so we have the following process: from Latin Nicholaus -> German Klaus -> Polish Klawek or Klawko -> German Klafke. We know the forms Klawek or Klawko appear in Polish legal records from as far back as 1391, and that they were regarded as short forms or nicknames of Polish Mikołaj (German Klaus). As time went on and Germans gained more power and influence, the name probably was modified slightly to German phonetics, and thus we finally get Klaffke or Klafke.

I should mention that this is not the only possible derivation of the name. It could conceivably come from Latin clavis, "key." Although it seems unlikely, I cannot rule it out. But clearly it is far more likely in most cases that the name derives from the name Klaus. Klawek or Klawko can be interpreted as "little Nicholas," which may mean an ancestor by that name was rather small, but more likely it was a patronymic, a name taken from one's father's name. Thus Klawek or Klawko probably meant "son of Nicholas."

I'm afraid none of these names is very common in modern-day Poland; as of 1990 there was at least 1 person named Klawka, also 1 named Klawke, but I have no further information on where they lived. There was no one named Klawki. There were 32 Polish citizens named Klawek, living in the provinces of Pila (9), Walbrzych (21), and Wroclaw (2) -- all areas with large German elements in the population. There were also 170 named Klawa and 123 named Klawe. So names formed from this root are not unknown in Poland, but they are not particularly common.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Karpiński

...Would you help me find the meaning of the name Karpinski? I was told that it was a very common name, much like Smith in America...

Well, it's not quite that common, but it is a fairly common name. As of 1990 there were 19,174 Polish citizens named Karpiński. They lived all over the country, and the distribution seems to be fairly even -- no pattern that tells us anything special.

The ultimate root is connected in most cases to the term karp, "carp" (the fish), which is the root of a great many surnames and place-names in Poland, Russia, etc. In some cases it might also come from the term karpa, "trunk, stem," or from a short form of the first name Polikarp. I'm not sure, but I think in olden days Karp might also have been used as a first name or nickname, much the way we use nicknames such as "Catfish," "Kingfish," etc.

Names ending in -iński usually started as a reference to a place where a family lived or came from; in this case I would say the most likely candidates are the villages of Karpie in Legnica province, Karpin in Lodz province, and Karpiny in Elblag province. However, there could have been many more places named Karpin, Karpino, etc. that are too small to show up on maps, or have since changed their names, or have been absorbed by neighboring communities. But that is the basic meaning of the name: "person from Karpin/Karpino/Karpiny," -- or, to break it down further, "person from the place of the carp" (or in some cases "person from the place of Polikarp").

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Trojanowski

...I am looking for information on Trojanowski...

Like most names ending in -owski, this one almost certainly started out referring to the place a person or family lived in or came from. In this case I'd expect the name of the place to be something like Trojanow, Trojanowo, Trojanowice, Trojany -- and as it happens, there are a number of villages in Poland by those names. (Those names in turn, come from the Slavic root troi-, "three," or from the first names Trojan or Trajan). I can't say which particular village your family was associated with, but if your research leads you to a particular area in Poland and you notice a village nearby with a name beginning with Trojan-, that's probably the place!

When a place name is that popular, the surnames derived from it are usually pretty popular too, and that's the case here -- as of 1990 there were 10,088 Polish citizens named Trojanowski. They lived all over the country, I don't see any particular pattern to the distribution.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Mikulski

...I would like to know if you have any quick information on the name Mikulski. It's just and intrest so don't put too much into it. If you do have something, please e-mail it too me. Thank you...

The root of this surname is Mikuła (the Polish l with a slash through it is pronounced like our w), which is an archaic variant of the popular first name Mikołaj = English Nicholas. If surnames were being formed these days you'd expect Mikołajski, formed from the standard version of the name (and in fact that is a reasonably common name in Poland). But most surnames arose centuries ago, and back then Mikuła was still a pretty popular variant, and that's why surnames were formed from it. There are other names from this form, including Mikulak and Mikulec, but Mikulski is by far the most common.

If you wanted to translate it, you'd say Mikulski means "of, belonging to, pertaining to, associated with Nicholas." In practice it would normally mean just "Nicholas's kin," although in some cases it might possibly also come from places meaning "Nicholas's place," such as Mikułowice, Mikulice, etc. But usually names derived from those places would be Mikułowski or Mikulicki, so plain old Mikulski would usually just mean no more than "kin of Nicholas."

Surnames formed from popular first names are usually quite common, and that's the case with Mikulski: as of 1990 there were some 9,693 Polish citizens by this name. I don't see any particular pattern to the distribution, it's a moderately common name all over the country.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Suchodolski

...I will appreciate it if you could provide some information about the meaning of the name Suchodoslki. I still have relatives in Poland and even they do not know the meaning of the name. Thanks much...

The standard form of the name would be Suchodolski, and it derives from places named Suchodół and Suchodoły. These names are basically the same, Suchodoły is just plural and Suchodół singular. Both come from the roots suchy, "dry" + dół, "pit, depression," also sometimes short for dolina, "valley." So these place names mean "dry valley" or "dry valleys." Apparently sometimes places got this name because they were relatively dry, but in some cases the name may have been meant ironically, in fact the valleys were quite wet. But whether the name was meant with or without irony, "dry valley" is the basic meaning, and Suchodolski means "person or family from Suchodół or Suchodoły = "person from Dry Valley(s)."

There are a number of places in Poland with the names Suchodoły and Suchodół (quite a few on my maps, and probably more too small to show up on maps), so it's not surprising this is a fairly common surname -- 3,717 Polish citizens were named Suchodolski as of 1990. The name appears to be distributed fairly evenly all over the country, with Suchodolski's living in virtually every province, and with the larger numbers tending to be in the more densely-populated provinces. As I say, this is reasonable -- by its nature this place name could and probably did originate in many different areas all over Poland, so we'd expect the surname formed from it to have formed all over.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Miosge - Miazga - Voight

...The only information I have to go on is that he gave his name (on arrival in Australia) as Friedrich Wilhelm Miosge (Polish translation unknown) and that his sister Olga later married a Voight?. He also told my grandmother (his grandaughter) that he was of noble origin???...

Well, let's do Voight first, because that's easier. Voight is a Germanic form of a name that is common in German and Polish; in German it usually takes the forms Voigt or Vogt, in Polish it's Wójt (usually with suffixes added; the Polish accented o, pronounced much like oo in "wood"). This name comes from a title of a regional administrator or supervisor; a Vogt or Wójt was usually an administrator in charge of a village, but could also be in charge of some larger community or area. The term actually comes from Latin advocatus, which gives us our word "advocate" and means "called to, appointed." As of 1990 there were 500 Polish citizens named Vogt, 14 named Voigt, and 24 named Voit; as for Polish Wójt, there were thousands and thousands with names that derive from this root (although many of those names can also derive from the first name Wojciech, which has nothing to do with Voigt/Wójt). But the German forms Voigt and Voit and Vogt are the ones that probably interest you most, and as I say, they're reasonably common in Poland and probably much more so in Germany (though I have no hard data).

Now, as for Miosge, this is a tough one. The name looks and sounds to me Lithuanian, but none of my Lith. sources mention it. If it's Polish, my only guess is that it might be a variant of a name such as Miazga, borne by 2,905 Poles as of 1990; there is also a name Miozga, which I think is probably a variant form of Miazga, and it was borne by 680 Poles. Both appear to come from a term miazga, meaning "pulp, chyle." If a Pole pronounced Miosge, it would sound similar to "Miazga," so there could be a connection -- but that's just an educated guess, I have no proof whatever.

As of 1990 there was at least 1 person named Miosge in Poland, but the data on his/her file was apparently incomplete. There were 115 Poles named Miosga, and they lived in the following provinces: Czestochowa 31, Gorzow 3, Jelenia Gora , Kalisz 6, Katowice 50, Legnica 5, Opole 18, Wroclaw 1. This indicates the name is most common in south central Poland, as Czestochowa, Katowice, and Opole provinces are all right there, just a little west of Krakow. Unfortunately the source from which I got this data does not include further details such as first names and addresses, so what I give here is the only info I have access to. But Miosge and Miosga are so similar that I think they must be variant forms of the same name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Wielowiejski

...Very recently I received some documents on my great grandfather, Antoni Zawadzki (b. 1834), from the Diocese of Drohiczyn, Poland. Through them I learned that my great grandmother had the name Joanna Wielowiejska. In one place it looks more like Wielewiejska. I could not find this name in your book. A friend in Poland tells me that this is a very important and rare name in Polish History, but over the phone did not give me any details. I am very curious, as the documents all mention that these ancestors were "szlachta" and "dworzanin". This is a surprise to me. Have you ever come across the Wielowiejski name?

I didn't list it in my book because it's not very common, but I have seen it before. In the Polish Genealogical Society of America Journal we printed my translation of a genealogical bibliography by Wlodzimierz Dworzaczek, listing books he knew of that dealt with various noble families, and he included this book:

"WIELOWIEYSKI, of Polkozic arms: Pamiatka po zmarlych s. p. Adamie i Henryku Wielowieyskich i Zofii z Deskurow Wielowieyskiej [A remembrance of the late Adam and Henryk Wielowieyski and Zofia nee Deskur Wielowieyski], published in Krakow in 1904 (contains a genealogy of the Wielowieyskis)."

So there was apparently at least one noble family named Wielowieyski, which is a rather old-fashioned spelling -- the modern spelling would be Wielowiejski. This may not have been the only noble family by this name; I'm afraid my sources on the szlachta are rather limited. [reference to Leonard Suligowski was removed since he is deceased]

As for the name itself, it is an adjectival form of the place name Wielowieś, which means "big village" -- there are at least 9 villages by that name in Poland, so it's hard to pin down which particular one the surname refers to. But at least we can say the name means, in effect, "person/family from Wielowieś," or to break it down further, "person/family from the big village." As of 1990 there were 208 Polish citizens named Wielowiejski, and another 47 who spelled the name the old-fashioned way, Wielowieyski. I don't see any real pattern to the distribution, the name is most common in the provinces of Warsaw (20), Bydgoszcz (30), Kalisz (18), Leszno (17), Poznan (18) and Wroclaw (16). Still, in your case that may not be a real problem -- if your ancestors were members of the noble Wielowieyski family, you may be able to find some information on them that will tell you exactly where they came from.

All in all, I'm moderately optimistic that you will be able to find some info -- it's so much easier when dealing with nobles, because the records kept on them were far more complete, and go back much farther, than for peasants. It may not be easy to get hold of more information on this family, but I think it's likely such information does exist. I hope Leonard or someone else can assist you in locating it. Good luck!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kasprzykowski - Werra

...I am interested in any information you could pass on to me regarding the surname Kasprzykowski ("Kasper-kush-key"), the maiden name of my paternal grandmother, or Werra (GGM's maiden name). Frank Kasprzykowski & Martha Werra emigrated to Milwaukee from Poland in 1892...

The name Kasprzykowski probably originated as a reference to a place the family came from or was otherwise connected with; I'd expect the place to have a name something like Kasprzyków, Kasprzykowo (meaning, essentially, "the place of Kasper's son, probably referring to someone who founded it or owned it at some point). Offhand I can't find any place by either name on the maps, but that's not unusual. Often surnames were generated from the names of places that were quite small -- the names may have been used only by locals, and never appeared on any map or in any gazetteer -- or that have since changed their names. If your research leads you to a particular area of Poland and you find any reference to a nearby village or settlement with a name beginning Kasprzyk-, that's probably the one your family's name came from... As of 1990 there were 530 Polish citizens named Kasprzykowski, living all over Poland but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (74), Katowice (55), Torun (92), and Warsaw (43). (Unfortunately, I don't have access to further details, such as first names or addresses).

Werra is a tough one. It's not rare, as of 1990 there were 490 Polish citizens by that name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (78), Gdansk (155), and Slupsk (163), all in northcentral and northwest Poland, roughly in the areas that used to be the provinces of West Prussia and Pomerania under German rule. The origin of the name is not clear, however; there is a Werre river in Lippe, and the name used to be Werne; there is also a German surname Werres which comes from the first name Severus (Latin, "strict, stern, severe"). So the surname could well come from one of those two names; many names in those areas are of German origin, as Poles and Germans mixed to a considerable extent there. But none of my sources mention it, so I can't give you a firm derivation, only my guess that it might be connected to one of the two names I mentioned.

(Of course, it might always turn out this is connected with the Slavic root vera, "faith, belief," or Latin verus, "true." This is possible if that -rr- spelling is not integral to the name, and Wera was the original form.)

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Tokarczyk - Turek - Wnęk

...My surnames so far ar Wnek which if I remember from your book means grandson...

Yes, Wnęk (with the nasal e, sounding like en, written as an e with a tail under it) means "grandson," and it's a pretty common name -- as of 1990 there were 3,2356 Polish citizens named Wnęk.

...Turek I have no idea what it means - I just found out about that one...

This name could come from several different roots, but in most cases the one that's relevant is turek, "Turk." Poland used to rule much of western Ukraine, and in medieval times there were frequent invasions of Turks into southeastern and southcentral Europe; some of those Turks settled there, married, and produced children. Turek generally suggests that one of them might have been an ancestor -- or else that an ancestor looked like a Turk, followed Turkish customs, etc. This, too, is a common name, there were 13,066 Polish citizens named Turek in 1990.

...Tokarczyk - I just got the correct spelling for this one - again I don't know what it means...

A tokarz is a "turner, lathe operator," and -czyk means "son of," so this name means "son of a turner." It, too is fairly common in Poland, as of 1990 there were 3,525 Polish citizens named Tokarczyk.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Staszak

...My wife became jealous that I received this information from you and would like to know her father's surname meaning which is Staszak. We know that there are a lot of Staszaks in the Poznan area but have no clue as to the name's meaning...

In the interests of promoting domestic tranquility, I'll be glad to tell you what I can.

Poles historically loved to form nicknames and affectionate variations of names by taking the first few sounds of a popular first name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes -- not unlike the way we turned "Edward" into "Eddy." One of the most popular names in Poland, as far back as we have records, is Stanisław (the ł is pronounced like our W), an ancient name coming from pagan times and meaning something like "May he become glorious!" Poles formed a great many nicknames and short forms of that name, one of which is Staś (accent over the s, giving it a kind of an "sh" sound). This is still a very popular name among Poles, I know several people called Staś.

The sz combination in Polish is also pronounced like "sh," although it's a chunkier, harder sh, whereas ś is kind of light and hissing. You have to grow up speaking the language to really get the difference -- but the point is, both Staś and Stasz sound pretty similar, and both started out as nicknames for Stanisław. Then, once these names became common, Poles started adding suffixes to them. Staszak is basically a diminutive, meaning "little Staś," often = "son of Staś." So Staszak became a surname meaning "Staś's son" (not unlike Smithson or Alexanders in English). That's the origin of this name.

Since Stanisław and many of the names formed from it are extremely popular, it's not surprising that the surnames formed from them tend to be common. As of 1990 there were 5,562 Polish citizens named Staszak. They lived all over the country, with some of the larger numbers appearing in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (380), Kalisz (693), Konin (927), and Poznan (845). But really, the name's fairly common all over the country, which just makes sense -- it could, and did, get started anywhere they spoke Polish and there were guys named Staś who had sons.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Henryk

...I am trying to find the correct spelling of a Polish surname. It is pronounced Hyn-rick , but I believe it is spelled Hnyjnrch or something similar, but I am having no luck with my search using that spelling...

Well, it sounds as if you're talking about a surname derived from the Polish first name Henryk, which is the equivalent of our "Henry." Henryk is the standard spelling, but it derives from the German Heinrich, and other spellings are possible, depending on the degree to which the name has been adapted to Polish phonetics. They include Hejnrych, Heinrych, Hendrych, and Henrych. Henryk rarely appears as a surname in Poland, but the other four forms I just mentioned do, some more common than others. So I would guess you're looking for Heinrich, Hejnrych, Heinrych, Hendrych, or Henrych. I have no way of knowing for sure which of those forms is the exact one you're looking for, but I hope this will give you enough info to make your search more productive. Good luck!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Lizewski

... In the spirit of your notes, and my last name being Lizewski, I should look for villages in Poland such as Lizew, Lizewo, Lizewa, Lizewice, etc.? Thanks for your assistance...

It is such a pleasure talking to somebody who actually reads and understands what I have written! It makes me feel that perhaps I'm not wasting my time after all!

Yes, that is the basic idea with a name like Lizewski. You'd expect it, just judging by the form, to come from a place name beginning with Liz-, and the names you mention are all reasonable candidates. The only problem may be finding the place in question. Some surnames were formed from the names of rather small settlements, so the place names were never used by anyone by locals. Also, the surnames generally originated at least 200-300 years ago, and names can change. So there's no guarantee you'll find the right place, unless you manage to get at records that are very localized and go back a long way!

I looked in the Słownik Geograficzny gazetteer and only found a few places that might fit. There was a Liż, a manorial farmstead in Srem powiat (near Srem in Poznan province), part of the Jawory estate. There was a Liza Nowa served by Piekuty parish and part of Poswietne gmina in Wysoko Mazowieckie powiat. There were a couple of Lizawy's, one in Konin powiat, Slesin parish, and one in Stopnice powiat, Pierzchnica parish (Lizewski < Lizawy is a bit of a stretch, but not too much so). There was a Liże near Rossienie (now Raseiniai in Lithuania). And there were 2 places called Lizowszczyzna, which might be relevant -- the -szczyzna suffix usually was formed from names ending in -ski, so we have a link with Lizowski, and that could well be relevant, e and o often switch. Both these places were near Dzisna, and thus are probably now in Belarus; one was about 14 km. from Dzisna, the other about 50.

One of these might be the right place; or your Lizewskis might have taken their name from another place that has since disappeared, or changed names. I wish I could give you something exact to work with, but I just don't have enough data. Still, maybe some of this info will come in handy. I hope so! And I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pieknik - Puch

...I would like to request information conserning the surnames Puch and Pieknik. Both families came from the Galicia region of Poland. My husband still has relatives (Pieknik) in Jaslo. I am not aware of any relations by the name of Puch currently residing in Poland, but the family original came from an area near Stary Sacz...

As of 1990 there were 160 Polish citizens named Pieknik, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (16), Czestochowa (14), Katowice (29), Legnica (15), Rzeszow (25), and a few scattered in other provinces. This indicates the name is a bit more common in southcentral and southwestern Poland than elsewhere -- most of those provinces are a little west of Galicia proper, but Rzeszow province was in Galicia. Pieknik probably derives from the root piękny (ę is pronounced much like en), which means "beautiful, pretty, nice." The name probably meant something like "son of the beautiful one." It might also come from the root piek- meaning "bake," but that -nik suffix makes derivation from the root meaning "beautiful" considerably more likely.

Puch appears in records as early as 1381, and is thought to derive from the root puch, "down, fluff" -- perhaps it referred to a person with soft hair or skin. As of 1990 there were 640 Puch's in Poland, with the larger numbers living in the provinces of Białystok (69), Katowice (52), Lublin (41), Nowy Sacz (70), and Wroclaw (40), and smaller numbers in several other provinces. The provinces mentioned are all over Poland, but Lublin was in Galicia, and I believe Nowy Sacz province (which includes Stary Sacz) was also. So the numbers fit in fairly well with the info you provided.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Schwerm - Szwerm

...If you have an occasion in your studies to come across any information on the name Schwerm, I would be most grateful for it...

Schwerm is a German name, but German names are often very relevant to Polish research; there are just too many names borne by true Poles that originated from German expressions or names! Schwerm appears to come from the same root as the German names Schwermer and Schwa"rmer -- those names mean "enthusiast, zealot," i.e., somebody who gets all worked up over something. As of 1990 there were 51 Polish citizens with the name Schwermer (most living in Pila and Poznan provinces), but none named Schwerm. There were 24 who used the name Szwermer (which is just Schwermer spelled by Polish phonetics), but none named Szwerm -- and you should keep your eye open for that spelling, because over the course of time the names of Germans in Poland did often come to be spelled according to Polish phonetics, particularly as those people began to fit in and lose their status as "foreigners."

This might mean the original form of the name was Schwermer rather than Schwerm, but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. There might be plenty of Schwerm's in Germany. Modern numbers on German-sounding names in Poland can be deceiving, because so many ethnic Germans decided to get out of Poland after World War II (being an obvious German in post-war Poland was not a good career move!). So there may have been Schwerm's in Poland before 1945; or people named Schwerm/Szwerm may have decided to change their names to something a bit less German-sounding.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Majtyka

...I found your page ... and am interested in any info you can turn up on the name Majtyka. I don't know much except that my grandfather and his parents settled in Detroit either just before or during WW1 after leaving Warsaw. Also, I've heard several suggestions as to the origin of the name, none of which has been confirmed...

Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions Majtyka under names coming from the basic root majd-, "to move back and forth, wag (a tail), dangle (legs)," so it appears to be a name that originated (perhaps as a nickname) as a reference to a physical characteristic. Perhaps your ancestor had a habit of moving that way -- it can be tough, all these centuries later, to reconstruct exactly how and why a particular name came to be associated with an individual. All we can do is note what the words mean and try to make plausible suggestions on why the name was appropriate.

Rymut is usually pretty reliable, but I can't help wondering if this name might also be connected with the word majtek, which means "ordinary sailor." This word could quite plausibly generate a surname Majteka or Majtka or Majtyka meaning, basically, "sailor's son." It's possible Rymut looked at this and rejected it for good reason; but it strikes me as worth consideration.

As of 1990 there were 673 Polish citizens named Majtyka, living all over the country, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (69), Czestochowa (48, Krakow (84), Sieradz (130), and Wroclaw (81). These provinces are all in an area of southcentral to southwestern Poland, so that's the general area in which this name is most common -- although it is found in smaller numbers in virtually every province of Poland. Unfortunately I do not have access to further details, such as first names, addresses, etc.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Królak - Milan - Rudy

...Thanks much for your information regarding my Grandfather. I would appreciate it if you would give me quick and dirty rundown on the following: My dads mother : Barbara Rudy from Tarnapol ...

Names beginning with Rud- can come from the adjective rudy, "ginger-colored, red-haired," from the noun ruda, "ore," or from the first name Rudolf. In this case I imagine Rudy probably comes from the adjective meaning "red-haired," although there's no way to be certain without a lot more detail. As of 1990 there were 1,178 Poles named Rudy, so it's a moderately common name; there were Rudy's living in every province, but the largest numbers were in the provinces of Katowice (246), Krosno (98), and Zamosc (141) -- the latter two are in southeastern Poland (and thus geographically not that far from Tarnopol, which is now in Ukraine), the other, Katowice, is an area where many eastern Poles and Ukrainians were forced to relocate after World War II. My source of Polish data does not include areas outside Poland's current borders, so I can't tell you how many Rudy's live in the Tarnopol region.

...My moms Mother Mary Milan or Mellon ...

Mellon makes no sense as a Polish name, though it could be an anglicized version of Milan, which is a recognized Polish name. Milan could have developed as a short form of the first name Emilian, or as a nickname for the first names Milobor, Milosław, etc -- there are a number of ancient names beginning with the root mil-, "dear, nice, beloved." So either way you look at it, this is one of those surnames that derived from a first name, usually because a family was being named after the father, almost in the sense of "Milan's kids." As of 1990 there were 256 Poles named Milan, so it's not all that common a name; small numbers lived in many provinces, the largest numbers were in the provinces of Elblag (22), Krosno (33), Nowy Sacz (46), and Przemysl (23) -- so it's a bit more common in southcentral and southeastern Poland.

...My Moms dad: Andrezej Krolak ..

Królak comes from the word król, "king," so Królak means something like "king's son"; obviously in most cases the term isn't literal, it might mean "son of the king's man, son of the king's servant," something like that. It's a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were 5,660 Poles named Królak; it's common all over Poland, with an especially large group of 1,500+ in Warsaw province. (By the way, that first name is properly spelled Andrzej, not Andrezej -- not a big deal, but it might prove helpful at some point to know that).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gozdowski

...I have your book Polish Surnames and enjoy it a lot. I would like to know more about the Gozdowski name and were they came from. I'm told that they came from Posen,but I donot know if it was the city or province. Is it Posne or Poznan? ...

I'm glad you like the book -- I put a fair amount of work into it, and hoped people would find it helpful.

To start with, Poznań is the Polish name of a major city in Poland, and also of the province of which it is the administrative capital (Poznan is the capital of Poznan province, Krakow is capital of Krakow province, etc.). The German form of this name is Posen, so when the Germans ruled this area (from roughly 1772 to 1918) that's the name they used. A large part of what is now western Poland was called Provinz Posen ("Poznan province") by the Germans -- it's not the same as the modern-day province of Poznan, it was much larger. So when you talk about Poznan/Posen, it makes a big difference whether you're talking about the city or the province, and it makes a big difference what time frame you're dealing with.

Names ending in -owski usually (not always) refer to some association between a person or family and a place with a name ending in -ów or -owo; so we would expect Gozdowski to mean something like "person from Gozdow or Gozdowo." There are quite a few places named Gozdów and Gozdowo, but in this case you say your folks come from near Poznan, and I notice one of those Gozdowo's is in modern-day Poznan province -- it's about 40 km. east-southeast of Poznan, and less than 5 km. from the town of Wrzesnia. This doesn't HAVE to be the Gozdowo your family's name refers to, but chances seem reasonably good that it is. As of 1990 there were 597 Polish citizens named Gozdowski, of whom 142 lived in Poznan province (by far the most in any one province).

By the way, the place names Gozdow and Gozdowo probably come from the archaic root gozd, "forest," so the place name meant something like "place of the forest," and thus the surname means "family from the place of the forest." In some instances names with gozd- can also come from the root gwozdz, "nail," but I suspect in this case it's the old word for "forest" that's involved

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Borcz

...From reading your postings I'm guessing the first part of my name means "battle" but I was interested in any other info you may have. My father believes that our name did not change any when my grandfather came from Poland around 1914...

There are two roots bor in Polish, and usually when you talk about the names the one you want is the bor- that has to do with "fight, struggle, battle." But not always -- and this seems to be one of those times. The other bor is a root meaning "woods, forest," and Borcz (if the name wasn't shortened, and there's no real reason to believe it was) apparently comes from that one. A multi-volume work on Polish place names mentions a village Borcz in Gdansk province (9.5 km. southeast of Kartuzy), and says its name is from the word bór (the ó sounds like "oo" in English "book"), "woods, forest." Originally the name of the village was Borc (sounds like "borts"), and the change to the "ch" sound of Polish cz came about under German influence. So if this is true of the place name, it's likely to be true of the surname as well -- although that isn't absolutely true all the time, but it seems likely. I would think your ancestors got their name from living in or near a forest, maybe even in or near the village of Borcz. Still, there were so many forests all over Poland that this surname probably arose in different places at different times, not necessarily just from the village of Borcz.

As of 1990 there were 514 Polish citizens named Borcz; the largest numbers of them lived in the provinces of Katowice (41), Przemysl (63), and Rzeszow (114), with much smaller numbers in many other provinces.

Since the largest number of Borcz's seem to live in southcentral and southeastern Poland, it's a good idea to be cautious before applying to that surname the derivation of the name of a village up near Gdansk! So we can't be certain Borcz comes from the root meaning "woods, forest." It might derive from a diminutive form of a name with the bor meaning "fight" (e. g., Borek -> Borczak -> Borcz). But I'd lean toward the "forest" derivation myself, it strikes me as being just a little more probable.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Paleń

...Could you please help me with the origin and the meaning of the surname Palen. I'm not sure if it was shortened or not and if it was I'm not sure what it was before. Thanks

It could have been shortened, but there's no need to assume so. Paleń is a moderately common name: as of 1990 there were 711 Polish citizens by this name. Small numbers lived all over the country, but the provinces with the largest numbers were Legnica (41), Tarnobrzeg (364), Wroclaw (33). Obviously Tarnobrzeg province seems the most likely place of origin -- it's in southeastern Poland, not too far from the Ukrainian border. And since many Ukrainians were forced to relocate west after World War II, the Paleń's in Legnica and Wroclaw province may have been living in southeastern Poland, too, before 1945.

The root pal- means "light a fire, heat," and there are a lot of words that come from it. Two that might be relevant to your name are palenka and paleń. The term palenka means "booze, liquor, vodka," a reference to the heating that's an essential part of the distilling process. A paleń is a set of two beams or rods attached side by side along a wall beneath ceiling, for drying wood, flax, onions, etc.; here the meaning is more along the lines of "dry out" rather than actually heating something. So my guess is a person got the name Paleń either because he made liquor (probably home brew) or because somehow people associated him with those drying rods -- maybe he was thin as a rod, or made such rods, or used them all the time. Centuries after the fact it can be awfully hard figuring out how names got started, the best we can do is say what words and meanings a name is associated with, and then try to suggest plausible explanations.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Chritz - Hryc

...My grandfather's name was changed when he came to the U.S. in 1907. He was only 15, and all alone. I'm not sure why it was changed, but the story is that a schoolteacher thought that the original would be too difficult to pronounce. The name was changed from Hryc to Chritz. Do you know how the original name would have been pronounced? I believe he was from Tarnow, Poland....

Sometimes these stories about how names were changed turn out to be utter nonsense, but this one is probably true. I say this because the Polish pronunciation of sounds like "Chritz," if you make the initial "Ch" sound kind of like k (as in "Christ," for instance); so it's very credible that a Hryc who asked for help in making his name easier for English-speakers to pronounce would be told "Chritz" was a good choice. The ch and h are pronounced the same in Polish, a guttural h with attitude, much like the ch in German "Bach" or Scottish "loch"; the Polish y is pronounced like the short i in English "sit," and the Polish c is pronounced like "ts" in "cats." So you see, Chritz really does do a pretty good job of rendering the Polish pronunciation by English phonetic values.

In origin Hryc is a form of the first name Gregory, and it's a form influenced by Ukrainian -- which makes sense, because Tarnow is not far from the border with Ukraine, and the Polish spoken in southeastern Poland does have a certain amount of Ukrainian mixed in. The Ukr. form of the name "Gregory" is Hrehir (with the h, remember, sounding almost like a k), and Hryc or Hryts is a kind of nickname, like "Greg." Poles and Ukrainians both like to make nicknames by taking the first couple of sounds from a popular first name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes; so even though it may not look much like it, Hryc is a nickname for Hrehir... By the way, please note that the name may be of Ukrainian linguistic origin, that doesn't necessarily mean your grandfather wasn't Polish. Many native Poles have names of non-Polish origin that got started centuries ago; also, the western half of Ukraine was under Polish rule for a long time, so a lot of Ukrainians thought of themselves as citizens of Poland. So your grandfather may have been a Pole, a Ukrainian, both -- in matters of ethnic identity we almost have to say "You are what you think you are," because borders in eastern Europe changed so often it's a real mess trying to define ethnicity by strict rules.

As of 1990 there were 233 Polish citizens named Hryc, scattered all over the country, but with larger numbers in the provinces of Łomża (40) and Nowy Sacz (68). There was only one Hryc in Tarnow province. You'd expect most of the Hryc's to live in southeastern Poland, but many people from southeastern Poland and western Ukraine were forced to relocate to western Poland after World War II, so that muddies the waters quite a bit when we look at distribution of Ukrainian names... If we had data on Ukrainian names, there might be a lot more Hryc's there. Interestingly, there's a more common "Polish" name from the same root, Hryciuk (1,394 Polish citizens by that name as of 1990), which means "son of Greg."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Majdoch

...I'm wondering if you could help me out with a little information regarding my family's surname: Majdoch. I really don't know any thing about the history of my family and as far as I know there arn't too many of us out there. The majority of us live in the Milwaukee area with a few exceptions in the Dallas area and also in Arizona I believe. Any info that you may have would be greatly appreciated...

I don't have a lot that will help you. As of 1990 there was no Polish citizen named Majdoch (according to a Polish government database that covered about 94% of that country's population). There were 3 people named Majdok (1 each in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala, Katowice, and Opole), and 1,087 named Majdak -- but without further data it's not a good idea to assume either of those names has anything to do with yours. Majdoch is, theoretically speaking, a perfectly plausible Polish name; it just doesn't happen to be used by anyone now in Poland. I have run into many, many cases where a name died out in Poland after a family by that name emigrated, that may be what happened here.

I do wish we had some idea where the Majdoch's came from, it might shed light on what the name meant. I have a source that says in the Cieszyn area in Bielsko-Biala province (in far southcentral Poland) there is a term majdok that means "left-handed person," so that might be relevant to your name. Majdek is a word meaning "ordinary sailor" (i. e., not a captain or admiral, just a seaman). There's also a verb majdać that means "to wag (a tail), to move back and forth," and Majdoch could well be a name from that root given someone, sort of as a nickname, because of something about the way he moved. All these are possible -- but there just isn't enough data to let us settle on one as being the most likely.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Budacz - Kubiszewski - Walczak - Walczyk

...Have you been swamped with requests? I only know of three other family names: Budacz, Kubiszewski, and my grandmother's maiden name--seen spelled Walczak, Walczyk, and numerous other (surely) Americanized versions...

I have been swamped with requests, which is why I didn't answer earlier. But I can spare a few moments to talk about these names, none of which is particularly difficult.

Budacz means "stall-keeper, person with a buda" -- a buda is a small booth or stall used by, say, watchmen as a guard-house, or peddlers selling inexpensive items out of a stall at market. A buda could be used for many purposes, and a budacz was someone who worked out of or owned a buda. As of 1990 there were only 111 Budacz's in Poland, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (12), Krakow (39), Nowy Sacz (26), and Tarnow (13) and a few living in other provinces -- thus the name is mainly to be found in southcentral and southeast Poland.

Kubiszewski means "person or family from a place with a name beginning Kubiszew- or something similar." Offhand I can't find any Kubiszew's or Kubiszewo's, but it's quite common to see surnames derived from names of places that were quite tiny, or have since changed their names or been absorbed by other communities. The Kubisz- part is a nickname from Jakub, "Jacob," so Kubiszew or Kubiszewo would mean something like "Jake's place," and Kubiszewski would break down to mean "person from Jake's place." But for all intents and purposes, "person from Kubiszew or Kubiszewo" is probably the best practical translation. As of 1990 there were 851 Poles named Kubiszewski, with larger numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (79), Bydgoszcz (157), Gdansk (65), Skierniewice (138), and less than 50 living in most other provinces. This suggests the name is scattered all over the country, there's no one area most likely to be the home of the Kubiszewski's, so there's probably more than one family with that name, and more than one Kubiszew or Kubiszewo.

Walczak and Walczyk are both common names, meaning "son of Walka," and Walka was a kind of nickname that could come from first names such as Walenty (Valentine) or Walerian (Valerian), or from the verb root wal-, "to bring down, overthrow." As of 1990 there were 42,119 Walczak's in Poland, and 4,482 Walczyk's, so both names are common and encountered all over Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Petrasz - Pietrasz

...My grandmothers surname was either Petrasz or Pietrasz. Could you tell me the origin of the name. I'm assuming that the derivation between the two spellings, is just that and not two different names. If so, which would be the more accurate. The family was from Zagorz, near Sanok...

The name Pietrasz comes from the first name Piotr, "Peter," and would not mean much more than "Peter's kin, Peter's sons." Of the two spellings, I'd say Pietrasz is a little more standard -- sometimes the name is pronounced without the slight "y" sound of the i, so that Petrasz sounds like "Pet-rosh" and Pietrasz sounds like "PYET-rosh." That's a pretty minor difference, but Petrasz would be more a dialect form, Pietrasz would be "standard" Polish... As of 1990 there were only 42 Poles who spelled it Petrasz, as opposed to 1,022 named Pietrasz -- of whom 99 lived in Krosno province, which is where Zagorz and Sanok are located. (Sorry, I don't have access to any first names or addresses).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gądela - Gondela

...If you have the time,can you tell me about the surname Gądela. The first a has a tail. I appreciate your time...

An A with a tail under it is pronounced like on in French "bon" -- and since it sounded like that, it was often written that way, so keep an eye open for Gondela, that is an alternate spelling you may well run into.

This is a tough one because none of my sources mention it specifically. There is a verb root gąd- meaning "to play on a stringed instrument," and it generated such surnames as Gądek (= "one who plays an instrument, a home-bred musician") and Gądzik. It may also be the source of Gądela -- the suffix -ela is one we see used in Polish, along with -ała and -uła and several others. That suffix usually implies continual performance of the action of the verb root, so that Gądela would mean "one always playing an instrument." This is quite plausible, and may be exactly how the name got started. I'm just a little worried because this specific name isn't mentioned in my sources, so there's always the chance it came from another root I don't know about... Still, I think the odds are good that's how the name originated, as a nickname or name for a fellow who liked to play an instrument at every opportunity but had no formal training.

As of 1990 there were only 15 Polish citizens with the name Gądela. They lived in the provinces of Krosno (9), Legnica (1), Walbrzych (4), and Wroclaw (1); I'm afraid I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses. The odd thing is, there were more named Gondela, and usually you'd expect it to be the other way around; there were 58 Gondela's, living in the provinces of Biala Podlaska (3), Gdansk (7), Katowice (2), Krosno (35), Lodz (2), Rzeszow (5), and Zielona Gora (4). This isn't much data to draw conclusions from, but it looks to me as if this name is most common in southeastern Poland (Krosno and Rzeszow provinces are in the southeastern corner). This raises the possibility of a Ukrainian linguistic influence, but I can't find any root in Ukrainian that sheds any light on the matter.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Praski - Prassky

...My name is ... Praski. I am trying to find anything on Praski family...Need help. If you have any info or directions where I should look, please advise...

I'm afraid I can't tell you a thing about the Praski family, only a little on the origins of the name. For ideas on how to go about your research, I suggest looking through the resources offered on our website.

As of 1990 there were 835 Polish citizens named Praski, living all over the country but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (104), Czestochowa (273), Katowice (142). So there's a good group by this name in the area of the capital city of Warsaw; and about half of all the Praski's live in Czestochowa and Katowice provincesin southcentral Poland, so there seems to be a concentration of Praski's in that area.

Praski appears (spelled Prassky) in old Polish legal records for the city of Warsaw back in 1483, so the name has been around a while. It's probably derived from place names, and the ones that seem the best candidates are several places named Praga (one of which is now a part of the city of Warsaw), and Praszka, in Czestochowa province. From a linguistic standpoint, the surname Praski could easily derive from either of those place names, and since they match up reasonably well with the areas that have the most Praski's, they seem like good places to look at... Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions that this name can also come from the term praga, "longing, thirst," and that possibility can't be dismissed. But when you can match a -ski name up with a place name, that generally turns out to be the connection that matters.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Cwenar - Cwynar - Gerlach - Gierlach

...The surname is unusual, but Polish. As of this writing, I am under the impression that there are under 150 households in the world with this name: Gierlach. The man who died in the 1850's, lived in the area of Pozen, or Posen. My research has brought me to the eastern area of Galicia -- the Krosno province -- in the mid 1870's. I would like to know further about the meaning of my surname, because I find it interesting that this rare name can have relations living so far apart, or maybe back then the name was more common -?? ...

Gierlach is a slightly Polonized version of the ancient German first name Gerlach, from the roots ger, "spear" + lach, thought to be connected with roots meaning "jump" and "war-game." So it's one of those ancient names from pagan times, when parents gave their kids names meant to be good omens for them; naming a boy Gerlach was expressing a hope he would excel with the spear in martial activities. Here is a listing of the 3 most common spellings of this name in Poland, the number of Poles with each name as of the year 1990, and the provinces in which the largest numbers lived (I don't have access to details such as first names and addresses, so what you see here is all I can offer):

GERLACH 782: Warsaw 66, Jelenia Gora 38, Katowice 64, Krosno 94, Legnica 32, Slupsk 32, Walbrzych 34, Zielona Gora 30

GIERLACH 562; Katowice 44, Krosno 191, Rzeszow 67 (only 11 in Poznan province as of 1990)

GIERŁACH 165: Opole 36, Tarnobrzeg 87

Most provinces of Poland have a few people by these names living in them, these are the ones that seem to have significant concentrations. It's interesting that southeastern Poland, i. e., Galicia, is where the main concentration of Gierlach's and Gierłach's live (Ł sounds like our w); but Gerlach is also common in the western provinces formerly ruled by Germany. All this makes sense: there are many German names in Poland, including most of the western part, but also in Krosno and Rzeszow province, where Germans came as colonists in the Middle Ages, at the invitation of nobles, to help beef up the local economy and repopulate areas devastated by the Black Death, and also later as prisoners of war... One other thing that affects this data is the fact after World War II millions of people were forced to relocate from eastern Poland and western Ukraine to western Poland; so those numbers in Opole and Katowice provinces might also include folks who were living in eastern Poland before 1945.

...The other name I am having trouble with is Cwenar - or is it Cwynar ?? Many documents have it spelled one way or the other for the same person (US documents). Are these spellings one and the same? Also, conflicting stories put this person as Polish from Galician area, or "White Russian" which would put her in Byelorussia (maybe this is incorrect, I am uncertain about the term "White Russian")...

Well, Belarus (as it's called now) and Byelorussia and Belorussia are all the same; Belarus is the name of the country in Belarusian, the others are attempts to represent the name in Latin, spellings that later were imported into English. Belarus means "White Rus'," where Rus' is the Slavic root that has (somewhat inaccurately) been rendered as "Russia." Belarus is just east of Poland, north of Ukraine; its language is very similar to Ukrainian and Russian. Due to the history of the area, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Poles are well pretty mixed together in the area east of Poland's modern borders and west of Russia. For centuries the Poles ruled those regions, and Polish became the language of the upper classes for a long time. In a particular instance it can be tough telling whether a name is Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian or Russian (Lithuanian is usually easier to tell). Just going by its form, this name could be any of them, although the spelling Cwynar/Cwenar is definitely by Polish phonetic values.

In my book I had to list Cwynar as one I couldn't figure out. It's a fairly common name, as of 1990 there were 1,980 Polish citizens named Cwynar; they were most common in the provinces of: Katowice 138, Krosno 266, Opole 122, Przemysl 230, Rzeszow 475, Wroclaw 130. Notice again that the southeastern provinces of Krosno, Przemysl, and Rzeszow come up big, as do some of the provinces Galicians were forced to move to after World War II (Wroclaw, Katowice, and Opole).

The name can also be spelled Cwenar, as of 1990 there were 203 Poles by that name (distribution roughly the same as Cwynar). In some parts of Poland, especially southeast Poland, it isn't at all unusual to see e and y switch. But Cwynar appears to be the more common form.

In view of the geographical distribution of Cwenar/Cwynar, it seems likely it is of either German or Ukrainian origin -- tough to tell which. The -ar suffix is often a tip-off that you're dealing with a name that started out German, with -er; so German Zwiener, Zwinner, Zweiner are theoretical possibilities. Of those, the only one I can find in my sources is Zweiner, "quarrelsome person." It's interesting that Ukrainian has a noun tsvenik (by Polish phonetics that would be Cwenik) that means "braggart, boaster, gossiper." The problem is, Ukrainian and Polish also use the suffix -ar (in Polish it's usually -arz) much the same way as German uses -er; so I have no way to be even halfway sure what the name comes from. I suspect it's either from German Zweiner or Ukrainian Tsvenik; but I can't say with any certainty.

...Also, someone has told me that this is only actually a part of a name, not the full one...

Possibly, but there's no compelling reason to think so. As I said, some 1,980 Poles have the name Cwynar, and probably more in Ukraine -- why jump to the conclusion the name was shortened when data says this form is clearly a common name? To be honest, I get a little fed up with people who shoot off their mouths with checking to see if there's any data; and many of the folks who contact me have been fed a line of bull by such "experts."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Knopek

...A friend of mine whose family came to Scotland from Poland during WW2 has never been able to trace anyone else with this name [Knopek] or find out anything about his roots. Could you help with this?...

I can't tell him a whole lot. According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut names such as Knop, Knopa, and Knopik derive from the term knap, "weaver, clothier," and Knopek appears to be the same, meaning basically "little weaver, weaver's son." As of 1990 there were 485 Polish citizens named Knopek, living in most of Poland's provinces but with larger numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (80), Bydgoszcz (66), Katowice (239), and Opole (44). This suggests the name is particularly concentrated in southcentral Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic -- but it is found elsewhere.

I don't know how much help that is, but it's what I have and he's welcome to it.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Włodarz - Wodaszak

My great-grandmother's maiden name was Wodaszak. Can you tell me anything about that name? ...

Well, as of 1990 there was no one in Poland with that name, and it doesn't really sound or look right to me. In theory it could come from the root woda, "water," but I can't make any sense of it. There is one possibility that strikes me: it might be a spelling variant, or misspelling, of a name from another root, włodarz, "ruler, steward." The Ł (pronounced like our w) is often pronounced so lightly that it's dropped. You pronounce włodarz sort of like "vwoe-dosh," and if you drop the "w" sound it would come out "voe-dosh," which could be spelled either Wodarz or Wodasz. Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions in one of his books that some names with Woda- do come from włodarz, and if that's the case here, it makes sense: the name was originally something like Włodarzek, Włodarzak, meaning "little steward, son of the steward." Names from the root włodarz are moderately common, e. g. in 1990 there were 1,245 Poles named Włodarek, 1,003 named Włodarz, etc.

That's the best guess I can make, is that we're dealing with a misspelling or variant spelling of a name from that root. I can't say whether the change happened in Poland or elsewhere, but you might want to keep your eyes open for any sign that the name was once spelled with Ł. If that's not what happened, I'm fresh out of ideas!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Wołoskowski

...Could you do a quick & dirty study of my name Woloskowski, My grandfather came from Stanislaw. It is now called Ivano-Frankivsk...

The name is spelled Wołoskowski in Polish, where ł is pronounced like our w, so that the name would sound like "vo-wos-KOFF-skee." It comes from the root wołoch, "Wallachian, a pastoral ethnic group of Carpathia and Romania," according to Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut. The root wołoch-/włoch- actually meant "foreigner" originally, and the modern Polish word for "Italian," Włoch, comes from this root (ultimately, so does the English word "Welch," for that matter), but when used in surnames the root usually refers to the Wallachians. That may sound unlikely, but in medieval times that area was sometimes under Polish rule or influence, and there were some ties between Poles and Romanians, so it's actually quite plausible.

Your particular surname's ending of -owski suggests it began as a reference to a connection between your family and a specific place, the name of which began with Wołoch-, perhaps Wołochowo or Wołochów. Thus the surname means "person from Wołochow[o]," which further breaks down into "person from the places of the Wallachians." Offhand I can't find any places with names that fit, but the place in question is probably now in Ukraine, and my sources for there are not as good as for Poland proper.

Some of the names from the root wołoch are fairly common, such as Wołoch (997 Poles by that name as of 1990) and Wołosz (1,651), but Wołoskowski isn't one of them -- as of 1990 there were only 16 Polish citizens by that name. They lived in the provinces of Jelenia Gora (5), Opole (1), Szczecin (2), Wroclaw (1), and Zielona Gora (7). These are all in western Poland, and it's a good bet few of them lived there before 1945 -- that's when huge numbers of people were relocated from what had been eastern Poland to the lands taken from Germany and added to Poland's western borders... Unfortunately, I have no data on name frequency and distribution in what is now Ukraine, so the area around Ivano-Frankivsk (formerly Stanisławów) wouldn't show up in the data I have access to. (I should mention also that I have no further details such as first names or addresses, and don't know offhand how you could get them. I know that's disappointing, but I figure I might as well tell folks that up front).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pawlik - Pawlikowski

... I would be interested in finding out the origin of my surname Pawlik. Idid see Pawlak but do not think this is the same. I would love to find out. I was told by my father that my grandfather was wealthy in Poland and that they came from kings and had servants apparently in southern Poland. He also stated that the name was shortened from Pawlikowski but this has not been confirmed...

Pawlik means more or less the same as Pawlak -- both come from the first name Paweł (Paul) and have diminutive suffixes, so that they mean literally "little Paul" and usually translate as "son of Paul." Whether a name took the suffix -ak or -ik seems to be insignificant -- in certain regions people may have tended to add -ik rather than -ak because they just liked the sound of it better. I don't think you can read any great significance into the difference unless you want to get into some very detailed linguistic discussions.

Pawlik could be a shortened version of Pawlikowski, but in general I doubt it, because the names mean different things. Pawlik means "son of Paul," Pawlikowski means "person or family from the place of Paul's son," i. e., "person from Pawlikow" or perhaps "Pawlikowice." I doubt Poles would shorten it, because to them there's nothing long or difficult about saying Pawlikowski; and if foreigners caused it to be changed, surely they'd change it to something more German or English-sounding than "Pawlik." However, there are always exceptions to the general rules, so I can't say definitely that the name wasn't shortened, only that I doubt it.

All these names are quite common in Poland. As of 1990 there were 12,296 Pawlik's, 43,556 Pawlak's, and 7,070 Pawlikowski's. Since the names are so common, and distributed widely all over the country, I don't really have access to any specifics that would help with your particular family; the most I can do is tell what a name means, and indicate whether there's anything about it that might make it easier to track down. These names are so common that you have to figure there are many, many different families bearing them, and I have no sources that would shed light on any particular one. Only detailed genealogical research will help with that.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kramarz - Kramasz

...I wish to find out the meaning of my surname. It's K R A M A S Z. If possible, would someone be able to determine the region(s) from which that name originated in the old country?...

I'm glad to say I can give you a bit of info on this name, although of course I can never give folks all the info they'd like to have. In this case the name is essentially the same as Polish Kramarz, which has the same origin as the German name Kramer or Krämer; they all mean a person who sold things at a small stall or booth, for instance at fairs and markets. A kram in Polish is a "stall" or a "booth," and a kramarz was one who kept such a stall. Eventually the word's meaning was expanded a bit to include anyone who kept a small shop dealing in inexpensive or second-hand items. These people were often Jewish, so we often see the name borne by Jews, but not exclusively. It's kind of like Hoffman, both names are especially common among Jews but were also borne by Christians.

The difference between Kramarz and Kramasz is one of spelling. In Polish rz usually sounds like the "s" in "measure," and sz sounds like the "sh" in "ship"; but at the end of words the rz is "devoiced," as linguists say, and sounds just like the sz. So Kramarz and Kramasz were pronounced exactly the same, and thus the name could be spelled either way. However, most Poles knew the "correct" form was Kramarz and spelled it that way. Thus in 1990 there were 1,989 Polish citizens named Kramarz and only 19 named Kramasz. So basically I'm saying you want to keep your eye open for either spelling -- you may well find documents where the name was spelled Kramarz... I'm just guessing here, but it may be in the past, when most Poles were farmers or peasants and had little or no education, the spelling Kramasz was more common, because that's what it sounded like; but in recent decades, as more Poles learned to read and write, more of them realized the "correct" spelling was Kramarz, and that's why that spelling is prevalent today. So your ancestors may have spelled it that way when they emigrated, but since then that way of spelling it has become less common in Poland.

I don't see any signficant pattern to the name distribution in Poland. People named Kramarz lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (104), Katowice (187), Krakow (351), Rzeszow (148), and Tarnow (128), and smaller numbers in virtually every other province. This suggests the name is more common in southcentral and southeastern Poland. As for Kramasz, the 19 Poles by that name lived in the provinces of Warsaw (5), Katowice (3), Kielce (1), Legnica (1), Lodz (1), Opole (1), Torun (1), Wroclaw (5), and Zielona Gora (1); there aren't really enough of them to establish any kind of pattern (and unfortunately I don't have access to any source of info that would give their first names and addresses).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Matela - Słomczyński

...My name is ... Slomczynski and I am interested in researching my family history in Poland. My grandfather Anton Slomczynski emmigrated from Poland between 1900 - 1915. My grandfather had a sister who still lived in Poland - her married name was Pelagia Matela. Any information you can provide would be most appreciated...

The name Słomczyński (pronounced something like "swom-CHEEN-skee") comes ultimately from the Polish root słoma meaning "straw," but this particular name probably derives from a connection between the family and one of several places named Słomczyn or Słomczyna, something like that -- and those place names, in turn, derive from the word for "straw." On my maps I see two places that are decent candidates: Słomczyn in Radom province, a little north of the town of Grojec, and Słomczyn in Warsaw province, a few km. southeast of Warsaw. There may have been more places with names that could generate the surname Słomczyński -- very few Polish place names are unique, and often surnames originated from a connection with very small places you won't even find on a map -- but those two are pretty good bets.

As of 1990 there were 1,480 Polish citizens named Słomczyński, living all over Poland, with some of the larger numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (342), Czestochowa (93), Katowice (89), Poznan (88), Radom (117), and Skierniewice (82). The large numbers in Warsaw and Radom provinces probably are connected with those two places I mentioned; the others might be as well, or might derive from other places with similar names that, as I say, are too small to show up on my maps, or have disappeared or changed names in the centuries since the surname developed.

Matela is a name seen in Polish legal records as far back as 1416. It most likely started out as a nickname for someone whose "proper" name was Mateusz or Maciej (Matthew, Matthias), somewhat the same as we form "Eddy" from "Edward." So it probably began as a name meaning something like "Matt" in English, and then eventually stuck as a surname. As of 1990 there were 951 Matela's in Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (79), Białystok (64), Konin (75), and Poznan (332), and smaller numbers in many other provinces. I can't say I see any real pattern to that distribution, which is not surprising -- by its very nature, the name could have started almost anywhere there were Poles named Matthew or Matthias. We wouldn't generally expect surnames formed from nicknames formed from popular first names to show up only in one limited area. Unfortunately, that makes our genealogical research that much harder! (By the way, I don't have access to any sources with first names or addresses of any of those Słomczyński's or Matela's, I'm afraid what I've given you is what I have).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Rąpała - Rępała - Rempała - Rompała

...I am just starting the process of researching my family's name and history. I would appreciate any help that you can offer. The family name is Rempala. From what I know, we still have relatives in Poland and there are at least 2 distinct families here in the US. Both have their roots in the Chicago and Northern Indiana areas...

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, this name comes from the root rąpać, "to insult." The Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it and pronounced like "on" or, before a b or p, like "om" -- this vowel often alternates with the nasal ę and is pronounced like "en" or, in this case, "em." (The ć sounds like our "ch" in "cheetah"). In other words, these two vowels tend to switch often, and they are often spelled the way they sound, so that we can see the same name appear as Rąpała (ł pronounced like our w ), but it can also appear as Rompała, Rępała, and Rempała. In every case it's still the same basic name, but spelled differently (kind of like Hofman, Hofmann, Hoffman, Hoffmann, etc.). I hope this isn't too confusing -- if you work with Polish names a lot it gets to where it seems obvious, but I imagine it's kind of odd to someone who doesn't work with Polish much.

The suffix -ała, when added to a verb root, usually implies continual repetition of the action denoted by the verb. So Rępała or Rempała (both pronounced like "rem-PAW-ah") would mean "one who's always insulting people."

As of 1990 there were 218 Polish citizens named Rempała, with by far the largest group living in the province of Tarnow (in southeastern Poland) and just a few living here and there in other provinces. There were 65 Poles who spelled the name Rępała, which surprises me, I would have expected more to spell it ę rather than em. In that case, also, the vast majority (50) lived in Tarnow province... Just for comparison, there were 1,294 named Rąpała (again, Tarnow province, with 577, had the biggest number), and only 54 named Rompała (Tarnow province had 12, the largest single group).

I'm not exactly saying that you should regard all these names as identical to yours, that's not quite accurate. They all share the same linguistic derivation; but over the course of time the spellings diverged, so that different families used different spellings. It is very possible that you might run into your name spelled Rępała -- since em and ę sound so similar, we often see the same name spelled either way. It's somewhat less likely that you'll see your named spelled Rąpała or Rompała. But it is a good idea to keep your eyes open for those spellings; I can't rule out the chance that you may the name spelled that way in some cases.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Zwoliński

...I am just beginning my quest to research my family history and was wondering if you could help with the possible origin of my last name and the proper spelling: Zwolinski...

That probably is the correct spelling -- as of 1990 there were 7,864 Polish citizens named Zwoliński (the name is pronounced something like "zvo-LEEN-skee"). The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (1,127), Gdansk (331), Katowice (396), Krakow (331), Skierniewice (458), and Wloclawek (390), with smaller numbers in virtually every other province. This suggests the name is fairly evenly distributed all over Poland, there doesn't appear to be any one place or region where the name is especially common, although of course Warsaw province is clearly the home to a pretty good concentration.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut says this name can come from the verb root zwolić, "to permit, allow," or from place names such as Zwola. As a rule, names ending in -iński do tend to come from place names; your surname probably started out referring to a connection between your family and a place they lived in, worked at, traveled to, etc. Most often, it would simply mean "person or family from Zwola, Zwolin, etc." Unfortunately, there's more than one place this name could refer to. There are at least 3 Zwola's in Poland, two in Siedlce province and one in Tarnow province; and there may be more too small to show up on my maps. There are also at least a couple of villages named Zwolen; in a world where languages were absolutely precise, you'd expect that name to yield Zwoleński, not Zwoliński; but in the real world, where languages and spelling sometimes get a little sloppy, "Zwoliński" might also refer to a Zwolen as well as a Zwola. So the surname doesn't give us enough info to let us say "it means person from this place right here and nowhere else." But if your research establishes that your family came from a specific area, and you find there is a place with a name beginning Zwol- nearby, that is probably the one the surname originally referred to.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Szczygieł

I recently learned that my great-grandfather came from Wroclaw. I recently met a lady that came to Canada from Poland about seven years ago. She put me onto 'Herbarz Polski'. This is the first time that I've tried to find anything here. I would appreciate anything that you can tell me about out paternal name of Szczygiel...

I'm glad you established that the original form of the name was Szczygiel -- if I had gone hunting for Steigel I probably would have come up with wrong information, since that is a perfectly good German name that can derive from roots having nothing to do with Szczygiel. But given the German-Polish connections in the Wroclaw area (as well as many other parts of Poland), the change Szczygiel to Steigel makes sense. So your having the right form saves error and confusion.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut says this name comes from the Polish word szczygieł, "goldfinch," a kind of bird; the name would sound something like "shchig'-yeh" with a slight w-sound at the end. There are many Polish surnames that come from words for birds and other animals, and it can often be quite difficult to imagine how they originated -- why would your ancestor be named for a goldfinch? It could be he lived in an area where these birds were particularly common; or that people knew he had a special liking for them, or liked to catch them and keep them as pets; or that something about his manner reminded people of them. I also see in my 8-volume Polish-language dictionary that szczygieł was a term used jokingly for students at certain provincial and county schools, called that because they wore a uniform with a stiff red color and and a red cap; so they looked a little like the birds in question. That may or may not be relevant, but it seems worth mentioning -- even if that isn't how the name started in your family's particular case, it does shed light on how such names came to be applied.

This name appears in Polish records as far back as 1499, so it's been around a long time! I didn't know there were any noble families by this name, but the Polish nobility isn't something I know a lot about.

Szczygieł is very common in Poland, as of 1990 there were 10,245 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with especially large numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (449), Bielsko-Biala (419), Czestochowa (409), Katowice (1,760), Kielce (632), Krakow (688), and Lublin (657) -- most of these are in southcentral to southeastern Poland, so the name's somewhat more common in that region (traditionally called Malopołska or Little Poland, and from the late 1700's to 1918 it was part of the Austrian Empire, the western half of the region called Galicia). This doesn't really narrow the area of your search down much, but I thought it was worth mentioning because you never know what detail might prove helpful in research.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kondysar

...I am very new to geneology but I am trying to research my family the Kondysar's from a town called Rudnik n. Sanem. I am interested in that name, and have been told it is a name of some signifigance, and that it might actually be of Russian and or Jewish descent...

Well, first I looked to see if I could get any hard data on the name. A 10-volume set that lists all surnames of Poles as of 1990, and gives a breakdown on what provinces they lived in, shows Kondysar to be a very rare name -- as of 1990 there were only 15 of them, 11 living in Tarnobrzeg province, 4 in Wroclaw province. "Rudnik nad Sanem" means "Rudnik on the San River" (to distinguish it from other places named Rudnik), and Rudnik nad Sanem is in Tarnobrzeg province in southeastern Poland; so it appears we can say there are still some 11 people with your name living in or fairly near Rudnik, since Tarnobrzeg province isn't all that big.

Unfortunately I don't have further details such as first names and addresses; but perhaps you could get those from a search of the Tarnobrzeg province phone book. The Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast probably has that directory, and it will look up such data for a very moderate fee -- since you're only asking about one name and have a very good idea where it's find, I think it would be pretty cheap, maybe $10-20 at the most. You might try writing the PGS-NE at 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053, and see if they can help you. Polish phone directories are not nearly as comprehensive as those in the U.S. -- phones in private homes are less common there -- but you might get lucky and find a Kondysar listed. If so, he/she is almost certainly a relative!


The origin of the name is a puzzle. On the whole, I doubt it's Jewish; but I think the reason you were told that is that a book by Alexander Beider listing Russian Jews' surnames mentions a Kundysh, saying it comes from a Russian word for a kind of clothing, or from Yiddish kundes, "wanton, wag." But no mention of Kondysar. And if the family were Jewish, I would think chances are good Beider would have mentioned the name; and I'm not convinced the surname comes from either of those words anyway.

Since none of my sources mention this name, I went looking through my 8-volume Polish-language dictionary to see if there was any plausible root it might have come from. I discovered there is a term kondys, a variant of the word usually seen as kundel, which is a kind of mongrel dog, often used by shepherds or herdsmen; it can also be a kind of slang term for a simpleton or good-for-nothing fellow. In the Slavic languages the suffix -ar (in Polish -arz) usually means much the same as -er in English, so I tend to suspect that a Kondysar would be a person who bred or used such dogs; that strikes me as a bit more probable than the "simpleton" connection. The name might be of Slovakian or Ukrainian origin, in view of where Rudnik is located. That's even more likely because those languages are more likely to use -ar where a truly Polish form would be something like Kondysarz. But down in southeastern Poland you get a kind of linguistic mixing, so that a person might well be a Polish citizen and yet bear a name that shows traces of Ukrainian or Slovakian influence. I think that may account for the -ar form (it's interesting that there was no listing of anyone named Kondysarz). This suggests the name is rare and might not be originally Polish; but clearly there are a few folks by that name living in southeastern Poland, and they're probably related to you.

If you get in touch with them, they might be able to shed more light on exactly what Kondysar means. My guess is that it originally meant someone who bred or used mutts to watch herds. But that is merely an educated guess, and could prove completely wrong!

Anyway, that's the best I can offer you. I hope you have some luck getting in contact with the Kondysar's living near Rudnik -- if you do, I'd be quite interested in hearing what they say about the name. And in any case, I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
 

 

Haiduk - Hajduk

...We spoke with you briefly, at the Polish Genealogy Society of Texas meeting on Saturday, about the meanings of names and from what region in Poland a name may be from. We asked you about the name Haiduk. What is the meaning of that name and what region is known for that name being prominent? ...

Hajduk is the standard Polish spelling of this name, though you might also see Chaiduk, Haiduk, Hayduk, Hejduk, and Heyduk (because of phonetic similarities -- all those spellings are pronounced very similarly). As of 1990 there were 9,133 Poles by this name, so it is a fairly common one. People by this name live in all the provinces of Poland, with the largest numbers showing up in the provinces of Warsaw (422), Katowice (1,659), Kielce (579), Krakow (512), Opole (477), Przemysl (312) and Tarnow (453). With the exception of Warsaw (which, as the capital, tends to have large numbers of almost any name you look up), those provinces are in the southcentral and southeastern part of the country, the region called Malopolska (Little Poland)... Names formed from this root are also pretty common, including Hayduczek (394), Hajdukiewicz (930, both of those mean "son of a hajduk"), and Hejduk (1,121), the same name with a vowel change. Hajduk sounds like "HIGH-duke," Hejduk sounds like "HAY-duke," and the switch between what we'd call the long i sound of "aj" and the long a sound of "ej" is very common.

The origin of the name is interesting. It comes from Turkish hajdud, "brigand, ruffian, highwayman," and came into Hungarian as hajdü. It came into Polish meaning "soldier in the Hungarian infantry, which existed in Poland from the beginning to the middle of the 17th century, and later served in campaigns of infantry captains." Near the borders Slavs shared with Turks it meant "fellow who waged war against the Turks on his own account." After it became established in Polish it also came to mean "robber, ruffian, highwayman." It also came to be used to refer to servants who dressed like Hajduks, in Hungarian clothing. It has also been used as the name of a dance common among the mountain folk of southeastern Poland, kind of like the dance we've seen the Cossacks due, with a lot of squatting and jumping.

So you see, the name can mean a lot of things in Polish, most related one way or another to the original Turkish term that came into Hungarian and thence into Polish. It's common in Poland, and I imagine in most cases the connection is with the Hungarian infantrymen -- but in some cases it might have come from the usage of the word as "robber," or even occasionally from the "servant dressed like a Hungarian" connection.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Andrysiak - Hyska

...Can you give me any information on the surnames of Andrysiak and Hyska...

Well, let's take Andrysiak first. It comes from the first name Andrzej (the Polish version of "Andrew"), which over the centuries has appeared in Polish in many forms. To one of those forms, Andrys, the suffix -iak was added; it generally means "son of," so Andrysiak means "Andrew's son" (compare "Anderson" in English). Surnames formed from popular first names are quite common in Poland, so it's not surprising that this name is reasonably common -- as of 1990 there were 1,793 Polish citizens by that name. I don't see any particular pattern to the distribution, which makes sense: this name could get started anywhere they spoke Polish and had guys named "Andrew" who had sons.

The change to Andershock was probably just due to phonetics. Non-Poles found it hard to figure out how Andrysiak was pronounced, so someone started using a spelling that they could pronounce, one that still sounded similar to the Polish original. Andrysiak sounds kind of like "on-DRISH-ak," and if you said that out loud to an English-speaking person it could easily end up as "Andershock." This sort of thing happened to Polish names all the time, it's not unusual or surprising.


Hyska is a tough one. I find there is a rather seldom-used word hyska that means "small horse, pony, hobby-horse," and the name could come from that. But it doesn't really sound like proper Polish, and the name itself is a problem because there's nothing it really matches up with well, and there about a jillion things it might match up with if you factor in spelling variations. All I can say is that as of 1990 there were 357 Poles named Hyski, of whom some surely were females and therefore called Hyska (the suffix -ski changes to -ska when referring to females). The Hyski's were scattered all over Poland, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Gdansk (34), Katowice (63), Legnica (30), and Wroclaw (35). That's not a lot of info, I know, but my sources just don't have much that gives clues about this name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Serwa - Serwach - Serwacki

...My great-grandfather Kazimier Serwack was born 1888 in Warsaw, I'm looking for any information that I can get, thanks...

I'm afraid what I have may not be a lot of practical help to you, although it may be nice to know what the name means. It comes from the first name Serwacy (pronounced "ser-VOT-see"), not an extremely common first name in Poland but not all that rare either, especially a few centuries ago, when surnames were being formed. It comes from Latin "Servatius," from the word servatus, "saved." Several surnames were formed from this first name, including Serwach and Serwacki. I can't tell for sure which of these two is relevant here -- "Serwack" may be a misspelling of "Serwach," or a variant form of it, but it might also be Serwacki with the ending -i inadvertently dropped. Either way, though, both names would have derived from the first name, probably as a sort of verbal shorthand for "the kin of Serwacy, Serwacy's offspring."

As of 1990 there were 583 Polish citizens named Serwach, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (79), Lodz (95), and Płock (149), and smaller numbers scattered in other provinces. There were 171 Poles named Serwacki, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (20), Lublin (33), Pila (23), and Tarnobrzeg (36). The most common surname from this root is Serwa, borne by 1,087 Poles in 1990.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Banas - Banaś

...I have recently begun trying to trace my roots back to Poland. In doing some research, I came across your page on Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites. My last name is Banas and I would love to know everything I can about it. I realize you only do meanings, but if you could lead me somewhere else, I would deeply appreciate it...

In Polish this name can be spelled either Banas or Banaś (ś is pronounced like a soft, hissing "sh"). The spelling Banaś is more common -- as of 1990 there were 11,828 Poles by that name, as opposed to 286 who spelled it Banas (without the accent). The Poles named Banaś lived all over the country, with especially large numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (504), Katowice (1,430), Kielce (1,165), Krakow (955), Przemysl (522), Tarnow (782), and Wroclaw (527). All those provinces are in southcentral to southeastern Poland, in the areas historically called "Silesia" and "Małopolska" (Little Poland). However, the name is common all over the country, those are just the areas where it tends to show up the most.

This name originated as a kind of nickname for someone named Benedykt (Benedict). Although Benedykt is the standard form of that first name in modern Polish, some centuries ago (back when surnames were being formed) there were other forms widely used, including Banadyk. Poles liked to form new names or nicknames by taking the first few sounds of popular first names, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes (somewhat as we formed "Eddy" from "Edward" and "Teddy" from "Theodore"). So they took the Bana- from Banadyk, added an , and that give the name Banaś -- a lot like our nicknames "Ben" or "Bennie." Later, as surnames became established, a family might have gotten this name because some particularly prominent member had this name, so that it meant, in effect, "Ben's kin."

Surnames deriving from nicknames for popular first names generally are quite common in Poland, and this is no exception, as the figures above prove.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gądek - Gondek - Paździora - Zworski

...I was hoping that you could help me with three Polish names that I am having a very difficult time finding information on: Gondek, Pazdziora, Zworski...


Well, I can offer at least a little information on them. It may not be as much as you'd hoped for -- the nature of surname research makes it difficult to provide really detailed information on names without equally detailed research into the history of the individual family that goes by them. But my sources do provide some insights.

Gondek is a spelling variant of Gądek, where I'm using ą to represent the Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it and pronounced much like on (especially as in French bon). Since the ą sounds so much like on, it is very common to see names written either way; so Gądek and Gondek are two ways of spelling the same name, with Gądek being the more "Polish" way to spell it. According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], Gądek appears in Polish legal records as far back as 1415, and derives from the term gądek, "player, home-bred musician." So this name was applied to somebody who played an instrument without any formal training.

As of 1990 there were 3,499 Polish citizens named Gądek; they lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of: Katowice 378, Kielce 406, Krakow 767, and Tarnow 596. Thus the name is most common in southcentral and southeastern Poland. As for the spelling Gondek, it was borne by 3,042 Poles, with the largest numbers in the provinces of: Bydgoszcz 202, Katowice 320, Krakow 263, and Tarnow 466 -- a similar distribution.

According to Rymut, Paździora (ź sounds like a soft hissing "zh") comes from the root paździerz, "harl of flax, awns." It might be a reference to a person's hair, which looked like a bunch of flax, or perhaps it referred to some other characteristic of a person -- surnames often developed from nicknames, and it can be very hard to deduce what nicknames originally referred to. As of 1990 there were 590 Poles named Paździora, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (248), Katowice (78), Krakow (30), and Wroclaw (29) -- again, in the southcentral part of Poland.

Zworski is far less common -- as of 1990 there were only 64 Poles with this name, living in the following provinces: Warsaw (15), Jelenia Gora (12), Krakow (12), Legnica (4), Olsztyn (9), Opole (1), Pila (4), and Wroclaw (7). (Unfortunately I have no access to any further details, such as first names or addresses). None of my sources give any clue what this name might come from, and I find no place it might refer to -- theoretically Zworski could mean "person or family from Zwor or Zwora." There is a term zwora meaning "something that closes or holds two things shut, dowel, cramp (in building)," so that might be the origin of the name. Perhaps it applied to a person who made or used such objects. But there is also a rather rare word, zwór, which means "a dry gully in the Carpathians, between mountains close together, which points to a breach of rivers." That's what the dictionary says, I'm assuming it means a narrow opening between mountains caused by erosion. In any case, geographical features such as this often were the source of surnames, which suggests the family involved lived in or near such a place. If that is the root of this surname, it suggests the family lived in southcentral or southeastern Poland, in the Carpathian Mountains.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kromrei - Krummrey

...A few weeks ago, I asked you about the name Kromimceir, which you stated was probably incorrect, or else the name has "petered" out. I have found out, after checking many resources, that the name was incorrect. I have just found out and verified that my great grandmother's last name was Kromrei. In her lifetime, she lived in Sonnenborn, Germany....but that area is now known as Slonecznik, Poland. Do you know how this name is pronounced? And also, can you give me any insight, towards the name? ...

The name Kromrei would be pronounced something like "CHROME-ray" by Poles, by Germans more like "CHROME-rye." It's normal for the German combination ei to be pronounced "ay" by Poles and like "eye" by Germans; the Polish pronunciation is probably based on the fact that in some dialects Germans pronounce it like "ay" and those dialects are the ones Poles had the most contact with, even if the "standard" German pronunciation was different.

It's pretty likely this name is German in origin; the few Polish words and names with the root Kromr- were borrowed from German anyway. There seem to me two possible roots. The surname might come from Kramer/Kromer, which was an occupational term, meaning a person who kept a small stall at markets or a small shop, in either case selling inexpensive items. In Polish this term became Kramarz, in German it normally shows up as Kramer or Krämer, but it can sometimes appear with o instead of a. It is a fairly common name in those forms.

The other likely root -- and this strikes me as the better candidate -- is the German surname Krummrey, which German expert Hans Bahlow says comes from the Middle High German roots krümm, "bend in the road," + rein, "ridge, bank or border of a field." Krummrey is noted as a place name mentioned in records, designating a field and meaning probably something like "place by where the ridge or road curves."

The reason I think this latter is a bit more likely is because I looked up info on the plausible forms of this name as borne by Poles in 1990, and came up with the following data (showing how many Poles had that name and what provinces they lived in):

KROMRAJ: 36; Bielsko-Biala 7, Bydgoszcz 1, Gdansk 1, Gorzow 4, Krakow 4, Legnica 2, Sieradz 3, Szczecin 5, Walbrzych 5, Wroclaw 4
KROMREI: 9; Katowice 1, Olsztyn 8
KROMREJ: 3; Olstzyn 3
KRUMRAJ: 22; Bydgoszcz 16, Pila 6
KRUMREI: 6; Gdansk 1, Olsztyn 3, Suwałki 2
KRUMREJ: 19; Elblag 1, Katowice 1, Olsztyn 2, Torun 15
KRUMREY: 33; Warsaw 1, Bydgoszcz 5, Elblag 6, Leszno 3, Pila 13, Poznan 5

While the only real pattern we can see is that this name tends to show up in areas with lots of Germans, it also seems pretty likely from this data that these are all variants of the same name, and o and u switch pretty easily. From a linguistic point of view this is plausible. Note that these forms of the name often show up in what is now Olsztyn province, and that's important because that's where you should be looking. It may be that some regional pronunciation quirk made Olsztyn one of the places where the vowel was more often u than o.

There are two villages called Słonecznik, both in what used to be East Prussia and now is the province of Olsztyn (German name Allenstein) in northern Poland. One was called Sonnenberg by the Germans, near Szczytno, but that's not the one you want. You want the one the Germans called Sonneborn, about 7-8 km. south of the town of Morąg (ą is pronounced much like on). In Polish the root słonce means "sun," just like Sonne in German, so it's not odd the two villages have similar names in both languages. Your Słonecznik had its own Catholic parish church, which may be where your family's records were kept if they were Catholic; if they were Protestant (and many in the area were), it appears the records would have been kept either in Słonecznik/Sonnenborn or in nearby Morąg (German name Mohrungen).

So I think the name is German, the most common form of it is Krummrey in German, but the other forms shown above are all legitimate, and they all started out as a name for a place. There are not a lot of Poles these days with any of the forms of the name, but there are a few, and it appears some of them still live in Olsztyn province -- possibly still quite near Słonecznik near Morąg.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dushenski - Duszyński - Olszewski - Schell - Szel - Szela

...I have been searching my father's family. Currently the name is spelled Schell. In older records I have found the family name spelled Szel and Szell. My grandmother's family also came from Poland. The family name was Olsheski also spelled Olshewska. My grandmother's grandmother's maiden name was Dushenski also spelled Duskenski. The Schell's came for Posen area; a town call Tokorowo which no longer exist. My grandmother's family came to Wisconsin a long time ago and no one remembers were from Poland they were from. If you can help me--God Bless...

Szel and Szell are just Polish phonetic spellings of German Schell -- the sound we spell "sh" is spelled sch in German and sz in Polish. In any case, the origin of the surname is German, from a root meaning "loud, noisy person," according to German name expert Hans Bahlow. As of 1990 there were only 38 Poles with that name, most living in the provinces of Koszalin (9), Wroclaw (11), and Zielona Gora (8) -- not surprisingly, these are in the areas of western Poland that used to be ruled by Germany. However the name Szela (from the same root and meaning the same thing) is much more common, there were 930 Polish citizens named Szela as of 1990, living all over the country, with largest numbers in the provinces of Gdansk (131), Rzeszow (359), and Tarnów (101).

Olszewski is the standard Polish spelling of "Olsheski" -- again, that latter spelling makes sense as a phonetic spelling in English of what the Polish name sounded like. Olszewski means "person from Olszewo" (or several other place names beginning with the root Olszew- or Olsz-); those places take their names from the root olsza, "alder tree," so you could interpret the surname as meaning "people from the place of the alder tree." Unfortunately there's about a jillion villages in Poland named Olszewo, so God only knows which particular one your family was named for. As of 1990 there were 44,638 Poles named Olszewski, living all over the country.

With the other name it's hard to tell whether it would originally have been Duszenski or Duskenski or what -- neither is a common name. But it might be a variant of Duszyński, a name borne by 6,436 Poles as of 1990. Most names beginning with Dusz- come from dusza, "soul," especially the diminutive duszka, literally "little soul" but used as a term of affectionate, sort of like "my sweet." Without firmer data on the original form of the name, I can't say too much more, but maybe this is enough to be some help to you.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Krupiński - Sobczak - Warsiński

...looking for name info on Krupinski, Sobczak, Warsinski (perhaps Warzinski)...

Krupiński means "person from Krupin" or Krupno or several other possibilities. Since there are several villages in Poland with names that could generate this surname, there's no way to say which particular one your family was associated with. But if your research leads you to a specific area where your family lived, and you find a place with a name beginning with Krup- nearby, chances are quite good that's the place your family was named for -- perhaps because they once lived there, or had worked there, etc... The basic root is krupa, "groats" (a kind of cereal); perhaps these places got their names because of some association with groats, and your ancestors probably took their surnames from the place names, so that Krupiński means "person from the place of the groats." Krupiński is a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were 7,986 Poles named Krupiński, living all over the country.

Warsiński is the same sort of name, originally meaning "person from __" where you fill in the blank with any village name beginning with Wars-, e. g., Warsin (also called Warszyn), Lesno parish, Bydgoszcz province. A family that came from Warsin, worked at, or even once owned it (if they were noble) could end up with the surname Warsiński. As of 1990 there were 640 Poles by this name, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (185) and Gdansk (141) in northcentral Poland.

Sobczak is easy. -czak is a suffix meaning "son of," and Sob- is a short form of several different first names, including Sebastian but also ancient pagan names such as Sobiesław. So given that Sob is a nickname for someone with one of those first names beginning with Sob-, Sobczak would mean "Sob's son." Such names formed from popular first names tend to be quite common, and Sobczak is -- as of 1990 there were 27,613 Poles by that name, living all over the country.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Ryś

...What can you tell me about this surname, its origins and meanings? For the most part it is Rys, but have seen Ryz also.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut says there are three possible roots this name could derive from. One is rysa, "dash, crack"; another is ryś, "lynx"; the third is as a short form or nickname of Ryszard (= Richard). It's tough to say which one is relevant to a particular family without detailed research, but I'd think the nickname for Ryszard or the term for lynx would prove applicable in most cases. As of 1990 there were only 251 Poles named Rys but 5,587 named Ryś (i. e., with the accent over the s, giving it a kind of soft "sh" sound). That makes me think the link to the word for "lynx" is what most Rys's got their names from. (Other names like Ryszka or Ryszko might be more likely to come from Ryszard).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Korytkowski

...My father and most of his siblings changed their family name from Korytkowski to Cory in the late 1940's. Since none of the survivng members of his immediate family will discuss anything to do with our heritage, I am quite curious to know more about the family background. I have heard, but not confirmed, that we are actually Russian, not Polish, but that is a very artificial distinction in my opinion, since political boundaries have moved so frequently, especially in eastern Europe...

I'm glad you understand about the variability of political boundaries -- sometimes I tell people their names come from a Ukrainian root and they say "That can't be, we're Polish." But a little knowledge of the region's history helps a lot!

Korytkowski is a Polish spelling of the name, but we can't be positive it is Polish. The basic root of the name is koryto, "trough," and that root exists in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and probably other Slavic languages. The structure of the name -- root koryt + diminutive suffix -k- + possessive suffix -ow- + adjectival suffix -ski -- is such that it could have developed in any of the languages mentioned. If it were Russian or Ukrainian, but the family lived in Poland for a while or began their trip to America from Poland, the name's spelling might well have been Polonized slightly -- so it may have started out as Russian (spelled in Cyrillic, looking like KOPbITKOBCKNN) but when the family encountered the need to fill out documents in the Roman alphabet, the spelling used was Polish... Personally I think the name probably is Polish, but I just wanted to show that we can't assume that without proof; it is possible the name could have originated in Russia or Ukraine and only later picked up a Polish-looking spelling.

As I said, the basic root of the name is koryto, a trough, especially for watering cattle. But usually names ending in -owski developed from the names of places, and in this instance we'd expect the surname to mean "person or family from Korytkow or Korytkowo," some place with a name beginning Korytk-. There are several villages in Poland that qualify, including Kortyków in Radom province and Korytków Duzy and Korytków Maly, both in Zamosc province. All three of these places are in southeastern Poland, not too far from the border with Ukraine. There may be more places with names that qualify as possible sources for this surname, including places too small to show up on my maps, and places outside Poland, for which I don't have maps quite as detailed. But again, while we can't rule out non-Polish origin, Korytkowski certainly makes perfect sense as a Polish surname originally indicating a connection of some sort between a family and a place named Korytków or Korytkowo.

As of 1990 there were 1,599 Polish citizens named Korytkowski. There were some by that name living in virtually every province, but the provinces with the largest numbers were Warsaw (168), Łomża (410), and Płock (111). So while the name is found all over Poland, it is particularly common in an area of central to northeastern Poland (locate Warsaw, Łomża, and Płock on a map and you'll see what I'm talking about).

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Pośpiech - Zdeb

...I would like to know about the origin and meaning of Zdeb. My grandfather was born in the town Malogosht, district Injeov. Could you also please give me some information about the surname Pospiech.

The surname Zdeb comes from the term zdeb, which means "wildcat, bold cat," and in a more figurative sense "gloomy or selfish fellow." Names such as this generally got started as nicknames, designating a person who had some apparent connection with a wildcat -- perhaps he ran into one once, or perhaps he hunted them, or trapped them. And of course the name could also stick because of some perceived similarity in character -- a person who reminded folks of a wildcat might end up being called "Zdeb." It is a moderately common name, as of 1990 there were 1,742 Poles named Zdeb. They lived all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of: Katowice (125), Kielce (254), Krakow (163), Lublin (202), and Tarnow (227), thus in southcentral to southeastern Poland.

Pośpiech (the ś is pronounced like a soft "sh") is even more common, as of 1990 there were 3,877 Poles by that name. The name is found all over Poland, with particularly large numbers of Pośpiech's living in the following provinces: Czestochowa (544), Kalisz (231), Katowice (1,149), and Opole (322); looking on a map, we see that the name is most common in southcentral Poland. It comes from the term pośpiech, "hasty activity," which in older Polish also meant "success." So depending on how far back the name goes, it might have been applied as meaning "successful person," or "one who is active and in a hurry" (you can see how the two are somewhat linked semantically, a person who's always busy and does things quickly could well come to be successful).

I am somewhat concerned about your statement that your grandfather came from "Malogosht, district Injeov." Those names have clearly been distorted, and if you don't have the correct forms you'll have a devil of a time finding them. It seems likely to me you're talking about Małogoszcz (the ł is pronounced like our w), in Kielce province, a few km. southwest of the city of Kielce. If I'm not mistaken, it used to be in Jędrzejów district (ę is the Polish nasal en sound). In terms of where your names show up geographically, this makes fairly good sense, so I think that's probably right. At least, that's where I'd start looking.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Czeszyk

...My paternal grandparents settled in Cicero, IL in 1913. My father spelled our surname Ceszyk, however, I believe Czeszyk , which was on his Catholic baptismal record, is probably the original Polish spelling. My grandfather's Social Security application form states Wszana, Dolna, Poland as the place of birth, but I've not been able to find such anywhere to this point in time (though I suspect possibly a little east of Krakow). If you can come up with anything on Czeszyk, I'd really appreciate knowing...

Czeszyk seems very plausible; in theory Cieszyk is also a possibility, but Czeszyk seems more likely. This name is thought to derive in most cases from nicknames of popular first names beginning with Cze-, especially Czesław (the ł is pronounced like our w); Czesław is by far the most popular first name beginning that way, so in most cases names with Cze- will prove to be nicknames of Czesław... Poles liked to take popular first names, keep the first couple of sounds, drop the rest, then add suffixes (kind of the same way we made "Eddy" out of "Edward"); so we see nicknames such as Czesz from Czesław. Then a suffix such as -yk could be added to make Czeszyk. What it means is basically "son of Czesław."

In theory it's also possible such a name could come from the root Czech, "Czech, Bohemian"; if so, it would mean "son of the Czech." Most Polish surname experts apparently don't think that's what it means in most cases, but it is at least possible, so I thought I'd mention it.

Czeszyk is not an extremely common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 244 Poles by that name. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Kalisz (56), Katowice (3), Krakow (11), Poznan (37), Przemysl (50), and Szczecin (10). From the nature of this name it's not one you'd expect to be limited to any one area -- the first name Czesław is used all over Poland, so surnames meaning "son of Czesław" could probably develop all over as well.

As for your grandfather's birthplace, I wonder if there might have been confusion and it should be Mszana Dolna, a decent-sized town in Nowy Sacz province, southeast of Krakow? I can't find any place-name beginning Wszan-, but Mszana Dolna sounds like it might fit, and it's not too hard to imagine an M being mistaken for a W, the way Poles write. There is a Mszana Dolna (Lower Mszana) and a Mszana Gorna (Upper Mszana); Mszana Dolna is roughly halfway between Krakow and Nowy Targ. If that is the right place, I think you shouldn't have too much trouble finding it on a map somewhere.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Warka - Wojno

...grandfather Constatine Wojno/born in Poland Russia/grandmother/Mary Warka/born in Austria,thats all i know,our name is now wyno,of all things,dont really know when it was changed. grandparents married in Connecticut, This will be a hard one,thanks for anything,if not,i totally understand...

I'll give you what I can, but I'm afraid it won't be much help. What might be a good idea is to consider joining the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053. They have a lot of leads on research involving folks in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and the parts of Poland those people usually immigrated from -- most folks in the Northeast did come from the Russian and Austrian partitions.

Now, as to your names. On Warka I can't help much at all. As of 1990 there was no one in Poland with that name -- not too surprising, since you said your grandmother was born in Austria, which may mean in Austria itself or in the parts of Poland and Ukraine under Austrian rule from 1772-1918. In either case, the name might not show up in Poland by its modern borders. The name appears to come from a root warcz- or wark- meaning "growl, snarl"; but if the family came from the Austrian partition, it's also possible the name came from Ukr. Varka, a short form or nickname of "Barbara." There is a town Warka in what is now Radom province (which was in the Austrian partition), this might be relevant. Other than that, my sources don't give anything.

Wojno (pronounced VOY-no, rhyming with "boy go") comes from a root meaning "war, struggle," probably a name for a person who was a good warrior or soldier. As of 1990 there were 1,542 Poles named Wojno, living all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of: Warsaw (273), Białystok (190), and Łomża (491). All these were in the part of Poland ruled by Russia after the partitions, so that fits in with your info.

I know this isn't much help, but maybe it'll be a little use. And I really do think the PGS of the Northeast might be worth checking it; I've seen them give people some really good help. Good luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Cudzidło

...I came upon your article in my search for some information reguarding my Surname.Although my mother is from Poland she was not able to give me any hint as to it's origin or meaning.I have in recent months become more and more interested in the meaning and origin.Also if the is a family crest or some family coat of arms.My name is ... Cudzilo.The original name has a small diaganal line through it,giving it athe letter a WO sound to the last to 2 letters.I some how have come to the conclution that it has a Lithuanian ancestry due to the Jagelloean sounding Lo at the end.

The -ilo ending does sometimes indicate Lithuanian origin, but in this case apparently not -- I checked the best compilation of Lithuanian surnames, and it showed nothing for this or any of the likely spelling variants.

If it is of Slavic origin, then, the name may come from the root cud, as seen in cud, "miracle," cudo, "wonder, marvel," or cudzy, "foreign, not your own." But there's also a rare or dialect root cudzi- meaning "to groom, comb (horses)," and a noun cudzidło, "implement for grooming horses, comb." (The ł is pronounced like our "w"). I don't have enough information to tell which of these roots applies in the case of this surname -- the suffix -ło could be added to either. But I will say this: the suffix -ło tends to show up more on names from eastern Poland and its neighbors to the east, i. e., Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. So I suspect this name comes from that area, and means either "one always marveling at something," "one always doing something unusual or strange," or else "horse groom."

I looked in the 10-volume set Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland, and it shows that as of 1990 there were 549 Polish citizens named Cudziło; the largest concentration was in the two provinces of Tarnobrzeg (284) and Zamosc (42), with 20 or fewer living in most other provinces of Poland. Tarnobrzeg and Zamosc are in southeastern Poland, where there is a kind of interaction between Polish and Ukrainian, so that fits in with the whole idea about -ło.

I wish I had enough information to tell you which of those two roots the name comes from. If I had to make a guess, I'd go with "horse groom," that seems to fit a little better, both semantically and grammatically. But I can't rule out the "marvel, strange" connection.

As for whether your family was noble, I don't have any sources on that. You might try contacting the Polish Nobility Association Foundation, Villa Anneslie, 529 Dunkirk Rd., Anneslie, MD 21212-2014. If I'm not mistaken, they will do an inexpensive search of their library to see if a particular name is mentioned in any of the armorials written on Polish nobility. Other than that, I don't know what to suggest.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kuprowski

...I have been trying to track down the original name of my gggfather who arrived in the US sometime inthe late 1880's...he was from Warsaw, Poland...as the story goes the name was changed when entering the US to Cooper...I have been told that it was orignially Cooprowski...I'm leaning toward the letter K...any assistance would be greatly appreciated as it will get me going in the general right direction. As of now I'm having a hard time trying to track anything down.

I hope this is a simple case of phonetic spelling, because if his original name in Polish meant "cooper," there are a lot of possibilities. But if he just changed the spelling so that Americans would pronounce it more or less the way it sounded, that's easier. What we'd write as "Cooprowski" would probably be Kuprowski in Polish. The u is pronounced like our "oo," and Poles use K to represent the hard sound of c in "cooper." And it makes fairly good sense that a Pole named Kuprowski would change it to Cooper -- it's a good English name, one Americans would have no problem with, yet it would still sound enough like the original to make it easy for him to answer to.

Kuprowski means basically "person/family from Kuprów or Kuprowo," and those names mean something like "Cyprian's place." I can't find a Kuprów or Kuprowo on my maps, but that probably just means it was (or they were -- there could easily have been more than one) too small to show up, or has since changed its name. As of 1990 there were 190 Poles named Kuprowski, scattered in small numbers over many different provinces; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Koszalin (35), Kraków (24) and Krosno (19), which are all in different parts of the country. So there's no one area you'd go looking for Kuprowski's.

Anyway, from the info you've provided, I'd say Kuprowski is your best bet. I hope this information is some help to you, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Snaza - Schnaza - Sznaza

...My grandmother was born 1885-6 in Gdansk. Her name was Katarzyna Snaza / Schnaza / Sznaza. Her brother used the name Snasa. Their mother was Zophia / Sophia Etilma? Filma? The only record that shows her maiden name is difficult to read. The family history and records indicate that they were Polish. I cannot find either of those names associated with Polish descent.

Well, Etilma/Filma has me baffled. I've never run into either one, and neither sounds Polish, if you know what I mean. And as of 1990 there was no one in Poland by either name. Sometimes people give me forms of names and I can tell what the original, correct form was, but I'm drawing a blank on this one.

The spellings of Snaza/Schnaza/Sznaza make more sense than may be evident. Polish often has regional variations in pronunciation, and a common one is the switch between the standard "s" sound of s and the "sh" sound of sz; and Germans write that "sh" sound as sch. So these different spellings aren't irreconcilable; the name was probably Snaza but sometimes pronounced "Shnaza" (which Poles would write "Sznaza" and Germans would write "Schnaza"), or else vice versa. And since Germans often pronounce the "s" as Z, Schnase is another way you might see this name spelled. All these different spellings are just different ways of representing the sound (which would sound like "schnah-zuh" to us) with varying degrees of adaptation to German and Polish phonetic values.

I don't know what the name means, but as of 1990 there were 124 Poles named Sznaza, of whom 37 lived in Elblag province and 70 in Gdansk province. There were 61 Sznaze's, with 31 in Elblag province and 13 in Gdansk province. There were 32 Snaza's, all but one living in Gdansk province. Finally, there were 14 Schnase's (a more German way of spelling the name), 13 of whom lived in Gdansk province. So it's pretty likely either Gdansk province, or Elblag province (just east of Gdansk) is where this family came from.

My source for this data doesn't have further details such as first names and addresses, but there may be a way to get that info. Both the Polish Genealogical Society of America and the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast have provincial phone directories and will search them for specific names, for a reasonable fee. Phones in private homes are not as common in Poland as here, but chances are decent some relative is listed. That's the only way I know of you might be able to track them down, if your research doesn't reveal the family's ancestral home.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Bugajski

...Hi! I have recently become very interested in my Polish ancestry. I am currently 20 years old, and I am third generation American, still 100% Polish. I would be very interested in hearing what you have to say about the name Bugajski. If you have anything to contribute, I'd love to have some input. I don't believe that the name has been altered in any way.

This is a pretty common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 4,919 Polish citizens named Bugajski; they lived all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Katowice (447), Kielce (1,107), Kraków (363), and Nowy Sacz (320) -- all in south central Poland. According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut this name comes from the term bugaj, which in standard Polish means "bend in the river," and in dialect also means "bull; big, strong fellow." There are 26 towns and villages named Bugaj, probably so named because they are located on a bend in a river, and in most cases the surname Bugajski probably started as a reference to some connection between a family and one of those places -- they probably lived there, came from there, traveled there often on business, or, if noble, owned land there.

So the good news is, it's a very good Polish name. The bad news is, it's fairly common, so I can't give you any really helpful clues on exactly which of those 26 Bugaj's your family was connected with.

By the way, I'm glad to hear you're interested in your roots at such a young age. Most of the folks I deal with are older, usually retired, and the comment I hear most often is "Oh, how I wish I had gotten started with this when I was younger! I waited too long." You, at least, won't have any regrets about that. I hope you always retain your interest in your family history, and that over a long life you will learn lots and lots about them!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Małyszka

...Do you have any info on the name Malyszka?

A little -- which is a sort of pun, since this name comes from the root mal-, meaning "small, little." This name appears in Polish records as far back as 1136, so it has been around a long time! In view of the meaning, it probably started as a nickname or by-name, a little like "Tiny" or "Shorty" in English -- which, I suppose, means the original bearer might have been a little guy, or he might have been huge and burly and people called him that out of irony. As of 1990 there were 648 Poles named Małyszka (the ł is pronounced like our w); the largest numbers of them lived in the provinces of Kalisz (61) and Poznan (257), but small numbers lived in virtually every other province as well... Similar surnames from the same root and with roughly the same meaning are even more common, for instance: Małysa (790), Malyśka (1,493), Małysz (2006), Małyszko.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bartoszek

...I'm trying to trace my family roots and i've come up empty on my surname---- Bartoszek, my father was Walter Michael Bartoszek, Jr., and my grandfather was Walter Michael Bartoszek, Sr. he is beleaved to be from the Chicago area. any information that you could give me would be a big help to me.

Bartoszek is basically the Polish name Bartocha with the diminutive suffix -ek added; when such suffixes are added, the final sound of the root often changes, and in this case the guttural ch sound changes to the "sh" sound of sz. So Bartoszek, pronounced roughly "bar-TOE-shek," means "little Bartocha," or "son of Bartocha." This, in turn, is a very old Polish first name, which in some cases probably came from the Polish root barta, "battle-axe," in others from "Bart," a nickname for "Bartholomew" (in Polish Bartlomiej), or even from German Bart, "beard."

As of 1990 there were 5,277 Polish citizens named Bartoszek, so it's a pretty common name. The largest numbers of them lived in the provinces of Kalisz (280), Katowice (1,050), Lublin (509), Lodz (369), Tarnobrzeg (260), and Zamosc (358); so it's most common in the southeastern quarter of the country. But you find people named Bartoszek in virtually every province.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dudek - Walec

...I'm looking for information on my grandparents names: Mary Dudek and Gregory Walec. I'd love to receive any information on either name. They lived in Passaic, New Jersey. Both were born about 1890 in Poland and emigrated here about 1905-10.

Dudek is a very common name in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 49,428 Polish citizens named Dudek, living all over the country. In most cases Dudek comes from the word dudek, the hoopoe (a kind of bird). I'm afraid the word also has been used sometimes to refer to a simpleton, but surnames derived from birds are very common in Poland, so I see no need to assume the name had to be meant negatively. There is also a possible connection with duda, "bagpipes, or a home-bred musician," but in most cases that root applies to names such as Duda, Dudziak, etc. -- Dudek more likely is connected with the bird.

Walec is much less common, as of 1990 there were only 217 Poles by that name. They were scattered in numerous provinces, but the largest numbers showed up in the provinces of Kraków (26) and especially Tarnobrzeg (118) in southern and southeastern Poland. I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

The meaning of Walec is also harder to pin down, because there are several roots it could derive from. There is a term walec that means "barrel, cylinder," and while it's hard to see how such a term could become a name, we see many instances where such terms unquestionably did generate names. Perhaps an ancestor made cylinders, or his shape reminded people of a barrel. The term walec is also a variant of the noun walc, "waltz," so a person who liked to waltz or play at waltzes might possibly end up with such a name. Other plausible connections are with the roots walić, "to overturn," walczyć, "to fight, battle," or the first name Walenty (Valentine) -- although the latter connection is more likely with names such as Walek.

I'm sorry I couldn't give you a definitive answer on Walec, but with many names there are several possibilities, and only detailed on-site research can possible establish which one is applicable. So this is the best I can offer. I hope it's some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Arbaszewski - Harbaszewski

...My sister is the big researcher but i am trying to help her and surprize her!! We are searching for the name Arbaszewski.

Names ending in -ewski usually started as references to places with similar names, because a family lived there, or came from there, or went there often on business -- some sort of connection like that. Thus we'd expect Arbaszewski to have started out meaning "person from Arbaszewo or Arbaszy" or some place with a similar name.

I can only find one place that seems to qualify -- there may be more, because surnames formed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, or changed their names, or become too small to show up in gazetteers. But there is a village Arbasy or Arbasy Duze ("Big Arbasy"), in Białystok province in northeastern Poland, 15 km. southwest of the town of Drohiczyn (there is also another village Arbasy Male, "Little Arbasy," very close by, so close that for practical purposes the two can almost be thought of as one). Over the centuries its name has varied, it has also been called Harbasy, Harbasze, etc. It is served by the Roman Catholic parish church in Sledzianów, a few km. away (in other words, that's where people from Arbasy probably went to register births, deaths, marriages, etc.). Its name comes from an ancient Polish first name Harbas, so that it meant "Harbas's place." It's interesting that there was a noble family Harbaszewski from this village mentioned in mid-16th century records, and it's clear that this name often drops the H, so it is possible -- though by no means certain -- that your family might have a link to these noble Harbaszewski's.

As I say, I can find no other place that seems to qualify, so this might be one of those rare instances where you can actually pinpoint a specific area of origin just from the name. That doesn't happen often with Polish names, and I want to stress that it's not 100% certain -- you'd be jumping to conclusions if you assumed this has to be what you're looking for. But the odds seem to me reasonably good that this is the place in Poland where the family comes from. It's worth a look, anyway, especially if the LDS has microfilmed the Sledzianów parish records and you can request them through your nearest LDS Family History Center.

As of 1990 there were 196 Polish citizens named Arbaszewski, with the majority living in the provinces of Warsaw (75), Białystok (51) and Ostrołęka (33), and a few scattered in several other provinces. These three provinces are all in northcentral to northeastern Poland. This distribution suggests a lot of those Arbaszewski's probably do derive their name from that village in Białystok province; with the Warsaw figures it's hard to say whether those Arbaszewski's came from a different place, or if many of the Arbaszewski's from the Białystok area tended to migrate toward the capital, which is a phenomenon we see with many other names... I don't have access to further details, such as their first names and addresses, but this may be enough information to help you get off to a good start with the name.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Badanowski

...I have spent years on and off trying to find some information on the origins and/or history of my surname: Badanowski, with no luck at all. I realize that you must be receiving many requests, but if you have any time, I would appreciate any information you can give me. By the way, my family is Jewish, and so I am not sure that this surname is really Polish in origin. In any case, any suggestions would be very helpful for me.

It is wise to mention that the family is Jewish, because very often different circumstances affected the surnames of Polish Jews as opposed to Polish Christians. Jewish names were, generally, established much later, often within the last two centuries, so that we can actually hope to find surviving documents that shed light on their origins and meanings; the names of Polish Christians were usually established much earlier. There are pluses and minuses, either way, but the religion can definitely make a difference in the circumstances affecting the name. In this particular case, I don't believe it does; but it was still a good idea to mention it.

I'm not surprised you have had trouble finding this name: as of 1990 there were only 3 Polish citizens named Badanowski, all living in the province of Warsaw. The source from which I got this information does not give first names or addresses, so I cannot tell you more than this, but it may prove of some value.

Usually names ending in -owski began as references to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name, so that we would expect Badanowski to have meant originally "one from Badanów, Badanowo, Badanowa," something like that. I could find no place in Poland by any such name, but one reference I checked mentioned that Badanów was a variant name by which the village Bogdanowice, in what is now Opole province in southwestern Poland, was once known. In other words, that village's name, which means in effect "the place of Bogdan's sons," was sometimes modified or distorted to Badanów, appearing as such in records from 1845; and people who came from that village or that area at that time might well have ended up with the name Badanowski, meaning "person from Badanów."

Alexander Beider's Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland also mentions Badanowski as a Jewish surname deriving from the name of the townlet of Bohdanów in Oszmiana district of Wilno province. I can't find this specific place, but Oszmiana is now Ashmjany or Oshmyany in Belarus (this place would not have been mentioned in my other source because that one covered only places still within the borders of Poland). What this proves is that Badanowski as a surname can derive from the names of at least two different places, far apart, with only one thing in common: they were formed from the old Slavic first name Bogdan/Bohdan (literally "gift of God"). So the surname Badanowski can refer to origin in Bogdanowice in southwestern Poland, or Bohdany in Belarus -- and perhaps more places that don't show up in my sources.

Some of them may be outside Poland -- Badanowski is a Polish spelling, but that doesn't necessarily mean the name had to be of Polish linguistic origin (although personally I think it probably is). Still, a Russian, for instance, named Badanovsky, might sometimes have his name written Badanowski because of German or Polish linguistic influence (since his name would have been originally written in Cyrillic and would have had to be transliterated when he emigrated). As I say, I think the name is of Polish linguistic origin, but I cannot rule out other possibilities.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bakys - Bakies

..My name is ... Bakies. My family came over from Lubla, Strzyźow, Rzeszów, Poland between 1910-1913. On both the ships records and my grandfather's baptismal certificate, the name is spelled Bakes (no i). The family was using Bakies by 1917 when my greatgrandfather died in Ohio. My mother recalls a conversation with her father-in-law that at one point the name was originally something like (phonetic) Bakishkowski and that at some point before they came to the USA it was changed. I've looked at your book, but don't know which of several entries would apply: Bąc, Bąk (bąkać, to mutter), Bąk (bąk, bittern, gadfly, error) or Bak (bakać, to yell, scold). Does the area they were from have any bearing? Do you have suggestions or comments?

I wish I could suggest something, but it's not too common to see a Polish name ending in -es or -ies; Bakes or Bakies just doesn't sound like a native Polish name, and none of my sources mention it. So I have to wonder if it originated in some other language. But I've never run across it before, and as I say, none of my books mention it. I have a good source on Lithuanian names that mentions Bakas and Bakys -- the latter, in particularly, might possibly become Bakes or Bakies in Polish; but the Lithuanian sources aren't sure what it comes from.

In any case, the name does exist in Poland. As of 1990 there were 20 Poles named Bakes (living in the following provinces: Katowice 4, Lodz 4, Walbrzych 5, Wroclaw 7), and 35 named Bakies (Gdansk 4, Lodz 14, Poznan 1, Sieradz 2, Tarnobrzeg 10, Zielona Gora 4). (I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses, unfortunately). It's odd that we find that name exists, but there's no sign of anything like "Bakishkowski" -- the closest is Bakirzyński (20, all living in Olsztyn province). That doesn't prove the name never was shortened from something longer, but we can't help but wonder how reliable that bit of info is... By the way, if the name is Lithuanian in origin, the distribution patterns for Bakes and Bakies don't make too much sense. Lithuanian names don't have to be found only in northeastern Poland, but that is where they tend to be more common.

I'm sorry I couldn't help more, and maybe those figures on name frequency and distribution will help a little. If you'd really like to try every possible source, I'd suggest running this by the staff of the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Kraków. I doubt they'd charge more than $20, and if they can't help you, I don't know who can. Good luck!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bartelak

...I have been trying for some time to get information about the name Bartelak.They came from Posen, Poland in the year 1890 maybe you could give me any information you have about them. If you care to list the name you can do so.

Bartelak means basically "son of Bartholomew." Bartel is a short form or nickname for Bartholomew used by Germans and Poles, and the -ak suffix is a diminutive, so that Bartelak started out more or less as a nickname or by-name meaning "little Bart," probably referring to the son of a fellow named Bartel, which is in turn a form of the name we spell Bartholomew.

I'm a little surprised to see this name isn't all that common in Poland; as of 1990 there were only 179 Bartelak's, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 3, Bydgoszcz 3, Czestochowa 121, Gdansk 1, Gorzów 7, Jelenia Gora 8, Kalisz 1, Katowice 1, Legnica 10, Piotrków 1, Szczecin 5, Walbrzych 1, Wroclaw 17. I would have expected more, and I'm a bit surprised to see there are none in the area of Poznan. (By the way, I don't have access to more details, such as first names and addresses; what I give here is all I have).

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bąbaś - Bambas - Bombas - Gall

...I am trying to get more information on the surnames Gall, Bambas. They immigrated from Rogasen, Prussia 1860. I will be happy to reimburse you if needed. I don't know if it matters, but they were Jewish.

It definitely can be relevant that the names you're interested in were borne by Jews. Obviously genealogical research for Polish Jews and Christians overlaps in many respects, but there are a number of factors that can make a big difference, both in regard to what names meant and where records are kept. Jewish surnames, in general, originated much later than those for Christians; in general Polish Christian surnames originated 300-400 years ago, farther back then there are surviving records (except for nobility), whereas most Jews first took surnames less than 200 years ago, and many records do survive from then. Also, Jews generally took names from different sources than Christians, so that the same name can mean something different when borne by Christians and Jews. The religion of the people you're researching can make a big difference, and I always advise folks to make it clear up front what religion their ancestors were -- it can save a lot of time and trouble.

Having said all that, the sad truth is I wasn't able to come up with too much on either name. As of 1990 there was no one in Poland with the name Bambas; I looked at some of the likely spelling variations, and found there were 36 Polish citizens named Bąbas -- the ą represents the nasal vowel pronounced like on or, before b or p, like om. There were 26 named Bąbaś, and 38 named Bombas. Any of these names might be related to Bambas when you take Polish phonetics and spelling into account. The people by these names were scattered all over the country, with no real concentration, and none of them lived in Gdansk province, which is where Rogasen is located.

I could find no mention of Bambas in any of my sources, including ones concentrating on Jewish names. The closest match is with the root bąb-, which means "to strike, hit." Bambas and the other names mentioned above could possibly come from that root, meaning the guy who was always hitting. But that's just an educated guess.

Gall is not a very common name, but at least there are some folks named Gall alive in Poland: as of 1990, there were 268. They were widely scattered, with the largest numbers in the provinces of: Warsaw 42, Elblag 17, Jelenia Gora 20, Wroclaw 15. There were a dozen or less in several other provinces, including 6 in Gdansk province. (I have no access to first names or addresses, I'm afraid this data is all I have).

When borne by Christians this surname tends to come from the Latin first name Gallus, especially in reference to the Irish saint Gallus, who founded a monastery in Switzerland. My books on Jewish surnames suggest that among Jews it more often came from Yiddish gal or German Galle, both meaning "gall, bile." This might be associated with a person who was bitter or spiteful, or perhaps with someone rather pious who found life in this world to be bitter and difficult and thus looked forward to the afterlife.

By the way, I couldn't find Rogasen, or whatever it's called today. I have sources that mention it, and they locate it as very near the town of Koscierzyna (called Berent by the Germans) in what is now Gdansk province. Nearby villages are Nowy Barkoczyn, where Protestant records were kept, and Garczyn, which has a Catholic parish church where Catholic records were kept, and Liniewo (Lienfelde) for civil records. I know Rogasen has to be within a few km. of these places, but it doesn't show up on my maps, unless the Polish name is completely different from the German one (which does happen sometimes)..

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
 

Banach - Kempski - Kępski - Krzywonos - Kujat - Marczyniec - Poręba - Poremba

...When you have a moment, could you give me a meaning/background for the following surnames?

Banach is a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 12,318 Poles by that name, living all over the country. It comes from a short form of nickname of Benedykt, "Benedict," kind of like "Benny" in English -- Poles loved to take popular first names, drop most of them, and add suffixes, and that's what happened with this, Ban- (from Benedykt) + -ach.

Kempski was the name of 1,004 Poles as of 1990, and another 1,727 spelled it Kępski; the ę is the Polish nasal vowel pronounced usually like en but like em before b or p, so that Kępski sounds like Kempski, and that's why it can be spelled either way. It comes from the root kępa, "cluster of trees," or a place named Kępa or Kępy. There are literally dozens of villages named Kępa, so we can't trace it to any one part of Poland -- it could get started anywhere they spoke Polish and had trees.

Krzywonos was the name of 974 Poles as of 1990, and means literally "crooked nose"; the term krzywonos is also the name of a bird, the grosbeak. It's hard to say how often this got started as a name for humans because someone had a crooked nose, and how often it comes from the bird, since bird names yielded many very common names in Polish. The province of Poland with the largest number of Krzywonos's in 1990 was Rzeszów in southeastern Poland, with 183, otherwise it's spread pretty evenly throughout the country.

Kujat is a rarer name, only 128 Poles had this name in 1990, and it comes from the root kuj-, "to forge, hammer." Presumably it started as a name given a smith. The name does not appear to be concentrated in any one part of Poland.

Marczyniec means literally "son of Martin," but that first name is generally spelled Marcin in Polish, so the spelling Marczyn, though pronounced almost the same, is rarer -- as of 1990 there was no one in Poland with the name spelled Marczyniec, but there were 1,344 who spelled the name Marciniec. In older times most folks were illiterate, and variant spellings of names were a dime a dozen, but in this century most Poles have learned to read and write, and the "standardized" spellings of names have taken over. So if you found relatives in Poland, you might find that they now spell the name Marciniec, but in older records the spelling Marczyniec might appear.

With Poremba we're dealing with that nasal vowel ę again; in 1990 there were 3,036 Poles named Poręba, and another 483 who spelled it Poremba. It comes from the term poręba, "clearing" in a forest, and presumably began as a reference to where a person lived; there are numerous villages named Poręba in Poland. As of 1990 the biggest concentration of Poręba's, 966, lived in the southcentral province of Nowy Sacz, and 290 lived in the southeastern province of Tarnów.

...Do you have an idea where in Poland these names may have originated? I know Kempski was from Poznan or Posen.

Your Kempski's may have come from the Poznan region, but most Polish surnames don't give much of a clue as to a specific place of origin, unless they derive from a unique place name (and there are comparatively few of those). I'm afraid none of these, except Poręba, is concentrated in any one part of the country; and Poręba may be most common in Nowy Sacz and Tarnów provinces, but there's virtually no province where you won't find a pretty good number of Poręba's.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 
 

Bator - Siwek

...I'm researching Siwek and Bator surnames (for family history purposes). Don't know how rare/common they are. Our ancestors all came from Tarnow province. The former from Ryglice and the latter from Pilsno.

Both are pretty common names. According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, Bator comes from a Hungarian term meaning "courageous, bold" (cmp. the name of Stefan Batory, in Hungarian Istvan Bathory, a Hungarian who was king of Poland 1576-1586); as of 1990 there were 4,653 Polish citizens by that name. Siwek comes from a root meaning "white, gray" -- siwak means "grey-haired fellow," and siwek is a term sometimes used for a grey horse; as of 1990 there were 11,822 Siwek's in Poland.

Of the 4,653 Bator's, 479 of them lived in Tarnów province, the largest single number; in general, the name is most common in south and southeastern Poland, the territory that was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and called Galicia from the 1800's to 1918. With that link, it's not so odd that a Hungarian name would be common in the region, there are other such names that originated as Hungarian but are reasonably common in Poland. The Siwek's are common all over Poland, there's no particular concentration in any one area.

That's about all I have on these names. I don't have access to any data on first names or addresses for the Bators or Siweks in Tarnów province, only figures on how many by each name live in each province.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bazydło

...I was surfing the net and typied in my last name, your homepage came up and interested me. My last name is Bazydlo, was wondering if you have any information on this name? Was thinking of trying to find out more of my families past in Poland. Any information you can pass along would be greatly appreciated.

The standard form of the name in Polish is Bazydło -- ł is pronounced like our w, so that the name sounds like "bah-ZID-woe" (ZID rhymes with "kid"). Polish expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions the name Bazydło in his book on Polish surnames, saying that it is one of a number of names that derive from the first name Bazyli, which is the same as our Basil (from a Greek word meaning "king"). So when the name first originated it probably meant something like "Basil's son."

I don't recall running into this name before, so I was a bit surprised to see it is moderately common in Poland; as of 1990 there were 938 Polish citizens named Bazydło. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Łomża (240) and Suwałki (258), both in far northeastern Poland, near the border with Belarus; there were much smaller numbers scattered about in various other provinces, but Łomża and Suwałki provinces are definitely where this name is most concentrated. This is like saying a name is common in two particular states in the U.S. -- it doesn't really pin it down to a small, searchable area, but it is better than nothing. And if it's any consolation, this is more info than most surnames offer; usually I have to tell people there's nothing about the name that narrows the search down at all. Your particular family might have come from one of those other provinces besides Łomża and Suwałki, but chances are good they started out, somewhere along the line, in far northeastern Poland.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bendyk

...The surname I was hoping you could research for me is Bendyk. My grandfather came from Szaflary, Poland in 1905 and am having trouble getting any information other than where he came from and when.

The surname Bendyk, like many Polish surnames, derives from a first name, in this case, Benedict, in Polish Benedykt. This name was used in a great many different forms in Poland, including Bandyk and Bendyk. So the name means "Benedict," probably referring to the name of a prominent ancestor.

As of 1990 there were 535 Polish citizens named Bendyk. They lived all over Poland, with larger numbers in the provinces of Ciechanów (49), Elblag (101), Gdansk (57), Olsztyn (40), and Torun (90). All these provinces are in northcentral Poland, so that seems to be the area where the name is most common, although, as I said, you run into it all over the country.

I know this information probably is a lot less specific and helpful than you'd like, but I'm afraid that's the way it is with Polish surnames: relatively few of them tell you much. Sometimes you run into one that tells you all kinds of good things, but those are definitely the exception.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bielejewski

...I would appreciate any information about the subject surname Bielejewski, (meaning etc.)...

The root from which this name derives ultimately is bial-/biel-, meaning "white," but the surname started out as a reference to some association between a person or family and a specific place with a name like Bielejewo; that's what Bielejewski means, "of, pertaining to, associated with Bielejewo (or a similar name, Bielejewa, etc.)." The name of the place, in turn, comes from the old first name Bielej, which means something like "Whitey" in English, so that Bielejewo means "Whitey's place." There are at least two villages that qualify: Bielejewo in Kalisz province, 10 km. NW of Jarocin; and Bielejewo in Poznan province, 8 km. south of Wronek. In addition, the village of Bielewo in Leszno province was called "Beleyevo" in the late 14th century, so it's possible the surname could have developed in connection with it as well.

As of 1990 there were 308 Polish citizens named Bielejewski; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Pila (114) and Poznan (111) in west central Poland, with a few scatered in other provinces here and there.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bielecki - Bilicki

...Hello, my name is ... Bilicki and as you can tell from the last name by heritage is Polish. I have looked through your list on the internet and did not come across my surname. I was hoping that if you had the time you would be able to tell me more about my surname. The reason I ask for this info is so that I can track the descent of my family all the way back to Poland during WWI. Thank you for your time and help.

The name Bilicki is almost certainly a variation of the name Bielecki; in the Slavic languages the basic root bial-/biel- means "white," and in different areas it takes the forms Bel-, Bial-, Biel-, and Bil-. So etymologically speaking Bilicki should be treated as more or less the same as Bielecki. Both most likely started as references to a connection between a person or family and a place with a name like Bielica, Bielice -- there are at least 3 villages named Bielica and 17 named Bielice in Poland alone, to say nothing of other countries that might be relevant (mainly Belarus and Ukraine); so the names Bielecki and Bilicki could develop anywhere people might want to refer to a "person from Bielica/Bielice." Those place names derived from the term bielica, "soft, clayish ground, bog," and that in turn presumably derives from the root meaning "white."

As of 1990 there were some 1,507 Polish citizens named Bilicki, living all over the country, with larger numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (186), Gdansk (82), Konin (67), Lodz (79), Olsztyn (74), Pila (115), Płock (163). This suggests a concentration in the center and northwest quarter of Poland, roughly in areas once ruled by Germans. If I'm not mistaken, German influence might have a little to do with the spelling of the name as Bilicki; in standard Polish the name is more likely to be Bielecki, pronounced "byel-ET-skee," but Germans would tend to turn it more into "bill-IT-ski," Bilicki.

I'm afraid this information isn't likely to be much practical use in tracking a specific Bilicki family -- unfortunately that's generally true of Polish surnames, relatively few have any feature that offers real help in locating exactly where they came from. Still, I hope this is some help to you, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bilsky - Drebit

...I'm trying to locate information on my Grandparents surnames.....Drebit & Bilsky. From what I've learned, they lived in the village of Kolodribka (near Sinkiv), Zalesciki Region, Ukraine. Any info is appreciated.

I'm afraid my sources on Ukrainian names are far less extensive than on Polish names. I know a little; for instance, Bilsky comes from the Ukrainian form of the Slavic root meaning "white" (in Polish it would be bial- or biel-), so this name began as reference to a place with a name from that root, or perhaps in some cases as a reference to a person's hair or complexion. It would also be a very common name, but unfortunately I have no sources that give statistics on frequency or distribution of this name in Ukraine (it's also fairly common in Poland in the form Bilski, as of 1990 there were 8,355 Polish citizens by that name).

Drebit probably comes from a Slavic root seen in Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish, meaning "small, fine." In Polish drobotać means "to walk quickly but with small steps, or to speak quickly but in a wheedling manner." In Ukrainian words with very similar meanings exist, but spelled drib- rather than drob-; it is quite possible, linguistically speaking, that that root could also be spelled dreb-. So I suspect that's what the name ultimately derives from, the root meaning "small, fine, mincing." As of 1990 there were only 5 Polish citizens named Drebit, all living in Olsztyn province, up in northcentral Poland -- that may well be due to post-World War II compulsory relocations that moved vast numbers of Ukrainians to parts of Poland that many ethnic Germans had been deported from. Unfortunately, I don't have access to details such as first names and addresses, so I can't tell you any more about those Drebit's, but perhaps the info will be some use to you.

The best place I know to learn more about Ukraine and Ukrainian customs and names is this Website: www.infoukes.com. If you haven't visited it, I recommend taking a look!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Błażek

...I am interested in knowing the history of the family name Blazek from the town of Grabowa in Szczecinskie.

I have no information on individual families, all I can tell you about is the linguistic origin of the name, and sometimes where the name is most common in Poland these days.

Blazek would be Błażek in Polish - the name would be pronounced roughly "BWAH-zhek." It originated as a diminutive of the Christian first name Błażej, the Polish version of the name we called "Blaise," but that name is much rarer in English than Błażej is in Polish; if you're Catholic and are over 40 you might remember when kids used to go to church to have their throats blessed in the name of "St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr" -- that's who the name is associated with. Błażek would mean "little Blaise, son of Blaise."

Surnames from Błażej are pretty common in Poland, e. g. Błażejczak, Błażejewski, Błażewicz, but Błażek, for some reason, is not all that common; there were only 247 Poles by that name as of 1990. They were scattered all over the country, with larger numbers in the province of Gdansk (60) and Katowice (24). There was only 1 Błażek in the modern-day province of Szczecin (I have no access on data to first names or addresses, what I'm giving here is all I have), but Szczecin province used to be much larger than it is now, so there may be a few more in areas that used to be part of Szczecin province but no longer are; and there are too many Grabowa's for me to know precisely which one is relevant to your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bocheński - Bochyński - Bohinski

...I was reading your surname information ... on the internet and checked out the surname section looking for my last name, which of course was not listed. I would be interested in knowing the meaning and also if the spelling would be correct. My great-grandfather has his name spelled Bochynski. My son recently returned from Poland after studying at the University of Warsaw and had inquired about the spelling and was told very likely the spelling was Bochinski which is another way our name is shown being spelled in local records. The current spelling is Bohinski. I know that your expertise is in the area of name meanings, but I wonder also if you may know what region of Poland this name may be found if the Bochynski spelling is or was likely.

This is a difficult question, because in fact there are three different spellings that could all apply to the same name: Bocheński, Bochiński, and Bochyński, and I don't see a really clear-cut pattern in their geographical distribution. As of 1990 there were 3,501 Polish citizens named Bocheński, 497 named Bochiński, and 1,085 named Bochyński. All three spellings appear all over the country. As of 1990 the largest numbers of Bochiński's lived in the provinces of Warsaw (128), Gdansk (65), Łomża (66), and Poznan (48), with much smaller numbers in many other provinces. Bocheński is common all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (345), Katowice (244), Kraków (213), and Nowy Sacz (245), which suggests it's most common in southcentral Poland and near the capital (many names show a tendency to congregate around Warsaw as well as in areas where they presumably originated). Bochyński is most common in Kalisz (151), Lublin (128), and Poznan (95) provinces. The likely derivation is from the noun bochen, "large loaf of bread," or from place names such as Bochnia (a sizeable town in Tarnów province); the adjectival form of that place name is bocheński, which, as a surname, could mean "one from Bochnia," and that seems to be the most common, standard form of the name.

I can't say for sure that all three spellings are variants of the same name, it could be in some cases the spellings match up in some cases with different origins. But it seems pretty certain that Bocheński is the standard form and Bochyński is often a variant of that form. By modern rules of Polish orthography Bochiński is questionable, Poles avoid using the combination -chi- except in foreign words. The reasons involve linguistic questions that would bore you to death, but I would have expected Bocheński and Bochyński to be the most common forms, with Bochiński rare. I'm surprised there were 497 people with that spelling, actually. It could be that spelling originated back in the days when the rules weren't quite so strict, or people didn't know them, and that it has stuck for reasons of family tradition.

But going strictly by the rules (which, of course, people have done inconsistently over the course of history), the e sound is the one you'd expect, and in some areas regional pronunciation tendencies might cause that to become the short i sound (as in "sit") spelled as a y in Polish. So Bocheński would sound like "bo-HEN-skee," Bochyński would sound like "bo-HIN-skee." Bochiński would sound like "bo-HEEN-skee," but as I say, Poles generally avoid putting the long "ee" sound of the letter I after the guttural combination ch, and that's why I think this is the least common spelling.

To make matters worse, the ch and h are pronounced exactly the same in Polish, so in theory you could also see the spellings Boheński, Bohiński, and Bohyński. Fortunately for your sake, those spellings are, however, extremely rare in Poland, though obviously Bohinski is familiar to you. Still, I thought I'd mention it in case you ever ran across these other spellings.

Those are my thoughts on the subject. If you'd really like to know more and don't mind spending about $20 or so, there is a group of scholars in Kraków, Poland who are experts on name origins and might be able to shed more light. They can handle correspondence in English (although they prefer Polish), and I've heard from quite a few people who were very pleased with the job they did; they don't do genealogical research, just research on the origins of names..

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Barna - Bojanowski

...Any information on the surname Bojanowski available?

Names ending in -owski usually refer to a connection between a person or family and a place with a name ending in -ów or -owo or something similar. In this case you'd expect the name to mean "person from Bojanów or Bojanowo or Bojany" -- those names, in turn, means "Bojan's place" (Bojan is an ancient Polish first name). There are at least 13 villages in Poland with names that qualify, so it's impossible to tell which particular one a given Bojanowski family was associated with. And, as usually happens when there are that many different potential sources for a name, the surname is a common one -- as of 1990 there were 4,264 Polish citizens named Bojanowski, living all over the country.

...Also researching Barna...

None of my sources discuss Barna, so I can't give a definitive source or meaning. The most likely derivations are either as a short form of the first names Bernard or Barnaby or Bronisław -- there is a popular surname Barnas that comes from Bernard, and Barn is a recognized short form of Barnislaw, a Pomeranian version of the common first name Bronisław -- or from the noun barna, which is a variant form of brona, "harrow." One source also mentions barna as a Hungarian word meaning "brown, russet-colored"; there are some names in Poland that turn out to be of Hungarian origin, but without more info it seems far-fetched to connect that to this name. There is nothing that tips the scales in favor of one or another of these derivations, all I can say is that these are possible sources of the name Barna.

As of 1990 there were 521 Polish citizens named Barna; they were scattered all over Poland, with the largest numbers living in the following provinces: Gorzów 57, Koszalin 76, Krosno 32, Legnica 78, Slupsk 42, Zielona Gora 38. In terms of geographical distribution, most of those provinces are in western Poland, the area once ruled by the Germans; that seems to be where the name is most common.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Borończyk

...I had a library patron call the Reference Desk today and ask for the meaning of the name Boronczyk. Unfortunately, we have little on Polish surnames. I found your site posted ... and promise I'll order a copy of your book for the next interested patron! In the meantime, is there a quick answer to our patron's question? If not, I'll refer him to your webpage.

I doubt there's much on the Webpage that would help with this particular name. The total number of Polish surnames is disputed, but there is no question we are talking at least a hundred thousand, probably many times that. So I haven't gotten to them all on the Webpage -- or in the book either, for that matter! On the page I deal only with those I have been asked about the last few months; in the book I deal with the most common ones. (The distribution curve of Polish surnames is odd: a few thousand account for 90% of the population, and then you have jillions and jillions of really rare ones.)

In surnames the suffix -czyk usually means "son of," so we can state with some confidence that the name means "son of boron." So it's a question of what boron means. Polish phonetics and linguistics suggests it is most likely boroń. One of my sources, Nazwiska Cieszyńskie [The Surnames of the Cieszyn Region] by Wladyslaw Milerski, Wydawnictwo Energeia, Warszawa, 1996, links it with the root bor, "forest, woods." Milerski says that names with the suffix -oń are typical of southern Silesia, so that may well be where this name originated. Milerski also says boroń is a noun meaning "forest-dweller," so it seems probable that Borończyk began as one of that class of surnames that refer to the place a person lived or worked; it would be, literally, "son of the forest-dweller."

I can add that as of 1990 there were 365 Polish citizens named Borończyk, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Katowice (67), Kielce (49), and Piotrków Trybunalski (47) -- all in southcentral Poland, a little east of Silesia proper -- and smaller numbers scattered in many other provinces. Unfortunately I do not have access to details such as first names, addresses, etc.; what I've given here is all I have.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Brack - Brak

...I was hoping that you could tell me something about the name Brack. We had been told it was Brak, but recently found it to be Brack.

Well, the main question is whether it is of Polish or German derivation. From what you say about the spelling, it probably was German, and German surname expert Hans Bahlow said in his Deutsches Namenlexikon that Brack means "tracker dog," or could also derive from the name of the Brack river near the Neckar. But Bahlow also mentions that the root brack can refer to moist, swampy terrain, and Brack could also be a name for a person who lived in such a place.

As of 1990 there were only 3 Polish citizens named Brack (1 in Warsaw province, 2 in Lodz province), but there may have been more once -- millions of ethnic Germans who had lived in Poland relocated to East Germany after World War II, so numbers these days don't necessarily mean much in relation to a century ago.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Ciżewski - Czyżewski - Pionek

...My family has an obscure last name, as far as we can tell, anyway. My fathers parents names were Cizeski and Pionek, the latter being our family name. As far as we can tell it means "chess pawn." Would you have any clue as to where it may originate or if it were chosen upon entry into the states?

Cizeski is almost certainly a variant of Cizewski, which in turn appears to be a different spelling of Czyzewski; all three names are usually spelled with a dot over that middle z (ż), and they are all pronounced roughly "chee-ZHEFF-skee" ("ZH" = the sound of "s" in "pleasure"). In many parts of Poland that -w- right before -ski is pronounced very lightly or even dropped, so it's not unusual to see names spelled without it, even though by "proper" Polish it should be there: Dombroski vs. Dombrowski, Janoski vs. Janowski, etc. So Cizeski is probably just a slightly different form of Cizewski, which is a less common way of spelling Czyzewski.

As of 1990 there was no listing of anyone in Poland named Cizeski, but that's probably because the advent of universal literacy has caused the name to be "corrected" and standardized with the -w- intact. By comparison, there were 237 Poles named Cizewski, but there were 10,543 named Czyżewski, so you can see that's a popular name. The "correct" spelling would be Czyżewski, but some still spell it Ciżewski, and historically some pronounced it Cizeski (some probably still do), which is how that spelling came to appear in writing... The 237 Cizewski's lived all over Poland, but by far the largest number, 67, lived in the province of Białystok in northeastern Poland. Czyzewski's, on the other hand, are common all over the country.

The ultimate root is czyz, "green finch, siskin" (a kind of bird), but Cizeski or Cizewski or Czyżewski are all adjectives most likely formed from the names of villages Czyżew or Czyżewo; the surnames mean basically "one from Czyżew or Czyżewo," and those place names, in turn, mean "place of the green finch." There are a number of places named Czyżew and Czyżewo, including several in what is now Łomża province. There are also a number of places named Czyżów, and that place name, too, could also generate the surname Czyżewski. So I can't point to any one place and say "That's the one your Cizeski's came from"; there are too many possibilities, and no good reason to favor one over the other.

I should add, just to be complete, that Cizeski might also come from Ciszewski, which is also a surname derived from a place name. From a phonetic standpoint that is also possible. But I would think the link with Czyżewski from czyz is more likely to be the right one, in most cases.

Pionek does appear to come from the word meaning "pawn," although a similar word used in dialect means "potato." I'm not sure exactly how it came to be used as a name, but I'm continually surprised when I learn how creative people can be when it comes to giving names; so just because the meaning of a name isn't obvious to us doesn't mean it wasn't obvious to those who originally gave or received it.

The name Pionek itself is rather rare in Poland these days; as of 1990 there were only 13 people with that name, living in the provinces of Warsaw (2), Katowice (4), Opole (1), and Szczecin (6). (Unfortunately, I don't have access to any further details, such as first names or addresses). Pionka (441) and Pionke (351) are more common.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Czekaj

...I’m hoping you can send me some info on the surname Czekaj. Its origin, etc. I know it`s a very common name in Poland, (about 75 listed in the Kraków telephone directory). I am doing research on my grandfather who emigrated to America from Kraków in 1896. About how many Czekajs are there in Poland?

You're right that it's a common name: as of 1990 there were at least 7,328 Polish citizens named Czekaj (the source for this material was based on data for about 94% of the population of Poland, so the numbers could be a bit higher). The provinces with the largest numbers were: Katowice (1,051), Kielce (1,259), Kraków (1,318), Rzeszów (305), and Tarnów (391); there were smaller numbers of Czekaj's in virtually every province. This suggests the name is most common in south central and southeastern Poland, roughly in the region called Małopolska ("Little Poland"), which was seized by Austria during the partitions and ruled (along with western Ukraine) as an Austrian crown possession under the name of "Galicia" (German Galizien).

This is an interesting name because it's easy to say what it means, but a little harder to understand exactly how such a name got started. Czekaj comes from the verb czekać, "to wait," and in form is a command: "Wait!" It is used in Polish to mean also "Stop!" or "Listen up!" Also czekaj can be used as a noun meaning "one who waits for something." So the meaning is clear. As to why it became a name, your guess is probably as good as mine. It might be this was a nickname given to someone who was always saying "Czekaj!" Or it might be given to someone who was always waiting for something. The puzzling thing is that it's such a common name, so whatever the connection was, it surely must have applied to more than one person -- it seems doubtful all those Czekaj's could be descended from one ancestor! Although really, who knows?

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Schwidke - Shvydki - Svidky - Świdka - Szwydki

… Seeking info on "Shywydky", "Svidky", possibly other spellings. The patriarch of my mother's branch of the family came to Canada in the 1890's, claimed to have a university education, and spoke Englsh, French, German as well as an assortment of slavic languages. The only other Shywydky family I've run accross is Jewish.

The only information I could find on this name was in a book on Jewish surnames, which mentioned that it comes from the Ukrainian term shvydkij (we'd pronounce that "shvid'-kee," the "i" in the first syllable is short, as in "sit"), which means "quick, rapid." I confirmed that that is what the Ukrainian term means, and it is certainly plausible that the surname developed from that source. The sounds of "sh" and "v" and the short "i" as in "sit" are spelled different ways in different languages, so it's no wonder this name can appear as Schwidke (German), Szwydki (Polish), Shvydki or Svidky (English), etc.

As of 1990 there were two Polish citizens named Szwydki, 1 in Kalisz province, 1 in Wroclaw province (I don't have access to further data such as first names or addresses, I'm afraid); there were also 2 Szwydko's, in Krakow province. There were 6 Szwidke's, all in Wroclaw province. There were 4 Świdka's (accent over the S), 2 in Walbrzych province, 2 in Zamosc province. And that's all I could find for this name.

So to summarize, it's probably comes from a Ukrainian word meaning "swift, rapid," is rare in Poland but probably more common in Ukraine, and can be spelled a jillion different ways (this is where the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex system comes in handy; see
http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/soundex.html)

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Shotkowski - Szotkowski

… Our "clan" is having it's first family reunion in many, many years (being held in Fullerton, NE August 8th)! It is turning into quite a party with approximately 400 people responding. We would like to offer a T-shirt to commemorate the event and would like the design to reflect the name somehow. Could you please supply me the general meaning of the family name Shotkowski.

To start with, the spelling Shotkowski is Anglicized a little -- Polish doesn't use sh except on rare occasions in compound words when a component ending with s happens to be joined to one starting with h, on which occasion they'd be pronounced separately (to be honest, I can't think of a single case where that happens). But Polish Sz is pronounced the same way we pronounce "sh," so most of the time you can safely figure English sh = Polish sz. So Szotkowski is the name we're dealing with, almost certainly.

The direct derivation is from a place name -- these -owski names usually started as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place, usually with the same name ending in -ów, -owo, or something like that. So Szotkowski would mean "one from Szotków or Szotkowo or Szotkowice, etc." When I saw this name, I looked in a gazetteer and noticed a place Szotkowice, a village that's part of the town of Jastrzębie-Zdrój in Katowice province in southcentral Poland, very near the Czech border; I thought this might be the right place. I found a book on surnames in that general area, and it confirmed that Szotkowski began as a surname meaning "person from Szotkowice" ... That particular village might not be the only one this name could come from -- often surnames came from the names of tiny places used only by local residents, names that would never appear on any map and might have changed or disappeared centuries ago. But that's the only place I could find, and it's a good bet at least some Szotkowski's trace their name back to a link with that village in Katowice province.

So what does the place name come from? Here's where it gets interesting. The name breaks down Szot- + -k- + -ow- plus suffixes, and that means "of the Szotek's," and Szotek is a diminutive of the noun Szot, which originally meant "Scot." A great many Scotsmen came to Poland and worked as traveling peddlars, to the point that Szot came to mean not only "Scot" but also "peddler; small-scale merchant" (kind of the same way "gypsy" doesn't necessarily refer only to Gypsies, but to a way of life or a style of music, dance, etc.). Szotek would mean either "little Scot/peddler" or "son of the Scot/peddler." So Szotkowice is literally "the [place] of the Scots or peddlers' sons."

There is also a word szota, a contemptuous term for a shoemaker. In some cases the name could come from this link. But where linked with the place Szotkowice, the link is almost certainly with the root meaning "Scot" or "peddler."

As of 1990 there were only 64 Polish citizens named Szotkowski, living in the following provinces: Warsaw (3), Białystok (1), Bielsko-Biala (14), Ciechanow (3), Czestochowa (1), Gdansk (1), Kalisz (11), Katowice (6), Olsztyn (14), Opole (3), Ostrołęka (2), Szczecin (2), Wloclawek (1), Wroclaw (2). This is pretty widely dispersed, but Bielsko-Biala and Opole are both very near Katowice province, so we can say about 1/3 of the Szotkowski's live fairly near the village I referred to. The others might trace the name to the same origin, or in some cases their name might have derived from the name of some other place where Scots or peddlers lived.

So you have some interesting possibilities. You may have to display considerably ingenuity to come up with a good design, but you have a little material to work with. You could use a map of Poland showing where Szotkowice is located; or you could do something with the notion of Scots in Poland (which, believe me, is not ridiculous -- there were plenty of them!), or with a peddler's pack.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Szczębara - Szczembara

... I would like to know if you could furnish any information on my surname. I have learned that it could be spelled differently. My mother has said that a "m" was added to the name when my father arrived in this country, but I'm not sure. The spellings are Szczebara or Szczembara. Thank you.

I can't find any sources with any information on the meaning or origin of this name. From what you say it's clear the name would be spelled Szczębara (where ę is pronounced, before b or p, like "em") or Szczembara. But none of my sources mention this name or any root from which it seems likely to have derived.

But the name exists, no question. As of 1990 there were 124 Polish citizens named Szczębara. They lived in the following provinces: Jelenia Gora 6, Katowice 1, Kielce 2, Krakow 7, Lublin 11, Przemysl 1, Radom 1, Rzeszow 3, Szczecin 5, Tarnobrzeg 81, Tarnow 1, Wroclaw 3, Zamosc 2. There were another 42 who spelled the name Szczembara: Kalisz 10, Katowice 1, Koszalin 1, Krakow 7, Krosno 3, Lublin 4, Tarnobrzeg 16. Unfortunately I don't have access to further data such as first names and addresses, but it seems pretty clear the name is most common in Tarnobrzeg province, in southeastern Poland.

This is one I'd definitely suggest sending to the Polish name experts of the Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow. For more info on them, read the note on my introduction to Polish surnames.

If you ever do find out more about the meaning and origin, I'd love to hear about it. I'd like very much to include it in the next edition of my book on Polish surnames!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jucha - Szafran

… I am wondering if you have encountered the name Szafran. I am not 100% certain of the Province that it is associated with. I strongly suspect Płock ? I am also interested in the name Jucha , this is my G- Mother maiden name.

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, the name Szafran comes from the noun szafran, "saffron." It is a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were 4,134 Poles named Szafran. They were pretty evenly spread all over Poland, there was no one province or region with a particular concentration (there were 67 in the province of Płock).

As of 1990 there were 1,673 Poles named Jucha, with larger numbers in the provinces of: Bielsko-Biala 235, Katowice 233, Kraków 111, Krosno 99, Opole 85, Przemysl 199, Rzeszów 150, Tarnów 98, Wroclaw 127. There were smaller numbers of them in many other provinces, but these were the provinces with significantly larger numbers, and they are all in southcentral and southeastern Poland.

The meaning of Jucha is not something I can say with any certainty. None of my sources mentions it, and I see in the dictionary that it is a dialect term for "the blood of cattle, bears, and other animals," also a term meaning "rascal." It can come from a verb meaning "to cry out ' Juchhaj' joyfully," or it can be a dialect variant of ucho, "ear." It might also be, in some cases, a sort of nickname for popular first names such as Jan and Joachim. So it could come from any of these expressions, or it might be something else entirely -- I just don't have enough information to say.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Obuchowicz - Świtalski

...I would be very interested in information on both my paternal (Switalski) and maternal (Obuchowicz) surnames. My father's family lived in Tuchola, and my mother's near Gdansk. I notice the Switalski is a fairly common name on North America with a few listings in every major city in North America. My mother's surname does not appear to be as common. I remember being told as a child that it had some inference that it may mean "from the city of....".

According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, Obuchowicz comes from obuch, "ax-head, battle-ax," plus the suffix  -owicz, which usually means "son of." It would seem Obuch could have been used as a kind of nickname, perhaps for someone who used this weapon well in battle, and his offspring were referred to as "son of Obuch." It might be in some cases -owicz could be used as meaning "from the city of," sort of in the sense that "so-and-so is a son of this city," but the problem is I can't find any place with a name that fits -- Obuch, Obucha, Obuchow, Obuchowa, any of those might work, but I can't find any Obuch- place name at all. Besides, it would be more common to see an -owski name, something like Obuchowski, used in that sense, rather than a -owicz name. So I'm inclined to go with Prof. Rymut and say it means literally "son of the battle-ax," where presumably the latter is a name applied to a man who was known for being good with that weapon (that's my interpretation, not Rymut's). In Polish the name would be pronounced roughly "oh-boo-HOE-vich." As of 1990 there were 762 Polish citizens named Obuchowicz, and they were spread pretty much all over Poland -- there doesn't appear to be any particular area where the name is concentrated.

(2) What is the meaning and origin of the name Switalski?

In Polish Switalski is written with an accent over the S and is pronounced roughly "shvee-TALL-skee." It's a moderately common name by Polish standards. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and can be searched here), there were 3,180 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the root seen in the noun świt, "dawn, daybreak," and in the verb świtać, "to dawn, grow light."

The -ski is adjectival, so that Świtalski would mean literally "of Świtała" (using Ł pronounced like our W -- but the L in Świtalski is plain L, and pronounced more or less the same way we pronounce L). Names in the form X-ała usually mean "one always doing X, one of whom X is the most prominent characteristic." So Świtała would mean literally "the one always dawning, the one associated with dawning."

I'm not sure if this started as a nickname for one who was being compared to the brightness of a dawn, or one with a sunny disposition, or maybe just one who tended to always get up at dawn. Perhaps it could mean any or all of these things, and the exact meaning varied from case to case. Świtała is a common surname in its own right (borne by 4,753 Poles as of 1990), so it must not have been an unusual thing to call a person somehow associated with dawn. And Świtalski probably just started out meaning "kin of Świtała." I should add, however, that in some instances it might also mean "one from Świtały" -- there's at least one place by that name in Poland.

So, as with many Polish surnames, there isn't one simple answer to what the name means. It means "kin of Świtała" or "one from the place of Świtała," but the exact meaning of that name is open to debate. People named Świtalski live all over Poland, so the only hope of establishing exactly where a given Świtalski family came from, and how and why the name came to be associated with them, is to do detailed research into their history.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Sulatycki - Sulatycze

... My last name is Sulatycki and I would like to know what part of Poland the name comes from.

Actually, this name isn't Polish but Ukrainian; Ukraine was under Polish rule for a long time, and the peoples mixed to a considerable extent, so it's not at all unusual to find Polish names in Ukraine and Ukrainian names in Poland. But it's pretty certain this name derives from Sulyatichi (called Sulatycze by Poles), 82 km. south-southeast of Lvov (Lviv) in Ukraine. It's possible there are other places with similar names this could derive from -- when you talk Slavic place names, it's kind of rare to find one that isn't shared by at least a few different towns or villages -- but the Sulyatichi in Ukraine is the only one I've heard of. So the surname means basically "person from Sulyatichi."

This name is pretty rare in Poland, as of 1990 there were only 34 Polish citizens named Sulatycki, and they were scattered all over western Poland (undoubtedly the result of post-World War II forced relocations of millions of displaced persons). I would expect the name is more common in Ukraine, but have no data on that. You might want to see if you can find out more by visiting the Website www.infoukes.com, I believe they have a page devoted to Ukrainian surnames.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Strzyżewski - Walkowski

… A request for some information on the names Strzyzewski and Walkowski.

Both names began in most cases as references between a person or family and a place with a similar name; thus we'd expect Strzyżewski to mean "one from Strzyżew, Strzyżewo, Strzyże," and Walkowski to mean "one from Walki, Walków, Walkowo." In both cases, there are numerous villages with names that could produce these surnames, so it's impossible to say, just from looking at the surnames, which specific villages were the original connections. The ultimate roots of both surnames and place names are strzyż, "wren," so that Strzyżew would mean "[place] of the wren," and wal-, which can mean "overthrow, cast down," or it can come from the first name Walenty -- I imagine that Walkowski started in most cases as meaning "one from the [place] of little Wal."

Both names are moderately common in Poland; as of 1990 there were 2,901 Poles named Strzyżewski, and 2,675 named Walkowski. Both are also distributed fairly evenly across the country, so that we can't point to one area and say "Here's where they came from." It's highly likely many different families came to bear these names independently.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dammratsch - Stodółka

… I was hoping that you could help me out concerning my Grandfather's surname Stodolka. I am interested in finding out what the name means? Are you familiar with this surname? Do you possibility know of any other persons researching it?

I don't know of other people researching Stodolka, but Polish onomastics expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book on Polish surnames. In Polish it's usually spelled Stodółka and would be pronounced roughly "stoh-DOOW-kuh." It comes from the root stodoła, "barn," and -ka is a diminutive suffix, so the literal meaning is "little barn." It probably started as a nickname for someone who lived near a little barn, or worked at one, or something like that -- all these centuries later it can be tough figuring out exactly what the connection was, but clearly the name indicates some sort of connection with a little barn.

In Poland these days this is not a common name, but not really rare either -- as of 1990 there were 256 Polish citizens named Stodółka. They were scattered all over, with larger numbers living in the provinces of Czestochowa (98), Legnica (39), and Wroclaw (27), so the name is most common in southcentral to southwestern Poland. (Unfortunately I do not have access to further details such as first names and addresses; the data I've given here is all I have). Other names from the same root are more common, e. g. Stodulski (1,426), Stodolny (912), etc.

… Have you heard of this town "Dammratsch" ? I have not been able to find it on the Internet. Also, have you ever heard of this ship the "Allemannia"?? I can find nothing on this ship!

Dammratsch is a German name, so if the village in question is now in Poland, it's in the areas that were ruled by Germany up until after World War I or II, when territory was taken from the Germans and given back to Poland. There are a great many places now in Poland that used to have German names. My sources mention at least one Dammratsch -- there may be others! -- and say it is now called Domaradz, in what is now Opole province in southwestern Poland (near Czestochowa and Legnica provinces, so that makes some sense in terms of the surname distribution data). As I say, there could easily be other places the Germans called Dammratsch (there are at least 3 villages in Poland today called Domaradz), but this one in Opole province seems to be your best bet.

I have no info on ships, but you might use Alta Vista or another Web search engine to scan Usenet postings for mention of Michael Anuta's book "Ships of Our Ancestors." I see mention of this book from time to time on Genpol and other on-line forums, it's supposed to be a fine source of info for the ships immigrants came over on. I'm not sure, but it may also be mentioned somewhere on the Website of the Polish Genealogical Society of America . If you visit that site, you might also wish to see if they have any info on Stodolka's in their various searchable databases.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Damaski - Damazki

...This [Damasky] is my husband's surname. His ancestors (according to a death certificate on his fathers side) were from Germany (no city mentioned). However, his surname certainly does not look German to me.

My husband thinks it is German, his brother thinks it is Jewish, and his sister thinks it is Polish. Me, I do not know what to think but I have been given the task of researching the family surname for them (since I am the one that is interested in the family tree).

I have searched around on the internet for surname information trying to determine the origin of this surname, however, I just can't find any answers. Books from the local library indicate that it could possibly be Polish, Czech, Jewish, or Russian.


Well, let's start by saying what it's not. It's not German -- at least, not if we're talking linguistic origin. German just doesn't form names with the suffix -sky or -ski, that is a trait of the Slavic languages. Of course, a great many people of Slavic ethnic origin ended up living under German rule and their names were modified slightly to fit German phonetic preferences -- that's not at all uncommon. In this case there's no way to know if the name was originally Damasky or Damaski or Damazki or Domaski or Domaszki -- there just isn't any data, and any of those names (and others) could end up as Damasky under German influence.

It's probably also not Jewish, although I can't say that for sure. But Alexander Beider produced two very large books on the surnames of Jews living in the Kingdom of Poland and in the Russian Empire, and neither mentions Damasky by that or any other spelling. If it were used often by Jews as a surname, chances are Beider would have mentioned it. So while the name might occasionally have been borne by Jews, it is not a distinctively Jewish name.

So the name is Slavic -- but whether Czech, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak, Belarusian, that's harder to say. All those languages use the suffix -sky or -ski, and there's nothing distinctive about this name that allows us to say "Aha, it has to be so-and-so because they're the only ones who do that with names." In theory the name could have originated as meaning "from Damascus" -- in Ukrainian there is an adjective damas'kiy that means that. But in practice it seems unlikely many Slavs had any connection with Damascus strong enough to generate a surname alluding to such a connection. So the name more likely derived from a first name, perhaps Damian or Damazy or Adam, perhaps even Dominik or Domamir or Domasław, because under German influence the o could easily have been changed to a. Slavs loved to take the first part of first names, drop the rest, and start adding suffixes; so Damasky could easily come from any of those names I mentioned.

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Damasky or Damaski. There were, however, 196 Polish citizens named Damas, 550 named Damasiewicz, 219 named Damaszek, 273 named Damaszke, 256 named Damaziak, 247 named Damazyn, etc. So we get back to the same problem: what was the original form of the name, and has it been modified much because of German influence? Clearly the root damas- was used in Polish names; was this originally a Polish name that was modified and has since become rather rare? Or does it come from Czech or Russian or Ukrainian? I just don't have any information by which to judge, and I don't have name frequency data from anywhere but Poland.

So I can't really answer your question with anything definitive. But I hope the information I've given will prove to be a little help. The main point is that this surname -- like the vast majority of Polish and other surnames -- doesn't provide much in the way clues or leads as to its specific origin in time and place. I'm afraid only good old-fashioned digging in the records -- perhaps parish records in this country where your husband's ancestors received the sacraments or sent their kids to be educated, perhaps naturalization papers, perhaps ship passenger lists, etc. -- will enable you to make any progress with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.



Disse - Eidenschenk - Nalde - Schnitzer

...Thanks for the information about names. Can you give me any background on the names; Disse, Eidenschink (Eidenschenk), Schnitzer or Nalde. These must be all German and you may not know or have anything on them.

What little information I have on these names is from Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon. He says Disse is a surname derived from a place name, for instance Dissen near the Teutoberg forest -- apparently the root is one of many in German that means "bog." He has nothing on Eidenschenk (or -schink). Schnitzer means "sawyer" or "one who cuts wood." Nalde is not mentioned, but Nadler is, meaning "needle-maker," so Nalde might mean something pretty similar.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Doboszyński - Magdziarz

...My last name was originally spelled Doboszynski and my GGGGfather may have been from around from what is now the Vilnius, Lithuania area... I don't feel my GGGGfather was Lithuanian but Polish.

The name Doboszyński probably started as a reference to a place with a name something like Dobosz, Doboszyn, Doboszyno. I can't find any such place on my maps, but a Lithuanian book on surnames mentions Dabaŝinskas as a Lithuanian form of Polish Doboszyński, and quotes a Polish scholar as saying it comes from a place name, Dobszyn. As best I can tell, this refers to a place now called Dobczyn, in Poznan province, in Srem township, 8 km. northeast of Dolsk; in the 15th century it was called Dobszyn or Dobszyno, and "person from Dobszyn" would be Dobszyński, which could easily be modified to Doboszyński. I can't be positive this is how your name got started, but it is plausible and there is some evidence for it ... I should add that there's nothing unusual about Poles living in Lithuania -- my wife's ancestors came from there. Poland and Lithuania were a single political entity for a long time, and certain Lithuanian regions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth used to be 40% or more Polish, so it's not in the least strange to hear of Poles living near Vilnius. It's not even out of the question that a family that once lived near Dobczyn in Poznan province might end up centuries later all the way up by Vilnius.

As of 1990 there were 181 Polish citizens named Doboszynski (that's within the borders of Poland, it wouldn't include anyone living in Lithuania). They were scattered all over, with larger numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (42), Bielsko-Biala (18), Gdansk (19), and Kielce (25). I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses, so I'm afraid that's all I can tell you.

...My wife's maiden name was Magdziarz. Her grandfather's naturalization papers listed Pielzno, Austria/Poland as his birthplace in 1877.

Magdziarz comes from a sort of short form or nickname of the feminine name Magdalena -- it might almost be translated "Maggie's child." It's a fairly common name, as of 1990 there were 2,688 Poles named Magdziarz, living all over the country with no particular pattern to the distribution... That "Pielzno" is probably a misspelling of Pilzno, a reasonably good-sized town in what is now Tarnów province; this region was under Austrian rule as of 1877, part of the territory known as "Galicia" which encompassed southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. By the way, there is no guarantee "Pilzno" is the exact place of birth, it was large enough to be the seat of a county (in Polish powiat), and often people mistook that for the actual birthplace. So your wife's grandfather may have been born in Pilzno, but it's also quite possible he was born in one of the villages in Pilzno county of what was then Galicia or Austrian Poland.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Dobrzechowski

... My family came from Gleboka in Sambor near the boarder of Russia. I hear that it is now a part of Russia. My gr-grandpa married a woman from the same village by the name of Dobrzechoski. I've seen many variations of this name. The only other people I know of on this line of my genealogy are from the same area as well with the names Houinka and Sawolia, two other names I haven't seen at all. Do you know anything about these other names?

Well, Dobrzechoski would be a variant of Dobrzechowski. In many parts of Poland they barely pronounce that w right before the -ski, so it's not unusual to see Iwanoski as well as Iwanowski, Dombroski as well as Dombrowski, etc. So the "standard" form of the name would be Dobrzechowski, which probably referred to a place with a similar name. For instance, there's a village named Dobrzechów in Rzeszów province in southeastern Poland, 4 km. northwest of Strzyzów; there also used to be a Dobrzechówka, in Rzeszów province, Niewodna parish. These are not too far from the area you're talking about, it's at least possible one of those is the place the surname originally referred to. Both places meant something like "place of Dobrzech," where that was a first name originating as a kind of nickname for people with names based on the root dobry, "good, kind." As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Dobrzechowski or Dobrzechoski, so either the name has died out or the only people still with that name live across the border in Ukraine.

I can't really find anything on the other two, and they don't sound Polish to me -- possibly Ukrainian, possibly Slovakian, and my sources on those languages aren't as extensive as what I have for Polish. I wonder, have you investigated the Website www.infoukes.com? They just might have some info that would provide leads for you. It's worth a try!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Dziedelonis - Percha

...If you have the time, I am looking into several ancestoral surnames. Dziedelonis and Percha do not seem very popular. Maybe there are other spellings?

Dziedelonis is probably not Polish -- that -onis suffix is one used by Lithuanians to form patronymics, i. e., "son of so-and-so." The Dzied- part could be Polish, there is such a root dziad/dzied, meaning "old man, grandfather," also "inheritance." It is conceivable a Pole living in Lithuania (as many did and still do) might have a name like Dziedziel and his son might be referred to as Dziedzielonis or Dziedelonis. Or a Lithuanian with a name such as Dedelonis ("uncle's son," from the Lithuanian root dede, "uncle," obviously related linguistically to the Polish root dziad) might have been around Poles and had the spelling of his name Polonized to Dziedelonis. Or this may be a Lithuanian name from a totally different root. All these things happened often, but none of my sources really shed much light on this particular surname. There is a Lithuanian surname Dziedulionis, a variant of Diedulionis, that might be relevant, but I can't nail anything down.

The Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland shows that as of 1990 there were plenty of Polish citizens with names beginning with Dzied-, but none with any form of that name combined with the suffix -onis. I looked under every likely spelling variation I could think of. If the name is still in use, it is probably to be found in Lithuania, but as I say, none of my sources on Lithuanian give an exact match. So one way or the other, the name does not seem to be a very common one.

Percha is not common either, as of 1990 there were 19 Polish citizens by that name, living in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (4), Elblag (4), Katowice (3), Lodz (3), Torun (2), Walbrzych (1), and Zamosc (2). I'm afraid I don't have access to further data such as first names or addresses, what I gave here is all I have. There is a term percha this name might come from, it's a term used by bee-keepers for a ball of flower pollen collected by a bee, or pollen in a honeycomb. It is conceivable this might become a name for a bee-keeper. Or it might be a variant of something entirely different, but if so, I can't think of what that original form might be.

Sorry I came up with so little, but that's the way it goes with rare names -- their rareness makes it unlikely you'll find much on them. You might want to try writing to the Polish Language Institute in Kraków and see if they can find anything more definitive in their sources. In any case, I wish you the best of luck with your research.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dziubański

...I am trying to research my family from Poland and I would like to know the meaning of the surname Dzuibanski — the n has a ' over it I don't know if that makes much difference to the meaning or not but thought I should mention it just in case. I would also like to know how to pronounce the surname "DzuibaNski"

This is almost certainly a misspelling of the name Dziubański. This name would be pronounced roughly "joo-BINE-skee." According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, it comes from the root dziób- or dziub-, which means "bill, beak, pockmark," and especially the term dziubany, "pockmarked." In form it is an adjective, meaning "of, from, pertaining to the pockmarked one," and as a surname would surely mean something like "kin of the pockmarked one." Since Polish u and o with an accent over it are pronounced the same, you could see this spelled Dziubański or Dzióbański; but as of 1990 there was no one in Poland who spelled it the second way, and there were 222 Polish citizens who spelled it Dziubański. These people were scattered all over the country, but the provinces with the largest numbers were Katowice (37), Koszalin (32), and Wroclaw (30). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, so what I've given here is all I have.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Frodyma

... One of the names that came up in my grandmother's pedigree chart was Frodyma. I've since contacted via Prinke's List, someone from Albany, NY who hails from the Springfield, MA area. She claims there's a good size bunch of Frodyma's in that area who are proud to be Polish. They hail from the area around Frysztak and immigrated to the USA at the end of the 19th century. The thing that puzzles me is the root of this name. Could it be from German froh or freude. The reason I ask is that I couldn't find it in your book. I'd appreciate your comment on this.

I didn't put Frodyma in my book because I could find absolutely nothing on it -- not in any of my sources! It's frustrating, because I keep feeling that I should be able to figure this one out, but so far no luck. I have considered German froh or Freude as possible sources, but then the -yma part makes no sense; and the books I have on German names and on Polonized forms of German names don't mention Frodyma under either root. So I've drawn a complete blank on this one; I guess the Polish Language Institute in Kraków may be the only hope for getting an explanation on this one.

It's not a very common name, but not rare either -- 383 Poles named Frodyma as of 1990, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Krosno (83), Rzeszów (90), and Tarnów (36). So it's definitely concentrated in southeastern Poland. This suggests German, Ukrainian, Romanian, or Hungarian roots might be involved -- but as I say, no German and Ukrainian connections show up in my sources, and I don't really have enough on Romanian or Hungarian to say.

So I don't know what it is. If you ever find out, please let me know and I'll be glad to include it in future editions of the surname book!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Gajewski

...I wonder if you can give me any nformation about the derivation of the name Gajewski. Your web page includes information on the name Gasiewski. I wonder if my name is a variant? I am told my grandfather came from Warsaw.

No, Gajewski would not normally be a variant of Gasiewski. The root gaj or gai- in Polish has to do with "adorn with verdure, open a garden," and the noun gaj means "grove." Gajewski is adjectival in form, meaning basically "of, from, pertaining to the place of the grove or garden," but as a surname it probably started in most cases as referring to a specific village named Gaj or something like that -- there are quite a few villages by that name, and there's no way to know which specific ones a given Gajewski family came from. So the name means either "one from the grove or garden," or "one from Gaj, Gajów, Gajewo, etc.," in either case specifying place of residence or origin.

The rub is that as of 1990 there were 25,666 Poles named Gajewski, living all over the country, so it's a pretty common name. If it's true your grandfather came from Warsaw, that still isn't much help, because in 1990 there were 3,299 Poles named Gajewski living in the province of Warsaw. I'm afraid about all I can do is give you that number and tell you the basic meaning of the name.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Galagan - Gałgan - Hatman - Hetman - Żurowski

...My husband and I are planning a trip to Poland this October and since we're both half Polish, we wish to visit the villages from which our grandparents came. My grandparents' village location has been a total mystery for me to find. My grandmother told me that she came from a village named "Papuchi" (my father, however says it's spelled "Popowcz" and is in the Galicia region. I can't find anything that looks like either name. My grandmother said it was located 14km from Kraków near Bioda, and that her maiden name was Zurowski. Her mother's name was Hatman and her father was "John Zurowski" My grandfather was from the same village. His name was "Simon Galagan." My grandmother said that the name Galagan is Polish, but I suspect that it might be Hungarian. I had examined my grandparents' entry papers they had when they came to the United States, and verified the spellings of my grandfather's name to be Galagan, and my grandmother's parents' names to be Hatman and Zurowski. Could you help me with the origins of these names? Your answer may help me to find their village.

I looked through my sources, and there is mention in the Slownik geograficzny gazetteer of several places with names such as Popowice. One struck me as promising: a Popowice, a settlement on the outskirts of the village of Siepraw, which looks to be about 14-15 km. south of Kraków, roughly between Myslenice and Wieliczka. In old records it sometimes call "Popowicz." I can't find a Bioda or Bieda or anything similar nearby; but this region was included in Galicia (the far western edge of it). It's not a perfect match with your info, but it's good enough to be worth a look. This Popowice was a very ancient settlement, first mentioned in a medieval charter granting ownership of the village of Brzeczowice "with the settlement Popowicz" to a monastery. It did not show up on 19th-century maps and official lists of settlements, but it was listed in an 1826 gazetteer of Galicia. It's quite possible this is a name you would only hear locals use -- just as in the U. S. you might run across a little settlement that has since been incorporated into a bigger town, and only old-timers would use its original name. If this is the right place, residents would surely have gone to the Catholic church in Siepraw to register births, deaths, and marriages. With any luck the LDS may have microfilmed the Siepraw records, and a search through them may allow you to confirm or reject it as the right place. I will say this, "Papuchi" is almost certainly not correct, that's not a Polish name, whereas Popowicz or Popowice are quite plausible as Polish names.

As I say, I can't promise this is the place you're looking for, but it does seem worth a look. Lenius's Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia mentions two other villages called Popowice, but one was near Przemysl, which is too far east, and the other was near Nowy Sacz -- that's not all that far away, but it makes sense to go with the one nearest Krakow. And that's the settlement that once was on the outskirts of Siepraw.

Galagan might derive from some other language, but it seems possible it is a variant of the surname Gałgan (using ł sounding like our w). This is an established name, meaning "rag" and also used to mean "good-for-nothing, scoundrel." As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Galagan (within the accuracy limits of available data); there were 6 Poles named Gałagan, living in Płock province, and 432 named Gałgan, of whom the largest number (198) lived in Bielsko-Biala province, just south of Kraków provinces (only 1 lived in Kraków province itself). I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses, but the large number in Bielsko-Biala province would be living not far at all from the Siepraw area, so there could be a connection.

Hatman is almost certainly a variant of the name Hetman, from hetman, "captain, chieftain, army commander." That word, in turn, derives from German Hauptmann, meaning much the same thing. The 1990 data mentions 3 Poles named Hatmann, all living in Poznan province; it shows a frequency of 0 for Hatman, meaning there was at least one person by that name but the data on him/her was incomplete, making it impossible to give the province of residence. Hetman is a common name, as of 1990 there were 1,472 Poles by that name as well as 682 Hetmańczyk's and 791 Hetmański's. I can't be 100% certain Hatman is a variant of Hetman, but I'd be very surprised if it isn't.

Żurowski is a very common name, derived from the names of numerous villages called Żurów, Żurowo, Żury, etc., originally just meaning the person or family by that name came from one of those villages. Names ending in -owski are adjectival, and any of the places named Żurów etc. would form the adjective Żurowski, so there's no way to specify which one is connected with your family. There were 179 Żurowski's in Kraków province as of 1990, but there were people by that name living in virtually every province, especially in southeastern Poland (Radom province 309, Tarnów province 345, etc.).

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Galaska - Gałązka

... Most of my family lives in Ohio and Michigan. I currently live in North Carolina. I was contacted about a month ago by a man in England who did a search of my last name and found my email address. He sent me a note. His name is Roman Galaska. We are trying to find out if we are related. He is 2nd generation from Poland and I am fourth. My great grandfather came to the US. His name was Andrew. Apparently, his grandfather was in the calvary of Frans Joseph. I don't have his name but he was an orphan and raised by his godmother. Anyways, Roman and I agree that the last name is Galazka, possibly with a sideways colon above the Z ? We believe the name to mean "twig" or "branch of a tree". Any info you could provide would be greatly appreciated, including any family crest, shield,etc. Roman still has family over in Poland who he will go visit in August. We are still in contact with one another and he may come up with more information the next time I contact him. Thank you for your time and helping us make a distant connection with our past.

I'm afraid I have no knowledge of family arms, that's not a subject I've ever had the time or inclination to study. I can tell you that Galazka is spelled Gałązka -- ą is the nasal vowel pronounced much like "own", and ł is pronounced like English w. So Gałązka sounds much like "gahw-OWN-ska."

As you say, it comes from a Polish root meaning "twig, branch." It is not an uncommon name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 9,377 Polish citizens named Gałązka. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (1,773), Ostrołęka (912), Siedlce (923), which suggests it tends to be concentrated in northcentral and northeastern Poland; but you can find people by this name in virtually every province. This suggests that there probably isn't just one big Galazka family, most likely the name arose independently in different places and at different times.

I remember some years ago hearing of a man named Jacek Galazka living here in the U.S., he was, I believe, connected with Hippocrene Books, a firm that publishes books on Polish and eastern European subjects. There's a book something like Who's Who Among Polish Americans, he'd probably be listed in it. Anyway, I mention him just to show that the name is pretty common, it's not hard to find people named Galazka.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Gardocki - Tworek

...I am interested in finding out what our name Tworek means in Polish, and its entymology, if it has one that you know of!

Tworek appears in Polish legal records as far back as 1395, and it comes either from the root twor-, "create, make," or from the first name Tworzyjan, a Polish adaptation of the first name Florian. The -ek is a diminutive suffix, meaning "little Twor, son of Twor," but we can't be sure in a given case whether Twor- came from that name Tworzyjan, or if it comes from ancient pagan Polish first names formed with the root twor-, "make, create" plus some other root, as in Tworzymir ("Make-peace"), Tworzysław ("Make-glory"). So it's clear Tworek started as a reference to a personal name, probably the father or most prominent member of a family; we just don't know whether Twor- is short for the medieval first name Tworzyjan, or for one of those ancient names, dating from when Poles were pagans. If the name was around in 1395, either is possible.

...My mother-in-law's branch of the family is Gardocki and I know her aunt has told us there was a family crest which dates from the 15th or 16th century and that the family was from the town of "Gardote". Do Gardocki and Gardote derive from the same root, and what root would that be? What does it mean?

It is likely that Gardocki originally referred to a connection between a person or family and a place with a name such as Gardote or Gardoty; when the suffix is added, the t in the original root becomes a c, so Gardocki does make sense as deriving from those place names, or from personal names such as Gardota. The ultimate root of all these names is seen in gardy, "haughty," and gardzić, "to despise, scorn." Again, this was a root used in ancient pagan names such as Gardomir ("scorn-peace"), and Poles love to take such names, keep the first part and drop the rest, and then add suffixes. So Gardota would be a kind of nickname for Gardomir and other similar names; the "place of Gardota" could be Gardoty, and "one from Gardoty" would be Gardocki... I don't see a Gardote (though there certainly could be one, or could once have been one), but there is a Gardoty in Łomża province, and I would think in the case of many Gardocki's, that's the place the name refers to.

Both Tworek and Gardocki are fairly common names. As of 1990 there were 3,548 Polish citizens named Tworek, and there were 992 Gardocki's. Both names can be found all over Poland, but the Gardocki's were most common in the northeastern provinces of Łomża (441) and Suwałki (110), and there were 618 Tworek's in Tarnobrzeg province in southeastern Poland. You can't really conclude that's where the names come from originally -- both could have developed independently in different areas -- but at least in terms of numbers those are places worth particular attention.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Gejda - Giejda - Ołdakowski

...I am John Machnicz and I am researching my family tree. I would appreciate if you could tell me about my grand-parents surnames ........ Oldakowski .......... and Gejda. I read your reply to the name Giejda, could this be variation of that name?

Gejda would almost certainly be a variation of Giejda. In Polish, according to "proper" spelling, the g is never supposed to be followed directly by e; it should always be gie-, not ge-. However, this rule is comparatively recent, and until about 100 years ago the vast majority of Poles couldn't read or write anyway, so the spelling of their names wasn't always consistent. So no matter what the grammarians say, Gejda is a perfectly good variation of Giejda. In fact, there are more Poles these days who spell it Gejda than Giejda, which surprises me. As of 1990 there were 99 Poles named Gejda, living in the following provinces: Warsaw (4), Biala Podlaska (6), Ciechanów (2), Czestochowa (4), Elblag (14), Gdansk (5), Nowy Sacz (2), Olsztyn (38), Opole (10), Ostrołęka (12), Skierniewice (2). These figures show it is most common in northcentral Poland, in what used to be East and West Prussia. (Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses of those 99 Gejda's; what I give here is all I have).

Names ending in -owski generally began as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a particular place with a similar name. In the case of Ołdakowski (the ł is pronounced like our w), we would expect the name to mean something like "person from Ołdaków, Ołdakowo, Ołdaki." I don't find any places named Oldaków or Oldakowo, but there are at least four named Ołdaki, and it's impossible to say which one a particular Ołdakowski family would be connected with, without further detailed research (which I'm in no position to do). The name Ołdaki appears to come from an old word ołd, a variant of hołd, "homage, tribute," and suggests the name of the place originally meant "place of those who paid homage" -- presumably vassals of some liege lord.

As of 1990 there were 1,189 Polish citizens named Ołdakowski; they lived all over the country, but the largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (256), Łomża (326), Suwałki (110) -- this suggests a concentration from central to northeastern Poland. This makes a certain amount of sense, all of the Ołdaki's I found on the map are in northeastern Poland. So the name seems to be most common in that area, although as I say, there are Ołdakowski's living all over Poland.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Geĉionis - Giec - Goetz

...Although the Lithuanian spelling of my GGrandfather's surname was Geĉionis", the Polish version of it, for many years, was Geczionis. What, if anything, could that surname be derived from, assuming it was from a Polish root?

I notice the Dictionary of Lithuanian Surnames edited by A. Vanagas mentions Polish Giec or Giecz as a possible source of the name. If that's so, the only info I can find is that giec is a dialect variant of kiec, meaning "corncrake," a kind of bird (Latin name Crex crex). As of 1990 there were 876 Polish citizens named Giec (as opposed to 301 named Kiec). Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut says kiec can also mean "skirt," but if I'm reading him and my other sources correctly, giec is connected only with the root meaning "corncrake." There are a great many Polish surnames deriving from names of birds, presumably given because something about a person reminded folks of a bird; sometimes it was the clothes they were were the same color as a bird's plumage, or maybe their voices sounded like a bird, or some other connection -- all these centuries later, it can be tough to recreate the exact nature of the connection.

This is a tough one to nail down because there are so many possibilities. In some cases German Goetz might also be relevant -- that's a short form of German first names such as Gottfried or Gottschalk; in what used to be East Prussia you have a lot of connections between Germans and Poles and Lithuanians, so German origins can't be overlooked. And of course Vanagas suggests the name can be linked with the basic Lithuanian root ged-, "pain, sorrow." So you have a lot of possible derivations.

But you asked for the Polish angle, and the Giec/Kiec connection is the one that seems strongest. The only thing I'm not sure about is what part of Poland is associated with that Giec/Kiec dialect usage. If it's only in southern Poland, it probably isn't relevant here; but if we also see it in northern or northeastern Poland, then it's quite plausible. Unfortunately, I don't have any sources that go into that much detail.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Godzinski

...I am looking for any info on the Godzinski name. I have absolutely none. This is my mothers family name. My grandparents are deceased and my mother knows as much as I regarding our heritage/heraldry.

I'm afraid I have nothing on this name that will help you. None of my sources mention it. It probably comes from the root godz- meaning "to join, reconcile," or from an ancient first name that had that root as part of the name, such as Godzimir or Godzisław. It might also come from the root godzina, "hour." All that is concerning the ultimate root; the surname may have derived more directly from a place named Godno, Godzino, something like that (which in turn derives from those roots I talked about), but I can't find any place with a name that would work. That isn't uncommon, many surnames refer to places that were very small, or had names used only by locals, that would never show up on any map.

The only hard bit of info I have on the name is that as of 1990 there were 573 Polish citizens by this name, but that's not much help because they weren't concentrated in any one area. They lived in small numbers scattered all over the country.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Gołębiewski - Golembiewski

...My last name is Golembiewski. Do you have any information on it?

Names ending in -owski or -ewski almost always originated as references to a connection between a person or family and a place with a name ending in -ów, -owo, -ew, -ewo, -y, and so on. Thus we'd expect this name to mean "person from Golembiewo, Golebie" or something similar. There are quite a few villages that qualify, including Golembiewo's in Gdansk and Torun provinces, Golebiow's in Radom and Tarnów province, etc. The place names, in turn, come from the Polish word for "dove, pigeon," so they mean "place of the dove" and the surname means "person from the place of the dove." This is a very common name in Poland, although it's usually spelled a little differently: Gołębiewski, where ł is pronounced like our w, and ę is a nasal vowel pronounced like "em" when it comes before b or p -- the name sounds like "go-wemb-YEFF-skee." As of 1990 there were 12,330 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country, i. e., there's no one area they're concentrated in.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Góralski - Marek

... If time allows would it be possible to find meanings for two surnames: Goralski and Marek. Many thanks for your time.

Marek derives from the first name Marek, which is the Polish equivalent of "Mark," from Latin Marcus. This is a common surname in Poland, as of 1990 there were 16,202 Polish citizens named Marek, living all over the country; surnames derived from first names are very common in Poland. Most likely it began when some member of a family named Marek was prominent, so people began using his name when referring to his kin -- as I say, a very common practice.

Góralski comes from the root góral, meaning "mountain-man," used to refer to the mountain-dwellers of southeastern Poland. There is a whole separate sub-culture of the górale, and they are regarded as wild, colorful, and fiercely independent. Góralski is in form simply an adjective meaning "of, from, pertaining to the mountain-men." As of 1990 there were 4,416 Polish citizens named Góralski, so this, too, is a pretty common name.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kalinowski

… I've been following Gen-pol question and answers and am really impressed by the professionalism of folks in geneaological research. The knowledge of history has certainly been interesting and pertinent. Since I am just getting started on our family tree I would ask that you allow me to impose on you for information as to the origin and meaning of the Kalinowski name.

Genpol is a very impressive group -- we have a lot of knowledgeable folks who share information, and we've been spared most of the "flame wars" so common on other Internet groups. I think anyone interested in Polish genealogy who doesn't keep up with Genpol is missing a bet.

As for Kalinowski, it is a very common name; as of 1990 there were some 30,012 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country. The basic root of the name is kalina, "guelder rose, cranberry tree," according to Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut. But names ending in -owski are adjectival in form and usually (not always, but usually) began as references to a connection between a particular person or family and a place with a similar name, typically ending in -ow, -owo, -owa, or some other possibilities. Thus Kalinowski means literally "of, from, pertaining to Kalinow, Kalinowo, Kalinowa, etc." If a family was noble, that would typically be the name of the estate they owned; if peasant, they probably lived or worked there, or traveled there often on business, something like that.

The problem is that this surname -- like many -owski names -- can refer to any of numerous towns and villages. There are quite a few Kalinow's, Kalinowa's, Kalinowo's, etc. in Poland, and the name could have begun in connection with any or all of them; that's probably why the name is so common. Those places, in turn, got their names because they were places where guelder roses or cranberry trees were plentiful. So functionally we'd interpret Kalinowski as "person from Kalinow/a/o, etc.," but a literal translation would be "place of the guelder roses."

These surnames derived from place names seem to promise us help with tracking down our ancestors, but usually disappoint us precisely because so few place names are unique; if you find one Kalinow/o/a you may easily find 3 or 4 or even 20! For what it's worth, that's the way it works with most names; not many provide really helpful clues.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Gruchacz - Kurkiewicz

...I'm researching my husband's family. The main surnames are Gruchacz and Kurkiewicz. I've never seen either name on any lists. I'm most interested in knowing which part of Poland has populations with these surnames.

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, Gruchacz comes from the verb gruchać meaning "to coo (like a pigeon), to warble"; the -acz suffix usually denotes one who often performs the action of the verb, so Gruchacz would mean literally "cooer, warbler." It is apparently one of those names that arose due to association of a person with a particular characteristic, perhaps a gentle or tuneful voice. The name Gruchacz appears in Polish records as far back as 1424, so it's been around a long time. However, these days it's not particularly common: as of 1990 there were only 175 Polish citizens named Gruchacz; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Katowice (19), Kraków (77), Warsaw (19), Wroclaw (10) and Zielona Gora (11), with fewer than 10 in several other provinces. The only pattern I see there is that the name is most common in southcentral Poland, but that doesn't really tell us a lot.

In Kurkiewicz the suffix -iewicz means "son of," and kurk- comes from a diminutive form of the words meaning "cock" and "hen," so the name means literally "son of the small chicken." That's the literal meaning of the word; Kurek and Kurko and other such names may have been used as by-names or nicknames for a fellow who reminded people of a bantam rooster; also, like "cock" in English, kurek has many other meanings, including "weather-vane," "faucet," etc. But the basic connection would probably be with a cock, either because a person raised chickens or sold them or else reminded people of them somehow. Whatever the precise origin, this is a pretty common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 2,205 Polish citizens named Kurkiewicz, living all over the country.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Bryś - Gniewek - Gudelski - Merski - Mierski

I have a question about several family names. They are Gudelski, Gneiwek, Brys, and Merski.

The most likely derivation for Bryś is as a nickname or short form of the Latin first name Brictius, which came into use by Poles as Brykcy or Brykcjusz but is quite rare among English-speakers. There may be other possible derivations for the name, but this seems the most likely. As of 1990 there were 2,248 Polish citizens named Bryś (with an accent over the s, giving it a slight "sh" sound), so this is a moderately common name in Poland.

Gudelski is a rare name, as of 1990 there were only 50 Poles named Gudelski, living in the provinces of Koszalin (1), Łomża (2), Ostrołęka (22), Suwałki (5). This means almost all of them live in northeastern Poland, which is near Lithuania and makes me suspect the root of the name is Lithuanian in origin. A book I have on Lithuanian names cites Gudelskas (= Polish Gudelski) as derived from Gudelis, which means "son of Gudas" -- it turns out in Lithuanian gudas means either "Belarusian person," sometimes also used to refer to a Russian or Pole, or "skilled, experienced." So this appears to be a Polonized version of a Lithuanian name, meaning either "son of the experienced one" or "son of the Belarusian."

The proper spelling of Gneiwek is surely Gniewek. This is a moderately popular name -- as of 1990 there were 1,130 Poles named Gniewek. The root is gniew, "anger, wrath." The name could come from that term directly, perhaps applied to a wrathful person, but it might come from ancient Polish pagan names with this root, such as Gniewomir ("wrath" + "peace"); Gniewek would be a typical nickname for someone named Gniewomir. So the derivation is from the word for "wrath, anger," either directly or by way of a first name.

Merski is hard to pin down. As of 1990 there were 409 Poles by that name, so it isn't rare, but it's not too common either. Merski doesn't really look or feel quite right, it might be a variant of Mierski or something similar, or it might come from the first name Marek (= Mark). I just don't have enough information to give you anything very definite.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Biraga - Guzek - Kalak

...I was wondering if you knew anything about the surnames Guzek, Kalak, or Biraga? Any info would be appreciated.

I can't find anything on the origin or meaning of Biraga; as of 1990 there were 200 Polish citizens by that name, of whom 44 lived in Ciechanów province, 101 in Ostrołęka province, and the rest were scattered in small numbers in other provinces. (Unfortunately I have no access to further details, such as first names, addresses, etc.).

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, Guzek comes from the root guz meaning "bump, bulge" (there is also a term guzik, "button"); as of 1990 there were 3,682 Poles named Guzek, living all over the country.

Rymut says Kalak comes from the verb kalać, "to soil, dirty, stain." As of 1990 there were 126 Poles named Kalak, of whom the vast majority (108) lived in the province of Kalisz, so that's a prime place to look for them.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Ługowski - Resel - Roesel

… I am looking for information about my grandparents family names, Lugowski & Resel.

The name Ługowski (ł is pronounced like our w), like most names ending in -owski, initially referred to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name. In this case we'd expect Ługowski to mean "person from Ługi or Ługów or Ługowo," something like that. There are several villages named Ługi and at least a couple more named Ługów, so there's no way to say which one a particular Ługowski family came from. The ultimate root of the place name is probably either ług, "lye," or a variant of łęg, "marshy meadow." As of 1990 there were 3,992 Polish citizens named Ługowski, living all over the country, so there is no one region we can point to and say "That's where they came from." The surname probably started independently in several different places in reference to a nearby Ługi or Ługów.

As of 1990 there were 147 Poles named Resel, with larger numbers living in the provinces of Czestochowa (39), Opole (54), and Walbrzych (16) and a few living in other provinces scattered here and there. The provinces mentioned are in far southcentral and southwestern Poland, in areas with large German populations. That may be significant, because Resel does not appear to be of Polish linguistic origin -- there is no similar Polish word or root. It is most likely a Polish phonetic spelling of a German surname such as Ressel or Roessel or Roesel. According to German surname expert Hans Bahlow the name Roesel is found among Germans in that general area, and means "rose-gardener, one who sold flowers." It is perfectly plausible that the spelling of the name of a German family Roesel who lived among Poles might eventually be modified so that Poles would pronounce it correctly, and Resel fits. So that strikes me as the most likely derivation of this name -- though I can't be 100% certain.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Bucyki - Haczyński

...I came across your website today when my father asked me to search for any information on our surname - Haczynski. My grandfather was born in Grzymalów (I think that may be a parish?) And the town on the birth certificate we believe is Bucyki but I can't find anything on the web about it. Would you have anything on the origins of Haczynski?

I can't find any source that says definitively what Haczyński comes from. It could come from the root hak, "hook," also seen in the verb haczyć, "to hook"; the root is basically the same in Polish and Ukrainian, so if Haczyński is the correct spelling and the name hasn't been modified somewhere along the line, that probably is the ultimate root. But often names ending in -iński and -yński refer to places, so that Haczyński could mean "person from Hak, Haka, Haczyn," etc. I can't find any places by those names, so the surname may not refer to a place and may have started as simply meaning "guy with a hook, guy who uses a hook." But it's not rare to find that the place a surname referred to centuries ago has since vanished or changed names; and, as we'll see in a moment, we need to look in Ukraine, not Poland, anyway, and my maps for Ukraine aren't as good. So I can't rule out a reference to a place named something like Hak, Haka, Haczy, or Haczyn. In any event, if such a place name existed, it probably derived from the root meaning "hook" anyway, so one way or another we end up back with that root.

As of 1990 there were 140 Polish citizens named Haczyński. They were scattered all over the country, with larger numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (13), Bydgoszcz (35), Legnica (13), Walbrzych (12), and Wroclaw (20). As I say, that's pretty widely scattered, I don't see any significant pattern to that frequency and distribution. By the way, people often ask, so let me explain that I get this data from a multi-volume directory of Polish surnames -- it does not give first names or addresses or anything more detailed than the data I've quoted here, and I don't have access to anything more detailed. So what I've given is all I have.

At first I couldn't find Bucyki, but I have on microfiche a 15-volume Polish gazetteer dating from the turn of the century, and it does mention Bucyki. Here's what it says (I've edited out some stuff that almost certainly wouldn't interest you):

"Bucyki: a village in Skałat county, 2 km. east of Grzymałów, 17 km. from Skałat... It belongs to the Roman Catholic parish in Grzymałów, and there is a Greek Catholic parish in the village, which, along with branch parishes in Leźanówka and Bilenówka numbers 939 souls of the Greek Catholic rite and belongs to the Skałat deanery... The owners of the major estate are Leonard and Julia, Count and Countess Piniński." [Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polkiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, vol. 1, p. 433].

Remember, that info was current as of, say, 1870-1890, that time period. Since then borders have changed, and now that area belongs to Ukraine. Skalat is a town or village southeast of Ternopil, Ukraine, which explains why you couldn't find it. It was part of Polish territory long ago, but from about 1772-1918 this area was ruled by Austria under the name of Galicia (German Galizien). I can't find Bucyki (probably now called Butsyki, if it still exists) or even Grzymałów (probably something like Grymaliv) on my maps of Ukraine; Skalat is all I could find. A lot of villages in that area suffered terribly during the two World Wars, so there may no longer be any village there. But there definitely was one at one time. I would expect the Roman Catholic records of the parishioners' births, deaths, and marriage to have been kept at Grzymałów, and the Greek Catholic ones on-site in Bucyki. I have no idea whether the LDS has been able to microfilm them yet, you may have to do a fair amount of searching to find them, if they even exist any more. A lot of records in that area were destroyed. If you want more info, I suggest visiting the Website www.infoukes.com.

There may be more Haczyński's in Ukraine than in Poland, since the area your ancestors came from is now in Ukraine; but I have no sources for that country, so I can't tell.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Jajko - Tarka - Trac

... My grandfather, Jan Jajko arrived 1902 and settled in Massachusetts. Think he came from Gradisca/Gradiska, near Austrian border? Some family have changed spelling to Jayko. I only know the ones in MA. Somehow we're related to Albert Moryl, LaPorte, IN. My grandmother, Mary Tarka (lots of Tarkas) I think came from Kanna. She had a brother Wojciech Tarka, came to see Marya Fail. Mary Tarka's mother was a Trac, don't think she came over.

I can't tell you a thing about your families, only the linguistic origins of their names and, in some cases, a little info on where in Poland those names are most common. Thus Jajko comes from the Polish word for "egg," and as of 1990 there were 675 Polish citizens by that name; there were some living in almost every province of Poland, but the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Kraków (71), Krosno (95), and Tarnobrzeg (207), all in south-central to southeastern Poland. (I'm afraid I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses, what I've given here is all I have).

Tarka comes from the word tarka, "grater," and in 1990 there were 4,262 Poles by that name; there were sizable numbers all over the country, but the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Płock (575), and Radom (410) -- there were 101 in Tarnobrzeg province and 98 in Tarnów province.

Trac is probably from tracz, "sawyer," also meaning "merganser," a kind of duck. Apparently in 1990 there was no one in Poland with this name, it may have been changed somewhere along the line; if so, it probably was Tracz originally, which was the name of 6,323 Poles as of 1990.

One last word: with your MA and Galicia connections, you really should look into joining the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053. I think it's $15 a year, and they specialize in research in precisely the areas you're interested in. Chances are you could pick up some very helpful info.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Jandryca - Mocko - Moczko - Plachetka - Stelmach

... Can you give me information on Stellmach, Jandryca, Plachetka, or Motzko?

Stellmach: this comes from German Stellmach and Stellmacher, a term used in East Germany and Silesia (and brought from there into Poland) for "waggoner, cartwright." In Poland it is more often spelled Stelmach, and as of 1990 there were 8,354 Polish citizens by that name.

Jandryca is a very rare name, as of 1990 there were only 6 Poles by that name, all living in the province of Opole in southwestern Poland, the region called Silesia (near the Czech border); unfortunately I don't have access to any further info, such as first names or addresses. None of my sources mention this name specifically, but it's a good bet it comes from a variant form of the Polish first name Andrzej or German Andreas, "Andrew," and means "son of Andrew."

Motzko is a German spelling of a Polish name; Polish uses the letter c (sometimes cz) where German uses tz, so the Polish name would be Mocko or Moczko. That could be a nickname for someone named Matthew, or it could be a variant of the name Moczko (665 Poles by that name in 1990). But I'd have to see the original Polish spelling to say anything more definite, because the exact form makes a difference as to what name we're talking about.

Plachetka comes from the Polish word plachta, "covering, shroud." As of 1990 there were 304 Poles with the name Plachetka; a more common name from the same root is Plachta (3,256).

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Janovsky - Janowski

Thanks in advance for your efforts.

Name: Janowski or Janovsky


The correct spelling in Polish is Janowski, pronounced roughly "yah-NOFF-skee." It's a moderately common surname, borne by over 13,000 Polish citizens as of 1990; they lived all over the country, with no concentration in any one area.

The name means literally "of John's _," where you fill in the blank with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out -- usually either "kin" or "place." So this name could mean simply "of the kin of John."

But most of the time surnames in the form X-owski refer to a family's connection at some point centuries ago with a place that had a name beginning with the X part. So we would expect this name to mean "one from Janów or Janowo" or some other place name beginning with Janow-. There are lots of places that qualify, and there's no way to know which one a given Janowski family came from, except by doing genealogical research. If you trace your family back to their ancestral region, at that point it may become possible to establish exactly how this name came to be associated with them. It helps a lot if you can focus on looking for a Janów or Janowo or Janowice in a specific area, instead of having to cope with dozens of them all over Poland.

This name can also appear in other countries, especially the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but also sometimes Russia and Ukraine. But Russians and Ukrainians use "Ivan" for the name "John," as opposed to Poles and Czechs and Slovaks, who use the form "Jan." So Janowski (Polish spelling) or Janovsky (Czech/Slovak spelling) usually originated among Western Slavs, not among Russians and Ukrainians, who'd be more likely to use the surname Ivanovsky with the same meaning.

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Jankowski

... With my name being Jankowski I asked the Nuns what the difference was between our two names. Being a very Polish school and many fluent Polish speakers there I was told the following. Jan in Polish is "John" and the suffixes -kowski and -kowska meant "the son of or daughter of John." Or translated "Johnson" or "Johnsdaughter." After watching the post for sometime I have seen all kids of explanations for the ski suffix. Kind of lost.

I understand how you feel. It can get very confusing. Part of the problem is that there were basic rules that applied to the formation of surnames, but they weren't always applied consistently. And even a well-educated Pole who hasn't actually studied name origins can get it wrong; it's no disgrace, this is a specialized field and has its odd twists and turns. The only disgrace is insisting you know more than you actually do -- and all of us are vulnerable to that one!

At this point I should probably shut up, but I'll risk disgracing myself and try to explain.

There's no question the basic root of Jankowski is Jan, the Polish form of "John." But a name like this has to be broken down into its component root and suffixes. In this case it breaks down as follows: Jan + -k- + -ow- + -ski.

Janek is a diminutive form of Jan, meaning "little John, Johnny," or sometimes in names "son of John"; the -e- drops out when suffixes are added. The suffix -ow- basically implies possession or an "of" relationship (you can remember what it means by connecting it to our word "of"), so Jankow- means "[something or someone] of little John." The suffix -ski is adjectival, so that Jankowski literally means "of, from, pertaining to [something or someone] of little John." That's how the name actually breaks down.

In practice, Jankowski could have developed sometimes as meaning "son of John," that cannot be denied. And whatever its origin, Jankowski is an adjective and must follow Polish grammatical rules, so it changes forms, depending on grammatical considerations. Thus a female Jankowski would be called Jankowska in Polish. So the nuns could have been right, it could sometimes mean nothing more than "son of John" or "daughter of John."

But more often names in -owski originated as references to a connection between a person or family and a particular place with a similar name. Generally we'd expect Jankowski to mean "one from Janków, Jankowa, Jankowo," etc. Those are the most likely possibilities, but you can't rule out other place-names such as Jankówka, Jankowice, etc. -- by modern Polish grammar those names could not generate Jankowski, but centuries ago, when surnames were developing, the rules were looser.

There are a great many villages and settlements in Poland named Janków, Jankowo, etc., and all got their names as meaning "[place] of little John." Perhaps a Janek founded them, or at one point the noble who owned them was named Janek or was the son of a Jan, hard to say exactly what the connection was. But most of the time the surname Jankowski originated as meaning "one from Janków, Jankowa, Jankowo, etc.," and that in turn can be broken down to "one from the place of Janek." The word for "place" wasn't included because it was implied and everyone understood it without spelling it out. If the family in question was noble, they owned this place Jankow/Jankowo, etc. If they were peasants, they probably lived and/or worked the fields there, or else had once lived there and then moved elsewhere. In either case, at the time surnames were developing it made sense to refer to them as "the ones from Jankow/o/a."

So you see the nuns weren't necessarily wrong, and in some cases their analysis will prove correct. But on the whole, -owski names usually refer to a place name that is similar, beginning Jankow- or something like that.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Karbowski

... I am researching my family name Karbowski. I noted in your Home Page that you might be able to provide a short analysis of Polish Surnames. If it is possible, I would appreciate it if you could send me a brief analysis of my family name.

There are a couple of possible derivations for Karbowski. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut notes that names beginning with Karb- generally come from the root karb, "notch, nick"; but he also notes that names with Karbow- can come from the term karbowy, "overseer," i. e., the man on a noble's estate who supervised the peasants as they worked. It is quite possible that Karbowski could be interpreted as "kin of the karbowy," since the -ski ending is adjectival and usually means "of, from, pertaining to."

The other interpretation is that Karbowski could mean "one from Karbów, Karbowo, Karbowa, Karby," in other words Karbowski is an adjective that fits several different place names. Of those, the only name for which I could find a place that actually exists was Karbowo -- there's a village by that name in Elblag province (the nearest parish and civil registrar's office is either Orneta or Lubomino), and another in Torun province (just a few km. north of Brodnica, which is probably where they went to register births, deaths, etc.). There may be more too small to show up on my maps, but it is thoroughly plausible that this surname started out meaning "person or family from Karbowo." Of course, the interpretation "kin of the overseer" is also perfectly plausible. In fact, we often see that a given surname can end up having derived two or three different ways, and that seems to be true here.

... I might mention that my goal is to find my ancestral village in Poland. I have been able to track my ancestors back to the year 1852 in a Polish settlement in Parrisville, Michigan. So far, I haven't been able to find out how these Polish settlers came to Parrisville, or where, in Poland, they came from.

Well, either of the Karbowo villages I mentioned above, in Elblag and Torun provinces, might be the place your ancestors were named for. I should caution you that surnames developed centuries ago, and over those centuries villages have disappeared, or been renamed, or been absorbed by others, so there may once have been other places named Karbów or Karbowo or Karbowa or Karby that this name could have come from. But these two might suggest areas to start looking in.

I'm afraid I have no other info that will help you pinpoint where your ancestors came from. As of 1990 there were 3,999 Polish citizens named Karbowski, living all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Suwałki (385) and Torun (413), and only 93 in Elblag province. So the frequency and distribution pattern offers no useful clues.

You say your ancestors settled in Michigan -- have you checked out the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan, c/o Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave. Detroit, MI 48202-4007. If anybody can help you uncover some leads, I'd think they're the ones.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kazanowski

... Can you give me any input on Kazanowski?

Usually Polish surnames ending in -owski refer to a place name with similar form; we would expect Kazanowski to mean basically "person or family coming from, living in, connected with Kazanów, Kazanowo, Kazany," something like that -- there are several different forms of place names that could all end up generating Kazanowski. In this case I notice there are at least two places that qualify -- perhaps more too small to show up on my maps -- a Kazanów in Radom province and one in Wroclaw province. People who came from (or, if they were noble, owned) either of these villages could easily end up being called Kazanowski. So it's unlikely there's only one Kazanowski family; there are probably multiple families with this name, with the name developing independently in reference to different places.

As of 1990 there were 1,152 Polish citizens with this name, scattered all over the country. The largest numbers appeared in the provinces of Warsaw (158), Chelm (87), and Lublin (245), but smaller numbers lived in practically every province. I see no real pattern to the distribution and frequency of the name -- which, again, suggests it probably started independently in different places.

I hope this doesn't disappoint you. Many people contact me in the hope that their surname will offer some really good clue as to exactly where their ancestors came from, so they won't have to do the tough work of tracking them down. I wish it worked that way, and once in a while it does. But the vast majority of Polish surnames just don't tell you anything really helpful; the most you can find out is their basic meaning and whether they're common or rare.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kaznocha - Madej

... I am interested in any information you have on the origin of my paternal grandparents names Kaznocha from Rola Cicha, Rzeszów and Madej, Rudna Mala Rzeszow.

Madej is a name seen in records as early as 1415; it comes from the Latin first name Amadeus ("love-God"), famous mainly as the middle name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but it was a moderately popular first name in Poland and other European countries. Names beginning with Mad- can also come from the name Magdalena, but in this case I think it's pretty likely Amadeus is the source. A great many Polish surnames come from first names, often referring to children by their father's names -- "There goes Madej's son" could eventually generate the surname Madej, or it could simply be a first name that came to stick as a surname. As of 1990 there were 16,799 Polish citizens named Madej, living all over the country (413 in Rzeszów province alone), so it's a pretty common name.

Kaznocha is tougher -- none of my sources mention it -- and also rarer; as of 1990 there were only 90 Poles by this name. They lived in the following provinces: Bielsko-Biala 3, Gdansk 5, Gorzów 7, Katowice 21, Kielce 2, Kraków 2, Krosno 1, Lublin 12, Rzeszów 9, Szczecin 17, Tarnobrzeg 5, Wroclaw 6. (I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses; what I've given here is all I have). A look at a map will tell you that the name is scattered in small clumps all over Poland, but it is possible this was not so before World War II -- the dislocations caused by that war, and especially by post-war forced relocation of massive numbers of people from eastern Poland and western Ukrainian to western Poland, may have muddied the waters considerably. Looking at this distribution, it strikes me as entirely possible that before 1939 this name might have been concentrated mainly in southeastern Poland (including Rzeszów province and those surrounding it). I can't be sure, I have no source of pre-war data, but it is at least possible.

It seems clear that this name comes from a root seen in Polish and Ukrainian, kazn-, which means "to scold, chastise, punish"; kazna is also a term used in Ukrainian to mean "public funds, treasury," and also in terms such as kaznokrad, "embezzler," and that may be relevant, but I suspect the other meaning is the one behind the surname. We see such terms as kaznodzieja in Polish, literally "chastise-doer" but used in the meaning "preacher," especially in the sense of one who chastises the sinful and brings the wrath of God down on his listeners. We see a number of names in Polish that come from a root plus the suffix -och or -ocha, which don't have a clear-cut meaning but are just suffixes added to form names. Such names were popular in Poland, especially before the country was Christianized and Christian names such as Jan, Piotr, Stefan, etc. supplanted the old native Slavic names; thus the name of the city of Czestochowa means "Czestoch's place" (the root means "many, much, frequent"), and I know a man named Zimnoch, from the root meaning "cold," etc. My best guess is that Kaznocha meant originally "the scolder, the chastiser." It would make a pretty good name back in the old days, meaning perhaps an intimidating fellow who punished anyone who got out of line.

I am just speculating here -- as I said, none of my sources mention this name -- but going by analogous names, I think it's pretty likely that's how this name started.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kędziora - Kendziora

... I was hoping you might be able to give me some insight to my wife's surname Kendziora. I have read that it means a lock of hair or lock of red hair.

Yes, Kendziora comes from the Polish term kędzior, "lock of hair" (the ę is pronounced in most cases somewhat like en, so that names with this sound are often spelled either ę or en). This is a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 8,165 Polish citizens named Kędziora and another 121 who spelled it Kendziora. Unfortunately, with names this common there is no way to deduce just from the name exactly where it originated in the case of a particularly family. Only someone who possesses considerable knowledge about a given family's background can trace them to their origins; the name itself just doesn't offer enough in the way of clues.

... I do have couple questions, are there coat of arms or family crest in Poland? If so do you think that the surname Kendziora may have received one?

I don't know of anyone researching this name, but there surely are people who are doing so. As for a coat of arms, I have very little information on the subject of nobility and heraldry. Your best bet would be to contact the following organization: Polish Nobility Association Foundation, Villa Anneslie, 529 Dunkirk Rd., Anneslie, MD 21212-2014

I believe they will, for a moderate fee, search armorials and heraldic literature to see whether a given family was recognized as noble. However, the more information you have about your family, the better. I tend to doubt it would be enough to say "Were the Kendziora's noble?" You would probably need to be able to say "Were the Kendziora's living in the area of __ noble." However, I'm not sure about this -- it can't hurt to write and ask.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kensicki - Kęsicki - Klimkiewicz - Strój

... My grandfather was a Klimkiewicz, born in Radzwie, Płock Poland. My second grandfather was a Kensicki from Dobrzejewicz, Torun, Poland. The third name I am interested in is Stroj, again from the Radzwie area. If you can shed any light on them I would appreciate hearing from you.

I doubt the info I can give you is a lot of help -- few Polish surnames do offer any really useful leads as far as tracking down a family's origins. But then you never know what might prove useful, so here's what I have.

Names ending in -owicz or -ewicz mean "son of," so Klimkiewicz means "son of Klimek or Klimko." Those, in turn, are short forms of the name Klemens (= English "Clement"). So Klimkiewicz means more or less "son of Clem" in English. Surnames formed from first names are very common and widespread in Poland, and this is no exception: as of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,439 Polish citizens named Klimkiewicz, living all over the country -- of whom 147 lived in the modern-day province of Płock.

Kensicki is another way of spelling Kęsicki (ę is pronounced roughly en). The ultimate root of this name is the noun kęs, "piece, morsel." But it would generally refer to the name of a place with which the family was connected at some point, places named Kęsica or Kęsice. There was mention in old records of a Kęsicki family with an estate at Kęsice in Sierpc district; I can't find any such place on modern maps, but that's not odd; surnames developed centuries ago, and often the places they referred to have since disappeared, changed names, etc.

As of 1990 there were 1,448 Kęsicki's, of whom 118 lived in the province of Torun (only the province of Pila, with 167, had more). There were 21 Poles who spelled the name Kensicki, 3 in Elblag province, 11 in Gdansk province, 3 in Walbrzych province, and 4 in Wroclaw province -- unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses.

Strój is one of numerous names from the root stroi-, stroj, meaning "to deck, trim, adorn." Strój itself probably comes from the noun stroj, "dress, attire." This name is surprisingly rare, as of 1990 there were only 75 Poles named Strój, living in the following provinces: Warsaw 15, Gdansk 2, Katowice 17, Kielce 26, Kraków 7, Poznan 6, Szczecin 1, Zielona Gora 1.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Klejnowski

... I hope you can help me. I can't seem to find out any information on my name Klejnowski.

Names ending in -owski usually referred to some connection between a person or family and a place with a name ending in -ów, or -owo or -y or something similar; in this case, we'd expect the name to mean "person from Klejnów or Klejnowo or Klejny," something like that. I have a book that lists German and Polish names of places in some of the regions ruled by Germany up until 1918 and 1945, and it mentions at three villages called Kleinau, which is how Germans would write what the Poles would call Kleinów or Klejnów. One Kleinau was in Trzebnica county in Silesia, and the Polish name for it is Małczów. Another was in Goldap district in East Prussia. The third is called Malkowice by the Poles, in Prudnik county in Upper Silesia, now Opole province. These are places that might be connected with the name Klejnowski. I would imagine the original root of the name was German klein, "little, small." A great many "Polish" surnames actually started out German, and this could be one, especially since there is no root klejn or anything like it in Polish. (Note that the Polish equivalent of German klein, "little, small," is mały, and we see that root in the names Malczów and Malkowice).

As of 1990 there were 631 Polish citizens named Klejnowski, living all over the country, with larger numbers in the following provinces: Warsaw 98, Bydgoszcz 55, Ciechanów 65, Elblag 59, Katowice 40, and Torun 116. This suggests a concentration in northcentral Poland (Bydgoszcz, Elblag, Torun, Ciechanów and Warsaw provinces), and a smaller concentration in southcentral Poland (Katowice province). That is consistent with origin in several different places -- there were villages called Klejnów or Kleinau in several different areas of Poland, so the surname developed in reference to them, and thus is not unique to any one region.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kochanowski

... I apologize for misleading you and wasting your time... My family name was not Kochanski, rather it was Kochanowski and, if my father can be believed, Kochanowska. The question I should have asked is... I was wondering if you had any information readily available for the last name Kochanowski and/or Kochanowska?

Actually, no harm done, because the answer is almost the same. First of all, names ending in -ska are the same as names ending in -ski, except that the -ska is the ending used for females. So the husband would be Kochanowski, but the wife would be Kochanowska. To Poles this is the most obvious thing in the world, but when they came to this country they eventually stopped doing it when they found themselves among English-speakers because they realized Brits and Yanks didn't understand and thought those were two different names.

As for Kochanowski, the key is in my previous note: "I don't see any place by that name, but some might have existed centuries ago, when surnames were being formed -- there are several villages named Kochanów, but that name would tend to generate a surname in the form Kochanowski, not Kochański." The surname Kochanowski began in most cases as a way of referring to a person or family who lived in or came from a place called Kochanów, Kochanowo, Kochanówka, or something similar. There are several villages named Kochanów and Kochanówka, so a Kochanowski family could have come from any of them, and thus there's no way to pin down which one a specific family came from without detailed data on the family. In other words, the most I can do is tell you what kind of place name to look for, and then with any luck you can use what you learn about your family and where they came from to see if there's any place nearby that qualifies.

As of 1990 there were 4,728 Polish citizens named Kochanowski, and they lived all over the country, so I'm afraid the surname itself doesn't offer much in the way of clues. About all we can know of it is that it originally referred to some connection between a family and a place called Kochanów or Kochanówka or something like that, and there are several places that qualify.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kołaczkowski - Kolaĉkovsky

... Would like any information concerning the surname Kolaczkowski which was my maiden name. My research has just began and the only information I have is that my great-grandparents immigrated from Poland/ Czechoslovakia in the 1800's to U.S. Then on to Dallas, Texas in the late 1800's. Certain also the name remains in its original spelling.

As for Kołaczkowski, the standard Polish spelling of this name (ł which sounds like our w), names ending in -owski usually started as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place, most often the village they lived in or came from. The name of that place is usually very similar but ends in -i, -ów, -owice, -owo, etc. Thus there is in Poland at least one village called Kołaczków, 3 named Kołaczkowice, and 3 named Kołaczkowo -- and the name Kołaczkowski could have started as a reference to any of them, or to more too small to show up on my maps.

As of 1990 there were 816 Polish citizens named Kołaczkowski. They were scattered all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area. So unfortunately the surname doesn't offer much in the way of leads. If it's any consolation, that's the way it usually turns out -- even surnames that refer to place names, and thus seem to promise a specific lead, turn out to be disappointing because there are several places with the same name.

By the way, the spelling Kołaczkowski is distinctively Polish rather than Czech or Russian or whatever. However, that can be misleading. The same name, pronounced virtually the same way, surely exists in Czech: they would spell it Kolaĉkovsky. And there is at least one place named Kolaĉkov in Slovakia. The point is that if a Czech or Slovak named Kolaĉkovsky emigrated and came through Poland to a Polish or German port, his name might possibly end up being spelled by Polish phonetic values, simply because the officials involved were more familiar with Polish than Czech. If so, the Polish form of the name might fool us into excluding the Czech/Slovak region as his original home.

With the spelling Kołaczkowski, odds are they were Poles. But I thought I'd better mention the possible Czech or Slovak connection, just in case it comes up at some point.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Piczak - Śliwa

… I was wondering what you could make of my last name, Piczak. I traveled to Poland in 1997 w/ my father to tour and visit new-found relatives on my maternal grandparents side, Sliwa (I gather it means "plum"), which is apparently very common... Amazingly, the Polish people we spoke to over there, did not think "Piczak" was a real Polish name. Hmmm.... I did find one Piczak in a Warsaw phone book.

Well, native-speakers are not always right about names. They usually have a good feel for whether or not a particular name is a common one, but names are a rather specialized field of study, and without experience you can easily go wrong. In fact Piczak is a perfectly legitimate Polish name, one seen in legal records as far back as 1490. It is not a very common one, however; as of 1990 there were only 205 Polish citizens named Piczak. They were scattered all over the country, with the largest single block (55) in the province of Rzeszow in southeastern Poland -- no other province had more than 12. (I'm afraid I don't have access to more data such as first names or addresses).

Probably the reason the Poles you met weren't familiar with the name is because it derives from an archaic root, one not used in the living language for centuries. That root is pica (pronounced almost exactly the way we pronounce "pizza"). This word had several meanings: 1) fodder for animals; 2) a lifelong pension for ex-soldiers; 3) a soldier's daily ration; and 4) the vulva. I don't mean to be indelicate here, but many Polish name origins turn out to be unmistakeably from rather vulgar words, and pica is one of many, many slang words for the female genitals -- what's more, in the case of at least some names beginning with Pic-, Polish experts think that meaning was the original one behind the name, sort of like calling a person a "son of a slut" (although if I wanted to be absolutely accurate, I'd use a different 4-letter word).

I don't think we have to assume this was the meaning behind Piczak, however (and it's highly unlikely any of the Poles you talked to have ever heard this word). It could easily have started as a name for someone who fed animals or provided fodder, or an ex-soldier on a pension. But I'd be lying to you if I didn't mention the other possibility as well. For what it's worth, there are many, many other names with similar meanings, to the point that I sometimes ask people "Are you sure you want to know what your name means?"

Śliwa is indeed the word for "plum," and is a very common name, borne by 11,499 Polish citizens as of 1990.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kolbert

... I am having difficulty locating information on my Grandfather, Ignatz Kolbert, born in Biskupin, Prussian Poland in 1857. Is Kolbert actually a Polish name? Do you know if there are Kolberts in the area of his birth today? Do you know if there is a parish church for that town?

Kolbert is a German name, but millions of ethnic Germans lived in Poland until after World War II, when the majority of them relocated in East Germany. So it's not at all unusual to see German names show up in Poland. The name Kolbert is pretty rare in Poland today -- there are only 29 by that name, living in the provinces of Gdansk (1), Katowice (8), Kraków (1), Poznan (2), Sieradz (13), and Wroclaw (4). None of those provinces were in the part of Poland ruled by Prussia, so apparently there are no Kolberts left in the region you're talking about. Before World War II -- who knows? I have no data on that.

There are at least two towns or villages named Biskupin in the general area you're looking at, but the one in Bydgoszcz province, just a few km. south of Znin, is probably the one you want -- the other is in Wloclawek province, and if memory serves that's too far south to have been in West Prussia. The Biskupin in Bydgoszcz province does not have its own parish church; I'm not sure what village served it, but judging from the map I'd guess it would be Gasawa, just a few km. away.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kosiorek

... Hello..My name is ... Kosiorek and there has been some problems finding out what my last name means and well all about it. My grandfather had told me that long ago the name was just Kosior (blackbird or something?). And I was wondering if you could be of any help.

Going by information in Kazimierz Rymut's book on Polish surnames, Kosiorek comes from the term kosior, which means "undertaker" and may in turn derive from the basic root kos- which means "blackbird" (presumably the black an undertaker wears is the connection with the bird). The suffix -ek is a diminutive, meaning "little," so Kosiorek literally means "little undertaker," but as a surname probably meant more "son of the undertaker." As of 1990 there were 3,942 Kosiorek's in Poland, as opposed to 3,703 Kosior's, so both names are reasonably common. The name Kosiorek appears in Polish records as early as 1414; the name Kosior appears even earlier, in 1204.

So while the word for "blackbird" may figure into it, the direct derivation would appear to be "undertaker's son." It's possible your surname originally was just Kosior and the diminutive suffix was added later, or your grandfather may have just meant that kosior was the word the name derived from, and kosior in turn derived from the word for "blackbird."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kosmatka

... A couple of months ago you helped me with the surname Hechlinski. I am now wondering if you could also help me with the origin of the name Kosmatka. I appreciate any information you can provide.

Many names with the root Kosma- come from the first name Kosma (cmp. the rather rare name in English Cosmo), but this one probably comes from the root kosmaty meaning "mophead, shaggy-haired." The suffix -ka is a diminutive, so the literal meaning of the name is "little mophead," but the word kosmatka is also used as a term for a kind of bird, the wood-rush (Latin name Luzula). So it's difficult to say in a given case whether a person got this name because he was the son of a hairy guy, or if it referred to the bird; sometimes people got bird names because they liked that kind of bird, or wore clothes the same color as a kind of bird, or reminded people of that bird in some other way.

As of 1990 there were 555 Polish citizens named Kosmatka. The largest numbers were in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (107), Pila (59), and Skierniewice (222) -- the first two are north and west of central Poland, and Skierniewice province is just west of Warsaw, almost smack-dab in the middle of Poland. I'm not sure why the name is clumped this way, with two big concentrations separated by a fair amount of distance, but that's the pattern that shows up. Then there are small numbers of Kosmatka's scattered in many other provinces.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kosciuszko - Kostka

... I am interested in learning more about the Kostka Surname I know that my great grandmother was born in Austria-Poland and would love to know about the origins of this name.

Kostka appears as a name in Polish documents as far back as 1318, and is particularly famous among Poles as the name of St. Stanislaw Kostka, a Polish saint who has been venerated for centuries as one of the most illustrious figures in Polish history; he died in 1568, and is the Polish patron saint of the young.

The name can derive either from kostka, "little bone," which can mean "dice" or "ankle" or any small bone, or --probably more often -- from a diminutive of the name Konstanty, "Constantine." Poles and Ukrainians both liked to take first names, drop all but the first part, and add suffixes, so that Kostka would be "little Constantine" or "son of Constantine." The same basic derivation applies for the name Kosciuszko, as in Tadeusz Kosciuszko, hero of Poland's fight for independence and also of the American Revolution. So in some cases the name might refer to "little bone," but in most cases it probably started as a nickname for a fellow whose "proper" name was Constantine. This is especially likely if there is a Ukrainian connection, but that derivation also applies for many ethnic Poles.

As of 1990 there were 4,554 Polish citizens named Kostka, so it's a pretty common name. It is seen all over Poland, with particularly large numbers living in the provinces of Katowice (1,392), Bielsko-Biala (319), Opole (325) -- all in southcentral to southwestern Poland. But as I say, you run into Kostka's in virtually every province, so the name's too common to point to one area and say "That's probably where your family came from."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Catcavage - Franzik - Kaczorowski - Kotkiewicz

... I have just begun to seek out my roots. I am a second generation American and three of my 4 grandparents came from Poland (or so I'm told). On my mothers side were the Kotkiewicz's from Warsaw. On my fathers - Kaczorowski, also from Warsaw - although there is some talk that my paternal grandmother (nee Franzik) came from Austria.

I should mention that Poland was partitioned and taken over by Germany, Russia, and Austria, beginning in 1772, and so often Poles who lived in the area ruled by Austria (called Galicia) are said to come from that country. But "Austrian Poland" was historically still Poland, and much of it was returned to Poland when that country regained its independence. So your grandmother may have lived in Austria proper, but it's also quite possible she lived in southeastern Poland or western Ukraine and never moved -- but the political boundaries moved around her, and that's how she ended up being "Austrian."

... I have registered all of these loving folks at the Ellis Island wall of immigrants. I was amazed to see a bunch of other Kaczorowski's but not one single Kotkiewicz. I would love to know if you have any idea of the origin of either of these two names.

The -ewicz suffix in Kotkiewicz means "son of," and the root kot means "cat"; the diminutive suffix -ek means "little," and the -e- drops off when further suffixes are added, so this name breaks down as Kot- + -k- + -iewicz, and is literally "son of the little cat or pussy." Surnames from the root kot are popular in Poland, which leaves us wondering exactly how people got such a name -- perhaps it was a nickname, given because an individual loved cats, or moved like a cat, or somehow otherwise reminded people of a cat. Now, centuries after these names developed, it can be hard to figure out exactly what the connection was, the best we can do is explain how the name breaks down and say there was a connection with the word for "cat, pussy."

Kotkiewicz is not an extremely common name, but it's not rare, either -- as of 1990 there were 567 Poles by this name, living all over Poland. The largest numbers by far lived in the provinces of Warsaw (98) and Torun (137), but smaller numbers show up virtually everywhere in Poland. By the way, in this country we often see this name "in disguise," so to speak, spelled phonetically as Catcavage. The Polish pronunciation sounds roughly like "cot-KYE-vich," and it's not hard to hear how that could become Catcavage. I'm a bit surprised you found no Kotkiewicz's at Ellis Island, but that's how it is with names -- there are always twists and turns to the plot!

Kaczorowski is a common name, as of 1990 there were 10,159 Poles named Kaczorowski, living in large numbers all over the country. The name breaks down as Kaczor- + -ow- + -ski. The root kaczor means "drake," the -ow- implies possession or an "of" relationship, and -ski is an adjectival ending meaning "of, from, pertaining to, connected with." So the name means literally "of or from the [something] of the drake." Sometimes such a name might refer to a fellow named Kaczor, perhaps as a nickname, and the surname could mean no more than "[kin] of Kaczor."

But practically speaking, most names ending in -owski and -ewski began as references to a connection between a person or family and a specific town or village with a similar name, such as Kaczorów or Kaczorowo (literally, "the [place] of the drakes" (or possibly also "Kaczor's place"). There are several villages in Poland with names that qualify, including a Kaczorki, two Kaczory's, 2 Kaczorowy's, 1 Kaczorów -- and those are just the villages large enough to show up on maps. In some cases the surname may have referred to a little subdivision of a village, but that place was too small to appear on maps, or has since been renamed, or absorbed by another community. Remember, surnames developed some 300-500 years ago, and a lot can change in that much time. So what I'm saying is that the surname itself doesn't provide enough info for us to point to any one place and say "Here's where you came from." Your best bet is to research, learn as much as you can about where the family lived in Poland before emigrating, and then see if there is a place with a name Kaczor- somewhere nearby. If so, odds are that's the place the surname originally referred to.

By the way, Franzik probably means something like "son of Francis," but that spelling is almost unheard of in Poland. It's possible that it is a Czech name -- I'm not sure whether Franzik is a good Czech spelling, but I suspect it is, and the Czechs and Slovaks were also long ruled by Austria. It's also possible the name was Polish and was spelled a little differently, but under German influence (since German was the official language of Austria) the spelling changed a little.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kotłowski

... Thanks for your wonderful and insightful work on the internet. I have been looking for some time into my mother's maiden name Kotlowski. Any family members who could give me this information have long since passed away. If you could, please tell me about this name, it will be greatly appreciated.

Names ending in -owski usually began as references to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name, generally ending in -ów, -owo-, -owa, -y, etc. Thus we'd expect Kotłowski to mean "person from Kotłowo" or something like that; those place names in turn would derive from the noun kocioł, meaning "boiler, kettle." Without more info it's hard to say for sure, but those places probably got that name either because they were known for making or selling kettles, or because of some local geographical feature shaped like a kettle. Unfortunately, there are quite a few villages in Poland named Kotłów, Kotłowo, Kotłówka, etc., and Kotłowski could have come from any or all of them. Your Kotłowski's might have come from this village, another Kotłowski's family might have come from that one, and so on.

As is generally true when a surname can come from several different place names, this is a fairly common surname: as of 1990 there were 2,269 Polish citizens named Kotłowski. They lived all over Poland, with the largest concentration by far in the province of Gdansk (1,059); however, you find Kotłowski's in virtually every province, so we can't assume any one Kotłowski family comes from the Gdansk region. But that is where quite a few of them would come from.

I know this doesn't offer you much in the way of specific leads, but that's the way it usually is with Polish surnames. Names that give a really useful clue as to their place of origin are the exception, not the rule.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Krakowiecki

... Only one name please -- Krakowiecki. It was my grandfather's legacy...from Czartnorzew near Ostrołęka I believe.

The name Krakowiecki is not rare, but not extremely common. As of 1990 there were 376 Krakowiecki's in Poland, of whom the largest single block by far, 122, lived in Ostrołęka province; there are smaller numbers scattered in many other provinces. It's pretty certain we're dealing here with a surname derived from a place name, and the major city of Kraków might be involved, but there are other villages in Poland with names such as Krakowice and Krakowiec that could be relevant.

By modern Polish rules those are the most likely names Krakowiecki could come from, but some centuries ago the rules for forming names from place names were a bit looser than they are in modern Polish, and places named Krakówka or Krakówki might also generate the surname Krakowiecki. These names ending in -ski and -cki are adjectives, originally just meaning "of, from, related to, pertaining to X," with X being the name of a place, person, occupation, whatever. I mention Krakówka this because I notice there's a Krakówka served by the parish of Płock-Radziwie, not far from Czarnotrzew in Ostrołęka province (Czarnotrzew, by the way, is served by the parish in Baranowo, which is where you'd logically expect people from Czarnotrzew to go to register births, deaths, marriages). I don't have enough info to point to any one spot and say "That's the one your name refers to," but when I find a place with a name that would work, not too far from where a family came from, I figure it's worth mentioning. It's not a sure thing, but it could well be the place their name referred to originally. For instance, if a person or family moved from Krakówka to Czarnotrzew about the time surnames were being established, it would be quite plausible that folks would refer to him as "Krakowiecki," the guy from Krakówka... Notice, all this is plausible, and might be right, but it would take very meticulous research to prove that that is, in fact, exactly how the surname originated, in your family's case; another Krakowiecki family might have gotten the name some other way.

The ultimate origin of all these Krakow- names is generally from the old first name Krak, from a root meaning "raven" (thus Kraków just means "[place] of Krak," Krakowiec means "son of Krak" or "[place] of the son of Krak." I should mention that in some cases there was a vowel change and Krak- can also derive from krok, "step, march." So Krakowiecki probably meant something like "one from the place of the son of Krak/Krok," or "one from the place of the march." But for our purposes it boils down to "person from X," where X is a town or village with a name like Krakówka, Krakowiec, Krakowice, etc.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Krukowski

I’m actually curious about the name ‘Krukowski’. I see on Wikipedia that it’s included as one of the families which used the Slepowron “herb”.

In Polish, KRUKOWSKI is pronounced roughly "kroo-KOFF-skee." The O in the middle syllable is a little longer than our short O in "hot," but not quite as long as in "go." If you can make it of medium length, you'll have it right, and you'll be saying the name in a way any Pole could recognize. (Actually, the way we pronounce R is very unlike the Polish R, which is lightly trilled as in Italian. But a Pole would recognize the name with no problem.)

This name is adjectival in origin, which means males have traditionally gone by KRUKOWSKI, and females by KRUKOWSKA. There are some females in Poland these days who prefer to go by the "standard" form of the name, which is the masculine one. But the vast majority still use that traditional feminine form.

You can see 2002 data on the name's frequency and distribution, along with color maps illustrating the data, on these pages:

www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/krukowska.html

www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/krukowski.html

This data tells us the name is moderately common by Polish standards, with 3,299 Krukowskas and 3,075 Krukowskis as of 2002. As the color maps indicate, it's not highly concentrated in any one area; this is normal for Polish surnames, comparatively few are so highly localized as to give us a useful clue where a specific family came from. A Krukowski family could have come from practically anywhere in Poland; the only way to find out where yours came from would be to trace the family history in various records on this side of the Atlantic -- parish records, census rolls, naturalization papers, passports, ship passenger lists, that sort of thing -- till the wonderful day you find a piece of paper that tells you exactly where they lived in Poland before they emigrated. If you have that info, you can make real progress tracing them in Poland. Without it, a surname alone is almost worthless.

Fortunately, you have info that suggests the Zamosc area is where your ancestors came from, and that can really help a lot. The 2002 data tells us that Zamosc county is where the largest numbers of Krukowskis lived (188 Krukowskas and 175 Krukowskis). This means you may very well have relatives in the area; and instead of having to look all over Poland, you can try focusing on the Zamosc area.

The late Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in Polish records as early as 1443, and, like most names ending in -owski, derives from the name of a place the family was connected with at some point, a place with a name beginning Krok- or Kruk- or Kruch-; it's not uncommon for O and U to switch in surnames over time, and the guttural sound of Polish CH can sometimes switch with K.

If the family was noble, X-owski meant something like "the lord of X"; if it was not, the name meant "one from X." Originally surnames were used only by nobles, and often came from the names of their estates. But as time went on, peasants started using surnames too, and what once mean "lord of Krokow" came to mean little more than "one from Krokow."

I mention Krokow because that is the name of one place Prof. Rymut mentions as associated with this surname. He says it was in the "Eastern Borderlands," territory once ruled by Poland but now in Belarus or Ukraine. He also lists the name under those deriving from Kruchowo, a village near Bydgoszcz in northwestern Poland. As far as that goes, the name could also refer to a family connection with any of a number of villages with names such as Kruki, Krukow, Krukowo, etc.

There are quite a few places bearing those names, so that again, you can't tell from the surname alone which one your particular Krukowskis were named for. Only successful family research might uncover something that clears that up. For instance, if you establish that your family came from near Opatow in southeastern Poland, their surname might refer to the Krukow nearby; if they came from near Bialogard in northwestern Poland, it might refer to nearby Krukowo. The Krukow near Opatow is the closest I can find to the Zamosc area, so it MIGHT be the place your family's name came from.

There were noble Krukowskis, as you found on the Wikipedia pages. It was not at all unusual for families bearing the same name to bear different coats of arms. As you've guessed, there wasn't one big Krukowski family, but a number of different ones, coming by the name in different ways. One might have been "lords of Krukowo," another "lords of Kruki," another "kin of the guy nicknamed Kruk (raven)," and so on. Of course, if the family was of the peasant class, it did not have a coat of arms at all.

The good news is that, if you can trace your family to where they lived in Poland, you will probably be able to tell quite early whether or not they were noble; if they were, records will mention it. That would be good news, because records on nobles tend to be more plentiful, better preserved, and older than those on peasants. It can be pretty hard to find any record that mentions peasants before, oh, 1700; nobles may appear in records back to the 1400s or even earlier. So I hope for your sake that your Krukowski ancestors were noble!

As you can probably tell, with Polish surnames it's usually a "good news/bad news" situation. The bad news is that nobles were far more mobile than peasants; in fact, until serfdom was abolished, serfs could not leave their lords' land without his permission. So peasants tended to stay put, at least until the 1800s. But nobles bought and sold and traded estates all the time. So a noble family named Krukowski that lived in the Zamosc area might not have been from there originally; the Kruk- part could conceivably refer to some estate halfway across Poland.

So you do have your work cut out for you. You might want to post this name on the PolishOrigins Surnames Database at http://surnames.polishorigins.com. This database has not been up and running all that long, but it's already got a respectable list of names. It might be an easy way to make contact with others researching the same name. I notice there is a Krukowski on there already, but apparently he's not sure of the spelling, and it doesn't sound as if his roots lie all that near Zamosc. Still, it can't hurt to compare notes!

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Fred (officially "William F.") Hoffman
Author, Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings

www.fredhoff.com

Copyright © 2010 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kruk

My research states it [Kruk] means "those who live at the sign of the raven." What does that mean? What is the sign of the Raven? where is it?

Who knows? All we can say about a name like Kruk (pronounced much like the English word "crook") is that it means literally "raven." It could refer to one who lived at the sign of the raven, which could be an inn or the name of a specific house -- in some towns and villages individual houses were given names, and Raven could be one of them. It could refer to one who had coarse dark hair that reminded people of a raven. It could refer to one who was full of gloom and doom, so that people considered "raven" a good nickname for him because ravens were associated with bad omens. It could refer to almost any association people might make between a person and a raven -- and people are very ingenious with nicknames.

Names like this started centuries ago, and there's no way to know exactly what they referred to. All you can do is find out what the name means literally and then make intelligent speculations on how such a name developed. If you're really lucky, genealogical research might eventually turn up a record that refers to a person's name and why he was called that. That happens very rarely, but you never know -- if you do good research, you just might get lucky.

As of 1990 there were 19,923 Polish citizens named Kruk, living all over the country. There was no significant concentration in any one area to the point you could say "Here is where Kruks came from." They could come from anywhere in Poland -- much like ravens!

Copyright © 2002 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kostka

... I am interested in learning more about the Kostka Surname I know that my great grandmother was born in Austria-Poland and would love to know about the origins of this name.

Kostka appears as a name in Polish documents as far back as 1318, and is particularly famous among Poles as the name of St. Stanislaw Kostka, a Polish saint who has been venerated for centuries as one of the most illustrious figures in Polish history; he died in 1568, and is the Polish patron saint of the young.

The name can derive either from kostka, "little bone," which can mean "dice" or "ankle" or any small bone, or --probably more often -- from a diminutive of the name Konstanty, "Constantine." Poles and Ukrainians both liked to take first names, drop all but the first part, and add suffixes, so that Kostka would be "little Constantine" or "son of Constantine." The the same basic derivation applies for the name Kosciuszko, as in Tadeusz Kosciuszko, hero of Poland's fight for independence and also of the American Revolution. So in some cases the name might refer to "little bone," but in most cases it probably started as a nickname for a fellow whose "proper" name was Constantine. This is especially likely if there is a Ukrainian connection, but that derivation also applies for many ethnic Poles.

As of 1990 there were 4,554 Polish citizens named Kostka, so it's a pretty common name. It is seen all over Poland, with particularly large numbers living in the provinces of Katowice (1,392), Bielsko-Biala (319), Opole (325) -- all in southcentral to southwestern Poland. But as I say, you run into Kostka's in virtually every province, so the name's too common to point to one area and say "That's probably where your family came from."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Króciak - Kruciak - Kruczak - Kruczek

... My family name is Kruciak. My Granddad, Anton Kruciak came over from Poland when he was 6. Family settled in Panna Maria, Texas. He died in 1951 or 52 and is buried in the Catholic cemetary at Panna Maria. Apparently the spelling of Kruciak may have been changed upon entry at Galveston. Aside from relatives here in USA I can't find the name on search engines in Poland.

I'm afraid I can't help you too much with this name. I looked in the 10-volume set that lists every surname borne by Poles as of 1990, and it showed a frequency of 0 for Kruciak. What that means is that there was at least one person by that name, but they had incomplete data -- so the name is not completely unknown, but it must be very rare.

I tried looking at names of which that Kruciak could be a variant spelling, but didn't have too much luck there either. There was one person named Króciak, and that would be pronounced exactly the same as Kruciak; it most likely comes from a root meaning "short." Also possible is Kruczak, because the cz is pronounced a lot like ci -- there were 76 Poles names Kruczak, scattered all over the country; this name would come from the root kruczać, "to rumble," or from kruk, "raven." The odd thing is that Kruczak is pretty rare, but Kruczek was the name of 5,088 Poles as of 1990 -- it means "small raven, mole cricket."

So Kruciak is possible, but very rare. The alternate spelling Króciak is the same, possible but rare. If the spelling of the name was changed, it might have been Kruczak or Kruczek originally, those are more common names (especially Kruczek). But the cz to ci change is one I'd expect to happen in Poland -- if it happened in an English-speaking country, the natural change would be to "Kruchak," because that's what the name would sound like.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Krygowski

... Could you please forward any information you might have on the surname Krygowski

Names ending in -owski usually started as a reference to a connection between a family and a place with a similar name, usually ending in -ów, -owo, -i, or something like that. In this case we'd expect the name to mean "person or family from Krygów, Krygowo, Krygi," or something along those lines. Offhand the only place in Poland I can find that might qualify is a village Kryg in Krosno province, in southeastern Poland; but the reference could be to places too small to show up on the maps. Also things may have changed in the centuries since the surname was established, the place or places in question may have changed their names, or disappeared, or been absorbed by other communities -- hard to say. But that's basically what the name means, "one from Krygów" or some other place with a similar name.

As of 1990 there were 614 Polish citizens named Krygowski. They lived all over Poland, with the larger numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (50), Krosno (151), and Pila (80). The ones in Krosno may well refer to that village of Kryg, but Bydgoszcz and Pila provinces are in northwestern Poland, so that makes me think there probably was a Krygi or Krygowo in that region -- it seems a bit unlikely people living there would have names referring to a village near Krosno, although with all the relocation of people after World War II you can't count on that too much.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Czerny - Krzemiński - Rostow - Sędek - Szczepanek - Witek

… my mother and I are trying to complete some family history for our family. Both my parents came from Poland but from different parts and it has been very hard trying to find all our ancestors. Here is the surname list and maybe you could help us out:

Sedek, (Edek, Wladek, Andrzej, Stanislaw)
Szczepanek (Ania, Eva, Maria-Kristina)
Czerny (unknown, Eugenia)
Krezminski (Stanislaw)
Rostov (unknown)
Witek (unknown)

We would like to know what the name means where our family orriginated and if their is any tree or if you could design a family crest!!!!!


Well, all I can do is tell you whether my sources give info on the linguistic origin of specific names; and occasionally a name will be associated with a particular area of Poland. I'm afraid that isn't true of any of these names, so I hope you won't be disappointed.

Szczepanek just means "little Stephen," although it would often have started out meaning "son of Stephen." As of 1990 there were 4,058 Poles with this name, living all over the country, which just makes sense -- this name could get started any place there were guys named Szczepan who had sons. You wouldn't expect it to be associated with any specific region.

Czerny means "black," probably referring in most cases to the color of one's hair or eyes. It, too, is quite common -- there were 1,638 Poles named Czerny as of 1990 -- and appears all over the country.

Sedek probably started out as Sędek -- the ę is the Polish nasal vowel pronounced like en. Sędek comes from a root meaning "judge, court," and the -ek suffix is a diminutive, meaning "little" or (as with Szczepanek) "son of." So the name probably meant "judge's son" originally. As of 1990 there were 747 Poles with this name, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Warsaw (336), Kielce (159), Krakow (52), and Siedlce (40), roughly in central to southcentral Poland; but there are smaller numbers scattered all over the country.

Witek is a diminutive of the first name Wit, so it probably started out meaning "little Wit" or "Wit's son." The origin of the first name Wit is somewhat unclear, but in English we know it as "Vitus" -- this name is little used in English, and is probably familiar only from the name of the illness called "St. Vitus' dance." As of 1990 there were 13,222 Poles named Witek, living all over the country.

Krezminski is a variant or misspelling of Krzemiński, which means "from a town or village named Krzemin or Krzemien." Unfortunately, there are quite a few places by those names, so from the surname alone it's impossible to tell which place a given family was associated with. As of 1990 there were 14,154 Poles named Krzemiński, living all over Poland. There are probably more by this name living in Russia and Ukraine, too, because there are places with similar names in those countries; they all derive from a basic Slavic root meaning "flint."

I suspect Rostov may not have been Polish originally. Polish doesn't use the letter V, it uses W to stand for that sound, so the spelling isn't Polish. Also, Polish does not often form surnames ending in -ow, it prefers endings like -owski or -owiecki. Rostov may well be Russian, because I know there's a city in Russia called Rostov on the Don. The name could show up in Poland, spelled as Rostow, but it'd be rare -- as of 1990 there was no Polish citizen named either Rostov or Rostow. The root of the name is an old common Slavic verbal root meaning "to grow."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kucejko

... My sister and I are trying to locate information on the Kucejko name. It may or may not be part of a longer or shorter name. The area of Poland that it comes from is very close to Russia and her father-in-law said that if you crossed the railroad tracks near the family farm that you were in Russia. The area is Sukolka (and pardon me if I have spelled it incorrectly).

First of all, the matter of Sukolka -- you don't need to apologize for spelling it incorrectly, the right spelling of names in that part of the world can be hard to find. But you need the right spelling desperately, you're not likely to get anywhere till you have it right. And the problem is, few names are unique -- if there's one place by a particular name, there are usually at least two or three more. In this case, the name of the place you're looking for is probably Sokółka. There are several places by that name, but I suspect the one you want may be Sokółka in Białystok province in northeast Poland; it's maybe 8 km. from the border with Belarus, which has been associated with Russia for so long that people often regard it, inaccurately, as part of Russia. Historically this area was also part of the Kingdom of Poland even after the Russians and Germans and Austrians partitioned Poland (beginning in 1772). So people from this area may well be referred to as Poles, Belorussians, Russians -- borders have moved so much, and ethnic groups have mixed so much, that it can be sticky trying to figure out exactly who was what. But this is the only Sokółka I can find that sounds like it fits the description you give. I think chances are reasonably good this is the place you're looking for.

Kucjeko is a bit tougher, because I can't say it comes from one and only one root; but at least I can say there's no reason to assume it was part of a longer name -- this name does exist in that form. Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut lists this under names beginning with kuc-, but there are three different roots such names can come from. There's kuc, "pony"; there's the verb kucać, "to squat"; and there's kuca, "shelter, tent." That's if the spelling is reliable -- in that part of Poland the combination cz is often simplified to c, and kucz- is a whole different set of roots. So the name may derive from roots meaning "pony," "squat," or "shelter." The -ko suffix is a diminutive, meaning "little," so the surname means "little Kucej" or "son of Kucej," but I have no way of knowing which of these three roots this name came from in your family's case.

There is some good news. I have a 10-volume set that gives every surname borne by Poles as of 1990, how many there were, and where they lived by province (I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, unfortunately). It says Kucejko was the name of 117 Poles, and they lived in the following provinces: Białystok (49), Chelm (1), Gdansk (7), Leszno (1), Łomża (1), Lodz (15), Olsztyn (8), Radom (7), Suwałki (2), and Warsaw (26). It's dangerous jumping to conclusions, but the facts that the largest number of Kucejko's live in Białystok province, and that's the province Sokółka is in, suggest you may have some relatives still living in that general area.

You might want to consider joining the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast (PGS-NE), because they have a lot of members from that part of Poland, and might be able to offer some really useful leads.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kujawa - Mentis

... I am of Polish background. My father's grandparents immigrated to the United States from Poland. His surname was Kujawa. Both my parents and grandparents are deceased. If you can provide information on researching the surname Kujawa and/or Mentis I would appreciate it. My father was born in Chicago. I have been told by someone from Poland that Kujawa was the name of a region in Poland and that it was a very old name. I know nothing about the surname Mentis, I am not sure it is even spelled correctly.

Kujawa is a Polish term meaning "bare, open spot in a field, clearing, an area where nothing grows." There is indeed a region in Poland named Kujawy, which is just the plural of kujawa -- presumably the region got the name because such clearings were common there. Kujawy is defined as the area between the Wisla and Notec rivers and lake Goplo -- which puts it roughly south and east of Torun in northcentral Poland. (I know all this because the Spring 1998 issue of Rodziny, the Journal of the Polish Genealogical Society of America, which I just finished work on, has a lead article on the fate of elderly people in the Kujawy region toward the end of the 17th century, so the subject is fresh in my mind). The surname Kujawa appears in legal records as far back as 1422 and would probably designate a person who lived in a clearing, not necessarily restricted to people who came from the Kujawy region. As such, we would expect it to be rather common, and it is: as of 1990 there were 13,456 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country.

I can't really help much with Mentis, because that's almost certainly not the Polish form of the name (if it is Polish rather than, say, Lithuanian, which it could well be); Polish avoids using the combination ti, we would expect Mentys or Mencis, but Mentis is unlikely (though hardly impossible). Sometimes I can recognize the original, "correct" forms of such names, but in this case there is no one name that seems a perfect fit, but there are several possibilities. So anything I say now would probably be misleading -- it would be sheer accident if I were right. It would be better to wait till you've managed to uncover a bit more info, maybe some other spellings, or info on where the family came from (e. g., if they had a link with Lithuania, that would change things completely). If you come up with that, write again and I'll see if it helps me tell you anything useful. But for now, there's just nothing I can come up with that would be any help.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kukowski

... I’ve seen information on your work on the PGS web site. I was hoping you could help provide me with some info on the Kukowski surname. I have seen references to this surname in Poland and Germany.

Names ending in -owski usually began as references to a connection between a person or family and a particular place with a similar name, such as Kuków, Kukowo, etc.; so you'd expect this to mean "person from Kuków or Kukowo." I see at least 6 places on the map that would qualify, including Kuków in Bielsko-Biala province, Kuków-Folwark in Suwałki province, Kukowo in Suwałki province, Kukowo in Slupsk province, Kukowo in Wloclawek province, and Kukówko in Suwałki province. Any of these places could generate the surname Kukowski (and there could be more too small to show up on the maps, or places that have changed names or disappeared in the centuries since the surname developed), so one needs more info to connect the name with a specific place for a specific family. The root of the place name is kuk-, a verbal root meaning "to cuckoo, make a sound like a cuckoo," so these villages would all be "place of the cuckoos," and you could translated Kukowski as "person from the place of the cuckoos."

As of 1990 there were 1,121 Polish citizens named Kukowski, living all over the country, but with larger numbers in the provinces of Gdansk (148), Płock (90), Suwałki (159), and Torun (108) -- which corresponds roughly to the locations of the villages I mentioned.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kurdziel - Pawłowicz

... In your "free time" :-) would you graciously provide whatever information you might have about the following two surnames: 1. Pawlowicz (really Pawłowicz), my paternal surname; and 2. Kurdziel, my maternal surname.

Pawłowicz just means "son of Paul" -- the suffix -owicz means "son of," and Paweł is the Polish form of the name we call "Paul." So this surname is an exact equivalent of the English name "Paulson" or "Paulsen." Surnames formed as patronymics from popular first names are usually quite common, and as of 1990 there were 3,816 Polish citizens named Pawłowicz (in fact, I'm a little surprised there weren't more). As is obvious from the nature of the name, it could develop independently anywhere they spoke Polish and had guys named Paweł, so there's no one part of Poland this name is especially common -- it shows up all over the country.

Kurdziel is an odd one, because it's also rather common -- as of 1990 there were 2,234 Poles named Kurdziel -- but you would never expect that from its meaning. According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut in his book Nazwiska Polaków, this name comes from the term kurdziel, which means "ulcer on a horse's tongue"! A massive 8-volume Polish-language dictionary that Rymut recommended to me as being particularly helpful with old words and their meanings adds that it is a popular term for a growth under any animal's tongue due to infection or irritation from a foreign body -- and that's the only meaning it gives for it. How this got to be anybody's name, let along a name borne by 2,234 Poles, is beyond me! But that clearly seems to be the derivation -- and I have to suppose it was not originally meant as a compliment. However, as Polish names go, this one is a lot better than many others I have seen!

This name appears all over Poland, but it is particularly common in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (110), Katowice (289), Kraków (790), Rzeszów (111), and Tarnów (147). So these days, at least, it is found most often in Małopolska or "Little Poland," the western half of Galicia, from the southcentral part of Poland eastward.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kusznierewicz - Maciejewski

... My grandfathers last name was Kusznierewicz and my grandmothers was Maciejewski. They were both from the Kraków area of Poland.

Kusznierewicz would mean "son of the furrier"; the suffix -ewicz means "son of," and kusznierz is one of several ways for spelling a term meaning "furrier" -- the standard spelling is kuśnierz, with an accent over the s, giving it an "sh" sound, but Polish sz is pronounced similarly, so it's not unusual to see names spelled Kuśnier- or Kusznier-, as well as Kuśmierz, Kućmierz, etc. As of 1990 there were only 92 Polish citizens with the name Kusznierewicz, so it's not all that common. They were scattered all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (24) in southcentral Poland and Zielona Gora (13) in western Poland; I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses.

Maciejewski means "one from, of the [X] of Matthias," where the X is a person or place not named explicitly (because everyone knew who or what the connection was). So it could mean simply "kin of Matthias," or it could mean "one from Maciejew or Maciejewo," in other words, villages with names meaning "Matthias's place." There are many such villages in Poland with names that could generate the surname Maciejewski, so there's no way to pin down which one a given family came from. This is a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 31,224 Polish citizens named Maciejewski.

I have no information on nobility, but if you would like to contact an organization that might be able to help you learn whether any of your family was noble, you could try the Polish Nobility Association Foundation at this address: PNAF, Villa Anneslie, 529 Dunkirk Rd., Anneslie, MD 21212-2014.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kwaśnica - Kvasnica

... Do you have any info or knowledge on Kwasnica, or what would be Polish spelling of this name?

Kwasnica is a perfectly plausible spelling of the name, except that in Polish there would be an accent over the s, giving it a slight "sh" sound. I find this name mentioned in one of my sources, and it says the name can derive from the word kwaśnica, which has three meanings: 1) "mineral water with a sour taste," 2) "the barberry bush, Berberis vulgaris," and 3), in Cieszyn region dialect, "juice from fermented cabbage." The basic root kwas- means "sourness, fermentation," as is clear from two of those meanings. This source, a book on surnames found in the Cieszyn region, which is in Bielsko-Biala province, in far southern Poland, almost on the Czech border. It mentions that a Marina Kwaśniczowa (the -owa just means "Mrs.) was listed in the 1726 register of deaths for Cierlicko, which is apparently now Terlicko in the Czech Republic.

As of 1990 there were only 7 Polish citizens named Kwaśnica, of whom 6 lived in the province of Katowice, 1 in Nowy Sacz (both also in southcentral Poland -- unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses). There may be more living in the Czech Republic, since the area mentioned in that Cieszyn book is now on the other side of the border. A similar word, kvasnice, means "yeast" in Czech, so it is possible you may need to divide your research between Poland and the Czech Republic, looking for Kwaśnica's in Poland and Kvasnica's among the Czechs.

In some ways it is rather bad news that the name is so rare, but the good side of that is, if you find someone with this name in that region, the chances seem very good they are related to you. I'm sorry I cannot pin the area down more exactly, but it seems likely southcentral Poland, especially near the Czech border, is the general area in which you should look for Kwaśnica's. I cannot guarantee the Kwaśnica's you're interested in are related to those people, or come from that area, but as I say, chances are they will prove to be.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Łabeński - Łabędzki

... I just read your information on "Notes for Selected Polish Names" regarding an analysis or translation of Polish names. My Polish ancestor came to America in the early 1800's. Any information to could give me on the name Labenski would be appreciated.

Labenski is a tough one, because there are a couple of possible derivations. In either case, the first letter was almost certainly Ł, which is pronounced like our w by Poles but usually rendered as simply L by non-Poles. The n is probably the accented n, so the name would be pronounced roughly "wah-BEN-skee."

Alexander Beider mentions the name Łabeński in his book A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland; he says it would come from the name of a village Łabno near Augustów in Suwałki province in northeastern Poland, and that explanation is very plausible -- it would just mean "person from Łabno." Such a name would not be restricted to Jews, Polish Christians could easily come to bear it also, since the name could apply to any family of any religion that came from the Łabno area. As of 1990 there were only 38 Poles with this name, scattered all over the country; the name is also seen spelled Łabenski (no accent over the n), and there were 31 by that name, with the majority (20) living in the province of Leszno in southwestern Poland. Many people living in what used to be eastern Poland were forced to move to the western part of the country after World War II, so it's possible those 20 Łabenski's had lived earlier near Łabno in northeastern Poland before they were forced to relocate. (I'm afraid I don't have access to more detailed info, such as first names or addresses of those Łabenski's and Łabeński's.)

The other possibility is derivation from the noun łabędź (ę is pronounced like en). This word means "swan," and Łabędz was also the name of a Polish coat of arms. It is seen in adjectival form (which is often the form used for surnames) as Łabędzki, pronounced like "wah-BENT-skee," and that same name is sometimes spelled Łabęcki -- meaning literally just "of, from, relating to the swan." Phonetically speaking, it's not ridiculous to suggest that since it sounds close to Łabeński, this name might sometimes be spelled that way, especially after Poles named Łabędzki or Łabęcki left Poland and had to spell their name in a way non-Poles could pronounce. Łabędzki was the name of 2,459 Poles as of 1990, and Łabęcki was borne by 1,410, so those forms are pretty common. As we saw above, Łabeński is much rarer, as you'd expect of a variant spelling.

So what I'd say is this: if you keep seeing the spelling Łabeński even in Polish documents, the name probably started out meaning "one from Łabno." But if you start running into spellings like Łabędzki or Łabęcki -- which is entirely possible -- you'll not be surprised by it, and you'll know the name originally derived from the root meaning "swan." The surname might derive from the noun for "swan," from the coat of arms Łabędź, or from a place with a name like Łabędź, Łabędy, etc. -- there are several such places, and they probably all got their name as meaning "place of the swans."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Labus - Łabus - Łabusz - Łabuś - Łabuz

... Labus is my last name. I found it listed as a Polish surname in 1790. There is a town called Labus, just north of Koszalin in what is now Poland, but in the past had been Pommerania, Germany. Labas is also a Lithuanian word meaning "good" and is used as a greeting. Any ideas?

This is a tough one, because there are several plausible derivations, and I have no basis on which to single out one and say "This is the relevant one in your case."

Labus certainly could come from the Lithuanian term -- I have often seen names of Lithuanian descent show up in the general area of Pomerania (which is not exactly what you'd expect from looking at the map). But I have a copy of a 2-volume work on Lithuanian surnames, and it seems to say this isn't a name used all that often. The names Labys, Labuŝaitis and Labuŝeviĉius appear, but not Labus or Labuŝ. Of course some names have died out since our ancestors emigrated -- I know that for a fact from Polish data -- and both Labuŝaitis and Labuŝeviĉius mean "son of Labuŝ," so clearly that name has been used and may have been more common a century or two ago.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions Łabus, Łabusz, and Łabuś among names deriving from the Polish root łaba, "paw".  I suppose such names originated as nicknames for a person with big hands or feet. In any case, among ethnic Poles, that would seem the most likely derivation... I can't help but wonder if in some cases the name might be connected with Łaba, which is also the Polish name for the river Elbe? I would think Rymut would have mentioned it if it was probable, and he didn't -- but then no one is right all time. I think it's worth keeping in mind.

But I also should mention that the term łabuz exists in Polish, from labuz in Ukrainian, "weed"; there is also a Ukrainian verb labuzytys', "to wheedle, coax, fawn, flatter," and under some circumstances a name Labus could conceivably come from that. I wouldn't expect it to be relevant unless research shows your family had a strong link with Ukraine, but if any such link does show up...

All three of these origins are possible, but choosing one as most probable depends on the family background. If you find a strong Lithuanian connection of any sort, origin from labas, "good," becomes much credible. Likewise, a Ukrainian connection would boost the chances of the "weed" or "wheedle" link. But if your people seem to have been ethnic Poles as far back as you can discover, then the link with łaba, "paw," seems strongest. As I say, I can't make that judgment -- but maybe you can!

As of 1990 there were 101 Poles named Łabus, 580 named Łabuś, and 1,685 named Łabuz (I think that has to be mentioned, because it would not be at all strange to see Łabus as a variant of Łabuz -- they are pronounced almost identically). If I had to bet, my money would be on Łabuś because your people were probably Poles and because the ś is often modified to simple s in many dialects. On the other hand, in 1990 none of the Poles named Łabus or Łabuś lived in Koszalin province, and only 7 of those named Łabuz lived there. (Unfortunately, I don't have access to more detailed info such as first names and addresses). Łabuś was most common in the provinces of Czestochowa (117) and Katowice (207) in southcentral Poland; Łabus was most common in Katowice province; and Łabuz was also most common in southcentral and southeastern Poland, e. g., provinces of Katowice (143), Kraków (205), Nowy Sacz (256), and Tarnów (380). It is highly likely those Łabuz'es had some Ukrainian roots.

I know I haven't handed you a nice, easy answer to the question of your name's derivation; but sometimes there isn't any one clear-cut answer, and I'd be a liar if I pretended there was. I hope this information may help you, especially as you combine it with what your research uncovers about your family's roots. I do think it's pretty clear-cut that with Poles the "paw" root is the best bet, with Lithuanians it's "good" root, and with Ukrainians it's the "weed" or "wheedle" root.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Latkiewicz - Ludzia - Przewozik

… When you have the time, I would appreciate information on any of these names: Ludzia, Latkiewicz, Przewozikowa.

In Latkiewicz the -iewicz suffix means "son of," so what we need to figure out is how to understand Latk-. It was most likely either a first name Latek or Latko, and appears to come from one of two roots lat-: one means "to fly," the other means "summer" or "year." There is also a root łat-, where ł is pronounced like our w; that root means "patch," so it makes a difference whether the initial L was originally a simple L or the slashed L. In any case, the surname means "son of Latko or Latek or Łatek or Łatko," and that first name could have meant several things. As of 1990 there were 56 Poles named Latkiewicz, and 41 named Łatkiewicz; in both cases they were scattered all over the Poland, with no one area of concentration.

Ludzia is rather rare, as of 1990 there were 44 Poles by that name, living in the provinces of Nowy Sącz (37), Olsztyn (3), and Wałbrzych (4). Unfortunately, I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, so what I've given here is all I have. This name could come from the root lud, "people, folk," or it could have started as a short form or nickname of names such as Ludwik (Louis), or of ancient pagan Polish names with that root lud) as their first element, e. g., Ludomir ("peace" + "people"), etc. To be honest, I think a connection with either Ludwik or one of those Ludo- names is the likely one.

PRZEWOZIK would be the form we're looking for with Przewozikowa -- the -owa suffix is usually one added to the standard form of a surname to indicate that the bearer is a married woman; in other words, Przewozikowa could be translated as "Mrs. Przewozik." The root przewoz- in Polish has to do with transporting or conveying items from one place to another, so it seems likely Przewozik should be interpreted as an occupational name for a carter or waggoner who moved items. This root is seen in moderately common names such as Przewozny (1,977 Poles by that name as of 1990) and Przewoznik (964). In fact, I can't help but wonder if the name you're interested in was originally Przewoznik and the -n- got dropped somewhere along the way. If it was, the name is pretty common and widespread. If, however, Przewozik is right, there were only 15 Poles by that name in 1990, all living in the province of Włocławek in central Poland.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Linettaj - Linette - Linettej - Linetty

…My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Linettey. The family used many spellings in this country (Linety, Lenety, Lennety, Lenertej, etc.); only one of my grandmother's seven siblings was male, and he's elusive. On ship records (emigration) and naturalization papers (1874 and 1884), Linettey was used.

Usually with names I can make at least some guess what the derivation is, but this one baffles me. It doesn't sound Polish, but my sources on Lithuanian and German names don't mention it either. It is possible it is a Germanic variant of the first name Leonard or Leonhard -- I've seen cases where a name like that can get changed quite a bit in some German dialects -- but as I say, none of my sources mention it, so that is purely a guess on my part. However, if you've run into the form Lenertej, that kind of strengthens this hypothesis, since Lenart and Lenert are known variants of "Leonard."

If I can't help you with the name's meaning, I can at least assure you that there are Poles by this name. I have a 10-volume directory that lists all the surnames of Polish citizens as of 1990, giving how many lived in Poland and a breakdown by province (but unfortunately no further details such as first names or addresses). As of 1990 there were 2 Linettaj (1 each in Warsaw and Bygdoszcz provinces), 60 Linette's (in these provinces: Bydgoszcz 19, Koszalin 10, Opole 5, Poznan 22, Wroclaw 4), 29 Linettej's (Warsaw 1, Bydgoszcz 13, Gdansk 1, Pila 1, Skierniewice 5, Torun 8), and 100 Linetty's (Bydgoszcz 42, Pila 34, Poznan 18, Torun 6). From the viewpoint of Polish linguistics and orthography, it's a good bet these are all different forms of the same name. Looking at the distribution and frequency, it appears Bydgoszcz province in northwestern Poland is the place this name appears most often. Also, all the provinces mentioned with sizable numbers are in the western part of Poland, the area long ruled by the Germans. So some sort of Germanic linguistic influence is plausible, and again this gives a little support to the idea that this might be a variant from the name Leonard. There are and always have been large numbers of ethnic Germans living in Poland, although after a few generations many came to think of themselves, and be thought of by others, as pure Poles.

So to sum up, the name is not common in Poland, but it does exist in several slightly different spellings, and it is seen mainly in those areas with large German populations and ruled by Germany from roughly 1772 to 1945. There is some reason to think it comes from the first name Leonard or Leonhard -- many, many surnames started as references to "son of so-and-so," so the name may have first been used to refer to the kin of some prominent fellow named Leonard.

If you don't mind spending $20 or so, you might want to try writing to the
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. They don't do genealogical research, but for a reasonable fee they will look in their extensive sources and see if they have information on the origins of individual names; and they can handle correspondence in English.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Literski

…I would appreciate any info you may have on Literski. I have traced them back to Lipposch, West Prussia.

None of my sources mention this name, so I'll have to speculate a little, and there's no guarantee I'm right; but usually when I do this I find out later I was on the right track. So I'll hope I don't mislead you.

There are two main possibilities: that it derives from a German word or name, or that it is Polish. Your tracing the family to West Prussia suggests we can't ignore a German origin. It was not unusual for Germans living in areas with Polish populations to gradually have their names Polonized, so that something like Liter or Lueter (ü or u-umlaut) might eventually become Literski. It's unclear what the German name might have been, but I think Lueter (a variant of Luther) is a distinct possibility, since the Poles would tend to turn that umlaut-u into the "ee" sound they write as i. So going strictly by phonetics and Polish orthography, it's plausible that Literski derived from some form of Luther or Lueter, which come from ancient German roots meaning "fame" or "people" plus the root meaning "army, people."

The other possibility is that it is Polish; if so, the most likely source is the root litera (borrowed from Latin) meaning "letter." This might seem an unlikely name, but until this century most Poles were illiterate, and it wouldn't strike me as odd if a rare individual who could read and write was designated as a man "of letters" -- which is what Literski would mean literally in this context.

Without research by experts who have traced this name back in documents to its origins, I have to go with the explanations that seem most likely to me. If you find strong German roots in your family, the Luether origin might be more likely; if they were ehtnic Poles, the "letter" connection would carry more weight.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Łącki - Łoncki

… I was wondering if you had any information on my last name of Loncki. I have a very small family with few relatives. Thanks for your time.

Loncki is usually a phonetic variant spelling of the name "properly" spelled Łącki; Ł is pronounced like our w, and Ą is pronounced like "own." We often see the Ł written as simple L, especially by non-Poles, and since Ą sounds a lot like ON, it is often spelled that way. So Loncki is probably a variant of Łącki, pronounced "WONT-skee." This name comes from the noun łąk, "meadow," or from place names from that same root such as Łąki, literally "meadows." In some cases it might also come from the verb łączyć, "to join, unite," or from ancient first names such as Łękomir -- but I think Loncki or Łącki would usually come from the connection with "meadow," either signifying a person who lived near a meadow or one who came from a place named Łąki or something similar because of its meadows.

The spelling Loncki is not very Polish, so it's not surprising there was no one living in Poland by that name as of 1990 -- Poles would naturally tend to spell it either Łoncki (47 by that name in 1990) or, more often, Łącki (3,343 Poles as of 1990). Such a surname could get started anywhere they spoke Polish and had meadows; and since Poland is basically one large mixture of fields and meadows, it's not surprising that it is common all over the country, with no perceptible pattern to the distribution.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Gruszczyński - Łukaszewski

… What can you tell me about the Lukaszewski?? I was told it was "high ranking". Nobility maybe. I have a Jacob born 1875. Don't know where for sure. Record said Berlin Germany but he must have been in Poland sometime. Also Gruszczynski?

Łukaszewski is like most names ending in -owski or -ewski, which usually began as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name. Names ending in -ski are adjectives, meaning "of, from, pertaining to X" where X is the first part of the name. We would expect Łukaszewski to refer to a place with a name like Łukaszew, Łukaszewo, Łukaszów, something like that. If the family was noble, the name was probably that of their estate or a village they owned; if the family was non-noble, the name was probably that of the village they lived in, came from, traveled to, etc. The place names themselves mean "the place of Lucas" (Łukasz is the Polish form of "Luke" or "Lucas"); so Łukaszewski can be broken down to Łukasz- + -ew- + -ski, "one of or from the [place] of Lucas." In some cases it might also just mean "kin of Lucas," but more often it refers to a place.

Unfortunately there are several places in Poland with names that qualify, including Łukaszów in Legnica province, Łukaszówka in Chełm province, Łukaszewo in Włocławek province, and Łukaszewice in Wrocław province. Most of these are in territory that used to be ruled by the Germans (i. e., northern or western Poland), and as you say, a Łukaszewski may have ended up in Berlin at some point, but the family wouldn't have gotten that name unless they were of Polish ethnic origin, so at some point the trail should lead back somewhere in Poland. But the surname itself doesn't give us enough information to let us specify which of the places named (or more too small to show up on maps) the surname originally referred to.

Łukaszewski is a pretty common name, as of 1990 there were 8,690 Polish citizens by this name, living in sizable numbers all over the country.

Gruszczyński is also common, there were 8,918 Poles by that name. The ultimate root is the word gruszka, "pear," but the surname probably comes from a place name such as Gruszczyn (at least 4 of those exist) or Gruszczyno (at least 1) -- which, in turn, would mean "place of the pears or pear-trees." So the surname means "one from Gruszczyn or Gruszczyno" = "one from the place of the pears."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Majkowski

… I was wondering the origin and meaning of my family name Majkowski. If you have the time I would appreciate a reply. Thank you very much.

The name Majkowski is adjectival in form, and means "of, from, or pertaining to Majek's or Majko's __," where you fill in the blank. In most cases, names ending in -owski refer to a place the family was connected with, where they lived or worked. We'd expect Majkowski to have meant originally "one from Majków or Majkowo (or some place with a similar name)." There are several villages in Poland named Majków, Majki, Majkowo, and all could generate this surname, so we can't pin down which one is the right one for a specific family without fairly detailed info on the family. In other words, I supply you with an idea of the kind of place name that would fit, and you use the data you learn about your family to see if there is a nearby place with that kind of name -- if so, you've probably found the right one.

The basic root of the surname and the place name is maj, "May." People were often named Majek or Majko, perhaps because they were born in May; Majki and Majków and Majkowo, etc., just mean "the place of Majek/Majko"; and as I said, Majkowski is an adjective referring to such a place. It might also, in some cases, refer directly to the first name, meaning in effect "kin of Majek or Majko"; but more often -owski names refer to a place rather than a person.

As of 1990 there were 5,086 Poles named Majkowski, so it's a pretty common name, found all over Poland.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Makarewicz

… I was wondering if you know or the origin of the surname Makarewicz. The earliest relatives I know of who came over on a ship are Aloysi (not sure of spelling - might be Aloysius) and Francesca. They ended up residing in the suburbs of Boston, MA.

This surname is fairly simple: -ewicz means "son of," and Makary is a first name (from a Greek word meaning "happy, fortunate"), so the name means "son of Makary." This particular first name is used more in eastern Poland and Belarus and Ukraine, so the Makarewicz's probably (not necessarily, but probably) came originally from the eastern part of the old Polish Commonwealth. As of 1990 there were 4,484 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country, so I'm afraid I can't point you toward any more specific region than just "eastern Poland and Belarus and Ukraine." The name just doesn't offer any clues that allow me to say anything more definite.

In Polish the first names of your ancestors would be Alojzy (= English Aloysius) and Franciszka (= English Francesca or Frances).

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Matuch

…I have not been able to find the surname Matuch. Stanley Matuch came to US from Kolbuszowa Rzeszow Poland in Nov 1905. Any help with this name greatly appreciated have been searching for many years with no results in finding any info other than family history.

It's not surprising you're having trouble finding anything about this name -- it is quite rare, even in Poland. As of 1990 there were only 24 Polish citizens named Matuch; 3 of them lived in Wroclaw province, the other 21 lived in Rzeszow province in southeastern Poland. I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, but this data strongly suggests southeastern Poland and western Ukraine is where this name comes from.

Names beginning with Mat- can come from the roots matka, "mother," or matać, "to swindle," but in most cases they come from abbreviations or nicknames formed from popular first names such as Mateusz ("Matthew") or Maciej or Matyjasz (both "Matthias"). Poles and Ukrainians often formed names by taking the first few letters, dropping the rest (much as we made "Matt" from "Matthew"), then adding suffixes. In fact, there is a known nickname for "Matthew" in Ukrainian, "Matyukha," which is very similar to this surname. So Matuch probably started either in Polish or Ukrainian, and it wouldn't mean much more than "Matt's son."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Miarka

…When you have time, could you please lookup the name of Miarka?

This name appears in records as far back as 1437, and comes from the root miar- or mier-, meaning "measure." There is a term miarka, which is a diminutive of miara, "measure," meaning something like "small measure." As of 1990 there were 1,224 Polish citizens named Miarka, living all over the country but with especially large numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (206), Czestochowa (210) and Katowice (191), which are all in southcentral Poland; so while you encounter the name all over Poland, that part is where it is most common.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Sypniewski

...Any origin information on Sypniewski.....much appreciated...

 

This is a common name in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 3,225 Polish citizens named Sypniewski. It originated as referring to some association of a family with any of several villages called Sypniewo -- as a practical matter you can usually translate it as "one from Sypniewo." The villages called Sypniewo are mainly in the Pomerania region in northwestern Poland, specifically the provinces of Bydgoszcz and Pila. The surname is found all over Poland, but is most common in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (429), Konin (400), Poznan (367), i. e., in west central Poland.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Jąkała - Jonkała

...I was wondering if you had any information on the surname of Jakala?...

 

Yes, I believe so. The only question is, how was it spelled in Poland? This is probably an anglicized version of Polish Jąkała, where ą stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it and pronounced like on, and the ł stands for the l with a slash through it, pronounced like our w, so that the name sounds like "yon-KAH-wah." If so, it is almost certainly from the Polish noun jąkała, which means "stammerer." It's not a very common name -- as of 1990 there were 147 Poles named Jąkała. They were scattered all over the country, but with a noticeable concentration in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (10), Katowice (12), Krakow (16), and Nowy Sacz (29) -- these are all in southcentral Poland, by the Czech/Slovak border. So you'd expect people with this name to come from that region, more often than not.

 

If subsequent research proves that this is not the right form of the name, let me know and I'll see if I can find anything else. But I'm fairly certain this is the one you're talking about. By the way, the ą is pronounced much like on, and you often see names with ą spelled with on. So either Jąkała or Jonkała is possible -- keep your eyes open for that alternate spelling!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Wołkowycki

...I would be grateful if you could tell me something about the origin and meaning of Wolkowycki, my family name. Also would my family have a family seal or coat of arms? My father was from the Bialowieza area, his family had been there for generations...

 

This is a surname derived from a place name, any of several villages or estates named something like Wolkowicze or perhaps Wolkowysk (including a major town called Wolkowysk/Volkovysk in what is now Belarus), etc. Those places in turn got their names from the root wolk, "wolf," possibly from Wolkowicz meaning "son of the wolf, Wolf's son." As of 1990 there were 338 Polish citizens named Wołkowycki (the Ł stands for the Polish slashed L, which sounds like our W); the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Białystok (359) and Suwałki (25), with just a few scattered here and there in other provinces. I have no source of data for Belarus, most likely there are quite a few citizens of that country with the same name, most likely modified slightly to fit the phonetic patterns of Belarusian. But the form Wołkowycki is definitely Polish, and a great many Poles, including nobles, lived in Belarus; so it is not odd to see Poles with surnames derived from places that are now outside Poland's modern boundaries.

 

I'm afraid I know very little about the nobility -- all I'm qualified to discuss is the linguistic origin of names -- so I suggest you contact the Polish Nobility Association Foundation, Villa Anneslie, 529 Dunkirk Rd., Anneslie, MD 21212-2014. The editor of their journal, Leonard Suligowski, has an extensive library on European and East European nobility and heraldry and might be able to provide you with some leads.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Dylla - Pstrągowski - Pstrongowski

... I've come across 2 more family names that I have no idea where they originated from. If you have any spare time, could you help me out. The two names are Pstrongowski and Dylla. Dylla might not be Polish, but my Grandpa told me it was..

 

Dylla is a name that could probably arise in other languages, but it definitely can be a Polish name. As of 1990 there were 160 Poles with this name spelled this way, with the vast majority living in the province of Katowice in southcentral Poland. There were also 1227 Dyla's -- Polish tends to avoid doubled consonants, so usually a name with a double consonant is a variant form of the same name with that consonant just once, thus Dylla is probably just an alternate form of Dyla. Dyla is also most common in Katowice province (488), with large numbers also in the provinces of Czestochowa (261), Kalisz (120), and Opole (215) and a few scattered in other provinces. All these provinces are in southcentral and southwestern Poland. The name probably comes from the Slavic root dyl, meaning "something long"; for instance, the word dyl means "deal, beam, rough board," that is, a long, thin piece of wood. There is also a term dyląg meaning "long fellow," and you'd figure most of the time a name like Dyl or Dyla got started as a nickname for a tall, thin fellow.

 

Pstrongowski is an alternate spelling of Pstrągowski, where ą stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it and pronounced like on; Polish words or names with ą very often have alternate spellings with on, that is not at all unusual; but usually the form with ą is the "correct" or standard form. As of 1990 there were only 35 Polish citizens named Pstrongowski (29 in Gdansk province, 6 in Radom province), but there were 661 named Pstrągowski, with the largest numbers (over 50) in the provinces of Ciechanow (90), Gdansk (98), Łomża (61), Ostrołęka (65), and Warsaw (55). The surname, like most names ending in -owski, surely originated as a reference to a place name, something like Pstrągi, Pstrągow, Pstrągowo. My maps show a Pstrągowa in Rzeszow province, and some Pstrągowskis probably came from there; but a gazetteer shows at least 4 other places named Pstrągi or Pstrągowa or Pstrągówka, and the surname Pstrągowski could have originated, and very likely did, as a reference to any or all of them. That probably explains why the name is so scattered all over Poland, it developed independently from the names of places all over. The root of all these names is the term pstrąg, "trout," so presumably these were places where trout were caught and sold.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Dziewedik - Mierzwa

...I am just beginning my search about my mother's family. I found your articles and would like to know if you can help me find information about her maiden name. In English it was spelled Dziewedik. My grandmother's maiden name was Mierzwa. Any help would be helpful. My grandmother died when I was very young and any records disappeared when she died?

 

I'm afraid I can't help too much. With Dziewedik, the problem is that that spelling seems wrong, but I can't imagine what the correct spelling should be; usually I can look at or say a name aloud and figure out what it would have been, but this one has me stumped. It can't have been anglicized too much and still keep Dziew-, a very Polish spelling, but the -edik part sounds odd. The root dziew- means "maiden, young woman," but again, that second part makes no sense; if we knew what it was originally, that could change everything. As of 1990 there were no Polish citizens with the name Dziewedik or any likely spelling variation I could think of, so I'm coming up empty on this one.

 

Mierzwa is a name that amazes many people. It comes from the word mierzwa, which means "matted straw, the stable straw which needs to be mucked out when it gets too befouled with waste," in short "manure" -- and it's a very common name! As of 1990 there were 5,596 Polish citizens named Mierzwa, living all over the country but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (670), Kielce (247), Krakow (219), Lublin (261), Rzeszow (351), Tarnobrzeg (737), Tarnow (275), and Wroclaw (244)... How this name got to be so common is beyond me! But there have been some prominent Poles and Polish-Americans who bore this name, so obviously it's not a name to be ashamed of -- in fact, compared to some other Polish surnames I've come across, this one is not bad at all. Most likely this name was given as a nickname to farm-laborers who mucked out the stables, and eventually stuck as a surname.

 

It's a shame these names don't offer you much in the way of clues as to your family's place of origin -- Dziewedik is too rare, Mierzwa too common -- but if it's any consolation, that's the way it is with most Polish surnames. Comparatively few offer any really helpful clues.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Szarafin

I enjoyed reading your page on surnames in the Polish Genealogy Society of Texas web page. My ancestors have the Szarafin family name. If possible, I would really enjoy your name description?

 

 

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut lists Szarafin among the names coming from the first name Serafin, which is the Polish version of the Hebrew word seraphim, one of the orders of angels mentioned in the Bible (for instance, Isaiah 6:2). Seraphim never really caught on as a first name in English-speaking countries, and it's not all that popular in Poland, but it's not unheard of; as of 1994 there were 508 Polish males named "Serafin." That's the form of the name in modern Polish usage, but in old records we see other forms, including Szarafin (pronounced something like "shah-RAH-fin"). Centuries ago when surnames were being formed it was pretty common to refer to children by their father's name, and as time went on those names often stuck as surnames; so this name probably started as a way of referring to the children of someone named Szarafin/Serafin.

 

As of 1990 there were 371 Polish citizens with this surname, scattered all over the country but with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Bygdoszcz (40), Gdansk (192), and Zamosc (65). That's pretty scattered, Bydgoszcz and Gdansk are in the northcentral and northwestern part of the country, Zamosc is in far southeastern Poland, so we can't say the name is concentrated in any one area. However, that's typical of surnames formed from first names.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Sochacki

... I was wondering if you have the time could you please derive my family surname? The surname is Sochacki. My great grandfather left Borszczow, Poland in 1912 and came to the United States. Through some research I have discovered that Borszczow is a sub-district within a district called Peczenizyn. This district is located in Ukraine. Boy! Is that ever confusing! Any information would be helpful.

 

Sochacki appears to come ultimately from the root socha, "a forkedstick, a primitive kind of wooden plow." There is a term from this root,sochacz, "resident of a village or an area near a town who has theright to bring meat to market and sell it." Sochacki probably comes fromthis term sochacz, or perhaps from a place name from this root,something like Sochacze. I can't find any such place in my maps orgazetteers, but that doesn't mean there never was such a village -- manysurnames come from names of places that have long since had their nameschanged, or disappeared, or been absorbed by other communities. So Ithink Sochacki must have originated as a description of a family thatfit this category, or from the name of a place where such people lived.

 

This name appears in Polish legal records as far back as 1443, and as of1990 there were 7,569 Polish citizens named Sochacki, so it's both oldand common. I don't see any pattern to the name's frequency anddistribution, it's common in provinces all over Poland. So it doesn'tprovide much in the way of clues where a given Sochacki family mighthave originated; fortunately, you already have that info!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Prusinowski

... found your page while searching the web. If I read your posting correctly Iassume you can help me. Looking for any information on the surname Prusinowski...

 

Names ending in -owski usually derive from the names of towns or villages, which generally end in -y, -ow, -owo, -owka, etc. In this case there are at least 13 villages the name Prusinowski could derive from, including 1 Prusinow, 4 Prusinowice, 1 Prusinowko, 7 Prusinowo. The Prusinowices are a little less likely to be the source of the name, the Prusinow and Prusinowo are the most likely; but really, the name could have been applied to a family coming from any of these places. Those places, in turn, got their names from the term Prusin, "Prussian," so you could say Prusinowski means basically "person from Prussian-town." It might also refer, in some cases, to descendants of Prussians, rather than to residents of a place founded or inhabited by Prussians, although that would be a bit less common. The one thing that's clear is that the name is linked with Prussians somehow, and probably as a reference to the names of the villages the various Prusinowski families came from.

 

Folks not acquainted with Polish history are sometimes puzzled when I say such-and-such a name refers to Prussians, or is Lithuanian, or Ukrainian, etc. Poland's history is such that Poland has ruled many areas populated by people of non-Polish ethnic origin, so it's not at all unusual to find Poles whose names come from another language or refer to another ethnic group. For that matter, Hoffman is about as German a name as you can get, and as of 1990 there were over 12,000 Polish citizens with that name (in one spelling or another).

 

As of 1990 there were 1,849 Polish citizens named Prusinowski. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers (100+) in the provinces of Warsaw (123), Ciechanow (118), Lodz (166), Łomża (195), Olsztyn (153), Ostrołęka (128), and Suwałki (138). These provinces are scattered all over Poland, so the name can't be connected with any one part of the country -- although it tends to be most common in the northern parts of Poland that were long ruled by Prussia, which makes sense!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Smuskiewicz

... Do you or can you get information on the surname of Smuskiewicz?...

 

 

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut lists several names beginning with Smus- as coming from the term smusz, "eelskin, piece of cloth." He does not list Smuskiewicz specifically, but it is likely the name comes from the same basic root. I note there is a dialect or archaic word smusik that appears to be relevant, it means "a lamb or ram's skin covered with wool, tanned or unbleached." So any way you slice it, the name appears to derive from a term meaning "piece of cloth or animal skin." The -iewicz suffix means "son of," so this name means literally "son of eelskin, son of cloth." Most likely the Smusik/Smuszyk or whatever started out as a nickname for a person, perhaps because he was always using or making such cloth, and then the -iewicz form was applied to his offspring and stuck as a surname.

 

This is not a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were some 79 Poles named Smuśkiewicz (ś = s with an accent over it, pronounced like a soft "sh"). They lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz (4), Gorzow (3), Konin (39), Koszalin (8), Poznan (1), Szczecin (6), Walbrzych (4), Zielona Gora (4). (I'm afraid I don't have access to any further details such as first names, addresses, etc.). It's interesting to note that these are almost all in areas formerly ruled by Germany, which makes some sense, as the Polish words mentioned are thought to derive originally from a German word. That doesn't mean the Smuśkiewiczes are ethnic Germans, just that their name comes from a word that was borrowed from German centuries ago.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Czerner - Tscherner

 

...If you would please, I would like to know what my Czerner surname means and its possible origin in Polish history. I have heard that it might be related to nobility of the 14th or 15th century in current central Poland...

 

Czerner is a rather unusual name, because the root czern- or czarn- in Polish (and most other Slavic languages) means "black, dark," but the suffix -er is rare in Polish -- it usually indicates German origin. Hans Bahlow's Deutsches Namenlexikon mentions this name under the German phonetic spelling Tscherner; the tsch in German is pronounced like cz in Polish, like our "ch" in "church." Bahlow says that name indicates place of origin, which makes sense -- in German -er is often added to a place name to indicate "person from, native of," as in Berliner, "native of Berlin," Hamburger "native of Hamburg." Bahlow says Tscherner comes from place names such as Tscherna, Tscherne, Tschirnau, and this is the final piece of the puzzle: those names are German renderings of Polish place names such as Czernow, Czarnow, and so forth. So the name means the family probably came from a place that was ruled by Germans for a long time but originally had a Polish name. Once the Germans had taken over such a place, they would modify the Polish names Czernow, Czarnow, etc. to German forms (Tscherne, Tschirnau) and then the -er suffix could be added. This makes sense, and explains how a Polish root czern- could end up with a German suffix -er.

 

We would expect such a name to be most common in areas once ruled by Germans but now in either eastern Germany or western Poland. I looked in a source that gives the total number of Polish citizens bearing particular names as of 1990 and tells how many lived in each province of Poland. As of 1990 there were 720 Poles named Czerner, and the overwhelming majority lived in the provinces of Katowice (377) and Opole (289), with a few scattered in other provinces. Katowice and Opole are both in Silesia, the area of southwestern Poland that was long ruled by Germany, so that all fits.

 

Unfortunately there are a great many towns and villages with names coming from the root czern-, so it's impossible to tell which particular one your family might have been associated with, and my source for the info given above does not provide details such as first names or addresses. So what I've given you is all I have.

 

I know very little about Polish nobility. When I have questions on the subject, I contact the Polish Nobility Association Foundation and editor of the PNAF's journal White Eagle.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Limanowski - Michalski

...I ran across your site today and really like what you've done. If it's not too much trouble, could you please send some information on my last name. My father's side is Limanowski and mother's side is Michalski...

 

I'm glad you like my site, and I'm glad to say I can give you at least a little basic info on these names.

 

Both of these are fairly common names in Poland. Limanowski can derive from two roots: from liman, "a lake or bay separated by a narrow strip of land from the sea," or from a place that takes its name from the old Germanic first name Ilman (with the first two letters inverted, which is not uncommon). In either case, then, we're talking about a surname that derives from a place name. Most of the time Limanowski would have started as a name for people coming from towns or villages named Limanow, Limanowa, Limanowo, etc., especially the town of Limanowa in Nowy Sacz province, in southcentral Poland. That town's name came from the old Germanic name Ilman mentioned above, so Limanowski means "person associated with the place of Ilman," or just "person from Limanowa." Ilman is thought to be the name of the man who founded the town or perhaps a noble who owned it at one point. As of 1990 there were 458 Poles named Limanowski; they were scattered all over Poland, but with a slight concentration in southcentral Poland, i.e., in the provinces of Katowice (50), Krakow (50), and Tarnow (73) -- which makes sense.

 

As of 1990 there were 51,325 Poles named Michalski, living all over the country. That's to be expected: Michalski just means "of Michael," and could mean "kin of Michael," "people from Michael's place," etc. You'd expect this name to show up anywhere they spoke Polish and had guys named Michał, "Michael" -- namely, all over Poland! And that's just what we see. (By the way, the ł stands for the Polish slashed l, pronounced like our w; but it turns into normal l when the suffix -ski is added.)

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Andrzejewski - Januszewski

 

 

... I'm just beginning my search on my Polish roots and since my grandfather changed his name to Andrews after he arrived here... I think (but, not 100% sure) that the following is his original polish name. I'd love to know anything you can tell me about it: Januszewski. I wish I knew my grandmother?s name (she was such an angel from Poland also) so hopefully, in my search, I'll discover it.

 

Well, the Polish equivalents of "Andrew" are Andrzej and Jędrzej (with ę standing for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it, pronounced sort of like en, so I would have expected the original Polish name of someone called Andrews would turn out to be "Andrzejewski" or something similar. However, these things don't always work the way we expect. Maybe your grandfather just liked the sound of "Andrews."

 

In any case, Januszewski comes ultimately from the name Janusz, a variant form of Jan, "John." But the endings -owski or -ewski usually indicate reference to a place name, and generally Januszewski got started as meaning "person from Januszewo," and that name in turn means "place of Janusz," presumably referring to the founder of the village or a noble who owned it at some point. So Januszewski means "person associated with the place of Janusz" -- but in practical terms that boils down to "person from Januszewo." Januszewski is pretty common, as of 1990 there were 3,491 Polish citizens with this surname.

 

Unfortunately, there are at least 4 villages named Januszewo, plus a few more with slightly different names that could generate the surname Januszewski. So I can't pin down exactly where the family came from. However, if your research helps you determine the part of Poland the family lived in, and if you find on maps or in other references mention of a place nearby with a name beginning in Janusz-, chances are fairly good that's the place the surname originally referred to.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Andrzejewski - Rozanski - Stablewski - Winnicki

...I have recently become extremely interested in researching my family history and the history/meaning of my surname. The other names associated with my family are Stablewski, Rozanski, and Andzrejewski.

Basically, all four of these names derived the same way, from toponyms (place names). So for instance Winnicki comes from the word winnica, "vineyard." Besides being a common noun, this is also the name of several towns and villages, especially the city of Winnica (now Vinnitsa in Ukraine). So the surname probably started as a way of referring to a person from a town or village named Winnica, or else a person who owned or worked in a vineyard. If you think about it, it's 6 of one, half-dozen of the other -- a place surely wouldn't have gotten the name Winnica if there weren't a prominent vineyard there... Winnicki is a rather common name, as of 1990 there were 4,637 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country.

Andrzejewski almost certainly started as meaning "person or family connected with a place called Andrzejew, Andrzejewo or Andrzejow." If the family were noble, their estate probably was called by one of those names; if they were peasants, they worked on such an estate or came from a town or village by that name. Unfortunately, there are quite a few places in Poland with names that qualify, at least 2 Andrzejewos, 7 Andrzejows, and 2 Andrzejowkas (all of which started as names meaning "Andrew's place, Andrew's estate"). Probably all these places had families that took this surname, so Andrzejewski surely arose as a surname in many different places at different times, and it's a good bet the Andrzejewskis are not all related. Since places by these names are not rare, it's no wonder there were 26,917 Andrzejewskis in Poland as of 1990.

Róz|ański is also a common name -- as of 1990 there were 11,624 Poles by that name. The ultimate root is róz|a, "rose," but in most cases Róz|ański probably started as meaning "person or family connected with a place called Róz|any, Róz|anna, Róz|anki, etc.," and those places got their names from some connection with roses or, in a few cases, maybe were named for a woman named Róz|a or Róz|anna. As is usual with common surnames connected with place names, there are many places all over Poland that qualify, so the surname gives little in the way of clues as to where the family might have come from.

Stablewski is by far the least common name you asked about -- as of 1990 there were only 176 Poles by that name, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (23), Bydgoszcz (80), Koszalin (24), and Lodz (12) and smaller numbers in a few other provinces. A 15-volume gazetteer of Polish localities shows 3 that might be connected with this name. 1) Stablewice was a knightly estate in Chelmno county, served by the Catholic parish in Unislaw, about 5 km. to the southwest in what is now Torun province. 2) Stablowice was a village in Opawa county, an area that was once part of Poland but is now in the Czech Republic -- I believe this must be what is now Stablovice about 10 km. SSW of Opava in the northeastern Czech Republic, very near the border with Poland. 3) Stablowice, an estate and village about 5 km. northwest of Wroclaw in southwestern Poland. Theoretically the surname Stablewski could have originated referring to any of these places, or to others that don't show up on my maps and in my gazetteers.

I'm sorry the names don't give better clues as to exactly where the families came from, but to be honest, there aren't many Polish surnames that do. I hope this info does you some good, and I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Klocko - Kloczko - Kłodzko

...Dear Mr. Hoffman, you were kind enough to provide me with a wealth of information about my own surname, Basinski, and I am most grateful to you. With some trepidation, therefore, I wish to impose upon you again with a request concerning the origin of my mother's maiden name, Klocko. My understanding is that her parents came from Białystok. Any help will be much appreciated. By the way, I think you are doing a wonderful service to the Polish community...

 

I appreciate your kind words, and am glad you think so! And you're not imposing on me -- people who ask politely about one name at a time are welcome to any info I can give. It's the folks who send me a dozen names, expect immediate answers, and never offer to pay a penny -- they are the ones who impose, and they are the ones I ignore.

 

Klocko is kind of a tough name to be sure about, because it could come from a couple of different sources. Prof. Rymut mentions it in his book on Polish surnames, saying it appears in records as far back as 1385, and comes from the term kloc, "log, large piece of wood." This is probably correct, but I can't help thinking that if the L is the Polish slashed L, Kłocko sounds just like Kłodzko, the name of a fairly good-sized town in Walbrzych province. I can't rule out the possibility that the surname might also have gotten started as a way of referring to people who came from Kłodzko. The ultimate root is the same in either case, from the word for "log"... Of course, if your ancestors came from the Białystok area it's somewhat unlikely their name would refer to a place clear across Poland (Walbrzych is in southwestern Poland), so Rymut's derivation seems likely to be right in your case; the other possibility would more likely be relevant for Klocko's from southwestern Poland.

 

If the spelling of the name is Klocko with the normal L, there were only 41 Polish citizens by that name in 1990; they lived in the provinces of Warsaw (4), Bydgoszcz (2), Gdansk (5), Katowice (5), Krosno (3), Nowy Sacz (2), Przemysl (4), Rzeszow (5), Siedlce (1), Torun (4), Walbrzych (3), Wroclaw (2), and Zielona Gora (1). None showed up as living in Białystok province.

 

There is also a name Kłoczko, and in Polish the cz often is simplified to c, especially in Mazuria, so this might be relevant. The name appears to come from the term kłoczek, "hay-binder," although I can't be sure of that derivation; if it's not from that, it, too, is probably from the root meaning "log." This name is more common, as of 1990 there were 845 Kłoczko's in Poland, with the largest numbers living in the provinces of Białystok (90) and Suwałki (362). I wanted to mention this one because it sounds as if it's most common in the right part of Poland for you, and the others aren't. And Kłoczko = Kłocko is very plausible, especially in that part of the country, where the local dialect has a definite tendency to change the "ch" sound of cz to the "ts" sound of c... If I were you, I'd keep my eyes open for Kłoczko, you may well run across that spelling, too, in some records.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kudla

... I am e-mailing you with a request to find any information on the surname Kudla. I have been able to find the surname Kudla in various phone books and through certain resources, but I have been unsuccessful at finding anything out about the Kudla origin, meaning, family crest, etc. as it pertains to Polish history. My father is a first-generation American and my grandparents were born in Poland, but moved to the U.S. I am curious to find out if the surname Kudla was "Americanized" and could have been spelled differently in Poland...

 

 

Well, let me say first that even the greatest expert can not look at a name such as Kudla and say for sure it has never been shortened or anglicized. Only your research can establish whether the name was altered somewhere along the line. However, I can tell you that Kudla is a perfectly good Polish name in its own right, and there's no reason to suspect that it's been changed. We can't rule out the possibility that tomorrow you'll find a document from the old country that proves it was originally, say, Kudlacik. But there are thousands of Poles with the name Kudla, so the odds are it hasn't been tampered with.

 

As of 1990 there were 3,761 Polish citizens with the name Kudła; here ł is how we represent on-line the Polish l with a slash through it, which sounds like our w, so that this name is pronounced roughly "COULD-wah." There were another 383 with the name spelled Kudla (no slash through the L, which is pronounced like a normal L). From a linguistic point of view Kudła is probably the standard form, and Kudla is the variant, perhaps due to slight differences in pronunciation influenced by dialects, something of that sort. The Kudła's lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers (over 200) in the provinces of Czestochowa (241), Katowice (430), Kielce (260), Radom (215), and Tarnow (212). The distribution pattern shows the name is somewhat more common in southcentral and southeastern Poland; but it is not so pronounced as to be really helpful in any practical way.

 

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book, saying that Kudła appears in Polish legal records as far back as 1399, and it derives from the term kudeł, "mop of hair." So it's one of many names that derived as a reference to a particular physical characteristic; the name Kudła was likely to be given as a nickname to someone with a fine, thick head of hair (or, in some cases, to one with little or no hair, as we'd call a big man "Tiny"). The name stuck and became a surname. It's not surprising the name is fairly common all over Poland, since this name could get started anywhere they spoke Polish and there were guys with thick hair, i. e., anywhere.

 

I'm afraid when it comes to nobility and family crests I can't be much help. There is a group you might try contacting, the Polish Nobility Association Foundation, Villa Anneslie, 529 Dunkirk Rd., Anneslie, MD 21212-2014. I believe they offer a service by which, for a moderate fee, they will search their sources and see if a particular family was ever recognized as noble. So I can't help you, but perhaps the PNAF can.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Przyżycki

...I have just begun my research in my family history, I have reletive liveing in Chicago area. The name I would like to learn more about is Przyzycki I think it was from Warsaw...

 

 

This is not an extremely common name, but not really rare either. As of 1990 there were 341 Polish citizens named Przyżycki (I'm using ż to indicate the z with a dot over it, pronounced like "s" in the English word "measure"). Of those 341, the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (66), Lodz (33), and Skierniewice (164) -- that is, in the very center of Poland -- with much smaller numbers living in a few other provinces here and there. So it sounds as if your ancestors came from the part of the country where this name is most concentrated. Unfortunately I have no access to details such as first names or addresses, but this is like narrowing it down to 3 counties in the U.S. -- it's not going to tell you everything you want to know, but it might be some help... By the way, in Polish RZ and Ż are pronounced exactly the same, so don't be thrown if you ever happen to run across this name spelled Przyrzycki. It's rare, as of 1990 there were only 2 people in Poland who spelled the name that way, but it is a distinct possibility.

 

A name like this probably originated as a reference to a place name. I can't find any place on my maps named Przyżyca or Przyrzyca or Przyżyce, but that is the sort of place name you'd expect Przyżycki to come from. However, I note that often names with the root rzek- or rzec-, "river," can be spelled with y instead of e, and that might be relevant here. If Przyżycki is a variant of Przyrzecki, that would make a lot of sense -- it would mean "by the river," thus one who lived on or near a river. I can't be certain that's right, but it is linguistically feasible, and it makes sense. I would guess your ancestors got their name either because they lived near a river, or because they came from a place named Przyrzyce or Przyrzecze, which in turn got its name because it was located on or near a river.

 

I know this isn't a definitive answer to your questions, but it may be some help -- and to be honest, very few Polish names offer enough clues to let me say "Ah, you came from right here!" There are too many places with the same name, too many factors that can affect spelling, etc. So this is about the best I can do. I hope it's some help.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Kornecki - Macebulski

...I am trying to find information on the name Macebulski and Kornecki. As far as I know I am the only Macebulski in this hemisphere and Kornecki is said to have Swedish origins.Any help would be great...

 

I can't find a thing on Macebulski, not in any of my sources! There was no one in Poland by that name as of 1990 (although there was apparently one person named Macebula, but no data is available on where he/she lived). I don't often strike out completely, but this one has me baffled. If you're really interested, I recommend contacting the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute. They don't do genealogical research, just research on name origins, and I think this is one they'd find challenging. They can handle correspondence in English, and usually the charge for researching one or two names is $20 or so. 

 

Kornecki is not nearly so tough, as of 1990 there were 1,149 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country but with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Katowice (109), Kielce (223), Krakow (171), and Wroclaw (82), all in southern Poland in a kind of band from southwest through central to southeast. There are three roots this name could come from: the less likely ones are kornik, "bark-beetle," or korny, "humble, submissive." But I would go for derivation from the first name Korneliusz, "Cornelius." It makes excellent sense that Kornek would be a diminutive or nickname of Korneliusz, "little Cornelius" or "Cornelius's son," and Kornecki is just that name with an adjectival suffix added. If I'm right about this, the name would mean roughly "kin of Kornek," or else "coming from Kornek's place." I can't be positive that's right, because the exact derivation could differ from one Kornecki family to the next; but that's the explanation that strikes me as soundest... If you write the Workshop, you might as well ask if they can add anything to this. They're the real experts, I basically just take the work Polish scholars do and make it available to folks who don't read Polish.

 

If you do write the Workshop and hear from them, I'd be very interested in hearing what they have to say about Macebulski!  That one's got me intrigued.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Czeszejko

...My family name is in fact Czeszejko-Sochacki, although I only use Sochacki because of the daunting combination that this presents in the Anglo-Saxon world... Nevertheless, I am aware that the name still exists in Poland having out of curiosity, and to my surprise, generated three pages of responses to it when using the Polski Infoseek Web Crawler (an address for which I obtained from genpol incidentally)... I am therefore interested to know if you could shed any light on the name Czeszejko, or Czeszejko-Sochacki...

  

This is a fascinating name. Compound surnames are not all that common in Poland, but you're right about yours: as of 1990 there were 501 Polish citizens named Czeszejko, and another 428 named Czeszejko-Sochacki! The latter lived all over Poland, but the only provinces in which more than 20 lived were Elblag (223), Gdansk (37), Gorzow (22), Legnica (23), and Warsaw (33). (Czeszejko, by itself, has a similar distribution pattern). One would suspect the name originated in the Elblag-Gdansk area, on the Baltic in northern Poland, and perhaps those living in other provinces moved from there over the course of time -- but I have no real proof of that, it's only a logical hypothesis... Usually compound surnames in Polish are associated with noble families and consist of the name of a coat of arms plus a family name, as in "Nowina-Sokolnicki," distinguishing the family Sokolnicki who were members of clan Nowina and bore its arms. I am not aware of any clan Czeszejko, but I'm hardly an expert on Polish nobility, and I can't help wondering if there is one. That would explain a lot.

 

I've already talked about Sochacki in the note you referred to. Czeszejko is a bit of a challenge, because it could come from three roots. The verb root czes- means "to comb (hair), hackle (flax); names in Czesz- also often come from the root czech, meaning (surprise!) "Czech." Also, such names can come from a root Czesz- which derives from the Polish first name Czesław (the ł stands for the Polish slashed L, which sounds like English w). Poles often formed nicknames or by-names by taking the first few sounds of a popular name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So Czeszek, Czeszko, etc. often originated somewhat as "Chet" can be a nickname in English for "Chester" (by the way, Czesław and Chester have nothing to do with each other except a coincidental similarity in sound).

 

So Czeszejko could have started as a term for someone who did a lot of combing or hackling; as a term for a Czech or descendant of Czechs; or descendants of a fellow with the name Czesław or a nickname from that name. Of the three, I would think the Czesław is the likely link in most cases. But I have no firm information on which to say so definitively. I also have no information as to when and how the names Czeszejko and Sochacki came to be linked in the case of what is, presumably, one family (?). My Polish encyclopedia does mention that there was a Polish labor activist named Jerzy Sochacki-Czeszejko, pseudonym Bratkowski, who lived 1892-1933.

 

If you're really interested, I recommend contacting the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute. They don't do genealogical research, just research on name origins, but they may well have some sources that talk about the origin of Czeszejko, maybe even something on the link with Sochacki. They can handle correspondence in English, and usually the charge for researching one or two names is $20 or so.

I'm sorry I couldn't provide definitive information, but perhaps what I've given you will prove useful. If you do write the Workshop and learn anything, I'd be very interested in knowing what they said, so I could add it to the next edition of my book, "Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings."

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

  

Barciniak

...My friend Kelly should scan you the document. We are trying to find our relatives Barciniak. What does this name mean? This looks like an Americanized version. What do you think it could have been originally? We can't find any links for this surname.

 

Barciniak looks like a perfectly good Polish name -- I would have expected it to be rather common. Yet the Surname Directory shows only one Pole by this name I 1990, living in the province of Gdansk. This is very surprising, I would have expected far more. The suffix -iak usually means either "son of" or "person from," so this name may have started as meaning "son of Bart" (a name that can come from Bartholomew or an Old Germanic name Barta), or it might in some cases mean "person from Barcin, Barcino," etc. There are several such villages, especially Barcin and Barcin-Wies in Bydgoszcz province, and Barcino in Slupsk province.

 

I can't get over how rare this name is. Maybe I was mislead because Marciniak (son of Martin) is such a common name. Just going by that, I really thought Barciniak would also be fairly common. But it's not, and that just proves you can never make assumptions!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 

 

Motyl

...Can you tell me anything about my last name Motyl. I know it means butterfly in Polish--but who would adopt this as their last name, and why? ...

 

It can be tough sometimes to understand why a particular name stuck, but since the name Motyl shows up in documents as early as 1414, and since as of 1990 there were 4,120 Polish citizens with this name, we have to assume at some point there was a good reason. A lot of the time these names that seem odd started out as nicknames, and nicknames can be baffling to those who don't know the reason they were given. People are still arguing over exactly what Groucho Marx's name came from, whether it was because he was a grouch or because he always carried what used to be called a "grouch-bag"? This question dates from earlier this century, and even his friends are still arguing over which origin is right. So you can imagine the difficulty trying to decipher a Polish name almost 600 years old!

 

A person might have been called Motyl because he liked to catch butterflies, or lived near a field or area with a lot of butterflies, or wore brightly colored clothes that reminded people of butterflies. But the term motyl also is applied to humans, in a transferred sense, as meaning a person who's rather flighty, tends not to stay in one place and flit about -- in other words, the person's character reminded folks of a butterfly's motion. So the connection, in many cases, was probably figurative rather than literal... And remember, people don't always choose a nickname, sometimes one gets forced on them, often much to their displeasure. So your ancestors may not have chosen to be called Motyl, they may have had no choice in the matter.

 

I'm sorry I can't give you a definitive answer, but I hope maybe these comments are a little help. And believe me, "butterfly" is a wonderful name compared to some I've run into. In the last few weeks I've had to tell people their names meant "manure, stable straw that animals have befouled that needs to be mucked out," and "one who pisses crooked," "the stutterer," and so on. There don't seem to be a lot of Polish surnames that say nice things about people -- as they go, Motyl may be one of the better ones!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Kalinowski

 

 

...Can you give me any information on the name Kalinowski? I have been told it means "one who lives in a field of flowers" ...

 

Kalinowski probably originated in most cases as meaning "one somehow associated with a place called Kalinow, Kalinowo, etc." Usually that would just boil down to "person from Kalinow, Kalinowo, etc." Unfortunately there are quite a few villages in Poland with those names, so there's no way to specify which particular one your Kalinowski's might have come from. The place name comes from kalina, which means "guelder rose, cranberry tree," also Kalina is a feminine first name. So those villages probably got their names because they were near a place with lots of those roses or trees, or, in rare cases, possibly a place once owned or founded by a Kalina. So what you were told is not far off; it's not exact, and wouldn't necessarily be true in every case, but is probably not too far off the mark.

 

This is, by the way, a very common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 30,012 Polish citizens named Kalinowski.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Puzio - Trela - Wos

 

 

...I became interested in the PGS and I'm filling out the form to join and I read further about what you do for people and thought you could help me. I'm trying to research the following family names: Aniela Wos, Adam Puzio, Antoni Tully or Trella. Any kind of help would be appreciated...

 

Let's take them one at a time. As of 1990 there were 3,312 Polish citizens named Puzio, so it's a fairly common name. The Puzio's lived all over Poland, with a particular concentration in the provinces of Rzeszow (212) and Tarnobrzeg (925) in southeast Poland. This name can be of Polish origin, from the words pyza and puza, "chubby-faced person," but it can probably also be Italian in some cases. I might be wrong, but I seem to recall talking to a member of the PGSA who had Italian ancestors who lived in Poland and went by this name.

 

Polish tends to avoid double consonants, so the form Trella (251) is less common than Trela (5,967). Poles by this name live all over the country, but there are especially a lot in the provinces of Katowice (644), Kielce (1,075), Krakow (485), Tarnobrzeg (683), and Tarnow (318), in south central to southeastern Poland. The name appears to come either from trel, "place for storing lumber in the woods," or from trel, "trill," according to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut.

 

It looks from your note as if you're not sure whether Antoni's original Polish name was Tully or Trella. Of the two, Trella seems more likely -- as of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Tully or Tuly. If that form does prove correct, it could be an anglicized form of Polish Tulej (396) or Tuleja (534), which probably come from the term tuleja, "funnel." Tulej is especially common in the province of Zamosc (136) in southeastern Poland, whereas there doesn't seem to be any particular place where Tuleja is concentrated.

 

Wos is rare in Poland (only 123), but Woś (with an accent over the s, making it sound a little like an "sh") is quite common, with 6,697 bearers as of 1990. This name could come from several sources. Rymut mentions that it can be a nickname or short form of a first name such as Wojciech -- Poles often formed nicknames by taking the first couple of sounds of a popular first name and adding suffixes. It might also come from the word wos, "aspen tree," or in some cases from German Voss, "fox." There are a great many names in Poland that are ultimately of German origin, especially in the western part where many Germans have long lived and Germans even ruled the area for a long time. Without much, much more detailed info it's impossible to tell which of those derivations applies in your family's case.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Bulkiewicz

 

 

...Could you give me any clue to the origin of my name, Bulkiewicz? Though I speak Polish (and my native language is Ukrainian), I have no idea what it could be, except most trivial speculations around the root "bul" or "bulk"... It seems we originated from Volyn'. May be, some toponym there? I could not find out...

 

The suffix -iewicz, whether spelled in Polish fashion or in Cyrillic, is used by Polish, Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian, and means "son of." So the name means "son of Bulek" or "son of Bulko." This is a name that could be Polish or Ukrainian in origin, but since your family appears to have come from Volyn', we should look mainly for Ukrainian connections, if we wish to understand what that first part Bulk- means.

 

There are names that Polish experts say derive from Polish bułka, "bread roll" (I'm using ł to stand for the Polish slashed l, which in Russian and Ukr. is usually l without the soft sign, thus not softened or palatalized), and I see that that same term exists in Ukrainian. It is possible that an ancestor was given this as a nickname, perhaps because he loved to eat such rolls, or was very good at making them, or was shaped like one -- after so many centuries, who can say for sure how such nicknames started?

 

There is another possibility, however. Bulek or Bulko could very easily have started as a nickname or by-name for Boleslav, Polish Bolesław. Polish name experts verify that the short forms "Bolek" and "Bolko" developed from that first name, and that sometimes the o was modified to the sound of u in some areas. So instead of "son of bread roll," Bulkiewicz could very well have started as meaning "son of Bolek/Bolko." Actually, this is the derivation that seems more likely to me. We cannot rule out the chance that this name derived from bułka, but the connection with "Boleslav" seems much more convincing.

 

There is an organization with a website <www.infoukes.com> that features much information on Ukrainian history, culture, etc. You might wish to visit it and see if there is any information that will help you -- perhaps you will even find others with this name who can tell you more about it, or can share information with you. You might also wish to write to Laurence Krupnak <Lkrupnak@erols.com>, a gentleman with a great deal of interest in Ukrainian names; tell him you've talked to me, I gave my ideas, and perhaps he'll have something useful to add.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Chrobak - Robak

 

 

...I am requesting information on the surname of Chrobak. This is my husbands grandmothers maiden name. She is deceased and no one in the family knows what it means or where she came from. Any light on the matter would be greatly appreciated...

 

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, the name Chrobak is the same as the name Robak -- sometimes the ch was added, sometimes it wasn't. I'm afraid it's not a particularly flattering name, the root is the word robak, which means "small worm or insect." However, I don't think this was meant in a cruel way; we often see Poles and other Slavs use some rather imaginative terms as endearments, and although "little worm" doesn't sound flattering in English, I have seen similar usages in German ("liebes Wuermchen") and Polish that were clearly meant affectionately. I really think that's how we should regard this.

 

This is a common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 4,110 Polish citizens named Chrobak (and another 6,788 named Robak). I'm afraid there is no pattern to its distribution that will help you much: Chrobaks live all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (629), Katowice (359), Nowy Sacz and (418). These provinces are in southcentral Poland, so there is at least some concentration in that region; but in terms of area that is still the equivalent of several counties in the U. S.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Lichucki

 

 

...I am Polish and Lichucki is my last name. Do you have any information on it? Could the name have been changed or altered? The earliest relatives in America were my grandfather and his brothers. Most of my family pronounces our name as "li-hoot-ski.' Any information will help.

 

This is not a very common name -- as of 1990 there were only 39 Polish citizens named Lichucki. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw (13), Gdansk (5), Łomża (1), Slupsk (20). (Unfortunately, I don't have more details, such as first names or addresses, this is the only data I have access to). The pronunciation in Polish would be virtually identical to what you gave, something like "lee-HOOT-skee."

 

The name almost certainly comes from the root lich-, meaning "bad, miserable, wretched." There is a rather rare word lichuczki (pronounced "lee-HOOTCH-kee) that means "very bad, miserable, wretched," and it is so close to this name that I think it confirms the derivation from that root lich-. There is also a Polish name from that root, Lichuta, and if you add the suffix that turns that into an adjective, you have Lichucki. The name probably was given originally to a very poor, needy family -- there are a great many names in Polish that mean the same thing, and in view of how impoverished many Poles were, it seems a plausible explanation.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Krawiec - Krawitz - Różycki - Ruzicki

 

 

...I would like info about my surname: Ruzicki, also Krawitz...

 

Krawitz is a Germanized spelling of the Polish name Krawiec, which comes from the word meaning "tailor." The name Krawiec is quite common in Poland (much like Taylor or Tailor in English) -- as of 1990 there were 11,270 Poles by that name. The spelling Krawitz is rare in Poland, as of 1990 there was no record of any Pole spelling the name that way. The natural tendency for anyone living in Poland would be to correct the form of the name to Krawiec. However, back when the Germans were running things in western Poland, it would not have been at all unusual to see this spelling; and since most Poles left Europe by way of German ports, German officials sometimes changed the spelling, even without meaning to.

 

Ruzicki comes ultimately from the Polish form of the word for "rose," spelled as róża (accent over the o, dot over the z, sounding like our word "rouge" with a final -a tacked on). It's a tough name to get a handle on because there are potentially so many different ways this root can be spelled. Ruzicki probably originated in most cases as meaning "person or family associated with a place named Ruzyce or Ruzice or Rózyce" -- there are many, many places with names this could come from. Polish accented ó and Polish u are pronounced the same, so almost any place with a name beginning with Róz- or Ruz- could spawn this name. The form Ruzicki is rather rare (only 42 as of 1990), but Różycki was the name of 10,411 Poles as of 1990. So it's rather important to try to trace the family back as far as possible and see if you can determine the original spelling. If it really was Ruzicki, there aren't many of them left in Poland, they may be hard to track down but odds are decent they're related; but if Ruzicki is just an anglicized form of Różycki, there are thousands of them.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

 

Flis

 

 

...Have no knowledge of the origin of name Flis or region from my grandparents emigrated. Arrived in states around 1909. Thanks if you can help. Margaret...

 

Flis probably comes from the Polish word flis or flisak, meaning "raftsman." As of 1990 there were 9,580 Polish citizens named Flis, living all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Lublin (1,785), Tarnobrzeg (1,582), and Zamosc (734). Those provinces are all in far southeastern Poland, so that is the area where the name is most common; but there are Flises living everywhere. This makes sense, the name could get started anywhere they spoke Polish and had rivers men could put rafts on -- all over the country, really. So I'm afraid the name itself doesn't give any clues as to what part of Poland any one Flis family came from.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Wnukowski

 ...My maiden name was Wnukowski. I remember an aunt tellling me it meant "son of the grandson"? My ancestors place of origin was Suwałki, Poland and they settled in Northeastern Pennsylvania (Wilkes-Barre-Scranton area)...

 

Your aunt was pretty darned close to right! The Polish word wnuk means "grandson," and the suffix -ow- often translates well as "of" -- Wnukowski is an adjective that means literally "of, pertaining to something or someone associated with a grandson." In practice, that might come down to meaning "son of the grandson." In general, however, names ending in -owski usually originated as references to a place the family was associated with -- typically the place names end in -ow, -owa, -owo, -ew, -ewa, -ewo, sometimes other endings as well. So you'd expect Wnukowski to have started out meaning "person or family associated with, coming from a village named Wnukow, Wnukowo, etc." If they were noble, they probably owned the village or estate; if they were peasants, they probably worked and lived there at some point. The village or estate name, in turn, started out meaning "the grandson's place."

 

I can't find any places with the appropriate names on my maps, but that probably just means the place your family came from was too small to appear on maps, or has changed names, or has since been merged with another community. It may be a name only locals would know or use -- after all, "the grandson's place" is a name that would make sense only within a fairly small circle... As of 1990 there were 982 Polish citizens named Wnukowski; they lived all over the country, with the largest numbers appearing in the provinces of Radom (190), Suwałki (160), and Wloclawek (114). I'm afraid I don't have any further details such as first names, addresses, etc.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.  

 

Kurasz

...My family has been trying to find out more about our immigrant ancestor. I would very much like a quick analysis of this surname [Kurasz] as it SEEMS to be relatively rare. We are pretty sure this is not a shortened version of another name. What information can you provide?...

Kurasz is not a rare name in Poland -- as of 1990 there were 1,647 Polish citizens named Kurasz. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Katowice (294), Poznan (196), Przemysl (567), and smaller numbers in almost every other province. Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut notes that this name appears in legal records as far back as 1485, and says it derives from the roots kur, "cock," or kura, "hen"; I note that there was also a coat of arms Kur, in some cases the name might derive from that. A family could have gotten this name because it raised or sold poultry, or because a prominent member of the family got it as a nickname because something about him reminded people of a hen or cock. More than 500 years later, it's hard to deduce just exactly how such a name got started, or why it would "stick" -- those reasons might vary from one Kurasz family to the next. The most we can say is what it derives from, and then we have to make plausible suggestions as to just how it got started.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Okraszewski

...The surname that I am interested in is Okraszewski. I have been lucky enough to find on the internet, a student in Poland with the same last name and we are now trying to find our ancestoral connection. I understand that this name is not very common in Poland, and I would like to be able to let him know the origin of our name...

Actually Okraszewski is not all that uncommon -- as of 1990 there were 524 Polish citizens by that name. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (88), Elblag (33), Płock (134), Skierniewice (50), and Wloclawek (57), with smaller numbers in several other provinces... Names ending in -ewski usually started as references to a connection between a family and a particular place, and the place(s) usually have names ending in -y or -ew or -ewo or -ewa. If the family was noble, that might be the name of their estate or the village they owned; if they were peasants, they probably came from there, worked there, or perhaps traveled on business there often. In this case you'd expect the place(s) to have names like Okraszy, Okraszewo, something like that. I can't find any such places on my maps, but that's not unusual -- sometimes surnames come from place-names that were used only by locals, or refer to places that have since disappeared, been absorbed into other communities, or changed their names. But if your research enables you to pinpoint the particular area your ancestors lived in, then you can try to find out more about the immediate area -- if you find a place named something like Okraszewo, that's probably the place they were named for.

...Is this the era when peasants added "ski" to their surnames to appear to be nobility?...

Well, the peasants started taking surnames about the 16th century, and the process went on into the 17th and sometimes the early 18th century. By then -ski names had become so common that they seemed almost universal. In most cases peasants weren't really trying to fool anyone that they were noble -- in small villages and parishes, where everyone knew everyone else, how are you going to con anyone about something like that? They took -ski names because such names were popular and they liked the sound of them. I mean, if you had a choice between a name such as "Peon" and a name such as "Knight," which would you choose? Originally the -ski names just had a touch of elegance and class to them, due to that former association with noble estate-owners. But by the 17th-18th centuries they had become so common that they really didn't have much of that connotation left; they were just names, and it seemed like most Poles you met had -ski names.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Filanowski

...My Grandparents came to America from southeastern Poland (Galicia) at the turn of the century. My Grandfather, Michael Filanowski, was from the town Brzoza Krolewska and after serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army. I would like to find his service records and any other information about the Filanowski name. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I've been told that my last name is unusual. I can not speak Polish and I am finding the language barrier to be an obstacle in my admittedly awkward attempts to learn about my ancestors...

The name Filanowski is not extremely common, but you couldn't really call it rare: as of 1990 there were 298 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Lodz (48), Płock (39), Rzeszow (53), and Warsaw (21). As with most names ending in -owski, this probably originated as a reference to a place with which the family was associated, meaning something like "person from Filany or Filanowo." I can't find any such place listed in any of my sources, but often surnames refer to places that have since changed their names, or been absorbed into other communities. In theory, if you have good luck researching the area of Brzoza Krolewska you might find reference to some little hamlet or local subdivision called Filany or Filanowo. Those place names derive from "Filan-," which is a kind of nickname formed from the popular first names Filip (Philip) or Teofil (Theophilus); Poles often took the first syllable of a popular first name, dropped the rest, and added suffixes, kind of like "Edward" and "Eddy" in English. So the surname could be interpreted as meaning "one from the place of Filan."

According to the War Archives in Vienna, records for people serving in the Austro-Hungarian army were usually kept locally, so if any military records survive, they'd probably be in a registrar's office in whatever town served as the local recruitment center. I notice that Brzoza Krolewska was in Lancut administrative district, in what is now Rzeszow province, so that's my guess as the best place to start. If they don't have the records, I'd think odds are decent they could tell you where to look...

Brzoza Krolewska had its own parish, so vital records were probably kept there. Unfortunately, the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City has had trouble getting authorities in southeastern Poland to agree to microfilming, so there's no guarantee the FHL has the records for Brzoza Krolewska. Still, it would be worthwhile finding and going to the nearest LDS Family History Center -- that's always the first place to look, because if they do have the records you need, they're by far the cheapest and easiest way to get them. If they don't have them, then I'd suggest writing to the parish church in Brzoza Krolewska and seeing what they have. People often have good luck doing this -- but the letter really needs to be in Polish, or you're cutting way down on your chances of getting a reply.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Rutkiewicz

Good afternoon, I write from Brazil, I would like to research my surname Rutkiewicz, I am the grandson of Polish immigrants.

The ending -ewicz means "son of," so Rutkiewicz means "son of Rutka." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says RUTKA comes from rutka, a diminutive of ruta, which is a term for a plant called "rue" in English, which was a symbol of virginity and was worn as a wreath by maidens; in some cases names beginning Rut- might also come from the feminine given name Ruta, from the name of a woman in the Bible -- in English we call her "Ruth." So Rutkiewicz could mean "son of little rue," or it could mean "son of little Ruth." If the name comes from "little rue," we would have to suppose it began as a nickname for an ancestor people associated with this plant called rue.

There is a Website that shows more recent and more accurate data on surname distribution and frequency in Poland, along with maps that illustrate the data nicely. The page for Rutkiewicz is here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/rutkiewicz.html

It shows as of 2002 there were 1,384 Poles by this name. The largest numbers were in the counties of municipal Bydgoszcz (85), municipal Poznań (70), municipal Kielce (68), and municipal Kraków (50). In other words, these people lived in the counties that consisted of the cities themselves, not the counties that consisted of land near the cities. On the map, the counties colored red are the ones with the largest numbers. You can place your cursor over a county and its name will appear; that's how you can tell which is which.

The data tells us there is no one area in which this name is highly concentrated; people named Rutkiewicz live in many different parts of Poland. This is often the case, I'm afraid; most names are scattered in different areas, so that you cannot say for sure where a specific family by that name came from.

The Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) has a page with an outline on doing research in Brazil. It is in English, but if you wish to read it, it is here:

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/Rg/guide/Brazil.ASP

You may also find useful information on the Web site of the Mormon Church in Brazil, which is in Portuguese:

http://www.mormon.org.br/
 

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Kaliszewski

I wanted to add my name to your surname list - Kaliszewski. I don't know much, but I wonder if the spelling was changed or if the name is still around. I appreciate it. Thanks!

Well, there's no way to tell for sure if the name was changed except by tracing your family history. Names were often changed, and sometimes the changes seem very odd to us. But I'll say this -- names were usually changed either because somebody got the spelling wrong, and the error stuck, or because the immigrant decided his foreign-sounding name was making it hard for him and his family to fit in, so he simplified it. Well, Kaliszewski is spelled fine, this is a name that definitely exists in Poland; and if someone were going to Anglicize a name, it's hard to believe he'd change it to Kaliszewski!

So I think the odds are good this spelling and form are accurate. As I say, you can't be sure without tracing the family history in various kinds of records. But I think it's reasonable to assume the name survived intact.

Poles pronounce Kaliszewski roughly "kah-lee-SHEFF-skee." That's the masculine form of the name, which is regarded as standard; females traditionally go by Kaliszewska, "kah-lee-SHEFF-skah." It's not regarded as a separate name, but simply the feminine version of Kaliszewski.

You can see a Web page with 2002 data on the frequency and distribution of these two forms, along with a color map illustrating the data, here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/kaliszewski.html

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/kaliszewska.html

As you can see, in 2002 there were 1,686 Kaliszewski's and 1,831 Kaliszewska's. They lived in many parts of Poland, with the largest numbers in in the quarter of the country from north central to east central Poland. The largest numbers were in the county of Warsaw, 79+104; other counties with large numbers were Ostrołęka (55), Gdańsk (45), and municipal Bydgoszcz (45). As is often the case, there is no overwhelming concentration in any one area that tells you a family by this name had to come from there. A Kaliszewski family could from a number of different areas.

Surnames in the form X-ewski usually mean either "one from the place of X" or "of the kin of X." Often they refer to specific place names beginning with the X part. So we would expect this name to mean either "of the kin of Kalisz" or "one from the place of Kalisz," which might refer to the city of Kalisz itself, in west central Poland, or to other places with names beginning Kalisz-. There are at least four places called Kalisz in Poland, and the surname could theoretically refer to any of them. Or, as I say, the name might mean "of the kin of Kalisz," referring to an ancestor by that name.

The personal name Kalisz appears in Polish records as early as 1309, according to the late Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut's book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. It comes from a basic root meaning "dirty, stained," and is related to words meaning "swamp" and "excrement." So as early as the 14th century there were men whose first names or nicknames were Kalisz; and Kaliszewski could have referred to them as ancestors, or it could refer to places these men owned or founded, places named Kalisz or something similar.

From the surname alone, you just can't say which derivation applies. One Kaliszewski family might have gotten the name by association with one of those four places called Kalisz. Another family might have gotten the name from another place called Kalisz. Another family might have been "of the kin of Kalisz." Yet another might have been "of the kin of Kalisz," but a different ancestor by that name. The only way to nail down how and why a specific family ended up with a specific name is to trace the family history as far back as possible. Sometimes you find info in old records that sheds light on the matter.

But without that kind of specialized, detailed info, the most we can say is that the surname means "of the kin of Kalisz" or "one from the place of Kalisz." That much is clear; it's just the exact nature of the association that we cannot tell by analyzing the surname. But with any luck, research into the family history may clear things up.

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Borczak

...Do you have this surname of Borczak and if anyone has the family tree already done that I could look at. I believe my great grandfather was in the Polish Army in France Recruitment Records.

Borczak is not an extremely common name in Poland. As of 1990 there were some 165 Poles by that name, living all over but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Krakow (38), Olsztyn (20), and Wloclawek (25). The basic root from which the name derives is bor-, meaning "battle, fight," especially as seen in ancient compound Polish names such as Borzyslaw (renowned fighter) and Bolebor (more battle). This name could originate in many ways, but perhaps the most likely is that a fellow bore a shortened form of those names, such as Borek, and then his son was referred to as Borczak, Borek's son.

I have no files on any families and do not do genealogical research, so I'm afraid I can't help you with your family tree. I hope this information is some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Ponieważ

Hi i am trying to track my family history. Can you please help me with the meaning of my grandfather’s surname? The surname is Poniewaz and he came from the Lublin region - Bychawka. Thank you very much for your time.

In Polish, Poniewaz is written with a dot over the Z, and pronounced roughly "pone-YEAH-vosh" -- the last syllable rhymes more or less with "gosh." It's not a terribly common name; as of 2002, there were 451 Polish citizens named Ponieważ. You can see data on the frequency and distribution of the name, along with a color map that illustrates the data nicely, here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/poniewa%25C5%25BC.html

It shows the largest numbers of people by this name lived in the counties of Lublin (88) and municipal Lublin (69), which I believe means within the city limits of Lublin, as opposed to the county covering land just outside the city. There were 45 who lived in Mława county, and 25 in Przemyśl county. On the map, you can position your cursor over a county and its name will appear; that's how you tell which is which. The name shows up most often in southeastern Poland, in the same area your grandfather came from. -- Bychawka is in Lublin county. But there are some folks with this name living elsewhere.

Actually, there are three places called Bychawka, Bychawka Pierwsza (First Bychawka), Bychawka Druga (Second Bychawka), and Bychawka Trzecia (Third Bychawka). I suspect at one time they were one village, or one estate, but as time passed the estate was subdivided and three distinct population centers developed. Place names aren't always terribly imaginative, so they called these First, Second, and Third Bychawka. That name actually means "little Bychawa" -- there is a town Bychawa 4-5 kilometers south of the three villages called Bychawka.

The late Polish surname expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut discussed the origin of the surname Ponieważ in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the root in the verb ponieważyć, which means "to insult." I assume this began as a nickname for an ancestor who was prone to insult others for some reason.

There is a word ponieważ that you will find in most Polish dictionaries; it is a conjunction meaning "because, since." A scholar tracing the etymology of Polish words says that term actually came into Polish from Czech by way of Silesia in the second half of the 16th century, and gradually spread into mainstream Polish. But it's not a word plain people used in everyday talk; it's kind of like our word "inasmuch," meaning about the same thing and used similarly, with a kind of a "bookish" flavor to it. It is not rare in modern Polish, but back in the time surnames were developing, it was apparently not a word most people used. What seems clear is that the surname did not come from this conjunction, but rather from that verb meaning "to insult."

One more thing -- in old records, names were often spelled inconsistently. Most folks didn't read and write, and there was no widespread social emphasis on spelling names exactly the same way every time. Record keepers would write down the name the way it sounded to them. There are other spellings phonetically similar to Ponieważ, and you might see them used sometimes: Poniewarz, Poniewasz, Poniewaś, and so on. They'd be rare, but you might run into them. If so, don't let them throw you; that kind of spelling variation is perfectly normal. As long as the given names, dates, and other info match up decently, spelling variation of surnames is not too important.
 

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
 

 

Kurpiewski

I am looking for my family in Poland. My Mom died at a young age, my Grandparents are also deceased. My Great Aunt does not remember what village they used to send packages to and I am hoping you can give me some information on the last name.

In Polish, males traditionally go by the form Kurpiewski, pronounced roughly "kurp-YEFF-skee," and females by Kurpiewska, "kurp-YEFF-skah." The name is moderately common by Polish standards, borne by roughly 2,600 Polish citizens as of 1990. If you'd like to see 2002 data on the name's frequency and distribution, with color maps illustrating the data, look here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/kurpiewska.html

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/kurpiewski.html

In 2002 there were 1,421 Poles who went by Kurpiewska, and another 1,381 who went by KURPIEWSKI. The name shows up all over Poland, but is especially common in the northeastern part of the country, in the counties of Ostrołęka (175+167), Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki (156+131), municipal Ostrołęka (144+129), Warsaw (89+89), and municipal Lomza (74+72). It is quite plausible the name originated in northeastern Poland and is still most common there, though some people by this name have moved to other parts of the country.

There's a reason the name is most common in the northeast. Names ending in -ewski usually refer to the name of a place. The late Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], and he said that the name appears in records as far back as 1462. It refers to the Kurpie ethnic group, who live in northern Mazovia (northeastern Poland). It also can refer to the village named Kurpie, also called Kurpiewo, in the vicinity of Ostrołęka in northeast Poland. For more information on the Kurpie, and the areas where they live, you can refer to this Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurpie

Wikipedia articles aren't always completely reliable, but by and large, I find them to be reasonably accurate -- especially on subjects like this, subjects that are not particularly controversial. That Web page also has a number of online references you can check out.

There's no way to tell for sure exactly which place in the Kurpie homeland a Kurpiewski family came from. It's reasonable to suppose the family came from that area, which is not a large area and thus narrows things down. Still, the name may simply indicate the family was Kurpie, or it may indicate they lived in a specific village in the Kurpie area, such as Kurpie in Podlaskie province, Łomża county, or Kurpiewskie in Ostrołęka county of Mazowieckie province, or possibly even Kurpie in Łodzkie county, in central Poland. This is often true of Polish surnames deriving from place names -- there's more than one place the name can refer to.

In such cases, the only hope of learning more is to trace the family in public records -- parish records, census rolls, naturalization papers, and so on. With any luck you will find some document that tells you exactly where the family came from. At that point, you have a real chance of learning more about them, since many parish records from Poland have been microfilmed by the Mormons' Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and you can have those records lent to the nearest Family History Center for you to study.

Until you nail down exactly where the family lived before emigrating, you have little chance of tracing them in Poland. Once you do find that info, you have a good chance of tracing them quite a long way. But the surname, by itself, almost never tells you exactly where to look. At most, it gives you a pretty decent idea what part of Poland to look in; but you still need to narrow it down to a specific town or village, and establish what parish church served that place.

Good luck!

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Turański

Hello. I have no history on my family at all, only my name. I would love to know where that, at least, comes from. I really appreciate this, thank you. The surname is Turansky.

I'd like to help you, and I'll tell you what I can. I'm afraid surnames, by themselves, aren't usually much help tracing the families that bore them. So I don't know how much help I can be. But here's what I did find.

In Polish, the name would be spelled Turański, with an accent over the N, and pronounced roughly "toor-INE-skee," with the middle syllable rhyming with "mine." Females traditionally go by the form Turańska, also with accented N and pronounced roughly "toor-INE-skah."

It's not a very common name in Poland, but there are some Polish citizens named Turański / Turańska. If you'd like to see data from 2002, with a color map illustrating it, look here for the masculine and feminine versions:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/tura%25C5%2584ski.html

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/tura%25C5%2584ska.html

This tells us as of 2002 there were 42 Polish citizens named Turański and 44 named Turańska. They were scattered in small numbers all over, with no great concentration in any one area. The largest numbers of Turańskis were in the counties of Wschowa (12) and Stalowa Wola (9); the data for Turańska is similar, with the largest numbers in the counties of Stalowa Wola (9) and Wschowa (7). On those maps, if you position your cursor over a county, its name appears; that's how you tell which is which.

The late Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He lists it under names coming from the root seen in the noun tur, "aurochs," a large, ox-like creature, and in the verb turać, "to roll, wheel." It could be ancestor was nicknamed Tur, "the aurochs," because he was very large and strong, and people started calling his kin "Turański," in the sense "kin of Tur."

I note there was also a village called Turan (in Hungarian Turany) near Koszyce and Bogumin, and a stream called Turański near a mountain in the Carpathians called Turańska Magora. I think it's now in Slovakia, though at one time that area was ruled by Hungary. Turański could also come from the name of the town Tura in Hungary. I don't know that the surname Turański necessarily is connected with these places. But surnames often refer to place names, and we do find people in Poland with surnames from Slovakian, and vice versa.

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the name Turański or Turansky turned out to be Slovak and not Polish. Many surnames are similar in the different Slavic languages, and it can be hard to tell from a name alone whether it's Polish or Czech or Russian or Czech or Slovak.

As you see, I can't give you anything definite. This name is of Slavic origin, we know that; only Slavs would form a name with the ending -ansky or -ański. And the name does appear in Poland -- but it may also appear in other countries, for which data is not readily available. Without more to work with, there just isn't any way to give you a firm answer; there are too many possibilities, and no way to eliminate some as less likely than others. We can't even be sure the name is Polish in your family's case, though it could be.

You might want to post this name on the PolishOrigins Surnames Database at http://surnames.polishorigins.com. It might be an easy way to make contact with others researching the same name. It costs nothing, and you never know; you might get lucky and make a connection.

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Furtak

…I am trying to trace my grandparents. The surname was Furtak. I have found that my grandpa Furtak came from Crcznichow, Austra in 1912. I am sure at the time it was part of Galicia. I cannot find this town. My grandma … came from Czenuiskon Galicia in 1913. I have the Manifest of Alien Passengers but suspect the spelling of the towns are inaccurate. I think they came from Polish Galicia. I would love to know what towns so I can pursue the trace further. I also suspect the towns of the towns they came from have long since been changes as I cannot find anything on the internet. If there is anything you can do to help me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

In Polish, Furtak is pronounced much as you'd expect, kind of like "FUR-tock." If you'd like to see 2002 data on its frequency and distribution in Poland, with a color map illustrating the data, look here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/furtak.html

By Polish standards it's a moderately common name, borne by 4,369 Polish citizens as of 2002. They lived all over, with significant concentrations in south central to southeastern Poland, including the area formerly ruled by the Austrian Empire as the Kingdom of Galicia.

The late Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentioned this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles], listing it under names that come from the root seen in the Polish noun furta, "gate" (originally from Latin porta, "door, gate"), or in the dialect verb furtać, "to flutter, fly," or possibly from the German name Furt or Fort. He says so far the earliest mention of the name found in Polish records dates from 1678, and he mentions that Furtak can also come from a dialect word furtak that means "scatterbrain, featherbrain."

What this means is that -- as often happens with surnames -- from the name alone we can't tell for sure which meaning applies in a given case. An ancestor may have been "the gate guy," perhaps because he lived near a town gate, or manned the gate, or made gates. Or maybe he was "the flutterer," or maybe he was "the son of Furt," a descendant of one of the many, many Germans who resettled in Poland (including southeastern Poland) over the centuries. But I think the most likely derivation is from that word meaning "one who's scatterbrained." An ancestor was probably kind of flighty and scatterbrained, so people nicknamed him Furtak and that name stuck, being passed on to his descendants.

The only way it might be possible to nail down the exact derivation is by tracing the family history as far back as possible, in hopes of finding a record or document with a comment that sheds light on the name's meaning. The data suggests there isn't just one big Furtak family, but probably a number of separate families that came by the name independently. Maybe one had an ancestor who was connected with gates somehow, maybe another was "the son of Furt," maybe another was "kin of the scatterbrained guy." The last one is the one I'd expect to apply more often than not. But that's just my speculation; I could be wrong, and often am.

The names of places in records were often misspelled, sometimes past recognition. But I think odds are very good the place mentioned in the documents you cite was either Czernichow, Poland, or Czernigow (Russian Chernigov, Ukrainian Chernihiv), now in Ukraine. You can find links with info on these places here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czernichow

Brian Lenius's Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia, a very valuable reference work, lists a Czernichow in Żywiec county, Poland; one in Rudki county (now in Ukraine); and one in Kraków county, Poland. I think one of those is probably what you're looking for. I wouldn't rule out Chernihiv in Ukraine, but the others are better matches. Of course, the problem is, which one?

There's no way to tell except by digging in the records till you find some bit of info that sheds light on the matter. Various records often mentioned additional info that helps nail down which place you're looking for. It might be a marriage record at a parish church in America, or a census entry, or who knows what? Chances are decent you can find this out, but it may take a lot of digging.

One of the best Websites for helping with Galician research is Matt Bielawa's www.halgal.com. Matt has been to southeastern Poland and Ukraine frequently, and knows his stuff. The links to "Finding Your Village" can be very helpful, as well as the link "Vital Records." I don't have much research experience -- I deal mostly with translations, name analysis, and other things I've learned in the course of editing various periodicals. But Matt has lots of experience, and he's tried to make his site a real help for researchers going crazy because English-language info on places in Galicia can be very hard to come by.

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Sypowicz

… My name was given to be by the Nuns at the orphanage. I would like to give my children at least half of a family group sheet. Their father's surname is Sypowicz… I was able to go all the way back to a Gabriel Sypowicz from Lith, who was a Jesuit & there was a Sypowicz settlement in a place called “Zmudz 1600,” I tried to follow the line up but no luck there either. Would you be able to give me ANY hope?

I really wish I could help you, but I can't honestly say there is a lot of hope. The name Sypowicz means "son of Syp" or "son of Sypa." There are a couple of possible derivations for Syp/Sypa, but the most likely one is from a short form of Russian Osip or Ukrainian Osyp, which is "Joseph." In other words, Sypowicz probably started as a name meaning "son of Joe." As you can imagine, this is not a terribly distinctive name; you could easily run into people bearing this name all over Eastern Europe, especially in those areas just east of the modern Polish border. These areas, long under Communist rule, were for a long time quite hostile to any kind of attempt to learn about Soviet citizens. They are more helpful these days -- if  you have money and are willing to spend it -- but they still tell you they can do nothing if you cannot tell them the exact name, date of birth, and place of birth or residence for a specific ancestor.

If you are sure of descent from Gabriel Sypowicz from Lithuania, you would still need to be able to tell exactly when and where he was born in Lithuania. The Lithuanian State Archives does not do genealogical research any more. They will look in their records for information on a specific family, but again, only if you can tell them exactly when and where to look. It doesn't sound to me as if you have the specifics needed. And I'm afraid there's nothing about the name Sypowicz that will help much.

The one thing I see that might really make a difference is the fact that Gabriel Sypowicz was a Jesuit. Religious orders in Poland and Lithuania tended to keep much more extensive records of members of their orders than was true of lay people. It is at least possible you could contact the Jesuits and see if records survive for Lithuania, and if so, whether they provide any information. In other words, looking for a Sypowicz family is fairly hopeless if you don't have names and dates and places; but looking for a specific Jesuit named Gabriel Sypowicz from Lithuania, that might lead somewhere. Note that in Lithuanian the name would normally appear as Sipavičius (with a little v mark over the C).

There is one other long shot that might be worth a try. I checked an online Lithuanian telephone directory for Sipavicius, and found over 100 listings, including males named Sipavičius, females named Sipavičienė (Mrs. Sipavičius), and females named Sipavičiūtė (Miss Sipavičius). The listings gave addresses; they are not full addresses with street numbers, which means they're not much use in big cities; but in villages, they would probably suffice. The local mailman would almost certainly know exactly where anybody by this name lived on his route and be willing to deliver a letter (unless he thinks there might be money in it, in which case the letter might just disappear into his pocket). I have heard from quite a few people who printed out lists from the telephone directory, proceeded to write to everyone on the list, and actually heard back from a few of them. If there is a Sipavicius family in Lithuania who had any of your relatives in their ancestry, they just might respond.

It is a real long shot, no question. The online directory only includes landlines and people who agreed to be listed; many phone numbers are unlisted, and many more people just use cell phones, not even bothering to try to get landlines. So the list of people with this name is by no means complete. Also, chances go down somewhat if you write in English instead of Lithuanian -- although these days, so many young people are studying English that your chances of getting an answer are much better than they used to be.

If you want to get the list, go to

http://www.zebra.lt/lt/suzinok/telefonai

In the box that says "Pavarde," type in Sipavic (don't type more, because that would cut off some results because of name endings, and you don't want that). Then click on the blue tab labeled "Ieškoti." You'll get a list of the first 20 names out of 160. Print them out, then click on the link near the bottom of the page that says "Kitas" for the next 20. At left are the people's names and their addresses; the number over on the right is a telephone number, and at this point I'd recommend ignoring it.

It's quite a bit of work, and there's no guarantee you'll get any answer at all. Still, as I say, some people have had luck doing this very thing. I guess at this point you need to try a long shot.Just for luck, I did a quick Google search for the Cyrillic alphabet spellings of Sypowicz, since families by this name living in Lithuania or Belarus or Ukraine or Russia would have had documents in Russian, with their names rendered in Cyrillic form. I found quite a few matches mentioning people by this name. I don't know if you can read Russian, but if you're interested, here's a link to the search results:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLL_en

I noticed an Irena Sipovich on Myspace, the first match that showed up when I searched. It might be worth following up -- though as I say, this is a moderately common name in Eastern Europe.

Incidentally, the spelling Sypowicz is Polish, but this name is very rare in Poland. As of 2002, there were only 6 Polish citizens by that name, all living in Warsaw county. Odds are very good your family lived outside the borders of what is now in Poland, but within areas that were once ruled by Poland, or areas in which Polish was the official language for a long time. Later the Russian Empire took over those areas, then the Soviet Union. Now, they are within the independent nations of Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. A family named Sypowicz or Sipovich could live in any of those countries (although, as I said, the standard Lithuanian form is Sipavičius).

If you can get any more details, there are professional Lithuanian researchers I can tell you about. But they don't work cheap, and they can't guarantee results. If I were you, I'd try the things I mentioned above first, in hopes of maybe getting lucky and hitting pay dirt. If you can get some specifics, your chances of success go way up. And who knows, you just might hear from a Sipavicius whose family was very proud to have a member admitted to the Jesuits, who will be able to tell you all kinds of things. It's a long shot, but it's worth a try. I hope this helps a little, and I hope you find what you're looking for!

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Pakasiński – Pakosiński

Looking for information on the name Pakasinski (today's spelling), recorded on Ellis Island as Pakosinski, then later recorded on a birth record as Poposienski, even though the father and mother were both listed as Pakasinski. Thank you for whatever information on the origins of this name you can provide.

I would think the standard version of the name would be Pakosiński, with an accent over the N, pronounced roughly "pah-ko-SHEEN-skee," and with the feminine version Pakosińska, also with accented N, sounding like "pah-ko-SHEEN-skah." The spelling Pakasiński exists in Poland, but it's very rare. O and A often get switched in surnames, sometimes because of the way a name was pronounced in local dialect. It isn't unusual to see names spelled various different ways. So it's perfectly reasonable to say the standard version is Pakosiński, but it may show up as Pakasiński sometimes.

There's a Website with pretty accurate data on the surnames borne by Polish citizens as of 2002, and here are the pages for Pakosiński and Pakosińska:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/pakosi%25C5%2584ski.html

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/pakosi%25C5%2584ska.html

The spelling Pakasiński/Pakasińska doesn't appear in the data. That doesn't mean the spelling never existed, just that these days everyone uses the standardized version -- which is not unusual.

The data shows 56 Polish citizens named Pakosiński and 57 named Pakosińska, with the largest numbers in the county of Kielce (12+15) and in the county of municipal Kielce (7+6). On the map, position your cursor over a county and its name appears; that's how you tell which is which. Kielce is the county colored red a little south-southeast of the center of Poland. So while the name appears in various parts of the country, it shows up most often near the city of Kielce.

The late Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut lists this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He lists it under surnames that derived from an old Slavic given name that takes the form Pakosław in Polish (he lists Pakasiński as having the same basic origin). That name Pakosław comes from ancient roots meaning "more, greater" and "glory, fame," and was given by ancient pagan Slavs in hopes that it would be a self-fulfilling prophecy that would cause their child to earn more fame and glory than the rest. There is no equivalent name in English; this one is found only among Slavs, and it's very rare these days -- though there are a number of villages called Pakosław in memory of an owner or founder. We know this name was used at one time, before the Poles were converted to Christianity and forsook ancient pagan names for those of Christian saints. We also know it gave rise to short forms and nicknames such as Pakos, much as we in English created nicknames such as Ed and Eddie from Edward.

Pakosiński would have started out meaning "of the kin of Pakos" or "one from the place of Pakos." In theory, it could have referred to a family connection with a place called Pakoszyn or something along those lines. But I can't find mention of any place with a name that fits. I think it probably started as a way of referring to the kin of a guy called Pakos centuries ago.

The name could very well have existed in the form Pakasiński as well. The difference is minor, and both names would have meant pretty much the same thing. Surnames were often spelled inconsistently, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if you see them mixed even in Polish records. The same person may show up as Pakasiński one time, Pakosiński another. That kind of variation in name spellings is just something you have to deal with when you trace Polish roots (and not just Polish!).

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


 

Klimek

I was adopted so I don’t know the names of my grandparents. I only know my father’s name, his name is Vitorio Klimek, and I almost sure he was one of a thousand immigrants from Poland in the Second War and his parents came to Brazil. I hope you can help me because I have a lot of questions without answers.

I wish I could help you, but I simply do not have any information on individual persons or families. I deal only with the origins and meanings of surnames.

I can tell you Klimek began as a short form of Klemens, a first name from Latin Clemens. Klimek was a way of saying "little Klemens" or "son of Klemens." It is a common name in Poland. You can see a map illustrating 2002 data on how common and widespread this name is:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/klimek.html

As of 2002 there were 19,800 Polish citizens by this name, living all over the country. The name shows up most often in southern Poland, but there is almost no part of Poland where you will not find people named Klimek. A person who now goes by Vitorio Klimek probably called himself Wiktor Klimek in Poland; but I know of no way to find information on any person or family without knowing exactly where in Poland they came from. If there is no information available from when he immigrated to Brazil, I don't how you'll learn more.

You might find it helpful to visit the Brazil Website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called the Mormons):

http://www.mormon.org.br/

The Mormons have done enormous amounts of work helping trace genealogy. This article on that Website gives some information on how to do research:

http://www.mormon.org.br/brz_mn_section.asp?v_section=3&v_mask=DKKALEOLDK

I am sorry I could not help you more, but as I say, I don't have information that would be useful to you. I hope you find what you're looking for!

Copyright © 2009 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Krasecki

Could you please tell me the origin and meaning of the name Krasecki.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database at http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html), there were 80 Polish citizens named KRASECKI. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Koszalin 16, and Pila 25. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

If the family you're researching was Jewish, of course, it's unlikely very many of the Kraseckis living in Poland as of 1990 were Jewish; much more valuable would be data from before the Holocaust. But I know of no source for data from that period. I like to include the 1990 data on surname frequency and distribution because sometimes it does tell us something useful -- but in many cases it is irrelevant or of no great value.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions KRASECKI in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says the name refers to a family connection with any of several villages named Kraska and Kraski; in other words, it can mean "one from Kraska" or "one from Kraski." From the name alone it is impossible to tell which of those places the surname refers to in a given family's case; only research into the family history might uncover facts that would shed light on the matter.

If you would like to see maps of some of the places named Kraska and Kraski, go to the ShtetlSeeker.

Enter "Krask" as the place you're looking for, select "All Central/Eastern European Countries" as the where to search (unless you're certain the family came from territory now in Poland), and select "Search using All towns starting with this precise spelling." Click on "Start the search," and after a moment you'll see a list of various places in that region with names starting Krask-. For each, click on the blue numbers (latitude and longitude) and you'll get a map showing that location. You can print the map, save it, zoom in and out, etc.

Incidentally, you might find it useful to search for this name in Avotaynu's Consolidated Jewish Surname Index [CJSI], a database of some 370,000 surnames, mostly Jewish, found in 31 different databases. The surnames are presented in Soundex order; for each surname, it identifies in which of the databases the name can be found, with a link to additional information about each database. CJSI is located at: http://www.avotaynu.com/csi/csi-home.html


I suggest finding the box that says "Enter the surname to be searched." Type in [KRAS]ECKI. The brackets restrict matches to names that begin KRAS-, and thus avoid the confusion of dealing with the many other names that are phonetically similar. Even using the brackets, you will see a great many names beginning Kras-, and most will not be relevant to your research. But some might be, and it may be helpful to see them. For instance, the surnames KRASIECKI and KRASICKI are very similar to KRASECKI and could easily be confused with it. When studying surnames, it is advisable to take note of other names that sound similar, because such names were often confused.

If you wish to restrict the matches even further, search for [KRASECK]. That will produce only KRASECKA and KRASECKI (the version with -cka is the feminine form).

Copyright © 2003, 2004 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Okopny

... My grandfather Maksym and his brother Peter came from Narajow Austria in 1913. I believe this is now Narayiv Ukraine.

In general I would agree we'd expect Polish "Narajów" to be "Narayiv" in Ukrainian. However, I notice in Brian Lenius's Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia, he says there were two places named Narajów, Narajów Miasto [i. e., the town of Narajów] and Narajów Wies' [the village of Narajów]. Lenius says in both cases the modern Ukrainian name is Naryiv, which looks like this in Ukrainian Cyrillic: Нарїв

According to Lenius (who says he used official Ukrainian sources), the "town of Narajów" is called simply Naryiv, and "the village of Narajów" is Naryiv Selo. Lenius lists both in the district of Brzezany (dot over the second z), and says Narajów was served by on-site Roman and Greek Catholic parishes.

Most sources I saw mentioning either of these places did use either the Polish form Narajów, the Russian form Narayev, or the Ukrainian form Narayiv. So I'm not sure what the "correct" version is; in fact, in the case of some places there is still disagreement over exactly what the "correct" form is. It might be helpful to have that other form, Naryiv, just in case it shows up in your research sometimes.

… There are 30 Okopnys in Canada and United States. Via the internet, I have found 1 person with the name Okopny in Poland (Wroclaw), Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Australia, and Brazil. All seem to be from this western Ukraine location. I have been told my family originates from Krakow area. I understand that in Russian this surname indicates "one who digs military style defensive trenches". But this was not a professional opinion.

To get to the point, have you ever seen this surname in your work? Could you help me in discovering it's origin? Or point me in the right direction?


This is a pretty rare name in modern Poland (unfortunately I have no sources for Ukraine). Okopny is adjectival in form, which means a male would be called Okupny and a female Okupna. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 19 Polish citizens named Okopna, scattered in tiny numbers all over Poland. There were 25 Poles with the masculine form Okopny, and they, too, were scattered all over (neither form of the name showed up in Krakow province). Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

The root okop- comes from the verb okopać, meaning "to dig in, entrench," etc., and is also seen in the noun okop, "trench." The same root appears in Ukrainian, meaning almost exactly the same thing. So an Okopny may very well have been one who dug trenches or earthen fortifications. I would add that there is also a Polish dialect noun okopnik meaning "worker who works on roads, digs trenches or ditches, gravedigger." So it seems highly likely an Okopny worked as a digger -- it's just a question of exactly what kind of work it was. He may have dug graves or trenches, or he may have helped dig out and maintain roads.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Możdżeń

... Once again I write to you with a request, the surname I am searching is Mozdzien. I do not know if this is the correct spelling, but I hope you can help me.

Fortunately, this spelling is recognizable. In Polish this name is most often spelled Możdżeń with dots over both Z's and an accent over the N, pronounced roughly "MOZH-jane." But the sounds represented by the dotted Z and by ZI, while distinguishable to the Polish ear, are very similar and therefore easily confused. So it's not at all odd to find this name sometimes spelled Możdzień, because both spellings would be pronounced almost exactly the same. Thus Możdzień is a perfectly plausible variant spelling of Możdzień. This also suggests that in your research you should keep an eye open for Możdzień, as the name may often appear in that form.

This surname is thought to come from the możdżeń, a term for a kind of drill or a wooden tenon. Perhaps it began as a nickname for one who used such a tool, or one whose shape somehow reminded others of a drill(?). It's hard to say how nicknames get started -- sometimes they make no sense at all unless you were there when they originated, and then they make perfect sense. But it's pretty clear the name comes from that noun, so there must have been some association people noted between a person or family and this type of drill that made the name seem appropriate.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 20 Polish citizens named Możdzień. They lived in the following provinces: Biala Podlaska 6, Czestochowa 1, Koszalin 1, Łomża 3, Opole 2, Płock 4, Poznan 2, and Radom 1. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Możdżeń is more common -- 1,758 Polish citizens spelled the name that way as of 1990. This form was found all over Poland, with no really significant concentration in any one area, although the name is somewhat more common in the south than in the north.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Słowik

... My surname is Slowik (the L has a line thru it). I am trying to trace in what part of Poland this name may have originated. The only information I have available is that my grandfather emigrated to the USA about 1918. I have been told that he came from somewhere near Glazcia. It does not appear to be a very common name. Any help or direction to its origin would be helpful. I will visit Lodz, Poland on business this summer. Seeing my ancestral land would be special.

As you say, in Polish this name is spelled with a line through the L. That letter is pronounced like our W, and Polish W is pronounced like our V, so that Słowik is pronounced roughly "SWO-veek."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1377 and comes from the noun słowik, "nightingale." It suggests an ancestor was called this as a nickname because people associated him with nightingales, for any of a number of reasons. Perhaps he lived in an area where these birds were common, or his clothes were colored like a nightingales, or he could imitate a nightingale -- almost any association could cause this name. The most we can say is that an ancestor surely got this name because something about him brought nightingales to mind.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 10,615 Polish citizens named Słowik. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area. A family by this name could have come from anywhere in Poland.

I'm pretty sure there's no place called Glazcia in Poland. There is at least one village named Glazica, and this could be a misspelled form of that name. But there's another possibility that came to mind, one I thought I should mention. This might be a mangled version of Galicia, which was the name of a region comprising what is now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. This area was ruled by the Austrian Empire from about 1772 till after World War I, and a great many of the Poles living there emigrated to North America. If it turns out that is the place your ancestors came from, I'm afraid you have a lot of work ahead of you. Saying an ancestor came from Galicia is like an American saying his ancestor came from New England -- it covers a lot of ground, and you'll have to find records giving a more specific place of origin before you're likely to have much luck locating the family in Europe.

For your sake, I hope it turns out not to be Galicia, but Glazica. That's a village in the Gdansk area, 12 km. south of the town of Wejherowo, in the district of Szemud. If that was your ancestors' home, at least you'd have a specific place to search for traces of them. But your best bet is to continue research on this side of the Atlantic, hoping to find some record that pins down exactly where they came from, or gives you a reliable spelling of the name of their ancestral town or village.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jozovskis - Jazowski

Was wondering if you could tell me the name Jozovskis is Polish, my grandfather was conscripted in to the army in Latvia ww2, unfortunately other than his first name (augusts) this is all i know , thank you again

The form Jozovskis is not Polish; Poles don't use the letter V, and they don't end names with -skis. This is clearly a Latvian form, most likely a Latvian adaptation of a name of Polish or Lithuanian or Belarusian or Russian origin -- but there's no way to tell for sure which of several possible names was adapted to Jozovskis. The most obvious would be JOZOWSKI, except that name is virtually unknown among Poles. Jozovskis could also be a Latvian form of Lithuanian JAZAUSKAS, which in turn probably came from Polish JAZOWSKI. But there are really too many possibilities to say anything for sure.

I'm afraid the only real hope of finding anything is through genealogical research. If you can trace the family back to the exact area in Latvia where they came from, you might find records that would shed light on the name's origin. Without such detailed info, an educated guess is the best I can give. I can't even say for sure whether it's Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, or Russian. Any or all of them could have names that would end up modified to Jozovskis by Latvians. If I had to guess, I'd go with Polish JAZOWSKI, which just means "one from Jazy or Jazow or Jazowo" or some similar place name. But that is strictly a guess.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Gulewicz

I am having difficulty finding information on my mothers family name. Her name is Aniela Gulewicz, born in Pinsk, Poland (now Belarus). Can you offer any advice.

If you are interested in the meaning and derivation of the name, I can tell you a little. Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says names beginning Gul- usually come from the verb gulac', a variation of hulac', "to revel, riot, run wild," or from the noun gula, "bump, knob, protuberance." The suffix -ewicz means "son of," so the surname Gulewicz would mean either "son of Gul or Gula" = "son of the reveler, son of the rioter," or else "son of the one iwth the big bump." Without much more detailed information on the history of a specific family, there is no way to know more about exactly how the name came to be associated with it.

For what it's worth, as of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 375 Polish citizens named Gulewicz. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area. Of course, that's probably not much help to someone whose roots lie in Belarus. But I have no sources of data for that country, and can't tell you how rare or common the name might be there.

As for genealogical research in Belarus, it is considerably more difficult than research in Poland or Lithuania. Still, it is possible. These links may prove helpful:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~blrwgw/
http://www.genealogylinks.net/europe/bel.htm

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Szwarc - Schwartz

I'm surprised that when I do a surname search, you have nothing that comes up with the name SZWARC. I have a long tragic and colorful history of my family's past in northern Poland, Bydgoszcz, Nowe nad Wisla. Can you please help me do get some more info.

In terms of the name's origin and meaning, all I can tell you is what you probably know already: that SZWARC is a Polish phonetic spelling of the German surname SCHWARTZ, which just means "black." Most likely the name referred to an ancestor who was German but settled in Poland, and his name gradually came to be spelled in the Polish manner, rather than the German. It would refer to an ancestor with black hair or dark complexion, or even to one who worked in a profession such as blacksmith. Thus it's a very general name, found all over, and offers no more help in tracing an individual family than does the English surname Black.

I know that's not much, but it's all I can tell you. With a name of this sort, the information on the name's origin and meaning is very general, and of little use in tracing a specific family by that name.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Lepucki

From reading Hoffman's Polish Surnames, I thought Lepucka would indicate a woman married to a man named Lepucki. My grandmother's father was named Lepucki and I believe that she was unmarried when she came into the US. How about something like Lepuckowna?

As a rule we would expect the feminine form of Lepucki to be Lepucka (pronounced roughly "lay-POOT-ska"). LEPUCKOWNA would be an unusual form, because normally that suffix -owna is added only to names derived from nouns; it's used for unmarried females, so that we would expect Lepuckowna to mean "Miss Lepuck." In most cases names ending with -ski or -cki or -zka -- in other words, adjectival surnames -- don't have a separate form for unmarried females: Lepucka could be "Mrs. Lepucki" or "Miss Lepucki."

But there are always exceptions, and we often see in the records regional dialect tendencies. In other words, we usually talk about what is done in mainstream, standard Polish. But in specific regions they often have their own little tendencies, using endings or forms in a way that differs from standard Polish. You can't really say they're "wrong," but they are non-standard and found only in isolated instances. But I have seen many times that an unmarried Kowalska -- which is the only form you'd expect to see in standard Polish -- may be recorded as Kowalszczanka. Normally that -anka ending is added only to noun-derived surnames. If -anka can be added to adjectival surnames, why not -owna as well?

So with LEPUCKOWNA we have two basic possibilities. 1) The name was originally LEPUK or LEPUCK, which is noun-derived, and in that case LEPUCKOWNA would be a normal form indicating an unmarried woman with the maiden name Lepuk or Lepuck. 2) The name was originally LEPUCKI, and the feminine form would normally be LEPUCKA, whether married or not; but in some areas they may have gone ahead and added -owna to form Lepuckowna as a way of referring to an unmarried Lepucka.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 127 Polish citizens named LEPUCKI, and none named LEPUK or LEPUCK. The largest numbers of Lepuckis lived in the following provinces: Kielce 15, Krosno 41, and Legnica 20; the rest were scattered in tiny numbers all over Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

On the basis of this data, it seems likely the original name was Lepucki, and Lepuckowna would be an unusual form meaning "Miss Lepucka." We wouldn't see Lepuckowna in standard Polish, but in dialect it is plausible, since we know other endings meaning "Miss" normally added to noun-derived surnames sometimes are added to adjectival names as well.

I can't say more without a lot of detailed info on the forms of the names as they appear in the records, and on the specific region of Poland where this data is found. But based on general principles, that's what I'd conclude -- Lepuckowna is not a standard way of saying "Miss Lepucki," but it is a form one may see in some instances. If so, it's just a regional variation from the norm.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Cytrynski

Dear Sir, I read on the internet that you might be able to explain my mothers surname. It was Cytrynski. We are told that in old times this name was given by parliament to children born out of marriage. We found it back in 1868 when Maryjanna Cytrynska gave birth on the 1.1.1868 to Antoni Cytrynski. On the christening certificate is no name of a father, so it could be right. Do you know?

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He explains that it comes from the noun cytryna, which is the Polish word for "lemon." The form with -ski is adjectival, so that Cytrynski originally would have meant "of the lemon, of the lemons." Presumably it began as a name for one whom others associated with lemons for some reason. Perhaps they sold this fruit, or were very fond of lemons, or even had a yellowish complexion, which reminded others of the color of a lemon. It is difficult to say for sure what such a name might have referred to originally, since people can be very ingenious in such matters -- often it is impossible to determine what the reference was unless you were there when the name originated. The most we can say is that somehow an ancestor must have been given this name because of some connection with lemons.

It is also possible the name in some cases referred to the name of a place. There is a Cytrynowo near Bydgoszcz, and Cytrynski might refer to that or some other place with a similar name. I would expect "one from Cytrynowo" to be Cytrynowski rather than Cytrynski, but that is not necessarily correct. In any case, a place with a name beginning Cytryn- would, in turn, receive that name because of a perceived association with lemons. So one way or the other, a connection with lemons was involved.

None of my sources mention anything about this name being given to illegitimate children. It is, of course, possible that there was a custom of this sort in certain times and places. But none of my my sources mention it. And I cannot really see any reason why an illegitimate child would receive a name meaning "of lemons."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 251 Polish citizens named Cytrynski. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 46, Poznan 43, Radom 58, Skierniewice 47. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data shows that the name is somewhat concentrated in the area just east of the center of Poland.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Buczyński

My name is Michael Buczynski. I would like to start doing a search on my family name, but all the databases that I have gone to have nothing with the surname BUCZYNSKI. I am originally from Buffalo, NY and my grandfather's name was Leon. I would like to know if there is another root for my surname and how far it goes back. I do appreciate your help and I understand the small amount of time that you have. If you have any information that would help me to get started I would be grateful

In Polish this name is spelled with an accent over the N. So the name is spelled BUCZYŃSKI, pronounced roughly "boo-CHIN-skee."

In most cases this name comes from the term buczyna, "beech forest," that is, a forest consisting mainly of beech trees. It means basically "one who lives near the beech forest." In many cases it means "one from Buczyn or Buczyna or Buczynka or Buczyno or Buczyny," referring to any of a number of villages with names originally meaning "place of the beeches." I should add that names beginning with Bucz- can also come from the root bucz- as in the verb "buczeć, "to hum, drone, buzz"; but I think this particular name almost certainly comes from the word for "beech forest," and especially one of those villages with names beginning Buczyn.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 6,748 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

In other words, the surname by itself isn't going to help you much. This Buczynski family might have come from one place, that one from another, and the one over there from yet another. With a name of this sort the only way to make progress is through genealogical research, digging through records to trace from generation to generation till you find naturalization records, census records, parish records, ship passenger lists, etc. that mention exactly where in Poland the family came from. Then you can pursue further research in Poland, and may actually pinpoint exactly where they came from, and even which particular village their name referred to.

There are a number of links that might help you at the PolishRoots site.

Also, with the link to Buffalo you should take advantage of the resources of the Polish Genealogical Society of New York State.


They have searchable databases that may help greatly in your research.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Sokołowski

I was wondering what exactly my family surname means. My last name is Sokolowski....and if you could help me out I would appreciate it greatly, SOKOLOWSKI in Polish would have a slash throught the L, which I represent online as Ł. That letter is pronounced like our W, so the name sounds like "so-ko-WOFF-skee." It comes ultimately from the root sokół, "falcon." But this surname would almost certainly refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago, a place with a name meaning more or less "place of the falcons." Thus the surname means "one from Sokoły or Sokołowo" or some similar place name beginning with Sokoł-.

The problem is, there are lots of villages and settlements named Sokoły and Sokołowo and Sokołów and Sokółka, and the surname could refer to any of them. Without detailed info of the sort genealogical research uncovers, there is no possible way to know which one the surname refers to in a given family's case. But if you can find where your family came from in Poland, then find a place nearby with a name beginning Sokoł-, chances are decent that might be the place the name refers to.

I should also mention that names in the form X-owski literally mean "of, from, connected to the _ of X," where the blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't have to be spelled out -- usually either "place" or "kin." Thus it's most likely the surname means "one from Sokoły or Sokołowo, etc." but it is also possible it meant "one of the kin of Sokół." Thus a person might have been given the nickname Sokół, "The Falcon," and later his kin came to be called Sokołowski, "kin of the Falcon."

So while these -owski names generally refer to a place the family came from, there is a chance in some cases such a name might mean "kin of." Actually, a genealogist would hope the name does refer to a place, because there is some chance of finding that place. If the name means "kin of the Falcon," chances aren't too good you'll ever find anything that gives more info. These names developed so long ago that one rarely finds surviving documents that give that kind of specific info, unless the family was noble. If they were noble, the chances are somewhat better.

But in any case, the key to learning more is through research into family history. That's the only hope of turning up records that might shed light on what place the surname referred to, or why the family was "kin of the Falcon."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 31,635 Polish citizens named Sokołowski. They lived all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one part of the country.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Kostrzewa - Kostrzewski

... I asked you a question about Polish surnames some time ago, and you were kind enough to answer, so I would like to try you again. I have been researching my father's ancestors who came from the Poznan area, and I found that the earliest ones that I found were called Kostrzewski (born in 1700s), while in the early 1800s they seemed to change to Kostrzewa. I got the Kostrzewski /Kostrzewa names from Catholic Church records, whereas only Kostrzewa was used in the Prussian records I have. Can you tell me why they might have changed? Did other surnames make such a change too?

That's an interesting phenomenon. I can say that in general it's not too unusual to see Poles living in the Prussian partition (which included the Poznan area) modify their names to sound "less Polish." The Germans made no secret of their intention to root out Slavic influences and make their part of Poland basically a prime territory for Germans to colonize. Many Poles were blond-haired and blue-eyed and could pass as Germans, but retaining a Polish name or speaking in Polish tended to make you stand out as one of those trouble-making Poles the Germans wanted to eliminate. So, under pressure, many Poles spoke German and even let their names be modified to forms that didn't sound quite so "alien" to Germans.

I'll grant you, Kostrzewski to Kostrzewa is not exactly a huge leap. But at least you're rid of that -ski ending, that's something. That would be my guess as to the explanation. To Poles, Kostrzewski is a perfectly good name, it would be silly to change it to Kostrzewa; but a Pole who felt he had to to change his name but didn't want to change it too much might have felt it was an acceptable compromise. For that matter, German record-keepers may have just decided "You vill now go by zis name" -- they had a charming way of doing that sometimes.

I'm not positive this is the answer, but I suspect it is. Some Poles went all the way, completely Germanizing their names, e. g., from "Kowalski" to "Schmidt." Others made small changes, and I have a feeling that's what this is. Without the -ski on the end your ancestors may have felt they'd get a little less grief from the Germans, but they didn't completely "sell out."

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Stybak

...A cousin of my father recently traveled to the same small town. She found plenty of Szafrans (my great-grandmother's maiden name), but stated there were no more Stybaks left! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Well, Stybak is not a common name by any means. The Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland, which lists all names of Polish citizens, how many Poles bore those names, and a breakdown of where they live by province, shows only 88 Stybaks as of 1990. They lived in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (57), Koszalin (3), Krakow (1), and Rzeszow (27). Unfortunately further data, such as first names, addresses, etc., is not available. But since Wadowice is in Bielsko-Biala province, and the largest number of Stybaks live in that same province, this suggests there are still possible relatives living somewhere in that area -- perhaps not in Wadowice itself but in villages nearby.

 

The only hope I know of to find them -- and it's a bit of a long-shot -- is to do a search of the Bielsko-Biala telephone directory. It's not on-line, and the way these directories are organized makes it tough to search them; furthermore, phones in private homes are not nearly as common in Poland as here, so there's no guarantee any of these Stybaks would be listed. Still, I know no other way to do it... What I'd suggest is you contact the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053, to ask about the possibility of having them search the directory -- they have a complete set, and for a reasonable fee they'll search them for a particular name. I especially recommend contacting the PGS-NE because of the HolyokeMA connection. The Society has members with connections to Holyoke, and just MIGHT be able to help with a lead or some background info. In any case they should be able to search the phone directory, and I wouldn't expect that to be horribly expensive.

 

It's also a mystery what Stybak comes from. Many names from styb- come from a Germanic root, but a German name would have to be pretty thoroughly polonized before it would start taking on Slavic suffixes such as -ak. I notice in Polish there is a dialect or rarely used word styba meaning "grain-crushing mill," so a stybak may have been a person who worked at such a mill. That's nothing more than an educated guess, but I can't find any other root that seems likely to apply.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Nigbor

... contact regarding my family name Nigbor. I have tried to do searches on the internet without results. Would you know if this name is listed in the Rymut Volumes? Possibly, do you have any other information that would help in my research? My grandfather, Blase, was born in Binarowa near Biecz in 1881,if that helps.

Nigbor is listed in the directory Rymut edited. As of 1990 there were 26 Polish citizens by this name, living in the following provinces:

NIGBOR, 126: Warsaw 1, Bielsko-Biala 16, Bydgoszcz 2, Elblag 1, Kalisz 1, Katowice 17, Krosno 12, Legnica 11, Leszno 3, Nowy Sacz 20, Rzeszow 1, Szczecin 5, Tarnow 20, Wroclaw 1.

This distribution suggests the name is most common in the southeastern (Tarnow and Krosno provinces) and in southcentral Poland (Bielsko-Biala, Nowy Sacz and Katowice provinces). Unfortunately the directory does not give further data, such as first names or addresses, so I can't help with any more info than I gave above. In theory you could write the Polish Genealogical Society of the Northeast, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053, and ask them to do a search, for a fee, of provincial phone directories, to see if any of the Nigbor's are listed. But it's a bit of a long-shot -- phones in homes are far less common in Poland than here, so there's no guarantee any will be listed. If you can limit the search to one province, that will help, but the way the directories are organized it will still be a difficult procedure. If you can give them a specific surname, town, and province, that would hold the cost of the search down to a reasonable level (I'm guessing maybe $10-20, but I can't be certain). Since the only Binarowa I can find near a Biecz is in Krosno province, that is presumably the area you want searched: Binarowa or Biecz, Krosno province. There are no guarantees, but I honestly can't think of any other way to go.

I'd hope one of my sources would suggest the meaning of this name, but none of my sources list it or a reasonable variation. In theory it could be a polonized form of German Nachbar, "neighbor," or a name from nie, "not" + gbur, "peasant." But those are just guesses, I don't have anything firm on the name.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Ogrodowicz

...Do you have any information concerning the surname Ogrodowicz? Can you suggest some references for trying to search our family tree?

The name Ogrodowicz comes from the root ogród, "garden." The suffix -owicz means "son of," so in this case the name probably started out meaning "son of a gardener." There are quite a few common surnames in Polish meaning the same basic thing, including Ogrodowczyk, Ogrodniczak, etc.

As of 1990 there were 592 Polish citizens named Ogrodowicz, living all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (53), Kalisz (66), Poznan (76), and Wroclaw (54). I see no particular pattern to the distribution, which is not surprising, because such a name could get started anywhere Polish was spoken and there were gardeners, i. e., all over Poland.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Krause - Krivosika - Kryvosika- Krzywosika

Laurence Krupnak sent me a copy of his note, in response to Julia's questions about the name Krzywosika, writing:

...The name Krivosika may have vulgar meaning or connotations which I do not know. I can say that in Ukrainian language the root word kriv- means "crooked," like a lame person, not necessarily that a man's penis is crooked or deformed. "Crooked" in Polish language is krzywy. I believe your grandfather probably received so much locker room joking that he just decided to change his name to Krause.


I read Julia's note, and might be able to add a little to the discussion.

The root krzyw- in Polish and kryv- in Ukrainian mean the same thing, "crooked," in a physical sense (not necessarily in a criminal sense, as in English). And the verbs sikać in Polish and sykaty in Ukrainian both mean basically "to squirt" and have the vulgar meaning of "to piss"; according to my dictionary, Ukrainian sikaty has a related meaning, "to blow one's nose," and sik is "juice, sap." So whether the name started out meaning that, Polish Krzywosika and Ukrainian Kryvosyka would sound like they meant "crooked-piss," with all the accompanying speculations about exactly why a person would piss crooked. (I don't think the Ukr. y and i interaction here is necessarily significant, but the spellings with y are presumably a bit more "correct"). Such names are not uncommon in Polish (or in Ukrainian either, from what I've seen). Sometimes I find names with meanings that imply such intimate knowledge of a person's body or habits that I find myself wondering "How on earth did anyone know enough to give this guy such a name?" Names like these can be terribly cruel (and hilarious, so long as you're not the one everybody's laughing at!).

The interesting thing is, I'm not sure the name started out meaning that. In Polish, for instance, there is a name Krzywosz that dates from around 1439; it probably started as a nickname for a person with a deformity, maybe lame or with a crooked limb. Now the thing is, in Polish and to some extent in Ukrainian the suffix -ik is often added to roots to form a name. So the name may have started out as something like Polish Krzywosik, Ukr. Kryvosik, and meant "son of the cripple" - still not a particularly nice name, granted, but not nearly so graphic and vulgar as "crooked piss." But we see the suffix -a added sometimes to names, so that may be how Kryvosik turned into Kryvosyka, just meaning "of the cripple's son." Once that form was around, anyone hearing it would have a tendency to break it down differently, not kryv-os-ik-a but kryvo- + sika.This often happens, a name starts out meaning one thing, but as the centuries pass and people forget what it originally meant, they modify it slightly to something readily comprehensible; or sometimes they give a name a malicious twist just out of meanness.

Either way, I can certainly understand why a man with such a name might get into fights and be glad to change it at the first opportunity. Krause, by the way, is a German name meaning "curly-haired," but he probably chose it because it had a similar sound but wasn't so likely to provoke cruel jokes. It's a shame he got jeered at anyway as a German.

I have no data on Ukr. surname frequency or distribution, but it might be useful to mention that in Poland as of 1990 there were 368 people named Krzywosz, at least 1 named Krzywoszek (data for that name was incomplete), 6 named Krywopust (which offhand looks to me as if it might mean something similar, except maybe dealing with ejaculation rather than urination!), 1 named Krywosłyk, and 1 named Krywosz (the names with Kryw- rather than Krzyw- are likely to be Ukrainian rather than Polish). There's a real catalogue of bodily ills, too, names such as Krywoborodenko (crooked beard), Krywohławy (crooked head), Krywonis (crooked nose), Kryworuka (crooked hand), Krywoszeja (crooked neck), etc.

I can't be sure my "cripple's son" theory is valid, but it is plausible, and I thought it worth mentioning. To a Pole or Ukrainian this name would sound like a rather vulgar but funny nickname, no question -- but that doesn't necessarily mean the name started that way.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Domała - Domalik - Domamir - Domasław

... Hi, I'm looking for the origin of the name Domalik. The only reference I have found was in Polish so I am wondering if it is a Polish surname. Do you have any records of it being a Polish surname? Thanks for any information you can give me. ...

Domalik definitely can be a Polish surname; I can't say for sure whether it might also be found among other ethnic groups, because many Slavic names are very similar and it might be this name also occurs among Czechs or Ukrainians or someone else. I tend to doubt it, however -- the formation and structure definitely seem Polish to me.

Most Polish surnames beginning with Dom- come from the ancient root dom, "house, home" (common also in other Slavic languages), either in its own right as a noun or as a root in ancient pagan compound names such as Domamir ("peaceful home") or Domasław ("famous house"); such names, which arose as a kind of prophecy or way of giving a child a name of good omen, often were shortened into nicknames by taking the first syllable, chopping off the rest, and adding suffixes. One such name, Domała , appears in Polish records as early as 1339, and Domalik looks as if it was formed by adding the diminutive suffix -ik to that name. So it's tough to say whether Domalik should be interpreted as meaning "little stay-at-home" or "son of stay-at-home," or as just "son of Domała," with that name meaning no more or less than nicknames such as "Ted" or "Fred" or "Jack" in English.

Domalik is not a particularly rare or common surname in modern Poland, it's kind of in between: as of 1990 there were some 343 Polish citizens by that name. Of those by far the most, 211, lived in the southcentral province of Nowy Sacz, southeast of Krakow. Several other provinces had a few Domalik's living in them, but only Jelenia Gora (10), Katowice (35), Krakow (16), and Slupsk (10) had 10 or more. Often Polish surnames don't have any particular distribution pattern, but this strongly suggests the origin of most families named Domalik was in southcentral Poland near Nowy Sacz.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Dula - Dulański

OK, let's translate the entry first. "Blaseia Dula (g. sg.) z Maniow 1610" is probably "Blasei Dula (genitive singular) from Maniowy, 1610," which means someone named Błaźej (English Blaise, in Latin Blasius) is mentioned as coming from Maniowy in a legal entry from 1610. Grammatically z Maniow must mean "from Maniowy" rather than "from Maniow" -- there is a Maniowy in Nowy Sacz province, maybe about 20 km. east of Nowy Targ. Then it says there is mention of a Dulka, a feminine form, in 1616, and of a Dulka (but in the genitive singular form Dulki) from Maniowy in a 1622 entry. It says the name is derived from the noun dula, which means "1. a kind of pear, or 2. a thick or swollen nose." The basic root dul- means "swelling, thickening," so the kind of pear got the name because of its shape, and the link with the nose is not hard to see (do any of your folks have swollen noses?).

"LW (NT)" is an abbreviation for Księga sądu wojtowskiego lawniczego miasta Nowego Targu Archiwum Powiatowe w Nowy Targ"

As you know, peasants were almost never mentioned in any kind of record before the Church started requiring pastors to make records of baptisms, deaths, marriages. So when we can trace a name back earlier than, oh, about 1700, it's usually because the name appears in land and legal records dealing with the nobility. In this case, it is very difficult to translate these terms because we don't have any legal equivalent, but the title of the book is basically Legal book of the wójt's aldermen's court of Nowy Targ, preserved at the State Archive office in Nowy Targ. The wójt was a kind of village chief or headman, and often headed a kind of local court with alderman sitting on the bench (the root ław- means, basically, "bench"). So some folks named Dula had legal dealings with the aldermen's court of Nowy Targ.

I didn't include Dulański in my book because as of 1990 there were only 32 Poles with that name. The breakdown by province is instructive: Bielsko-Biala 2, Katowice 2, Nowy Sacz 28! Sounds to me like the Dulanski is a rare name, almost always found somewhere near the Maniowy area! In some ways that's tough, it's hard to find anything on a family with such a rare name -- but the good side is, if you find a Dulanski, odds are he/she's a relative! That's a lot easier to deal with than 220,000 Nowaks!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Huratiak - Kuziak

... I received your book on Friday and I am very happy with it. Of course I haven't had time to read it yet. Of course I immediately looked up my surnames and found the root for both names. Now come the questions.

... 1) The original Rusyn Cyrillic transliteration of my name from the Shematizm for Greek Catholic Diocese - Lemko from 1787 was: H u r e j t j a k. I have the marriage records of my 2 Great uncles from this country in 1898 and 1908, and my father's baptism record from 1905 and the name is spelled H u r e t i a k. My Grandfather's tombstone and Great Uncles's tombstone both spell the name H u r a t i a k. The root of my name is Hur-, as your book suggests. Am I correct? The biblical version is listed as Khur, since I can only find Hur in my biblical reference books, should I assume Khur and Hur are the same? Should I use H u r e j t j a k in trying to search for relatives in Poland, Slovakia, or the Ukraine? If not what spelling would be used today? My Grandfather came from the village of Uscja Ruskie, Horlyci county, Galicia. Today that village is Uscie Gorlickie, Poland.

With names transliterated from Cyrillic it can get awfully tough to know for sure the "right" spelling and even the right root. I will say that Khur and Hur can be the same -- the original sound is most often spelled kh in English to indicate a guttural much like that in German "Bach"; but it is also sometimes spelled h -- the original Hebrew letter looks a lot like the letter for h, and is often rendered as an h with a dot under it, and the dot can easily get forgotten. So think Khur and Hur are probably the same. But given the East Slavic confusion of h and g sounds, even origin from a root Hur- or Gór- is not impossible.

Having said that, I have to waffle even more on you. It is very hard to say for sure what the ultimate root of your name is. The problem is that last syllable -tiak or -tjak -- I don't see how it fits into any of the possible roots. Huratiak, Hurejtjak, Huretiak, these are all just variant spellings trying to capture in letters the sound of the name, which probably sounded almost like "Hurray-chok"; the key question is, what's the source of the first part of the name? It could come from a East Slavic-influenced form of Polish góra, mountain (? "son of the mountain-man"?), or from the Khur/Hur name, it might even be an East Slavic-influenced name from Horacy, "Horace" (son of Horace?). None of these is certain, and I don't have anything that would give me reason to favor one over the others as the most likely.

I hope you won't get disgusted with me if I suggest this is a prime case for discussing with the folks at the Pracownia Antroponimiczna [Anthroponymic Workshop] of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow (for more information see my introduction, or click here for the address: Institute address). I knew my book would not be able to answer everybody's questions, and that's why I want people to know the Workshop exists -- for those who really want to know the answer, the Workshop's staff are the people best suited to supply it.

... 2) My Grandnother's name was Kuziak. I have the birth records of the Kuziak family back to the 1780's. In fact I have found a second cousin in Poland who I communicate with via email, so the name is not the problem. My question is: In your book the root is Kuz, Kuziak is listed after the meaning of carabus beetle. Is that the meaning of the name?

Kuz- is also tough because kuz- itself doesn't seem to be a popular root in Polish. I noticed in the Slownik Warszawski (an 8-volume Polish-language dictionary) that most words (as opposed to names) starting with kuz- were dialect variants of words with guz- in standard Polish. If this applies to names as well -- and generally that's a reasonable assumption to make -- Kuziak would be a variant of Guziak, a fairly common name from a root meaning "bump, swelling, button." If the K is right, however, not just a variant of G, then my best guess is that the name derives from kuza, old cow, or kuzaka, the carabus beetle.

I'm sorry I couldn't give you a straighter answer, but a lot of the time a simple, straight answer just isn't possible -- there are too many variables, an honest man can't ignore them. As you probably know, anyone who claims to have all the answers is usually a charlatan. The notions I discuss above are my best insights, but if you're not satisfied with them (and I won't blame you if you're not), it would probably be pretty cheap to contact the Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow and see if they can help. If they can't, well, I don't know who can. But I think they're worth a try.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Kaszubik - Kaszubowski

I think I have learned enough about Slavic linguistics and onomastics to say this much, however. I don't think it's exactly right to call -ik the Czech counterpart of Polish -ek. I think it's closer to the truth to say both -ik and -ek are suffixes used in many Slavic languages, including Polish and Czech. I think -ek, -ik, -ka, etc. all started as diminutives, often used in names to mean "son of ...," and I have some reason to think that's true in Czech as well as Polish. Regional preferences may -- I stress may -- have made -ik more common in Czech than -ek; I just did a quick scan of some Czech names, and it seemed -ik appears more often in Czech than does -ek.

KK> For What It's Worth (Buffalo Springfield 1967), my ancestral surname of Kaszubik and its origins may be of interest to the subject of this discussion.

KK> At the beginning of my research, the surname Kaszubowski appeared to me to be obviously connected somehow with the Kashubians in Northern Poland. Kaszubowski appeared to mean, "from Kashubia" or "from the Kashubians." (Which came first, Kashubia or the Kashubians? - the chicken or the egg...). The original surname of Kaszubik (before 1857) appeared to be a patronym: "son of a Kashub" or a diminutive: "little Kashub." In fact its origins in my family are in the village of Kaszuba in the southern Kaszuby region (also recorded as Koszuba). A small village in the parish of Lesno in Bydgoszcz province where the surname Kaszubik is recorded as early as the year 1666. In the late 17th century the spelling of the surname of those "from" that village alternated back and forth between Kaszuba (rarely) and Kaszubik. In the 18th century and into the beginning of the 19th century, the surname alternated back and forth between Kaszubik and Kaszubowski. Kaszubowski became the more standard version of the name. There are only two Kaszubiks in Poland today, but there are thousands of Kaszubowskis. At any rate, I believe that the suffix -ik, as applied to my family name before 1857, is in this case a more archaic suffix used to indicate someone who was "from" the village of Kaszuba. Parish records in the surrounding area show this same evolution of the surname of those families who left the village in the past. Another interesting aspect to be considered is that: In the northern Kaszuby region there are fewer surnames which end with the suffix -ski (e.g. Bialk instead of Bialkowski, Konkol - Konkolewski). Father Rekowski - a Kashubian scholar of note - writes that the Kashubians love to make their surnames as short as possible with lots of consonants. I believe that the suffix -ski may have some connections due to the influence of the Polonization of the Kashubian region to the south.


Another factor in which to consider is that priests of higher education than the masses recorded the surname more properly in Polish. It is also possible that the suffix -ik in my ancestral surname could mean "son of someone from the village of Kaszuba." Kaszubik and Kaszubowski are certainly toponyms in this case. This gives another view to Professor Rymut's explanation for surnames which begin with the root Kaszub-. Not all surnames with the root Kaszub- have their origins in the Kaszuby region. Kaszub+ek versus Kaszub+ik is almost certainly an influence of Germanization in my family. Today in Germany, those Kaszubiks who emigrated there before the surname was Polonized to Kaszubowski (1880's-1890's), are now known by the name of Kaschube[c]k.


Standard Disclaimer: No generalization is worth a damn including this one.

Keith A. Kaszubowski

Note: for more information on the Kashubs, see the Website of the Kashubian Association of North America (KANA) at: http://feefhs.org/kana/frg-kana.html -- Fred Hoffman

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Kiełtoń

... Your Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings, Second Edition is a real hit at our house!

Delighted to hear it! If people pay good money for the book, I want them to feel they got their money's worth. It's gratifying when folks tell me the book really did them some good.

... Lo and behold there is Kiełton on page 289. We have never seen that name anywhere!! We found about three Kieltons in the People Search of the US. John's mother's maiden name is Kielton. Now, I have a question. There is the number (8) next to the Kielton name. If I understand this correctly - that is the number of Kieltons living in Poland???

That is correct, as of 1990 there were 8 Polish citizens by the name of Kiełtoń: 1 in Krakow province, 7 in Nowy Sacz province... Actually, it was sheer luck that name appears in my book. I noticed there were 1,518 Poles named Kiełtyka, so I resolved to include that name, especially if I could find any good sources on its derivation (in general I wanted to include any name with more than 1,000, unless I had absolutely no idea what the name came frm). Then I noticed Rymut had an entry on Kiełtyka, giving its derivation, so that meant that name was definitely going in! When I typed that entry, I noticed there was room in the line for another name; and I believe I remember I had seen somewhere that a PGS member was researching the name (presumably you!?). I felt fairly sure Kiełtoń comes from the same root, so I went ahead and included it. That name got in there simply because there was enough room in the line for another name! I was trying to hold the size of the book down, I might not have included it if it had required a second line... The funny part is, now I notice that Kiełt has 304 bearers, and if I had noticed that I would have included it, and maybe omitted Kiełtoń, and you'd have missed out. So let's be glad things worked out the way they did!

......Where would I find these Kielton names? John's grandfather listed Poland-Austria as his birthplace on the 1900 Census. We have no other info about him except that he came to South Bend, Indiana about 1910.

Ah, that's the tough part. The organization that maintains the database from which those figures are taken will not share any other data with anyone. Part of the deal with Rymut was "Yes, you can use our totals for each surname and our breakdown per province -- but nothing else!" So we know 1 Kiełtoń lived in Krakow province, and we know 7 lived in Nowy Sącz province -- but that's as far as we can go. Frustrating! For what it's worth, Nowy Sącz was in Galicia, so "Poland-Austria" fits; the Kiełtońs in the Nowy Sącz region are very likely to be relatives.

What might be worth a try is to take a look at a telephone directory for Nowy Sącz province. Phones in private homes are far less common in Poland than here, so there's no guarantee any of those Kiełtońs would be listed. But it's the only thing I can think of, and with 7 of them, just maybe 1 will be listed! The problem with Polish directories is, they are organized by province, and they go through each community, one at a time. So you can't just consult a master list for "Kiełtoń", you have to check this village, then the next one, then the next, and so on, to the end. It makes it a long and tedious process; but it can be done, and it just might pay off.

The Polish Museum of America Library has some of the provincial phone directories, but I don't know if it has Nowy Sącz province. If not, the PGS-Connecticut/ Northeast has the complete set. I don't know how much they'd charge to look through the Nowy Sącz directory for Kiełtoń listings, but it might be worth asking. I think you have their address (if I remember right, you're a member, aren't you?) but in case you don't, it's PGS-CT, 8 Lyle Rd., New Britain CT 06053.

This is not a sure thing, it may lead nowhere. But I'm afraid I can't think of anything else to do. I hope some day the Polish government will realize the benefits of sharing info, and maybe then getting in touch with relatives will be easier. But for now we have to use what resources we have, even though they leave a lot to be desired.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Kilar - Kilarski

...I have been researching the origin of my mother's maiden name Kilar and found no reference to it in your book Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings. She came from Obertyn, which was located in eastern Galicia at the time of her birth. We were told by an uncle that its origin is Swedish. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

I imagine you looked in the first edition of my book, because in the second edition I did mention Kilar. I could not find any source that gave firm info on he name's derivation, but it was too common to ignore, so I mentioned it and speculated it is a variation of the name Kielar; as of 1990 there were 2,994 Polish citizens named Kielar, 611 named Kilar, and 654 named Kilarski. Referring to a 10-volume set that gives names and frequencies (but no first names or addresses), we see that the name Kielar appears all over Poland, but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Krosno (590), Przemysl (282), Rzeszow (377), and Zamosc (299). These are all in southeast Poland and thus would have been in Galicia. As for Kilar, they too live all over, with the largest number in the province of Krosno, 196. With Kilarski the largest numbers are in the provinces of Warsaw (50), Opole (38), Tarnobrzeg (52), and Wroclaw (115); the frequency of this name in other parts of the country may have something to do with the forced relocation of Ukrainians after World War II. It certainly appears these names were most common in what used to be Galicia.

As I said, I don't have a firm indication of what the name derives from. I do note that there is or was a village called Kielary in Olsztyn province (northern Poland) which was "Kellaren" in German. This suggests the name Kielar/Kilar may derive from German Keller, "cellar," as a surname often meaning "cellarer, one in charge of the wine-cellar." Since there were large numbers of Germans living throughout all of Poland and Galicia and Ukraine, this derivation is plausible. Also worth mentioning is the root kila, a measure of grain in the Caucasus; it is possible Kilar could also come from this, especially in eastern Galicia. But I don't have enough information to say for sure.

If you'd like to get a more informed opinion on this, I recommend writing the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow.


I hope this information helps -- and if you do write the Workshop and get some info, I'd be very interested in hearing what they say. Most of the time they confirm my theories, but every so often they come up with something I've never heard of. I would love to know for sure what Kilar comes from, if I have this info I'll put it in the next edition of my book.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Czyzewski

... I am searching my family's Czyzewski name and have come across a town by the name of Czyzew on a library map of Poland. (It looks like it is about 60 miles southwest of Białystok, between Sokoly and Kossow.) Now it just seems too simple to suspect that my family was 'from the town of Czyzew' and hence are named Czyzewski ! And please - stop me before I go to far with this too, too simple explanation of my name's derivation !

At this point you're probably saying (or should be saying), "Oh, hell, here comes Mr. Know-it-all to spoil my fun." I don't really mean to be constantly complicating things, but sometimes the answer isn't simple, and I'd be a liar if I said it was.

The good news is, yes, it can be just that simple: Czyżewski can, and often does, mean "person from Czyżew."
The bad news is, not only is there more than one Czyżew, but this name might also be "person from Czyżewo" or even "person from Czyżów or Czyżówka." When Poles add a suffix such as -ski to a place name, it is customary for final vowels to drop off; so a name -owski or -ewski can, in theory, come from places ending in -ow, -owo, -owa, -ew, -ewo, and so on. And in older Polish even suffixes such as -owice and -owiec and -owka often simplified to -ow- before adding -ski. Furthermore, names that are plural forms and end in -e, -y, and -i can also sometimes generate adjectival forms ending in -owski or -ewski. (I'm not even going to get into the whole question of when it's -owski and when it's -ewski, unless of course you want to read a dissertation on the significance of hard and soft consonants, orthographic representation of palatalization, and so on)... The bottom line is, Czyżewski may come most often from "Czyżew" or "Czyżewo," but there are other possibilities we really can't rule out.

And I'm afraid several different places exist with all those names that could yield the surname Czyzewski. There isn't just one Czyzew; the Euro-Reiseatlas Polen shows one in Konin province and one in Płock province, as well as a whole cluster of places in Łomża province with double names (Czyzew-Osada, Czyzew-Siedliska, etc.) -- if I'm not mistaken, one of these is the one you found, probably Czyzew-Osada, the largest. The Slownik geograficzny gazetteer also mentions a couple of places named Czyzewo. And there are several Czyzow's, Czyzowice's, Czyzowka's, and so on.

I'm not trying to make you give up in disgust here. I'm just trying to make the point that folks can't say, "My name's So-and-So, where did my ancestors come from in Poland?" The vast majority of the time there are too many possibilities. But if you've done some research and say "I'm researching Czyzewski's who came from the area southwest of Białystok," then all of a sudden we can ignore a lot of those other places: there is a place with the right name in the right area, odds are good it's the right one. Most surnames don't offer enough clues to let you zoom right in on the correct spot. They're not like a treasure map -- but they can be the X that marks the spot on the treasure map. The key is to get enough info to let you focus on a specific area, rather than having to comb through all of Poland and deal with a dozen different places that all have the right name.

... Does the town of Czyzew have many people named Czyzewski ?) ...

That's an interesting question, too, and I don't know the answer. But think of it this way. Surnames arose as a way to distinguish people -- so what good would it do if everybody in Czyzew started calling himself Czyzewski? That's like everybody in Houston taking the surname Houston. I'm sure there are some folks named Czyzewski in Czyzew and Czyzewo (etc.), but common sense suggests a name like this wouldn't be much good until after you left Czyzew. If your ancestor was born in Czyzew but moved to, say, Sokoly, then it would make perfect sense for the locals to call him "Czyzewski -- the guy from Czyzew" ... That's what common sense says. But it doesn't always work out that way.

Thanks for asking some very interesting questions, and I hope my explanations haven't just confused you worse!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Kathner - Käthner

... "it's difficult to read, a co-worker who was raised in Germany believes one entry to indicate that she was the daughter of a "kathner" (umlaut over the 'a').

Kätner (Kaetner) is someone which lives in a Kate, a small farmhouse without or with little farmland. The Kätners were often at the same time farmers on their own land and farmworkers/day-labourers or earned their money with handicrafts. The word Kätner is used in different regions, similar like Kötter or Häusler in other parts of Germany.

Florian Speer

 

Adamczyk - Przybyciel

...I just received a copy of your book... Polish Surnames:Origins and Meanings and think it is great. I do have a couple of questions (for now).

1. While looking up the surname Adamczyk, I found two entries with two different frequencies while Adamyczyk(xAdamczyk) did not have a frequency associated with it. (page 185 in your book)


Aarghh, a typo! I looked over these pages so many times, and still some got by! The first Adamczyk, with 3,902, should be Adamczuk; Adamczyk does have 49,599, it's Adamczuk that has 3,902. As for Adamyczyk, it is a misspelling of Adamczyk, and did not appear in Poland as of 1990, nor would one expect it to, unless someone keyed in data wrong. That's what I meant by that (x Adamczyk), it's a short way of saying "This is a misspelling of Adamczyk." If there had been any Adamyczyks as of 1990, I would have given the number. I grant, however, that this is not as clear as it could be -- and the double Adamczyks is a typo, pure and simple.

2. One of my aunts spells her maiden name as Przybyciel, however it wasn't listed. Is it possible that she is spelling it incorrectly?

Due to space limitations, I generally included only the more common names; once in a while I included a rare one because some one had asked about it before, I had some info, so I put it in. But in most cases I didn't include rare names because I had a definite problem with the book getting too big! Przybyciel is a case in point: as of 1990 there were 26 Poles with that name, living in the provinces of Bygoszcz (5), Gdansk (1), Krosno (10), Legnica (5), Slupsk (4), and Tarnobrzeg (1). So it's pretty rare. None of my sources mentions it, but I figure it's very, very likely it means about the same thing as Przybycien, a newcomer or recent arrival. So I wouldn't say it's a misspelling, maybe more of a dialect term or a word that for some reason never caught on in widespread usage -- przybycień was, for some reason, the form that did catch on, and thus is a much more common surname. But in terms of linguistics and formation, Przybyciel is a perfectly good word, and there's no real logic as to why it's rare and Przybycień is common!

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Mentus - Miętus

… I have additional information on the surname of my Grandmother. Her maiden name was spelled Mentus but she told my aunt that it was originally spelled Mietus and that her father had come from a part of Poland ruled by Germany.

It was almost certainly spelled Miętus, where ę is pronounced like "en" -- so it would sound a lot like "Mentus," and that's why it came to be spelled that way. This name comes from a word miętus, the burbot, a kind of fish (Lota vulgaris). Surnames from the names of animals and fish are quite common in Poland; this might mean an ancestor caught or sold this fish, or somehow reminded people of it -- all we can know for sure is that there was something about him that made this name seem appropriate.

As of 1990 there were 859 Poles named Miętus; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (110), Nowy Sacz (209), and Siedlce (133), but there were people by that name all over the country (I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses). Germany ruled most of northern and western Poland before World War II, so I'm afraid that doesn't narrow it down much.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Dąbrowski - Dombrowski - Litwiński - Milko - Ruszczyk

… I wonder if you have any information on my parents names: Milko and Dabrowski/Dabroski? or the grandmothers - Letwinski/Litwinski and Ruszczyk?

Dabrowski/Dabroski is an extremely common name, as of 1990 there were 92,945 Polish citizens named Dąbrowski (ą is normally pronounced like "own," but before b or p pronounced like "om"). The version without the -w- is less common, but does appear, and is due to the fact that in some areas of Poland they pronounce that W so lightly that it virtually disappears, so spelling it Dabroski makes sense. It's also often spelled Dombrowski/Dombroski because the pronunciation of the nasal vowel makes it sound like that, so it can also be spelled that way -- there were 2,786 Dombrowski's in Poland as of 1990. The surname comes from the term dąbrowa, "oak grove," so that it means "one from the area of the oak grove," but Dąbrowa is also any extremely common place name in Poland, so the surname could also be interpreted as meaning "one from Dąbrowa" -- and as I say, there are literally dozens of places by that name.

Litwiński is probably the standard spelling and Letwinski a variant. As of 1990 there were 2,035 Polish citizens named Litwiński. The name comes from the term litwin, which means "Lithuanian," so that Litwiński means roughly "person from Lithuania, kin of the Lithuanian," something like that.

Milko is a rather rare name, as of 1990 there were 190 Polish citizens named Milko, and another 36 who spelled it Miłko (with ł pronounced like our w). The largest numbers of Milko's lived in the provinces of Białystok (37), Jelenia Gora (29), Legnica (21), and Pila (16), in other words, scattered all over the country; the majority of the Miłko's (27) lived in Warsaw province. In some cases this name might come directly from the root mił-, "dear, beloved, nice," but usually it would derive as a short form or nickname for someone with old pagan compound names with that root -mił, such as Bogumił ("dear to God") or Miłosław ("one to whom glory is dear"). Miłek is a rather common short form of such names, Miłko or Milko was less common, but as we see, it did generate the surname in some cases. It probably started as a reference to a prominent member of the family and became a kind of shorthand, "Miłko's kin," and thus became a surname.

Ruszczyk is a moderately common name, as of 1990 there were 2,038 Ruszczyk's in Poland. The basic root of the name is probably rusz-, "to move," but it's worth noting that there is a noun ruszczyk meaning "pin-clover, pin-grass, Erodium cicutarium," and many plants and grasses served as the origin of Polish surnames. Finally, the name Rusek or Ruszek is often seen given to a person of Russian or Ruthenian (Ukrainian) origin, and Ruszczyk might sometimes develop from it, meaning "son of the Russian." In a given instance it's impossible to say which of these derivations would prove relevant; for one Ruszczyk family the grass might be the connection, for another it might be Russian or Ukrainian origin, etc.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Jamaika - Jamajka

I would like to get more information about my family name Jamaika (jewish family) that was given to mine grand grand fathers in warsaw polin

According to Alexander Beider's Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland, the name was spelled JAMAJKA by Poles, although spelling of surnames was inconsistent and you certainly may see it spelled JAMAIKA. That would be no at all unusual, since I and J were often used interchangeably in Polish spelling until the 20th century.

Beider says he found the name borne only by Jews in the Warsaw area, and it comes from the Polish word jamajka, which means "Jamaica rum" -- in other words, it comes from the name of the Caribbean island called Jamaica in English. Most likely an ancestor was a merchant who sold Jamaica rum, or perhaps this was a nickname for an ancestor who was especially fond of drinking Jamaica rum.

Apparently there is no one now living in Poland by this name. This is not surprising, because the name was probably borne only Jews, and obviously, the Holocaust wiped out or drastically reduced the numbers of Jewish families bearing any specific name.

I do not have any information on others with this name, but you might want to post this name on the PolishOrigins Surnames Database. This database has not been up and running all that long, but it's already got a respectable list of names. It might be an easy way to make contact with others researching the same name.

If you have not already done so, you should also check the Consolidated Jewish Surname Index. The CJSI shows this name appears Beider's book on Jewish surnames from the Kingdom of Poland, as I already mentioned, but it also appears in Jewish Records-Indexing Poland. If you have not already used these resources, it is possible you may learn more there.

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it is some help, and I wish you the best of luck in all you do!

William F. "Fred" Hoffman
www.fredhoff.com

 

Misiewicz

… I have several questions about this surname, when you have a moment: 1) What does it mean?

According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, in most cases names beginning with Mis- or Misi- come from the root miś, "bear," that is, the animal. However, such names can also sometimes derive from short forms or nicknames of longer, standard first names, such as Michał (Michael) or Mikołaj (Nicholas) or Miłosław (no equivalent). Poles often took popular first names, dropped everything but the first syllable or couple of sounds, and added suffixes: this Michal -> Mi- -> Mis- + suffixes, and the same thing could happen with other names beginning with Mi-. It's a little like the way English-speakers formed "Teddy" from "Theodore." So we can't rule out the possibility that in some cases Mis- names derived this way.

The suffix -ewicz or -owicz means "son of," so the standard interpretation of Misiewicz would be "son of the bear," where Miś, "Bear," was probably a name given a man of great size and strength, and I'd expect it was complimentary. Or if the name derived from those shortened first names I mentioned, then it would mean "son of Mike/Nick/Miłosław, etc." To be honest, in most cases I really think the "son of the bear" interpretation would prove right most of the time.

2) How common is it? Is it more common in one region than another? (My family came from Mogelnice (near Augustow), in the Province of Suwałki, and they are still living on the same farm from which my great-grandfatheremigrated in the 1870's.

It's fairly common; as of 1990 there were 3,605 Polish citizens named Misiewicz. With those numbers you'd expect it to be encountered all over Poland, and that's true. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (249), Białystok (268), Katowice (171), Suwałki (177), and Wroclaw (296), which is really all over the map. However, the figures for Białystok and Suwałki provinces suggest northeastern Poland is an area where Misiewicz'es are a bit more common, which fits in more or less with your data.

3) I have been told that the -wicz ending indicates that a person came from the area of northeast Poland and/or Lithuania. Is this true?

That's not really true. The -wicz ending shows up all over Poland, and you can't say "Oh, this ends with -wicz, it must come from the northeastern part of the old Commonwealth." There are just too many jillion -wicz'es in other parts of Poland.

That said, however, there is some justification for the statement. The -owicz/-ewicz suffix originally came into Polish from Belarusian, so geographically there is a link with northeastern Poland. Also, there came a point when many Poles began to feel that -wicz names were old-fashioned and middle-class, and names ending in -owski or just -ski were more elegant; so some changed their names, for example, from Jankowicz to Jankowski, because it sounded a little classier to them. They weren't necessarily trying to fool anyone into thinking they were noble -- that was hard to get away with -- they just liked the sound of the -owski names better. But the folks in northeastern Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, etc. have a tendency to be conservative linguistically, and that's an area where you might find people hanging on to the original -wicz forms. The attitude would be "None of this -ski stuff for me, my -wicz name was good enough for my dad and it's good enough for me."

So while -wicz names are hardly exclusive to northeastern Poland, they are somewhat more common there, or at least there's a popular perception that they are. I suspect that's what was meant by the person who told you that. The -wicz is not a reliable indicator of place of origin, but there may be some truth to the observation that northeastern Poland/Lithuania/Belarus has more -wicz'es per capita than other parts of the old Commonwealth. Not having studied any data on this, I can't say for sure whether that's true; but I believe there is a popular notion to that effect, and it may well be based on fact.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Mockiewicz - Moczkiewicz

… Need help for the name of Mockiewicz/Moczkiewicz. Can not find anything about the name. Looked in your book-both of them. Do you have any information about the name?

The -iewicz suffix means "son of," so we're dealing with a name that means either "son of Mocek or Mocko" or "son of Moczek or Moczko." It's tough to nail down exactly which, because in Polish the C and CZ are often used interchangeably, depending on what part of the country you're talking about; and either Mocek or Mocko would become Mockiewicz when the suffix was added (similarly, eiither Moczek or Moczko would become Moczkiewicz). As explained in my book, Mocko probably comes from the root moc, "strength, power, might," and if that's the derivation the name would seem to mean "son of Mocko" = "son of the mighty one." One source also mentions that it might come from German Motz (which Poles would spell Moc), "ram." If it's from mocz-, that root means basically "wetness, moisture," so "son of Moczko" might mean "son of the drinker" or "son of the wet one," something like that.

Neither name is common in Poland these days -- Rymut's compilation shows no citizen of Poland named Moczkiewicz as of 1990, whereas there were only 24 Mockiewicz'es, living in the provinces of Białystok (5), Bydgoszcz (5), Gdansk (8), Pila (1), and Poznan (5). Oddly, the names Mocek (1,813), Mocko (121) and Moczko (665) are more common.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Motowski

… Do you have any information on the name Motowski?

The ultimate root is probably motać, "to spool, reel, tangle," but names ending in -owski usually refer to a place name, and that place's name, in turn, would come from that root. We would expect Motowski to mean "person or family from Moty, Motow, Motowo," something like that. I can't find any such places on my maps, but that probably means either that the places in question are too small to appear in my sources, or that they may have changed names in the centuries since the surname was established. As of 1990 there were only 12 Polish citizens named Motowski, 11 of them in Warsaw province, the other in Przemysl province. I have no access to first names or addresses of any of these Motowskis, so I'm afraid that's all the info I can offer.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Munko - Muńko

… I thought I would try and write you with a request to unlock the mystery of my last name- Munko. I've asked many people that I have met who speak a Slavic language if they can tell me what it means without sucess. I am beginning to think maybe it is a foreign name that was Slavicized. (ie. German- Munk, or Munke; or Italian- Munco). Searching the internet I've found Munko in: Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia; also, Denmark, and especially Germany.

Well, it is sometimes difficult to say for sure what origin a name is; a name like Szczebrzeszynski, for instance, is clearly Polish, whereas Munko is a name that could conceivably come into existence in several different languages. The most I can tell you is that there is such a name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 241 Polish citizens named Muńko, with one big concentration (160 ) in the province of Zielona Gora in western Poland, right on the border with Germany, and just a few living here and there in other provinces. I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, but this suggests the odds are most Polish families named Muńko have roots in southern Poland. There were also 20 named Munko without the accent, of whom 13 lived in Walbrzych province, which is in southwestern Poland.

If the name in a given case is of Polish origin, I'm afraid it's not very complimentary (although believe me, I've seen much worse!). According to Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut, Muńko is one of a number of names derived from the term monia or munia -- both forms are seen, and both mean the same thing: "a lazy, stupid fellow." When suffixes such as the diminutive -ko are added to roots, the vowels generally drop off, so Muńko would come from munia + -ko to mean something like "the little lazy guy," or "son of the lazy guy." As I say, not overly flattering, but there are many names far worse!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Nakoneczny - Nakonieczny

… I have always wondered when my grandfather came over from Poland if in the rush to get them through immigration whether they had translated the spelling of my surname properly or not, I have very little information on his side of the family other than a sheet with a reference to when the boat left Poland.. there are no other members of his family that immigrated, this has left a very cold trail to follow, any ideas or thoughts on this?

I don't think your surname got mangled in the immigration process. As of 1990 there were 620 Polish citizens with the name Nakoneczny, and another 2,730 who spelled the name Nakonieczny. For all practical purposes the two are the same name, with just a minor pronunciation difference reflected in the spelling; if you want to get really picky, Nakonieczny is actually the more "correct" spelling, at least in terms of standard Polish. Both come from Polish roots meaning "final, last, located on the end" -- perhaps the name originally applied to people who lived at the end of a road or something like that? Hard to say for sure, but that is the basic meaning of the name.

That's the good news, the name doesn't appear to have been mangled. The bad news is, the name's too widely distributed to offer much in the way of useful leads. It is true that Nakonieczny is especially common in the province of Lublin in southeastern Poland, home to 771 if those 2,730 -- that's the largest single concentration in Poland. But that still means there are plenty of Nakonieczny's living all over the rest of the country. So going by the odds, one might decide Lublin province is the place to start looking. But the odds are not all that favorable.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Nizow

… I read your website and would like to know if you have any information about the name Nizow.

Most likely the basic root of Nizow is niz-, "low, short" (although some names beginning with Niz- might also come from the first name Dionizy, from Greek "Dionysus," which became "Dennis" in English). Nizow would mean basically "of the low, of the lowland," or possibly "[son] of the short one." There is also a word Nizowiec (sometimes seen as Nizak and other variants) meaning "a Cossack from the lowland at the mouth of the Dniepr river." So we're dealing with a name meaning "short fellow" or one meaning "person from the lowland." It's pretty likely that's the basic meaning of the name, it's harder to say exactly what it meant, but must have been connected somehow with "low" or "short."

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland with the name Nizow, so it's possible the name was never all that common in Poland and has since died out; or it might have been a longer name that got shortened when your ancestors emigrated, although I can find no name beginning Nizow- that is common either. Another possibility is that the Nizow's never lived in large numbers in Poland proper (Polish surnames generally don't end in just -ow, usually it's -owski or -owicz or something like that), but could be found in Ukraine, especially near the mouth of the Dniepr -- for centuries Poland ruled that area, to where a person from there might well think of himself, or be thought of, as a Polish citizen, even if he was ethnically Ukrainian.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Maurycy - Osielski

… My wife has recently become interested in her Polish origins. I have been unable to find any mention of her paternal side, Osielski, or her maternal side, Maurycy, in my initial search. Any help would be appreciated.

The surname Maurycy almost certainly comes from the first name Maurycy, which is a Polish version of the name we know as "Maurice." Usually when first names were used as last names, it was as a reference to a father who was well known in the community, so that "Maurycy" would be a short way of saying "Maurice's kids, Maurice's kin." As of 1990 there were only 58 Poles with Maurycy as a surname, of whom the largest number by far, 38, lived in the southeastern province of Tarnow. (I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses.)

Osielski comes from the word osiel or osioł, "ass, donkey"; the surname, like all names ending in -ski, is adjectival in form, and originally would have meant simple "of, from, pertaining to a donkey." It may have been uncomplimentary, but I don't think it had to be. Perhaps it was simply a way of referring to people who raised or sold donkeys, worked with them, that kind of thing; or, of course, it may have referred to someone who reminded folks of a donkey by being hard-headed or making a noise like a donkey. It could also have started as a way of referring to someone who came from a place with a similar name, for instance, Osielsko in Bydgoszcz province or Osielec in Nowy Sacz province.

Osielski is not an overly common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were only 151 Osielski's, scattered in small numbers all over the country; the only provinces in which more than 10 Osielski's lived were Bydgoszcz (10), Gdansk (13), Katowice (18), Lublin (11) and Wloclawek (45) -- Wloclawek is in central Poland, Bydgoszcz and Gdansk in the northern to northwestern part, Katowice in the southcentral part, and Lublin in the southeastern part, so the name is really scattered!

So neither of these names is very common, and neither provides much of a lead to help you track a given family down, although with Maurycy it would make sense to focus on the Tarnow area as the likely origin (no guarantees, just a matter of playing the odds). That's not unusual, by the way -- relatively few Polish surnames offer any real help in tracing a particular family's roots.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Otlewski - Otłowski

… Fred will the Polish Library in West Bloomfield , Mi. get a copy of your book as well? They are located on Orchard Lake. I was there last week going thru your other book and was sorry to not find my family mentioned in it. I hope we made your new book! Otlewski is the surname.

Well, I have no way of knowing whether that Library will decide to get a copy -- but I hope they will think it's worth getting. For that matter, I can ask the PGSA to send them a free copy, perhaps they'll agree. But in any case, the new book deals only with first names, so it wouldn't have Otlewski in it.

I guess the version of my book you saw was the first edition; the second edition does include Otlewski. The best guess I could make is that this name derives from a place name (as do most names ending in -ewski and -owski), and the most likely candidate is the village now known as Otłowiec in Elbłag province (the Polish L with a slash through it is pronounced like our w). This place has also been known as Otłowo, and if you add the -ski suffix onto that, it would not be unusual for it to change in some cases to Otlewski, as well as Otłowski; linguistically speaking, it is plausible that both Otlewski and Otłowski derive from the same name, and this Otłowiec seems the best candidate I can find (although such names typically developed centuries ago, so these might also have derived from other place names that have since changed or disappeared).

As of 1990 there were 468 Polish citizens named Otlewski; the largest numbers of them lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (200) and Gdansk (71), with much smaller numbers scattered in other provinces. The name Otłowski was borne by 528 Poles as of 1990, with large numbers in the provinces of Ciechanow (102), Elblag (44), and Ostrołęka (144). I'm afraid I have no access to further details such as first names and addresses.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Pacholewski

… Have you heard of the name Pacholewski? I can't find it any place.

I'm not surprised -- it is a pretty rare name. As of 1990 there were only 23 Pacholewski's in Poland; they lived in the provinces of Warsaw (5), Katowice (2), Koszalin (2), Legnica (3), Lublin (1), Szczecin (1), Walbrzych (3), Wroclaw (1), and Zamosc (5). In other words, they are really scattered all over the country. (I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, what I've given you here is all I have.)

The ultimate root of the name is pachol, "boy, lad," but this surname probably began as a reference to a connection between the family and a place named something like Pachole or Pacholewo. Names ending in -ewski are adjectives, meaning "of or pertaining to __," so the name means "person from Pachole, etc." Those place names, in turn, mean "[place] of the lads." There are at least a couple of villages in Poland this name could refer to (maybe more that are too small to show up in my sources). One is Pachole, a village in Biala Podlaska province (near the eastern border with Belarus); there is also Pacholewo in Poznan province (west central Poland), and Pacholy in Elblag province (north central Poland). Persons coming from any of those villages could end up with the name Pacholewski. With at least three places that could generate this surname, I'm a bit surprised it isn't more common.

That's about all I have on this name. If you have a little luck with your research and get hold of documents that give some clue as to what part of Poland the family came from, you may find you can associate them with one of the places I've mentioned. But the surname itself doesn't give enough clues to let us pick one of them as the likely place of origin. That's not unusual with Polish surnames, by the way -- relatively few offer enough information to let you nail down exactly where they came from.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Pałac - Paląc - Pałąc

… Could you tell me anything about my Polish surname—Palac? I believe that originally the l was crossed and the a had a hook beneath it. I am trying to research my polish roots and this is my first step.

The form Pałac is a well-known name -- as of 1990 there were some 954 Poles by this name, living all over the country, with particularly large numbers living in the provinces of Krakow (133) and Rzeszow (110) and Wroclaw (88), which are in southcentral and southeastern Poland. This name seems to come from the term pałac, which means "palace"; it presumably referred originally to a person who lived or worked in or near a palace. Also possible is a name Paląc (the Polish nasal vowel written as an a with a tail under it is pronounced almost like "own"), which would come from the term palący, "burning." This name is quite rare, there was no Pole named Paląc as of 1990, and only 7 (all living in Lublin province) named Palący.

I could find no listing for Pałąc (pronounced roughly "PAH-wonts"). That doesn't mean the name couldn't exist, but it obviously must have been fairly rare if it did exist; presumably it came from the root pal- meaning "burn, heat," the same root that shows up in Palący. So I can't tell you for sure whether that name existed, or whether the name in your case was Pałac or Paląc, discussed above; just going by the odds, it would seem more likely it was Pałac, from the word for "palace." If it was Pałąc, I can't find anything on it.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Paprotny

… Could you please help find information on the surname Paprotny?

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, names beginning with Paproc- or Paprot- come from one of two roots: paproć, "fern," or paprotać, "to babble." But my 8-volume Polish-language dictionary gives paprotny as an adjective meaning the same thing as paprociany, which means "of ferns, referring to ferns, ferny," so it seems reasonable to say the surname is related to the root for "fern" rather than the verbal root meaning "babble." This surname might have gotten started because a person lived near ferns, or decorated with them, or liked them, or ate them, or sold them -- hard to say exactly what the connection was, the most we can say is that there was some connection to ferns.

As of 1990 there were 1,215 Polish citizens named Paprotny, so it's not a rare name. The largest numbers lived in the provinces of Czestochowa (186), Katowice (669) and Opole (60), so the name seems concentrated in southcentral Poland, but there were smaller numbers in many other provinces all over the country. However, Katowice province clearly is worth particular attention, as the place you're most likely to find Paprotny's.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Parzysz - Pasterski

… If you have time to answer, have you ever heard of the following names: Pasterska and Parzysz or Parczyz?

As of 1990 there were 424 Polish citizens named Pasterski (the -ska is just the feminine form, names ending in -ski routinely change to -ska when referring to a female, so names in -ski and -ska can be treated as the same); they were pretty scattered all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (55), Bydgoszcz (62), and Gdansk (25) -- many other provinces had fewer than 20. The name comes from the noun pasterz, "shepherd, herdsman" (like Latin pastor).

I've never seen Parczyz, and there was no one in Poland by that name as of 1990, so Parzysz seems more likely to be right. It appears in records as far back as 1385 and is a variant form of Parys, "Paris," as in the name of the capital of France, also the name of a figure in Trojan War. As of 1990 there were only 186 Poles named Parzysz, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Kalisz (86) and Poznan (37). What's odd is that there were 1,083 named Parzyszek, which means "little Paris, son of Paris" -- kind of interesting that the derived form is so much more common than the name it came from!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Bialakowski - Fischer - Rojewski

… I am trying to research my father's genealogy. As a young immigrant, he and his siblings were orphaned. I know he was born in Lemberg/Lvov in 1912, and his parents came from the Wiesenberg, Vyshenka area. His surname is Fischer, but his mother's maiden name is Rojewska, and he thought his grandmother's name was Bialakowska (I'm not sure of the spelling). He thought this, translated means "White", but wasn't sure.

Names ending in -owska or -ewska are just feminine versions of names ending in -owski and -ewski, so that the wife of a man named Rojewski would be called Rojewska. Such surnames usually derive from similar names of places, so that we would expect Bialakowski to have started out meaning "person from Bialakow or Bialakowo or even Bialaki," something like that. I couldn't find any places that were exact matches, but if the name was Bialikowski, there is a village Bialiki in Łomża province; or if the name was Bialachowski, there are several places named Bialachowko and Bialochowo that might be relevant...

The problem with this surname is, the root bial-, which means "white," has generated a great many names, so without really firm knowledge exactly what the form of the name was originally; there are a lot of possibilities, Bialikowski, Bialachowski, Bialkowski, etc. They would all mean something like "Whitey's place," but it's hard to say which one we want. Also, if the family came from the Lvov or Vyshenka area, we're talking about Ukraine, whereas my sources deal more with Poland in its current boundaries - Ukraine used to be part of Poland, but that was some time ago, and I don't have as much info on that region as I do for Poland.

Anyway, based on the info you gave, all I can really say is that the surname probably comes from a place name, originally referring to the place the family came from, and those place names probably came from the root meaning "white" - and there are a jillion places from that root in Poland, Ukraine, Russia, etc. If you get some more precise info on the exact form of the name, let me know and I'll see if I can tell you more.

Rojewski comes ultimately from the root roj-, "swarm, teem, hive," and there are a number of villages called Rojewo - the surname probably started out meaning "person from Rojewo." This is a moderately common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 3,162 Rojewski's, living all over the country; and there may well be more living in Ukraine, but I have no data for that country.

By the way, Fischer is, obviously, a German surname meaning "fisherman." But that can be misleading - a great many people of German ethnic origin settled in Poland and Ukraine, so we often run into German names in those areas. There aren't many names more German than Hoffman, and there are literally thousands of Hoffman's and Hofmann's and Hoffmann's in Poland.

So I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. Most Polish surnames don't provide anything very specific in the way of clues as to where or when they originated, and these are no exception. They come from basic roots meaning "white" and "swarm"; they probably began as references to the names of the villages the family came from; and the names are fairly common. I know this probably isn't as much info as you hoped for, but I hope maybe it helps a little. And I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Safiański

… As I am now 46 years old I am looking back to my roots in Poland. I have never seen another name like mine anywhere and feel that I am the last. Am I?

Safiański is not a common name in Poland, but as of 1990 there were 87 Polish citizens with this name. They lived in the following provinces: Warsaw (48), Kielce (3), Koszalin (2), Siedlce (23), Szczecin (1), Tarnobrzeg (10). There were also 12 who spelled the name Safijański, all living in the province of Olsztyn. Unfortunately my sources don't give further details such as first names and addresses, so what I have given you is all I have. But at least it does establish that the name still exists in Poland.

Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions this and several other names from the same root in his book on Polish surnames. He says the root is safian, "saffian, Moroccan leather." Interestingly, there were 416 Poles named Safian in 1990, so that name is more common than Safiański. The latter is an adjectival form, so it would mean "of or pertaining to saffian."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Schmidt - Ucker - Uecker

… Am searching the following surnames from the area that is now in Poland.Could you please see if these are listed in your book? Uecker or Ueker,Ucker from Seefeld,Klotzin,Koslin,Belgard areas; Schmidt from the Settin area near Greifenberg.

As of 1990 there was no one in Poland with the names Uecker, Ueker, or Ucker. There were 4,480 Polish citizens named Schmidt, of whom 123 lived in the province of Szczecin. I'm afraid that's all the info I have access to, none of my sources give first names, addresses, anything like that. Schmidt is just German for "smith."

There were probably far more Schmidt's, and at least some Uecker's, in Poland before World War II -- it is a documented fact that several million ethnic Germans left Poland, voluntarily or involuntarily, after that War. So any data from after 1945 would give no notion how many Germans had been living in what is now Polish territory before 1939.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Siwy - Siwiński

… My last name is Siwy. I understand that it is most likely a derivative of Siwinski and am aware of the meaning of the latter surname. However, I understand that the 'Siwinski' family belonged to the 'Korczak' clan. Could you possibly tell me how that connection could have come to be and perhaps a little about the 'Korczak' clan.

Well, in the first place, Siwy doesn't necessarily come from Siwiński (see the note on that name). Siwy is a surname in its own right, from the adjective siwy, meaning "grey (hair), blue-violet." There were 1,485 Polish citizens named Siwy as of 1990, so it's not a rare name. So it's a mistake to assume Siwy comes from Siwiński, unless you have something that justifies that assumption. If you have such evidence, of course, that's a different matter.

As for the Siwinski's and the Korczak clan, I'm afraid I know virtually nothing about such things. Perhaps it would be worthwhile contacting the Polish Nobility Association Foundation, Villa Anneslie, 529 Dunkirk Rd., Anneslie, MD 21212-2014. If I'm not mistaken, they offer a service whereby they search armorials for indications as to whether a particular family belonged to a noble clan. You might also consider contacting the PNAF Director of Chivalry, Leonard Suligowski -- he edits their Journal, and has a very large library of armorials and such. I know of no one in this country better qualified to find information on a particular family's noble status. Leonard does charge a fee, but I'm told it's quite reasonable.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Ryback - Rybak - Szkaradowski

… If and only if you have time, could you look up Skaradoski (also spelled Skaradowski) for me? That is my mother's maiden name. I don't know anything about it except that it is Polish. All of my grandparents passed away before I was even born.

As of 1990 there was no one named Skaradoski or Skaradowski (it's not unusual for that w to be dropped, in some areas they pronounce it so lightly you barely hear it at all). The thing is, whenever you have a surname starting with S-, you also want to check out the same name under Sz-, because Polish names often switch back and forth between S and Sz. There were 67 Poles named Szkaradowski in 1990, living in the provinces of: Warsaw (24), Kalisz (21), Kielce (3), Pila (2), Skierniewice (8), Wroclaw (9). (As I think I mentioned before, I don't have access to further info such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have). That's pretty widely scattered, I don't see any pattern to that distribution. The surname surely comes from a place name, something like Szkaradowo; there is a Szkarada in Płock province and a Szkaradowo in Leszno province, the surname could refer to either of these places (especially the one in Leszno province) or perhaps also to others that don't show up on my maps (too small, or they've disappeared or changed names in the centuries since the surname got established).

… Also, do you think Ryback is Polish, Lithuanian or Russian? That is my grandmother's maiden name. She claimed to be Polish, but they always said she was Russian or Lithuanian. They actually teased her. It's strange to me how immigrants were so concerned with class, but I guess that's just the way it was.

Ryback is most likely Polish; it would not be Lithuanian, and it's less likely to be Russian than Polish. The nationalities here make sense if you learn something about the history of the area. Poland and Lithuania teamed up as one nation for centuries, which finally weakened in the late 1700's, when Germany, Russia and Austria partitioned it and each took over part. Russia got the eastern part, including eastern Poland and Lithuania. There were many Poles who lived in the area now part of Lithuania -- so in ethnic terms they would correctly consider themselves Poles, but in terms of nationality of the area they lived in they could be called, officially, Russians or Lithuanians. The people in eastern Europe have gotten pretty well mixed over the centuries, so you must not fall into the trap of thinking "Poles live in Poland, Lithuanians live in Lithuania, Russians live in Russia." It ain't necessarily so! And since Poles have historically hated Russians (and not always gotten along all that well with Lithuanians), a good way to get under a Pole's skin was to call him/her a Lithuanian or Russian. These facts probably explain the whole situation with your grandmother.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Skwara - Skwira

… I was wondering if you knew any information about the surname "Skwira".

According to Polish name expert, Prof. Kazimierz Rymut (who usually seems to know his stuff), Skwira is a variant of Skwara, from a noun skwara meaning "scorching heat" (perhaps the English equivalent is "Texas," where we are all about to wither and die). So in other words, Skwira is just a slightly different form of Skwara, meaning the same thing but pronounced a little differently. As a name, it presumably was applied to someone who was hot-blooded, or perhaps someone who lived in an area where it was extremely hot -- that's just speculation, but there must have been some connection with heat that caused people to start calling certain folks by this name. As of 1990 there were 992 Polish citizens named Skwira, so it's not a rare name in Poland. It shows up all over the country, but the biggest numbers lived in the provinces of Lublin (123), and Radom (275), with only Warsaw (84) coming close -- in other provinces the numbers are pretty small. Radom and Lublin are both in eastern Poland, so we can say the name is most common in that region, but it doesn't really let us narrow it down to any specific area.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Siwiński

...Could you tell me how many Siwinski's there were in the 1990 Polish Census and their distribution?

 

As of 1990 there were 3,315 Siwinski's. Here is the distribution:

 

SIWIŃSKI, 3,315; Warsaw 487, Białystok 9, Bielsko-Biala 13, Bydgoszcz 121, Chelm 9, Ciechanow 14, Czestochowa 19, Elblag 31, Gdansk 101, Gorzow 111, Jelenia Gora 42, Kalisz 46, Katowice 100, Kielce 22, Konin 555, Koszalin 112, Krakow 13, Krosno 13, Legnica 35, Leszno 16, Lublin 72, Łomża 2, Lodz 222, Nowy Sacz 3, Olsztyn 73, Opole 16, Ostrołęka 8, Pila 56, Piotrkow 19, Płock 115, Poznan 255, Radom 25, Rzeszow 10, Siedlce 87, Sieradz 29, Skierniewice 41, Slupsk 52, Suwałki 5, Szczecin 98, Tarnobrzeg 18, Tarnow 4, Torun 32, Walbrzych 36, Wloclawek 57, Wroclaw 37, Zamosc 10, Zielona Gora 64.

 

This seems to suggest a primary concentration in the central provinces of Warsaw, Konin, and Lodz. I'm not sure how much we can make of that, but that's the only pattern I see.

 

...Any suggestions as to the origins/meaning of the surname (from the Polish word Siwa meaning grey?).

 

It seems pretty likely that's the ultimate root. The immediate derivation is tougher to figure out. It could well derive from a place name, but there don't seem to be a lot of candidates on the map: Siwki in Łomża province is possible, perhaps also Siwianka in Warsaw province; I could see either or both of those place names taking an adjectival form Siwiński, meaning person from Siwki or Siwianka. There are words such as siwień which mean the same as siwosz, a grey-haired fellow, also a greyish horse. A word siwieńki also means greyish, especially something or someone that's attractively grey. So it's tough saying exactly what the name came from directly, but clearly it got started due to some kind of association with a greyish person or animal or thing, or a place with a name derived from such an association.

 

Also, with 3000+ Poles by that name, it's highly likely the name arose in several different places, so this Siwiński might have gotten the name from one association, that from another, and so on.

 

...BTW I have recently had the pleasure of discovering the wealth of information contained in the Australian National Archives (fortunately in my home town), esp. in the area of post 1901 Naturalisation (all indexed on surname !!!) and post WW2 migration of displaced persons (one of which was my father). They have a WWW address (www.aa.gov.au) which details their holdings fairly well... I may even find the time to write a short piece on what's available there (and in the National Library) ;-)

 

If you do, you know who'd like to see it and publish it!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Soliwoda

... I was looking through your names for something that might come close to Soliwoda or Soliwada. On the marriage certificate the place of birth given is Russia, could you be so kind as to tell me if either of these names are Polish.

The original Polish form was probably Soliwoda, not Soliwada. Polish O and A sound rather similar, and in handwriting they are easily confused; so it's not unusual to see names variations with O or A. But this particular name was probably Soliwoda.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were no Polish citizens named Soliwada, but 959 named Soliwoda. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 103, Olsztyn 206, and Ostrołęka 342 . Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the northeastern part of the country. That region was seized by the Russian Empire during the partitioning of Poland, so immigrants born there during the 19th century or before World War I would be described, officially, as born in Russia. This infuriated Poles, who hated the Russians and the Russian occupation of their country; but since no such country as Poland existed, officially speaking, they had to be categorized as Russian citizens, like it or not. The name itself is almost certainly Polish in origin.

It comes from sol, "salt," and woda, "water," and thus means literally "salt water." Presumably it began as a nickname -- perhaps for one who a sailor and had spent much of his life around salt water. But I suppose there are other ways it could develop, perhaps as a reference to an individual's habit of salting his water. It's hard to say for sure exactly what the name meant in a given instance; the most we can do is note that it means "salt water," and for the name to develop and "stick" that must have seemed somehow appropriate. To me it seems most likely as a nickname for an old salt, a sailor; but I'm sure there are other plausible interpretations.

This name comes from the noun sokół (accent over the second O, slash through the L), which means "falcon." Sokoliński would mean "one of the falcon." It could refer to the kin of a person nicknamed the Falcon, or it could refer to someone who came from a place named for falcons, such as Sokolin, Sokolina, Sokolino, Sokoliny, etc. So as with the others, I can only tell you what it means generally; the only way to pin it down further is through detailed research into your specific family, since this Sokoliński familky might have the name from one connection, that one might have it from another.

Copyright © 2000, 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Solibieda - Soliwoda

... I'm wondering if it could be spelled Solibida or Solabida?

I looked for the other possibilities you mentioned and found nothing. However, I did notice an entry I somehow missed before, for the name Solibieda. As of 1990 there were 110 in Poland, living in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 6, Gdansk 3, Konin 5, Koszalin 2, Leszno 20, Pila 8, Piotrkow 3, Poznan 41, Szczecin 16, Torun 2, Zielona Gora 4. These are almost all in western Poland, in the area formerly ruled by the Germans. Solibieda is, phonetically, quite plausible, and it seems to me this may well be the "standard" form of the name you're looking for.

My sources don't give first names and addresses, but I noticed the largest number lived in the province of Poznan, and there is a Poznan telephone directory on-line (so far as I know, it's the only provincial directory on-line). I visited it, searched for Solibieda, and got the following entries:

1. Barbara Solibieda tel.: 861-48-93
ul. Marceliñska 74/4
Poznañ

2. Barbara Solibieda tel.: 847-58-37
ul. Augustyna Szamarzewskiego 56/52
Poznañ

3. Jan Solibieda tel.: 282-38-68
Grzybno 46

4. Teresa Solibieda tel.: 425-89-57
ul. Dabrówki 20
Gniezno

5. Teresa Solibieda tel.: 426-44-93
ul. Dabrówki 20
Gniezno

Note that the symbol ñ stands for the Polish N with an accent over it, and ó is, of course, the accented O. In "Dabrówki" the a should have a tail under it, but Poles will have no trouble recognizing the name without that tail. Poznan and Gniezno are names of the two major cities in the region; ul. is short for ulica, "street," and of course "tel." precedes the phone number.

Phones in private homes are not nearly so common in Poland as in the U.S., so it's not surprising only 5 of 41 Solibieda's would be listed. I wanted to include this info, as it's just possible one of these might be a relative, or know something about the name. You would probably have to write to them in Polish, and there are no guarantees, but at least this is a lead that might prove useful.

I still don't know what the name would mean. It appears to come from the roots sol, "salt" + bieda, "need, want, poverty, misfortune." But "salt-need," "salt-want" as a name? Possible, but it's not convincing. I guess such a name might be applied to a person always craving or lacking salt -- no small matter, as the Poles regard bread and salt as symbols of the necessities of life -- but that is purely speculation. It could be the name comes from something else and I just don't recognize it. It isn't mentioned in any of my sources... There is a rather common surname (959 as of 1990) Soliwoda, "salt water," and I have wondered whether this might be a distorted form of that name? But again, that really is nothing more than speculation on my part.

If you really want to contact people who have the best chance of telling you something about the name, and don't mind spending $20 or so, I recommend writing to the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Kraków. They can handle correspondence in English and their rates are very reasonable -- but they only do research on names, not genealogy. If you wish to try them, the Institute address.

If you do write them and get a good answer, I would be very interested in hearing about it -- I would like to include this name in the next issue of my surname book, but only if I can tell people what it means (why waste space listing names if I can't explain them?).

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Sowiński

… There is much debate in our family, but few hard facts. I suspect that Sovinski was 'Sowinski' in Poland, due to the difference in pronunciation of the letter 'W'. Sowa apparently means 'owl', but beyond this I know very little. Others suggest that it was always Sovinski, and the origin isn't Polish at all. I doubt this, and have not found a reference on the internet with our spelling outside of North and South America. Sovinski, with a 'V', cannot be found on any European search engine. A Polish exhange student who lived with us for a semester suggested there should be some sort of accent mark as well.

The Polish student was right in that the proper spelling in Polish would be Sowiński, and the name would be pronounced "so-VEEN-skee." Polish doesn't use the letter V, the letter W is used for that sound, so if the name is Polish it would be Sowiński rather than Soviński (but if you went back and found it in older documents it's barely possible you might see V rather than W).

The ultimate root of the name is sowa, which means "owl," as you say, but the surname probably comes from a place name from this root, something like Sowina, Sowince, Sowiny, all meaning roughly "place of the owls." So Sowiński can be parsed as "person from the place of the owls," or as "person from Sowina, Sowiny, etc." At one time, centuries ago, such names ending in -ski implied nobility, and would be used by a noble family that owned a village or estates near a village Sowina, Sowiny, etc. But as time went use of such names spread throughout the population, so that for some time now the name would just indicate origin at or residence in a place by those names, not necessarily ownership of them.

Unfortunately there are several villages in Poland named Sowina, Sowiny, Sowince, etc., so the name itself offers no clues as to where your family came from. It is a fairly common name, as of 1990 there were some 12,958 Sowiński's, living all over Poland.

To make matters worse, we can't assume it is Polish. The root sova (which, as I said, is spelled sowa by Polish phonetic values) appears in many Slavic languages, and -inski is not a suffix unique to Polish (although spelling it with the accented N is). It would not surprise me to find people by this name in Russian, Ukraine, possibly Belarus, etc.

Here's where it gets tricky -- the form of the name can depend on what language it was in, what alphabet that languages uses, and (if in Cyrillic) what form it took when transliterated into our alphabet. In other words, even if you find the name spelled with the uniquely Polish spelling SowińSki in documents, that wouldn't prove the name was Polish. It could have been the Russian name spelled in Cyrillic as COBNHbCKNN (flip the N's backwards, put a little mark over the last one) -- an English-speaker hearing that name pronounced would write Sovinsky, a German would write it Sowinsky or Sowinski, a Pole would write it Sowiński, and so on. So if someone by that name left Russia, came to Poland, had papers filled out there, and went on to emigrate, he might end up stuck with a Polish spelling even though he wasn't Polish. Such things happened.

So Sowiński can definitely be a good Polish name -- but a name sounding virtually identical could be borne by Russians, Ukrainians, etc., and might end up being spelled Sowinski, Sowinsky, Sovinski, Sovinsky, etc. The only way to be sure is to find documents that cite, clearly and unequivocally, places of birth and residence of your Sowiński family members; then track them down on the map and see whether they are now in Poland or Russia or wherever.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Stawarz

… I'm a student in Alabama. My Grandfather passed away about 2 years ago. He came to America with his Father and Mother when he was little and while he was alive I, in my youthful ignorance didn't care about my history. Now that he's gone I realized that part of my history has gone with him.

Well, for what little it's worth, you have a lot of company. I've heard that same statement many, many times. But most people don't get interested in genealogy until after they've been around a while and started to realize we don't live forever. Consequently, most researchers don't get interested until after their older relatives have died, and then they kick themselves when they realize what they've lost."

… I've looked on your webpage for my surname and I couldn't find it.

According to 1990 data, there were over 800,000+ Polish surnames, so I'm afraid there are quite a few I haven't gotten to yet! 8-)

… I know you're probably busy with real life and everything but I was wondering if you could maybe help me find out what my last name means in Polish and maybe if it was a common name or not.

Stawarz is a moderately common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 2,910 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with larger numbers in the provinces of Katowice (209), Krakow (270), Radom (302), Rzeszow (314), Tarnow (664). These provinces are all in southcentral to southeastern Poland, so that's where the name is most common; but really, you can find Stawarz'es anywhere, so the data doesn't allow us to make a judgment as to where any one family by that name might have come from. It's pretty certain there isn't just one big Stawarz family, but rather many families in different areas that came to have that surname independently.

The name comes from the root seen in the noun staw, "pond," and specifically from a noun stawarz meaning "digger of ponds." Thus it's one of the many Polish surnames that began as a reference to a person's occupation, or at least something he often did; back in the days when surnames were coming to be established, somebody in the family worked as a digger of ponds (or perhaps also took care of them, cleaned them, that sort of thing). In Polish the name is pronounced roughly "STAH-vash."

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Tarasek - Terasek

… Prossien (please?) provide what you know about the surname "Terasek." ... the family's last name was changed after they arrived to America in the 1920s. I'm hoping that my name will provide many clues.

Well, I hope you're not disappointed -- the truth is most Polish surnames don't really provide a whole lot in the way of helpful clues. But let's see what I can come up with, and you can judge whether it's any help. (By the way, the word for "please" is spelled Proszę)

Actually, your name would be easier if you told me the original form was Tarasek. That's not that rare a name in Poland -- there were 738 Polish citizens named Tarasek as of 1990, living all over the country but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (284), Katowice (59), Lublin (47), Skierniewice (53), Tarnobrzeg (165), and Zamosc (94). The pattern is kind of unclear, but there are at least good numbers of them in southeastern Poland, and that's where I'd expect to find them, because in most cases Tarasek is probably derived from the first name Taras, which is more Ukrainian than Polish. The suffix -ek means "little" or "son of," so the most likely meaning of the name is "son of Taras." There is also a word taras it may come from in some cases, meaning "prison, dike."

Terasek is much rarer. As of 1990 there were only 2 Poles by that name, one in Katowice province and one in Torun province. The derivation is tough, it could be a regional variant of Tarasek -- it's not unusual to see an a in names sometimes switch to e because of regional variations in pronunciation. It might also mean "son of Teresa," although Poles are less likely to form surnames from women's name -- most such names were patronymic, i. e., referring to the father. Still, metronymics do occur, and Terasek could possibly be from Teresa. I also can't rule out derivation from the word teraz, "now" -- I've seen names formed from such terms, probably originating as nicknames referring to some word or phrase a person was always saying. It would be a little like saying "Here comes old 'Do-it-now'!"

Still, in view of the numbers, I still can't help wondering if the link to the first name Taras is the right one -- that's my gut feeling, and I've learned to pay attention to those. This name, as I said, is associated more with Ukrainians than Poles -- I believe Gogol wrote a book or story Taras Bulba, which was made into a movie with Yul Brynner, and it was about a Cossack family. You must realize this wouldn't necessarily make you any less Polish; Ukraine was ruled by Poland for a long time, a great many Poles lived there, and a great many Ukrainians lived (and still live) in Poland. Poles thought of Ukrainians as their brothers to the east, and in fact many "Polish" heroes came from what is now Ukraine, including the great Tadeusz Kosciuszko... Linguistically speaking, it wouldn't be too big a stretch to explain that Terasek/Tarasek variation -- as I said, we often see E and A switch in Polish names. And as far as the numbers go, Tarasek seems the better bet. I'm not trying to sell you on it, it just strikes me as the most likely connection.

If you'd like to see whether Polish experts can come up with something better, you could try writing the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. They can handle correspondence in English, and I've never heard of them charging more than $20 to research a single name. They only do name origins, not genealogy -- but for Polish names, they're the best I know. The Institute address

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Śliwa - Topolski

… Can you tell me anything about the Topolski, Topolsky, or Sliwa names?

Śliwa comes from the noun śliwa (the name sounds like "shleev-uh"), which means "plum-tree, sloe." It is relatively common in Poland, as of 1990 there were 11,499 Poles by that name, living all over the country.

Topolski is an adjective from the noun topola, "poplar tree," so it would mean literally "of, from, relating to, connected with a poplar." As a surname it might refer to a person who lived near a particularly conspicuous poplar, or dealt in poplar woood, some sort of connection like that. This, too, is a fairly common name, as of 1990 there were 4,003 Poles named Topolski; and like Śliwa, it is common all over the country, not restricted to any one area.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Sowa

… Have anything on the Sowa surname? All I know about it is that in Polish it means owl. I don't know anything about its distribution within Poland, though my folks came from the town of Zolynia in the Rzeszow region. If you'd like, please add the name to your database and publish it in any list you may be compiling for future editions of your book or website.

I'm afraid this is one of those cases where a name is too common to do you much good. As of 1990 there were 17,750 Polish citizens named Sowa, and the only real pattern to the distribution shows a concentration in the southcentral and southeastern part of the country. Here is data for some of those provinces: Czestochowa 868, Katowice 2,434, Krakow 789, Rzeszow 822, Tarnow 1,036, Tarnobrzeg 863. So basically the name is most common in the area called Małopolska (Little Poland), which was ruled by the Austrians after the partitions and called Galicia (along with western Ukraine). That may be some help, but that still covers a lot of ground.

I doubt writing to Krakow would turn up any information that would help you more -- although, of course, I could be wrong, and if you'd like to write them, that's your decision. If there's anybody on the planet who could tell you more, it's the scholars of the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Insitute. I'm just saying that when a name is this common and is not concentrated in any specific region, there's just not much you can do from the surname end. I doubt they could add a whole lot to what I've said.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Turok

… I was hoping, since you've been so kind with the information so far, if you would tell me what the name Turok could mean in Polish. It was the maiden name of my best friend's mother.

There are a couple of possibilities for that, and I'm not sure which is more likely. It could be a variant of turek, "Turk," a very common name in Poland (13,066 by that name as of 1990); consider another name that derived from turek, Turko, borne by 341 Poles as of 1990. In the Middle Ages and beyond the Turks were constantly making their way up into eastern Europe and wreaking havoc, and they left some descendants behind; also a person with a dark complexion might be called Turek or Turko because he looked kind of like a Turk, even if he wasn't. So turek is a definite possible source for Turok.

The other likely origin is from tur, a word for the animal we call "aurochs." It would be quite plausible that the diminutive suffix -ok could be added to that, to mean "little aurochs, son of the aurochs," or even "son of Tur" with Tur being a big, strong fellow who got that name because he reminded people of one of these large beasts. As I said, it's really difficult to say which of these two roots the name is more likely to come from.

Turok is a pretty rare name in Poland these days, as of 1990 there were only 38 of them, living in the provinces of Gorzow (2), Jelenia Gora (11), Slupsk (1), Szczecin (3), and Zielona Gora (21). The two provinces with most of them, Jelenia Gora and Zielona Gora, are in southwestern Poland, in areas formerly ruled by Germany. Unfortunately I don't have further data such as names and addresses, I'm afraid what I've given here is all I have.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Anszczak - Lukasik - Pietrowicz

… Working on my family tree. Found one name on your list - Nowak. Surprised to see it is a common name. I imagine this will make my search harder. I have three other great grand parent names that were not on your list. Perhaps you can tell me a little about them:Anszczak, Lukasick, Pietrowitz/Pietrowicz.

Anszczak comes from the first name Jan or German Hans = English "John." The -czak suffix means "son of," so basically this name means the same as English "Johnson." This is not a very common name, as of 1990 only 149 Poles were named Anszczak; by far the most lived in the provinces of Białystok (72) and Suwałki (24) in northeastern Poland, near the border with Lithuania and Belarus, but there were a few scattered here and there in other parts of Poland. (I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names and addresses, what I've given here is all I have).

Lukasick is probably Lukasik, which means "little Lucas, son of Lucas." Surnames derived from popular first names are usually very common in Poland, and this is no exception -- as of 1990 there were 15,213 Poles by this name, living all over the country.

Pietrowicz is much the same story. The suffix -owicz also means "son of," so Pietrowicz means "Peterson." It is moderately common, as of 1990 there were 527 Poles by that name.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Paciuszko

… Could you send me some information on my wifes maiden name of Paciuszko?

I'm afraid I don't have a lot of information on this name. As of 1990 there were only 7 Polish citizens named Paciuszko, all living in the province of Radom (I'm afraid I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses). The name is pronounced more or less like "pah-CHOOSH-ko," and that ending -uszko generally suggests a name is likely to be Ukrainian in origin, which may explain the scarcity of the name in Poland -- my sources deal only with Poland in its modern borders. The name may be more common in Ukraine, but I have no way of checking that. So even though the spelling of the name is by Polish phonetic values, I suspect the name is of Ukrainian origin. This is not at all unusual -- Poland ruled western Ukraine for centuries, and Polish and Ukrainian names have mixed to the extent that it can sometimes be quite difficult telling which a particular surname is, especially since the Polish and Ukrainian languages are pretty similar in the first place.

The origin of the name is probably as a kind of nickname or by-name. Poles and Ukrainians both loved to form new names by taking popular first names, chopping off all but the first couple of sounds, and adding suffixes. So someone might be called Pawel or Pavlo (Paul) or Pakoslaw (an ancient Slavic name meaning "may he gain greater glory"); they'd chop off all but the Pa-; and then start adding suffixes: Pa- + -ci- + -uszko. So the surname Paciuszko probably started out meaning little more than "son of Paul or Pakoslaw" or some other name starting with Pa-.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission. 

 

Rukść - Rukszcz

… My problem is I have three different spellings of my grandmother's maiden name. They are Rogszciowna, Rukscuzona, and Rukszcz. These are all taken off of early 20th century handwritten records. Can you give any advice on which of these names might be the best one to research and what a "correct" spelling might be? I know about the suffixes somewhat from reading your book, but they're not even consistent in the records. She supposedly was from a village called Sta---eow (if that helps any). Only have one record that gave her village and the middle letters are not readable. She also listed N. Poland. My grandfather was Turowka. I would greatly appreciate any guidance you can give on what would be a likely surname to research.

I'm not positive about this, but the more I looked into this name the more I think I've figured it out. I think Rukszcz is the closest, but that name doesn't appear in modern Poland. Rukść does, however; as of 1990 there were 95 Polish citizens with this name, of whom 17 lived in Katowice province, 46 in Suwałki province, and a few were scattered in other provinces. The point is that ść and szcz both sound similar, like "shch." I suspect the name used to be spelled either way, but these days has been standardized as Rukść. As I say, the key is that both spellings would be pronounced almost identically. If we assume that's right, then the other spellings become credible -- pronounced aloud by Polish phonetic values, they all sound like believable feminine forms of this name. The -ona on "Rukscuzona" might be wrong, maybe it was -owa, but it might be right, too -- if the name is Lithuanian in origin.

And I think it is! Rukszcz or Rukść doesn't really sound Polish, but it sounds and looks just right for Lithuanians. The fact that the largest number of Rukść's (say that 10 times quickly!) lived in Suwałki province as of 1990, thus right across the border from Lithuania, tends to confirm the notion. In Lithuanian there are several names that could be Polonized as Ruszcz or Rukść. One is Ruks^ta (s^ = s with the little circumflex over it, pronounced like our "sh" and like sz in Polish), also Ruks^tis. Lithuanian scholars aren't certain, but these names may well come from Lithuanian rugs^tis, "sour," or from ruks^tele, a kind of mild curse, "good-for-nothing." All things considered, it seems very likely that this name comes from Lithuanian, meaning either "sour" (like Polish names with kwas-) or "good-for-nothing" (there are a jillion Polish names that mean that). It is not that rare to see Lithuanian-influenced names in northeastern Poland. So I think your family may well have come from "northern Poland," or rather northeastern Poland, specifically the general area of Suwałki province, and had a Lithuanian background. In light of these facts, the alternate spellings of the name make perfect sense.

That's my best guess, and I feel fairly confident it's right.

[Follow-up: Lois later wrote back to say that she got an answer from Jeleniowo parish with a marriage certificate showing her grandmother’s maiden name as Rukść, from the village of Taciewo. It’s great to get one right once ina while!]

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Solibieda - Soliwoda

... I'm wondering if it could be spelled Solibida or Solabida?

I looked for the other possibilities you mentioned and found nothing. However, I did notice an entry I somehow missed before, for the name Solibieda. As of 1990 there were 110 in Poland, living in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 6, Gdansk 3, Konin 5, Koszalin 2, Leszno 20, Pila 8, Piotrkow 3, Poznan 41, Szczecin 16, Torun 2, Zielona Gora 4. These are almost all in western Poland, in the area formerly ruled by the Germans. Solibieda is, phonetically, quite plausible, and it seems to me this may well be the "standard" form of the name you're looking for.

My sources don't give first names and addresses, but I noticed the largest number lived in the province of Poznan, and there is a Poznan telephone directory on-line (so far as I know, it's the only provincial directory on-line). I visited it, searched for Solibieda, and got the following entries:

1. Barbara Solibieda tel.: 861-48-93
ul. Marceliñska 74/4
Poznañ

2. Barbara Solibieda tel.: 847-58-37
ul. Augustyna Szamarzewskiego 56/52
Poznañ

3. Jan Solibieda tel.: 282-38-68
Grzybno 46

4. Teresa Solibieda tel.: 425-89-57
ul. Dabrówki 20
Gniezno

5. Teresa Solibieda tel.: 426-44-93
ul. Dabrówki 20
Gniezno

Note that the symbol ñ stands for the Polish N with an accent over it, and ó is, of course, the accented O. In "Dabrówki" the a should have a tail under it, but Poles will have no trouble recognizing the name without that tail. Poznan and Gniezno are names of the two major cities in the region; ul. is short for ulica, "street," and of course "tel." precedes the phone number.

Phones in private homes are not nearly so common in Poland as in the U.S., so it's not surprising only 5 of 41 Solibieda's would be listed. I wanted to include this info, as it's just possible one of these might be a relative, or know something about the name. You would probably have to write to them in Polish, and there are no guarantees, but at least this is a lead that might prove useful.

I still don't know what the name would mean. It appears to come from the roots sol, "salt" + bieda, "need, want, poverty, misfortune." But "salt-need," "salt-want" as a name? Possible, but it's not convincing. I guess such a name might be applied to a person always craving or lacking salt -- no small matter, as the Poles regard bread and salt as symbols of the necessities of life -- but that is purely speculation. It could be the name comes from something else and I just don't recognize it. It isn't mentioned in any of my sources... There is a rather common surname (959 as of 1990) Soliwoda, "salt water," and I have wondered whether this might be a distorted form of that name? But again, that really is nothing more than speculation on my part.

If you really want to contact people who have the best chance of telling you something about the name, and don't mind spending $20 or so, I recommend writing to the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Kraków. They can handle correspondence in English and their rates are very reasonable -- but they only do research on names, not genealogy. If you wish to try them, the Institute address.

If you do write them and get a good answer, I would be very interested in hearing about it -- I would like to include this name in the next issue of my surname book, but only if I can tell people what it means (why waste space listing names if I can't explain them?).

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Szymialowicz - Szymialis

… I was looking to find out more information about my polish surname: Szymialowicz. I did not see it listed in your past research and was hoping you might have more information.

This is a pretty rare name. As of 1990 there was no one in Poland named Szymialowicz; there were 8 people named Szymial, 7 of them living in Kalisz province and 1 in Kielce province. There were also 4 named Szymialis, all living in Suwałki province in northeastern Poland -- that is almost certainly a Lithuanian form of the name Szymial. There were also 6 named Szymialojc, living in Zielona Gora province in western Poland. In some dialects of Polish (in the northeast) the suffix –owicz, usually pronounced "-oh-vich," is pronounced more like –ojc ("oich"). So we have some reason to regard Szymialojc as a spelling variation of the name you’re asking about; it’s quite possible the family or families by that name in Zielona Gora province originally lived in northeastern Poland and relocated after World War II.

It's not uncommon to find that a name died out in Poland after members of a family emigrated, that could have happened here. But as I say, Szymialojc may be regarded as an alternate, phonetic-based spelling of this name.

One thing is clear: the suffix -owicz means "son of," so this is what we call a patronymic, a name formed from the name of one's father. So at some point there was a fellow in the family named Szymial, people began calling his kin "son of Szymial," and the name stuck. So the question is, what does Szymial mean?

There are a couple of possibilities. The most likely, it seems to me, is that it is one of many names derived from Szymon, "Simon." Poles loved to form names by taking the first syllable of a popular first name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes (sort of like "Teddy" from "Theodore," in English). If that's the origin of Szymialowicz, the probable meaning is something like "son of Simon." It could well be influenced by Lithuanian -- as Szymialis and Szymialojc clearly are -- and when I looked those up in a book of Lithuanian surnames it also said the names derived from "Simon." So that strikes me as the most likely origin.

There is also a word szymel in Polish, which means "white horse," and it's also the name of a dice game. Szymel has also used been used as a term to mean "20-year-old." From Szymel to Szymial is a bit of a stretch, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

So I'd say it's probably "son of Simon," but I can't rule out the possibility it refers to szymel in one of its meanings.

I have no sources that let me answer this question definitively, but if you'd really like to know more, you might try writing to the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. They don't do genealogical research, only work on the origins of names; but they can handle correspondence in English, seldom charge more than $20, and they are the best experts, with the best collection of sources on name origins. If you'd like to contact them, read more about them in the introduction to my Web page.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Szalkowski - Szałkowski

… If you have any spare time, I would like information on the name of, Shalkowski. Additionally, can you advise any info on the Shalkowski, coat of arms/Heraldry? Any assistance you can provide is most appreciated. I am unsure of how much time and effort this may take. Therefore, if you require money, please advise. If you are unable to assist in finding this information, perhaps you can point me in the right direction so I can continue my search.

The first question with the name Shalkowski is the correct spelling -- sh is not used by Poles, this is almost certainly an Anglicized form of the name. English sh usually corresponds to Polish sz (which is pronounced like our "sh"), so this gives us Szalkowski. As of 1990 there were 560 Polish citizens who spelled this name Szalkowski, and 2,614 who had the name Szałkowski (the Polish l with a slash through it is pronounced like our w). Without more information I have no way of determining which of the two names is applicable in your case. Both names are moderately common, although obviously Szałkowski is much more so. There is no real pattern to the distribution and frequency of the name Szalkowski; Szałkowski also appears all over Poland, but is especially common in the central, northcentral, and northwestern provinces of Bydgoszcz (292), Ciechanow (117), Gdansk (133), Warsaw (190), Olsztyn (303), Płock (154), and Torun (304).

Either Szalkowski or Szałkowski would have originated as a reference to a connection between a person or family and a place name, so we would expect the name to have meant "one from Szalków or Szalkowo or Szalki" (in each case ł instead of l is also possible). I only see one place on my maps that qualifies, Szałkowo in Olsztyn province (very near Iława, called Deutsch Eylau when the Germans ruled the area, which was part of Prussia). The surname could have derived from that place name; but there may well be other places with similar names, too small to show up on my maps, or perhaps they've changed names in the centuries since the surname developed.

As for nobility, I have very little information on that, but you might wish to write to the Polish Nobility Association Foundation. 

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Walicki

… I would greatly appreciate any information on the meaning/origin of my family surname - Walicki. I know that my great-grandfather, Martin, immigrated to USA about 1873-74 (cannot locate passage info yet) via Germany.

Surnames beginning with Wal- usually derive from the first name Walenty, the equivalent of "Valentine" in English, but Walenty is a more common first name in Poland than Valentine is in English. Poles often formed nicknames or affectionate names by taking the first syllable of a popular name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So Walicki probably breaks down as Wal- + -ic- + -cki, where Wal- is short for "Walenty," -ic- is "son of," and -cki is an adjectival ending meaning "of, from, pertaining to." So Walicki means literally "of, from, pertaining to Wal's son." It could refer to a relative of Wal's son, or a place owned by Wal's son -- the Walicki's in some cases may have gotten their name because they came from a place named Walica or Walice or something similar, and the place in turn got its name from Wal's son... However, derivation from the root seen in the verb walić, "to knock over, knock down," is also possible.

We also can't rule out the possibility that the name was originally Wolicki (most likely referring to the many places named Wola, Wolice, etc.) but the vowel was changed from o to a. That happens, but I wouldn't worry about this unless you start seeing evidence of a vowel change in the records. Tracing Walicki's will be tough enough, don't make things worse by looking for Wolicki's unless you have reason to believe the alternate spelling is relevant.

As of 1990 there were 3,333 Polish citizens named Walicki, so it's a fairly common name. It appears all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (566), Lodz (168), and Suwałki (311). But there's nothing in the frequency or distribution pattern that offers any useful clue as to which particular part of Poland a specific Walicki family came from; families by that name probably developed independently in many different areas. Unfortunately, most Polish surnames just aren't distinctive enough to let us say, "Aha, this village right here is where you came from." There are exceptions, but not many.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Kuczyński

KUCZYŃSKI, for instance, refers to a family connection at some point centuries ago with any of several places called Kuczyn or Kuczyna or Kuczyny or Kuczynka. As of 2002, there were 7,391 Polish citizens by that name, as well as 7,878 bearing the feminine version of the name, KUCZYŃSKA. They lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in east-central and northeastern Poland. As you can see, this doesn't really tell you much about your particular Kuczyński ancestors. For that, you have to study the history of the specific family; and that requires an experienced researcher.

Copyright © 2011 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Walicki

… I would greatly appreciate any information on the meaning/origin of my family surname - Walicki. I know that my great-grandfather, Martin, immigrated to USA about 1873-74 (cannot locate passage info yet) via Germany.

Surnames beginning with Wal- usually derive from the first name Walenty, the equivalent of "Valentine" in English, but Walenty is a more common first name in Poland than Valentine is in English. Poles often formed nicknames or affectionate names by taking the first syllable of a popular name, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes. So Walicki probably breaks down as Wal- + -ic- + -cki, where Wal- is short for "Walenty," -ic- is "son of," and -cki is an adjectival ending meaning "of, from, pertaining to." So Walicki means literally "of, from, pertaining to Wal's son." It could refer to a relative of Wal's son, or a place owned by Wal's son -- the Walicki's in some cases may have gotten their name because they came from a place named Walica or Walice or something similar, and the place in turn got its name from Wal's son... However, derivation from the root seen in the verb walić, "to knock over, knock down," is also possible.

We also can't rule out the possibility that the name was originally Wolicki (most likely referring to the many places named Wola, Wolice, etc.) but the vowel was changed from o to a. That happens, but I wouldn't worry about this unless you start seeing evidence of a vowel change in the records. Tracing Walicki's will be tough enough, don't make things worse by looking for Wolicki's unless you have reason to believe the alternate spelling is relevant.

As of 1990 there were 3,333 Polish citizens named Walicki, so it's a fairly common name. It appears all over the country, with particularly large numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (566), Lodz (168), and Suwałki (311). But there's nothing in the frequency or distribution pattern that offers any useful clue as to which particular part of Poland a specific Walicki family came from; families by that name probably developed independently in many different areas. Unfortunately, most Polish surnames just aren't distinctive enough to let us say, "Aha, this village right here is where you came from." There are exceptions, but not many.

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Rospłoch - Rozpłoch - Wejta

… Your busy schedule and time permitting, would you please be so kind as to give me any information on the following surnames. These are not too common, (belonging to gr-gr-grandparents) and I'd be very interested in knowing regions and meanings. My guess is the Poznan region for both: Wejta and Rosplock (or Rosbuck).

Wejta is a rare name, indeed -- as of 1990 there was no one registered as having that name in Poland. There were 29 folks named Wejt, living in the following provinces: Ciechanow 13, Olsztyn 4, Płock 1, Szczecin 3, Warsaw 1, and Zielona Gora 7. It's hard to discern any pattern to that distribution... None of my sources mention Wejta, so I have to dig around for roots it might come from. There is a Polish word wejta, a kind of exclamation meaning "Look!" or "Look at that!" or "Behold!" I could see it catching on as a nickname for someone who said that all the time -- there are other names of similar origin. The other possibilities are that it comes from a variant Weite of German Weiz, "wheat," probably for a farmer who grew wheat, or a dialect pronunciation of Wojta or Wojt, which can come either from the noun wójt, a district official or village mayor, or the first name Wojciech. If there's reason to think the family might have come from an area with a pretty strong German influence (western Poland or Poznan especially), the "wheat" connection strikes me as most likely. But I can't rule the others out.

Rosplock or Rosbuck is even harder. As of 1990 there was no one in Poland with a name beginning with Rosb-. There is a name Rospłoch borne by 43 Poles in 1990, but it's a variant of Rozpłoch, borne by 220 Poles (province breakdown: Bydgoszcz 65, Kalisz 4, Koszalin 23, Lublin 1, Pila 110, Poznan 1, Slupsk 5, Torun 3, Walbrzych 8). The hell of it is, I can't find anything that tells me what this name would mean! The prefix roz- has the meaning of "apart, separate, falling apart," and the root płoch- means "shy, fickle, thoughtless," so the name might be a combination of those two ideas. But as I say, I can't find it anywhere, and that bothers me. But Poles aren't usually big on the combinations Rosb- or Rosp-, I suspect Rozpłoch might be the name you're looking for.

These might be good names to run by the
Anthroponymic Workshop in Krakow -- if anybody could shed light on them, that's who it would be. 

Sorry I couldn't help more, but these are not what you'd call high-frequency names, as you said yourself, and I just couldn't find much. I hope what little I did find proves to be some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your research!

Copyright © 2000 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Wesołowski

… My family surname is Wesoloski and I do know my great-grandparents are from Poland. I have always been interested to find out what the name means, and where they came from.

Wesoloski is a variant form of Wesołowski (notice the second -w- drops out right before the -ski). This is not uncommon in Poland, we see many names that do this, e. g., Dombroski/Dombrowski, Janoski/Janowski, etc. In that position the w (normally pronounced like our v) softens to the sound of an f, and in some dialects it is pronounced so lightly as to be inaudible. Spelling tends to follow pronunciation, and that's how many Polish names dropped that w, from -owski to -oski. But in discussing the origin of the names we need to restore it, because the forms with the W are usually much more common.

So what does Wesołowski mean? It comes from a root wesoły that means "merry, cheerful"; the same root appears in many other Slavic languages (but by English phonetics would be spelled "vesol-"). So it's entirely possible this surname could have started out meaning nothing more than "kin of the cheerful one."

But it's also true that most -owski names began as references to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name, e. g., Wesołów, Wesołówka, Wesołowo are all names that could easily generate the surname Wesolowski, meaning basically "one from Wesołów (-ówka/-owo)." Those place names, in turn, got their names because of some link with "merry, cheerful"; perhaps they originally meant "the cheerful place," or "the place of the cheerful one," something like that. There are quite a few villages in Poland with names that qualify, so unfortunately the surname doesn't provide any clues that allow us to point to any one of them and say "Ah, that's where your family came from." Without specific data on the family that pinpoints the exact region they came from, we have no way of knowing which Wesołów or Wesołowo or Wesołówka a given family was connected with.

Wesołowski is a very common surname in Poland, as of 1990 there were 23,653 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country. There were, in contrast, only 7 who spelled their name Wesołoski, so if that spelling actually persists in your family's name all the way back to Poland and your relatives still spell it that way -- well, some of those 7 might be relatives. Unfortunately I don't have access to details such as first names and addresses, but I can tell you those 7 lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (1), Gdansk (1), Lublin (1), Tarnow (2), Walbrzych (1), Wroclaw (1).

I don't want to throw you off the track here -- it is not at all certain those Wesołoski's would be related to you. The spelling of names is variable in the records, and the same name sometimes shows up as -owski and sometimes as -oski without it really meaning much. With a name as common as Wesołowski, it's pretty likely quite a few of them pronounced it Wesoloski, and thus sometimes had it spelled that way; then it might have been "corrected" to the standard form later. So it's hard to say under which spelling your relatives would show up in modern records.

I'm sorry I couldn't give you more to work with, but most Polish names are like this -- they don't usually provide specific clues as to exactly where they came from. Still, some of this info might prove useful to you.

Copyright © 2001 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Surname 4 Combined File

 

ONYSZKÓW -- SOROKA -- WIERZBICKI -- ZAGRODNY

… My grandfather Michał Zagrodny He was baptised Roman Catholic in 1887 in Touste SE of Ternopil'. Michał's father was Dionezy Zagrodny and his mother was Franciszka Soroka which Walter said is Ukrainian for the bird magpie.

Well, I have no hard data or numbers for Ukraine, only for Poland in its current boundaries, so I don't know how much good I can do you. But here's what I have.

Zagrodny comes from the term zagroda, "farm, croft," from roots meaning literally "behind the enclosure." There is a saying, "Szlachcic na zagrodzie rowny wojewodzie," "The petty noble on his farm is the equal of the palatine," which mean in theory all nobles were equal in rights, whether they owned a small farm or huge estate; this gives a bit of an idea what a zagroda was, a small enclosed farm that a minor noble might own. Zagrodny is just an adjectival form, "of, from, pertaining to a zagroda." This may mean an ancestor was a minor noble, or that he worked on such a farm. As of 1990 there were 352 Polish citizens by this name, with no particular concentration in any one area.

Soroka is indeed the Ukrainian term for "magpie" -- in Polish it's Sroka. This is still a prety common name in Poland, as of 1990 there were 2,011 Polish citizens named Soroka, scattered all over the country, as opposed to 13,768 named Sroka (common all over Poland).

… Michał's mother is Maria Onyszków (with accent above O) and she is the daughter of Cyryli Onyszków and Franciszka Dziuda.

The surname Onyszków derives from the Ukr. first name Onysym, from Greek Onesimos, "useful, advantageous." In 1990 there were 473 Poles named Onyszko, 442 named Onyszkiewicz ("son of Onyszko"), but only 18 named Onyszków, most of them, 11, living in Jelenia Gora province in western Poland, no doubt due to post-World War II forced relocations.

I could find no info on the origin or meaning of Dziuda. I can only tell you there were 765 Poles by that name in 1990, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Lodz (161), Skierniewice (306) in central Poland.

… I'm fairly sure that Michał and his future wife, my grandmother, Anna Wierzbicki lived in Borki Male right before they came to the US in 1905 but I need to find out if family would still be there or if they may have been relocated during the war years when the borders changed.

The ultimate root of Wierzbicki is the term wierzba, "willow," but the surname probably started in most cases as a reference to a village of origin with a name such as Wierzbica (there are 20 or 30 of these) or something similar. Since there are many places with names that would yield the adjectival form Wierzbicki, it's not surprising there a great many Poles by this name -- as of 1990 there were 19,231, living all over the country.


WINCEK

… I was wondering if you have any information on the surname of my grandfather's family, Wincek. My great grandfather came to this country sometime between 1886 and 1892, possibly from Tarnow Parish.

This is almost certainly a diminutive or nickname from Wincenty, the Polish form of the name "Vincent." Poles often took the first syllable of a popular first name, dropped the rest, and then added suffixes such as -ek. The basic meaning would be kind of like "Vince" in English, or it could also have meant "little Vincent" or "son of Vincent." Names of this kind are extremely common in Poland. Wincek appears in records as far back as 1213, but it's not all that common these days -- as of 1990 there were only 298 Poles named Wincek. They were scattered in small clumps in many different provinces, with no real pattern apparent. That's not too strange, a name like this could get started anywhere they spoke Polish and had guys named Wincenty (i. e., anywhere in Poland). The odd thing is that no one by this name showed up in Tarnow province. However, that isn't necessarily a major problem -- a lot of names died out in Poland after people bearing them came to America; and the population has been shuffled around enough by war and dictators, to such a degree that finding no Wincek's near Tarnow in 1990 hardly proves there weren't Wincek's there 100 years ago.


WINKELMAN

… Would you be able to tell me if Winkelman is listed in your Polish Surname Directory. Supposedly this person came from Brzeno, poland but nothin has been found in 30 years of searching.

Winkelman is a German name, coming from a term used to mean "grocer, guy with a Mom-and-Pop grocery store." But you must realize that over the centuries there have been large numbers of ethnic Germans living in what is now Poland, so it's not at all unusual to find German names there. For instance, Hoffman is a German name, and there are literally thousands of Hoffman's in Poland -- and before World War II, there were more. Millions of Germans left territory that is now in Poland for East Germany after World War II, figuring Poles might bear a grudge over a little thing like the Nazis' attempt to subjugate and murder them.

As of 1990 there were 8 Polish citizens named Winkelman, and 77 named Winkelmann (for all intents and purposes, the single and double n have no great significance). The Winkelmann's were most common in the province of Gdansk (44), which used to be Danzig back when the Germans ruled that area, but there are a few scattered in various areas here and there. As I say, 50 years ago there were probably a lot more.


WOLICKI

… Any information on the surname Wolicki would also be appreciated when and if you have the time.

That name probably originated, in most cases, as a reference to a place with a similar name that the family was associated with -- lived there, worked there, or if noble owned it, something like that. The problem is, there are many, many places called Wolica or Wolice in Poland, and those are the place names I'd expect to generate the surname Wolicki, which means basically "one from Wolica or Wolice"; there might be other place names it could come from, too, but definitely Wolica and Wolice would qualify. Without more info, there's really no way to say which one your particular family would have been connected with. As of 1990 there were 1,132 Polish citizens named Wolicki, living all over Poland; there were particularly large numbers in the provinces of Kalisz (103), Konin (117), and Tarnobrzeg (101), with only 12 in the modern-day province of Łomża. I'm afraid I don't have access to any further data such as first names or addresses.


WOLNIEWICZ

… My father's surname is Wolniewicz. Any information you can briefly provide me with would be very much appreciated. There are too many places to go on the web and I am lost right now at where to start.

The suffix -ewicz or -owicz means "son of," and the root wolny means "free," so this name literally means "son of the free one." In the context of names, wolny often means "one freed from the requirement of doing labor for his liege lord" -- most peasants had to work so many days on week in their lord's fields in return for the right to work their own bit of land. A wolny man had somehow earned his freedom from that requirement, and believe me, that could be a big deal! If you spent half the week working on your lord's land, that left little time to give your own crops the attention they needed. A freedman didn't have to worry about that. In some ways it may have been an uncomfortable position -- the vast majority of Polish society was either peasant or noble, the relatively small number of free men stood somewhere in between -- but such men had a little more control over their own destiny.

Unfortunately, very few Polish surnames provide any kind of really helpful lead or clue when it comes to research, and Wolniewicz is no exception. As you can imagine, this name could arise anywhere they spoke Polish and had free men, i. e., anywhere. As of 1990 there were 2,039 Polish citizens named Wolniewicz; the largest numbers lived in the provinces of Warsaw (153), Pila (108), Poznan (557), and Skierniewice (207), with smaller numbers in virtually every other province. So I'm afraid the name in itself isn't going to help much.


WOŹNIAK

… What does Wozniak mean and if possible its Polish origin?

This is an extremely common Polish name -- as of 1990 there were 81,390 Polish citizens named Woźniak, spelled with an accent over the z (which is what the ~ stands for).

There are a couple of ways it could have derived. In many cases it probably comes from the term wózny, "court crier, beadle, caretaker." The suffix -iak is often used to mean "son of," so a Woźniak might have been the son of this official. This is the connection Polish name expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions in his book on Polish surnames. But it is also worth mentioning that there is a term woźniak in Polish that means "saddle horse." Here the derivation is clearly from wóz, "cart, carriage." So it seems likely this name could have originated as meaning "son of the court crier," but might also have arisen as a reference to a carter or as a nickname for someone who owned or rode a saddle horse.


WYROSDICK -- WYROSTEK

… My great grandmother tells me our family came from Hamburg, Germany but many people have said that it is a Polish name. Can you tell me if this is of Polish origin and what particular area if so? I would appreciate any suggestions. The name is Wyrosdick and they came into the Carolinas in the mid 1700's.

That name is pretty well disguised, but I feel 99% certain it is indeed Polish. The fact that your family came from Hamburg doesn't necessarily mean a thing -- many Poles emigrated from the port of Hamburg, and some had to live there for a while before they could get passage. Besides, for centuries there have been Poles living in Germany and Germans living in Poland.

To figure out what the name is, I had to pronounce it out loud and ask "What Polish name, if any, does that sound like?" As soon as I did, I realized it almost has to be Wyrostek (pronounced "vi-ROSE-tek", where "vi" has the short i sound in "sit"). This name comes from the Polish word wyrostek, "teenager, youth, young man." It is not a rare name, as of 1990 there were 879 Polish citizens named Wyrostek. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Chelm (81), Ciechanow (35), Jelenia Gora (41), Katowice (59), Krakow (62), Lublin (78), Nowy Sacz (142), Torun (47), and Zamosc (68). That means they're really scattered throughout southern Poland, with no real concentration in any one area.

So there's good news and bad news. The good news is, Wyrostek is almost certainly the original Polish form of the name. The bad news is, there's no one area of Poland you can concentrate on. That, by the way, is normal; comparatively few surnames give you a useful lead as to exactly where they came from.


ZACHARCZYK

… I was interested in finding out more about my surname, Zacharczyk. If you could help it would be greatly appreciated.

The suffix -czyk in Polish (and some other Slavic languages, although -czyk is a Polish spelling) usually means "son of" when used in surnames, so Zacharczyk means "son of Zachar." Zachar is a form of the first name we know as "Zachary"; it is especially common among Ukrainians, who for a long time were ruled by Poland, so there was considerable mixing of Poles and Ukrainians. But I don't think we could say it's used only by Ukrainians, it can be considered a perfectly good Polish name as well; but this just might be a clue that your ancestors came from what is now eastern Poland or western Ukraine.

As of 1990 there were only 142 Poles named Zacharczyk -- fewer than I would have expected, but there were 861 Poles named Zacharczuk, which means exactly the same thing. The 142 Zacharczyk's were scattered all over the country; the only provinces with more than 10 were Warsaw (11), Gorzow (11), Łomża (29), ad Przemysl (19). Warsaw's in central Poland, Gorzow in western Poland, Łomża in north central Poland, and Przemysl in southeastern Poland, so that tells you just how scattered the name is. That may well be due to post-World War II mass relocations, which took Ukrainians and scattered them all over Poland. Besides, you usually can't pin these patronymic names (ones meaning "son of X" down to just one area, they could get started anywhere people spoke Polish or Ukrainian and there were guys with that first name, in this case Zachar.

So while this isn't a great deal of information, perhaps it helps a little: the name means "son of Zachary," is not very common, and is not limited to any one part of the country (although before World War II, who knows? I don't have data from that period).


ZALIPSKI

… I would like to know any information you could find about the surname Zalipski or Zalypski. Thank you.

The name Zalipski probably comes from the roots za, "beyond, past" + lipa, "linden tree." It might have started out as a literal reference to a person who lived just past a linden tree, or it could have referred to a place called Zalipa, Zalipie, something like that, which in turn got that name because of its location near a linden or grove of lindens. I notice there is a Zalipie, northwest of Dabrowa Tarnowska, in Tarnow province; this is one place the name might refer to, although there may be others too small to show up on my maps.

As of 1990 there were 79 Polish citizens named Zalipski, living in the provinces of: Warsaw (3), Bielsko-Biala (4), Bydgoszcz (8), Jelenia Gora (24), Koszalin (7), Krakow (1), Legnica (3), Opole (4), Pila (5), Skierniewice (1), Walbrzych (1), Wroclaw (18). I'm afraid I have no access to further details such as first names and adddresses, what I've given here is all I have. From this data it appears southwestern Poland is the area where this name is most common.


KOŃCZYK – ŚLIMKO -- ZAREMBA

… I am interested and would appreciate any information that you have on the surnames Konczyk, Zaremba, or Slimko.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut includes Kończyk (where ń stands for the n with an accent over it) under the list of names derived from koniec, so that the name probably means something like "the person who lived at the end" (of a street or whatever); there is also a term kończyk meaning "the end of a rod or bar." This is not an extremely common name, as of 1990 there were only 690 Poles named Kończyk.

Ślimko appears to come from the word ślimak, "snail, slug"; the root ślim- appears to be like "slime" in English, associated either with a thick, gooey liquid or creatures that secreted such a liquid. As a name for a person, it probably suggested only that he moved slowly. This is a rare name, as of 1990 there were only 56 Poles named Ślimko, most of them (43) living in Suwałki province in northeastern Poland.

Zaremba is a common name, borne by 10,907 Poles as of 1990; it can also be spelled Zaręba (ę stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced, before b or p, like &qu/t;em"), and as of 1990 there were also 9,840 Poles who spelled the name Zaręba. It comes from a root meaning "to cut, chop, hack," probably referring either to someone who was ferocious in battle, or to someone who helped clear woods for settlement. There are a number of villages in Poland named Zaremba, and there was also a Zaremba coat of arms.


ZDROJEWSKI

… My maiden name was Zdroj... I am told that my Great Grandfather was Roman Zdrojewski, and took the last portion of our name off. I know oour family is origionally from Prussia.

Sometimes people tell me they think their name has been shortened, and it turns out there's no good reason to think so -- but in your case, you're almost certainly right. The name Zdroj or Zdrój is virtually unheard of as a surname, or at least as of 1990 there was apparently no one in Poland with this name. Zdrojewski, however, is quite common; as of 1990 there 3,825 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (331), Bydgoszcz (361), Gdansk (655), and Torun (477), and much smaller numbers in many other provinces. Of the four just mentioned, all but Warsaw province were in either East or West Prussia, so it seems likely the majority of Zdrojewski's came originally from those regions.

The name itself comes ultimately from the root zdrój, "spring, spa," but by way of places names derived from that root. In other words, Zdrojewski started out meaning "one connected with Zdroje or Zdrojewo," and there are quite a few villages by those names -- most, but not all, in East or West Prussia. Places would get the name Zdroje or Zdrojewo in Polish much as German places got names like Baden and the English town of Bath got its name: there were natural springs of warm water or mineral water nearby where people came to bathe. So Zdrojewski really means nothing more than "person from the place with the springs."


ZELMAŃSKI -- ZIEMNIAK

… Any information on the surnames Zelmanski or Ziemniak. And if ppossible theregions in Poland where located.

Ziemniak comes from a basic root meaning "earth, soil," and the surname could derive from that root. But the most likely specific link is with the noun ziemniak, "potato." Presumably a Ziemniak originally got that name because he grew potatoes, sold them, was shaped like one, some sort of connection like that. As of 1990 there were 1,357 Polish citizens named Ziemniak; they lived all over Poland, with no real concentration in any one part. This just makes sense: the name could get started anywhere they spoke Polish and had potatoes, so you wouldn't expect to see it limited to any one region.

None of my sources mention Zelmański (where ń represents the n with an accent over it). It seems to me there are two likely derivations of the name, and in fact both may have produced it. One is a variant of the first name Solomon, which appears in Polish and German in many forms, including Zelman; if that's the link, the name would just mean "kin of Solomon." Or it could be from a German word such as Sellman (which Poles would write Zelman); that, too, could be a variant of Solomon, but it can also refer to where a person lived, "one who lived near Sella or Seller" -- according to German surname expert Hans Bahlow there were places by this name in the areas of Liegnitz and Gorlitz, both of which are now in Poland. There just isn't enough information available to decide which variation would prove relevant in your family's case.

As of 1990 there were 229 Poles named Zelmański, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Elblag (27), Olsztyn (47), Płock (36), and Torun (62), all areas in north central Poland that the Germans used to rule. So a German connection with the surname makes good sense.


ZIMA

… Would you have any information on the ZIMA name? I seem to run into walls on my research of this family. In the meantime I plan to order a few books and info packets to figure what I am doing wrong.

I'm afraid Zima is one of those names that's too general to offer much help with research -- it comes from the Polish word zima, "winter," and the basic root zim- means "cold." As of 1990 there were 1,237 Polish citizens named Zima; they were scattered all over the country, but there were particularly large numbers living in the provinces of Krosno (191) and Tarnow (278), which are both in southeastern Poland. So that's where the area is most common, although, as I said, you can find Zima's living just about anywhere in Poland.


ZYSKOWSKI

… I am looking for information on Leon Zyskowski, son of Alexsander. He was born in Szczuczyn, Poland, February 2,1893. Any information on the Zyskowski family name would be very helpful.

Well, I should explain that the information regards how names originated and what they meant, and is usually not too helpful with individual families or persons. However, when one has the kind of specific data you have, the information I provide can sometimes offer leads that prove useful. Let's hope that's true in this case.

Zyskowski is a moderately common name in Poland; as of 1990 there were 1,967 Polish citizens with that name. The distribution pattern may be significant -- while you can find Zyskowski's in virtually every part of Poland, the provinces with the highest numbers are Łomża (494) and Suwałki (640), in the northeastern corner of the country. Presumably the Szczuczyn your family came from was the one now in Łomża province (there is at least one other, in Poznan province, in western Poland), so that suggests your family came from the region where this name is most concentrated. Unfortunately I don't have access to more detailed info such as first names and addresses -- what I've given here is all I have -- but it does provide a little insight.

Names ending in -owski often originated as references to a connection between a person or family and the name of a specific place, generally ending in -ów, -owo, -owa, etc. Thus we'd expect Zyskowski to have meant originally "one from Zysków or Zyskowo or Zyskowa or Zyski," something like that. However, none of my sources show any such place. It could well be that there was a place by that name to which the surname referred when it originated centuries ago, but it was too small to show up in gazetteers, or has since disappeared, changed its name, been absorbed by some other community, etc. In your research, if you ever find any reference to a place named Zysków, etc., that may well turn out to be the place the surname refers to.

Names in -owski can also be simply adjectival references to a person's name, so that Zyskowski could conceivably have meant "one related to Zysek or Zysko." From my experience, that proves true less often than the link with a place, but we can't rule it out.

Either way, the question arises, what was the ultimate root? There are two possibilities. The root zysk in Polish means "profit, gain, earnings," and either personal or place names could refer to that: a man might have a nickname Zysek or Zysko because he was shrewd in business dealings, or a place might be called Zyskow/o/a because it was a rather profitable place to do business, or because it was founded or owned by a fellow named Zysek/Zysko. The other possibility is derivation from zys, "golden eagle"; Zysek or Zysko could be the name of a fellow who somehow reminded people of this eagle, or Zyskow/o/a could be the name of a place where such eagles were common. So we can interpret the surname either in terms of personal names, "kin of Zysek/Zysko," or place names, "one from the profitable place" or "one from the place of the golden eagle." If we could find a nearby place named Zyskow/o/a, that would clarify the situation considerably; if there is not and never has been such place, it would suggest the name means "kin of Zysek/Zysko," but it would still be unclear whether his name referred to profit or eagles.

Without more information it's impossible to pick one of these and say "This is the one applicable in your family's case," but at least this gives you something to work with. I hope it's some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your research.


KOMORNICKI

… I read your article on Polish surnames on the Net. I wonder if could you please help me ? I was born with the surname "Komornicki." I was adopted at birth and have had no contact with my natural family so I have not had the luxury of a family and family connections to find out information on my birth name.

Komornicki is an adjectival form (like all surnames ending in -ski or -cki), referring to the noun komornik and meaning "of, from, pertaining to a komornik," or else deriving from place names such as Komornik or Komorniki, which in turn began as meaning something like "place of the komornik." So the key here is, what does komornik mean?

It's rather frustrating that there are two different meanings for this word. One kind of komornik is usually translated "bailiff," and referred to an official of local courts, a kind of sheriff's officer; when applied to a nobleman, it was a functionary at the king's court. This kind of komornik was obviously a person of some status.

The other kind of komornik -- and by far the more common usage of the word -- is often translated "tenant," and referred to a person who did not own a house of his/her own, but rather lived as a boarder with someone else. This might be a poor person, but very often it was an older, retired person who had raised a family, passed the management of the family farm on to the kids, and gone to live with someone else so as not to be in the way.

The surname Komornicki probably started as a name for children or kin of a komornik -- sometimes the official, sometimes the boarder -- or else as name for someone who came from a village called Komornik or Komorniki. Since the boarder variety of komornik was probably much more numerous than the official variety of komornik, we have to suppose the surname refers more often to the boarders than the officials. But without detailed research into a particular Komornicki family's past, there'd be no way to know.

As of 1990 there were 569 Polish citizens named Komornicki; as Polish names go, that means it's not all that common, but obviously not rare either. The 10-volume work that gives that data also shows the distribution by province (but no further details such as first names and addresses), and I'm afraid this name is not concentrated in any one part of the country, at least not to any extent that would provide a useful lead. The largest numbers were in the provinces of Warsaw (96), Katowice (65), Legnica (65), and Wroclaw; the latter three are in southwest and southcentral Poland, so it appears that's the area in which the name is somewhat more common. But you find Komornicki's in all parts of the country, so without details on your specific family, I'm afraid that data isn't much help.


STELMASZEWSKI

Hi Fred,

As promised, I am passing along the information I received from "Instytut Jezyka Polskiego Pracownia Antroponimiczna." Below I have transcibed their letter. Thanks for all your help.

Kraków, March 12, 1998

Dear Mr. Stelmar,

I answer your letter of February 14, 1998, in which you asked us about the of the Stelmaszewski family name.

The explanation of the Stelmaszewski surname, made by Mr. Fred Hoffman is absolutely correct. To this explanation I can add only some details.

This village, mentioned by Mr. Hoffman, which could be the base of the surname was called Stelmachowo. It lies at present in the Tykocin county, Białystok province. It is to note that the first record of this place name was made in 1558. The locality was called a grange of Stelmachowo. It means that the base of the grange was connected with a craftman was stelmach i.e. a cart-wright.

There was also another village called Stelmachowo. Such a locality lies to-day on the territory of the former eastern region of Polish State, now belonging to Ukraine.

In the region of Malopolska (Little Poland) existed also, in the 19-th century, a grange called Mlyn Stelmachow (Engl. Stelmach's mill) belonging in that time to a large estate called Chelwiska, Konskie county.

All these localities are very far from Poznan, but it is quite possible that the bearers of the family names coming from the names of localities moved far from the original place of their residence. This could happen by various reasons, especially political.

In the region of Wielkopolska (Great Poland), the capital of which is just the town of Poznan, there was also a village called Stelmach or Stelmachy. This locality list at present in the Kopach county, Sieradz province. The problem was that according to the linguistic rules, the surname Stelmaszewski could not be derived from the name of this locality. Everything points to the younger origin of the Stelmaszewski family name, in time when the rules that were obligatory in the Middle Ages underwent laxity.

The surname Stelmaszewski was not recorded in medieval documents. Such a surname lacks also in Polish Armorials. As, at present, there are a lot of bearers of the Stelmaszewski family name in Poland, I suppose that this family name originated not so long ago. Therefore, it is not excluded that the family name came directly from a name of a profession. It is possible that one of your ancestors was in fact a cart-wright and the profession he accomplished, thus stelmach, became the base of his further family name. The family name, itself, originated by adding to the base Stelmach a suffix - ewski. In Polish the consonant ch (pronounced h as wh in English who ) before the vowels i and e changes in sz ( Engl. sh).

To-day there are in Poland 516 bearers of the Stelmaszewski family name. Most of them (124 people) reside in the historical province Mazowe (Masovia) in the administrative province Płock. 89 people live in Warsawa ( Warsaw) province. In the Wielkopolska region, Poznan province live nowadays 95 people. The rest are spread all over Poland.

This was all I could tell you about your family name. The conclusive settlement concerning the origin of your surname could be done only on the base of family documents or at least family tradition.

I acknowledge receipt of $20 sent to me together with the letter.

Sincerely,

/Janina Szymowa M.A./      

 

Antolak

Have you ever come across the surname Antolak? I've always been told that it's a Polish name, but I've never been able to confirm.  Thanks!

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "on-TOE-lock." You can see data on its frequency and distribution in Poland as of 2002, and a map illustrating the data, here:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/antolak.html

It shows as of 2002 there were 1,784 Polish citizens by this name. The largest number, 362, lived in the far southeastern county of Nowy Targ; there was also a sizable concentration in the county of Warsaw (177) and the county of Ryki (southeast of Warsaw). The rest were scattered in small numbers all over the country. So as is often the case with Polish surnames, this name is not so concentrated in one area as to allow us to say

"An Antolak family must have come from here." We can only note that the name shows up most often in the area near Nowy Targ and in the area near Warsaw --  but a given family by this name could have come from many different places in Poland. It's also unlikely there's one big Antolak family; more likely, the name developed among a number of different families independently (although of course there's no way to know that for sure without actually tracing the history of every Pole by this name).

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says the earliest mention scholars have found of this name in Polish records dates from 1768, but I think it's pretty sure the name has been around longer than that -- it just didn't happen to show up in any documents studied so far until then. Rymut lists it among the many surnames from the first name Antoni, the Polish version of the name we know as "Anthony." He lists ANTOL as another surname from Antoni, saying it appears in Polish records as early as 1566. ANTOLAK most likely started out as a way of saying "son of Antol."

So ANTOL developed as a nickname from Antoni, and once Antol existed, ANTOLAK could be formed from it. It would mean something kind of like "son of Tony."

You might want to consider posting this name in PolishOrigins' Surnames Database. Who knows, you might hear from others looking for the same name!

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

Fred (officially "William F.") Hoffman
Author, Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings
www.fredhoff.com
 

Copyright ©2008 W.F. Hoffman

 

Antoszewski

... I am trying to find the origin and history of my surname, Antoszewski, I have read a few messages in Genpol and thought you may be able to help...

 

I probably can't tell you as much as you'd like to know, but I can tell you a little, and will be glad to do so.

 

Names ending in -owski or -ewski usually started out designating a person who came from a place by a similar name. In this case, we'd expect Antoszewski to mean "guy from Antoszew or Antoszewo or Antoszewa," something like that. It doesn't always have to mean that, -ew- and -ow- are possessive suffixes in Polish, so that Antoszewski really means no more than "one connected to some thing, person, or place connected to a fellow named Antosz." But in practice, the connection is of a person with a place with a name ending in -ew(a/o) or -ow(a/o) . Note that the -ow- or -ew- can be appended not only to personal names (as in Antoszewski or Janowski) but also to other nouns, e. g., Kowalew or Kowalewo, from the root kowal, "smith," = " place or thing connected with smiths." That in turn yields a surname such as Kowalewski, "guy from Kowalew/o."

 

The ultimate root of this name is Antosz, which is a kind of nickname for Antoni (Anthony). Thus Antoszew/o/a, if it existed, would have meant "Antosz's place." It might be a village or estate owned by an Antosz, or founded by Antosz, or Antosz was a prominent citizen -- hard to tell exactly what.

 

Often these place-derived surnames refer to some local name for a place, and that place may be too small to show up on maps. I read a letter from one fellow who was visiting Poland and was looking for a village called Iwany that wasn't on any map. He and his guide were driving on a little road through a field near where they thought the village should be, based on other info he had, so they stopped to ask some peasants where Iwany was. The peasants were surprised and said "This is Iwany!" It was a bend in the road with one house! Apparently there once was a village there, but now it's mostly just farmland, and the name is one only the locals would even recognize. So it can be very tough finding the precise place a surname referred to centuries ago. (Imagine if your name is Iwanowski and you're looking for this place!)

 

I did find one place called Antoszew in a 19th-century Polish gazetteer. It was located in Samogitia, a region of what's now Lithuania, near the town of Poniewiez (Lith. name Panevezys). Here's what the entry said:

Antoszew, in Samogitian Antosava, a small town in Poniewiez county, about 40 km. from Poniewiez. It has a Catholic church, St. Jacek's, built of wood and built in 1782 by the Antoszewskis, a branch of the Wobolniki parish church. There is a manoral farmstead by this name 8 km. from the town.

I found this village in an atlas of Lithuania; it's now called Antasava. It's northeast of Panevezys, northwest of Kupskis, and nearby is Vabalninkas, which is the Lithuanian equivalent of the Polish name Wobolniki. There is a parish church in Antasava, so it is possible there are some parish records available for research. If the Family History Library in Salt Lake City doesn't have them on microfilm, you may need to write the Lithuanian State Archives. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

 

You see, this does not have to be the Antoszew your family's name came from. But the gazetteeer entry indicates there was a family named Antoszewski that built the local church -- chances are they were minor nobility, since their name is connected with the name of the estate near the town. So this is at least one possible candidate for the right place.

 

One reason I caution you about this is that as of 1990 there were 1,910 Polish citizens named Antoszewski, spread out all over the country. Usually when a surname is that widely spread, it suggests it got started in many different places; so even though only one Antoszew shows up in the gazetteer, there were probably many others too small to appear in gazetteers or maps... Of course, that Antoszew/Antasava might be exactly the right one, but it might prove to be a costly and disappointing error to jump to the conclusion that that has to be the right one.

 

As of 1990 the Polish provinces with the most Antoszewskis were Warsaw (176), Ciechanow (151), Ostrołęka (108), Poznan (130), Torun (95), and Wloclawek (126). (I have no more detailed info, such as addresses, first names, etc. -- what I give here is all I have). The nobles tended to move around, it's possible all these Antoszewskis came from the family with its estate in Lithuania -- but it seems pretty unlikely. A fair number of those Antoszewskis are probably connected with the ones from Lithuania, but odds are a lot of them aren't. They were probably peasants who came from or worked on other, small estates named Antoszew/Antoszewo/Antoszewa scattered all over Poland that were just too small to appear in the gazetteer.

 

I wish I could give you a definitive answer that would tell you just where to look, but I think you can see that's just not possible without a lot more info on the family. I hope, however, that this info will give you something to work with, so that when you combine it with your own research it will give you good leads.

 

 Copyright ©1998 W.F. Hoffman

Bartochowski

... I just received your new book. It is wonderful. In your book you cover the root bart-. I did not see the name Bartochowski. Could you please E Mail me the definition? ...

 

I'm very pleased you like my book. As for Bartochowski, it was a tough call whether to include it: the name was borne by 349 Poles as of 1990, which means it's not all that common, but it's hardly rare. Since space limitations were definitely a factor, I generally listed the more common name with a particular root and omitted the less common one, unless I could fit it in without using another line. In this instance I had a more common name with the same root, Bartocha (1,055), so I didn't list Bartochowski. I hoped in cases such as yours people would contact me if they had questions, and you did, so that worked out all right!

 

As I tried to explain in the book, surnames ending in -owski or -ewski are almost always derived from a place name. Thus we'd expect Bartochowski started out meaning "person from Bartochow/Bartochowo/Bartochowa/Bartochy"; there are several possibilities, as suffixes tended to drop off before the adjectival ending -ski was tacked on, and thus several different place names could all end up as "Bartochowski." The place name, in turn, would come from a personal name, in this case Bartoch or Bartocha, presumably because a fellow by that name once owned or founded the place in question.

 

That is almost certainly the case here. Most Bartochowskis probably took their name from some connection with the village of Bartochów in Sieradz province, 4 km. south of Warta. (There is also a village Barszów in Legnica province that has also been called Bartochów in the past; some Bartochowskis may trace their origin to that place name instead). So the surname means "person from Bartochów," and that place, in turn, got its name from an owner or founder named Bartoch or Bartocha; and his name, in turn, came from the roots mentioned in my book under Bart-.

 

It's always interesting to look at the distribution of a surname when it comes from a place name, to see whether there is a pattern. In this case, the 349 Bartochowskis lived in the following provinces as of 1990: Warsaw 54, Biala Podlaska 7, Elblag 3, Gdansk 31, Jelenia Gora 1, Katowice 4, Kielce 3, Krakow 15, Krosno 1, Lodz 36, Olsztyn 14, Ostrołęka 3, Płock 33, Przemysl 1, Radom 1, Siedlce 5, Skierniewice 18, Slupsk 7, Szczecin 5, Tarnobrzeg 101, Walbrzych 1, Wloclawek 1, Wroclaw 4. So they were spread out all over Poland. That concentration in Tarnobrzeg province is puzzling, however -- why so many there? It's conceivable that there was once a place in that province with the name Bartochow or something similar, and that it also gave rise to the surname, but has long since changed its name so that none of the more modern sources list it. But that's just a guess, I don't really know the answer.

 

If you would really like to know more I would suggest contacting the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow -- the address is on p. 177 of my book (the 2nd edition, that is) [for more information see my introduction, or click here for the address: Institute address]. They would probably tell you about the same thing I have, but might be able to add some insights as to the Tarnobrzeg connection; then again, they might not. But the basic derivation is pretty certain: Bartochowski started out meaning "person somehow connected with or coming from the village of Bartochow."

 

I hope this answers your questions, and I'm very glad you're enjoying my book.

 

 Copyright ©1998 W.F. Hoffman

 

Basinski

...I am interested in any information you may have on the surname Basinski, which is my own name. I have been told that it may not in fact be Polish at all since the name is not apparently known in Poland. I would appreciate any help you can give me.

I keep hearing from people who have "been told" this or that about Polish names, and all too often what they've been told is a load of rubbish. I wish these people who don't know what they're talking about would shut up! For instance, as of 1990 there were 3,171 Polish citizens named Basiński . So much for the notion that the name is not known in Poland!

The Basinski's lived all over the country, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (139), Bydgoszcz (237), Gorzow (135), Kalisz (219), Katowice (164), Leszno (113), Lodz (148), Poznan (347), Wroclaw (204), and Zielona Gora (207). I don't see any real pattern to that distribution, the name apparently arose independently in many different places at different times, so all the Basiński's are probably not related.

As for the likely origin of the name, names ending in -iński can come from several sources, but very often they originally referred to a place that the family owned (if noble) or worked at (if non-noble) or came from. The interesting thing is that with a name this common you'd expect to find quite a few towns or villages that qualify, yet the only really good match I see is Basin, a village in Skierniewice province -- Basiński could well mean "coming from Basin," but it seems unlikely the name would be so widely scattered if one little village in central Poland was the source... There are also villages named Basinów in Ostrołęka and Radom provinces, under the right circumstances Basiński could refer to them.

However, I suspect that in a lot of cases Basiński developed from something more common. I note that the place Basin got its name from the first name Basia, a short form or nickname of Barbara (there's a Polish singer named Basia who's fairly well known) -- Basin just means "Basia's place." This makes me wonder if the surname sometimes arose just as a way of referring to "Basia's kin." This seems plausible, because the surname is just too common to be explained only in terms of the few places that seem likely candidates... It's also possible Basiński is a variant form of other names such as Baszyński and Bażyński.

All in all, however, I suspect the surname Basiński refers in most cases to tiny villages or hamlets named something like Basin, or to the kin of a woman named Basia. There may be other derivations in particular cases, but the link with places or kin of various Basia's strikes me as the most probably explanation for the surname's origin.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.


 

Birkenhagen - Borowski - Teofila

... One branch of my wife's family came from the area near what is now Sierpc, Poland. (Although the borders shifted a number of times, they considered themselves to be Germans...) A cousin has been searching some of the microfilmed records from this area and there are two entries in these that we suspect might be the same person since they have their husbands have the same name, and some other facts seem consistent:

Theophile Borowska

and

Gottlieba/Bogumila Birkenhagen

As we understand it, Theophile means "God's love" as does Bogumila and Gottlieba, which would seem to give some credence to this. Can anyone tell me whether Borowska (or perhaps Bonkowska) might be a Polish substitute for Birkenhagen? Does anyone know the meaning of either of these names?

 

From the responses that I have gotten, I have learned that "Birkenhagen" means "birch grove" and that "Borowska" has the root "Bor" which means forest, so it sounds fairly plausible that they could be the same person. Particularly when taken together with the rest of the evidence we have. (Both of these people were married to a man of the same name/age/village, and both had a son with the same name/age.)

 

I would be interested to know if you would have an opinion to add to this discussion?

 

It's a pleasure dealing with someone who's already made the effort to learn as much as possible -- it means I don't have to waste my time going over the obvious. I'm always glad to help in such cases.

 

As you've learned, Theophile is an exact equivalent (French, but ultimately of Greek derivation) of German Gottlieba and Polish Bogumila, all meaning "dear to God" ("God's love" is also a reasonable interpretation, but "dear to God" looks a little more correct to me).

 

Birkenhagen is not an exact match for Borowska -- usually German Birken- tends to equate to Brzez- in Polish, since that root means "birch" -- but the semantic link of "forest, woods" is pretty firm. There is no question that if you search the records you find cases where Polish names were often translated into German; as in this case, the translation is not always exact, but there is a clear link in meaning. And, for what it's worth, the village Poles called "Borów" near Swiebodzin was called "Birkholz" by the Germans; so clearly Polish Bor- and German Birk- can be linked, even though bor- has more of a general meaning of a forest, not specifically a stand of birches.

 

So it is entirely plausible that Theophile Borowska and Gottlieba/Bogumila Birkenhagen are different names for the same person. It is all the more likely because of the history of Poland, which at various times has made it advantageous for Poles to modify their names to sound more French (e. g., around the time of the French Revolution and Napoleon) and especially to sound more German (the time from Napoleon's defeat to World War I). Poles living in German-ruled areas frequently found that insisting on going by Polish names caused made them the targets of special repression by the German authorities, so they often "passed" by assuming German equivalents of their native names. Since most of them weren't linguists or onomastic experts, it's not surprising that sometimes the equivalents weren't exact.

 

If you proposed this identification without any evidence, I'd say "It's very possible, but be cautious about jumping to conclusions; what's plausible doesn't always turn out to be correct." But since in this case you have good evidence to back up your theory, I think you're justified in your conclusion. The odds are overwhelming that you're right.

 

Good work! I hope I've helped you a little, and I wish you the best of luck with your research.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Borucki - Boruta

... I am busy researching my family surname Borucki. What I would like to know is where does this name come from and is it a Polish surname or is it Austrian... I would like to know the Meaning and Origin of the surname, if anybody could help me....

 

In terms of linguistic origin, Borucki is a Polish name, and a pretty common one -- as of 1990 there were 3,958 Poles with this name, living all over the country. In form it is an adjective, usually connected to the place name Boruty, of which there are several in Poland; Borucki probably started as meaning "person of or from Boruty." That place name, in turn, probably came from the old pagan first name Boruta, and the villages involved got the name because they were owned or founded by a man named Boruta. The ultimate origin of Boruta is from an ancient Slavic root meaning "battle, fight," and such a name would be given a child in hopes he would grow up to be a great warrior. So the pagan first name gave several villages their name, and that name in turn was modified to become this surname.

 

Because it is a pretty common name, found all over Poland, it is also seen in the southeastern part of Poland (formerly called Galicia) that was seized by the Austro-Hungarian Empire when Poland was partitioned, beginning in 1772. A person emigrating from that area would be asked where he came from, and officially he would have to answer "Austria." This is usually the reason some Poles are categorized as "Austrians." But the name itself has nothing to do with Austria.

 

Unfortunately, the name is much too common to trace it to one particular place or family and say "this is the one you want." This is not at all unusual with Polish surnames, many came from place names that were used by more than one village, so the surnames ended up spreading all over. The Borucki name probably arose independently in several different places at different times, and thus not all Boruckis are related. Only specific research on your particular family will give you any details -- the name itself is not much help.

 

Sorry I couldn't be more help to you, but maybe this information will be of some use. Good luck with your research!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

 

Budarz - Charamut

... I'm getting a copy of your book for xmas and I can't wait to look up some of our surnames. I'm sure mine won't be there even though I'm 100% Polish. ...

 

I hope you like the book! I tried to include all the most common surnames, but I also tried to write it so that people whose names aren't there will at least learn some useful things. What I've heard back from those who bought the book suggests they found it interesting and helpful, even when their specific names don't show up.

 

Budarz is in the book, but as of 1990 there were only 11 Polish citizens by that name, living in the provinces of Lublin (6), Rzeszow (4), and Tarnobrzeg (1). I didn't usually include names that rare, but when I was already discussing the root anyway and there was enough space, I went ahead and included such names. The name could derive from several roots, including bud-, to feel, sense, awaken, or buda, a shed, stall. My guess is Budarz probably refers to the shed or stall. There is a word budarz which has several meanings, including one who lived in a shed or small stall; one who kept a stall and sold things from it (very common!); one who worked out of a small building (such as a sentry or watchman); one who built sheds and stalls, a carpenter; or one who dug up ore. As you can see, a lot of Poles lived in or worked out of small sheds, and there are many words and names that refer to that, including Budarz and others that are more common.

 

Charamut does look French, but if pronounced as Poles would pronounce it, "har-AH-moot," it might be Polish, although probably not of Polish linguistic origin. Keep in mind that CH and H are pronounced exactly the same in Polish, so you may also find this name spelled Haramut. I think I've run into this name before (I can't remember where) and I've never been able to pin down what it comes from. It sounds like a Polonized version of some old Germanic name, and for instance there is a German name Harmut that is a variation of Hartmut, which means something like "person of strong disposition." I don't have enough info to be sure, but I suspect that's what Charamut comes from, a Polonized version of Harmut/Hartmut. As of 1990 there were only 13 Poles with this name (it's not in my book), living in the provinces of Olsztyn (4) and Ostrołęka (9).

 

This is more info than I have in the book, obviously, but as I say, by E-mail I can give a bit more detail than I could in the book -- as long as folks don't overdo it. When they overdo it, they get my standard reply: "For $20/hour you're welcome to everything I can find out." And those who want more info than I can provide are welcome to write the Polish Language Institute (see page 177 for the address, when you get your copy).ngs

 

... There are also two other surnames that probably won't be there. On my mother's side, the surname is Budarz. All the Budarz's I found in the censuses and ships passenger lists are related. They all came from Gorno or Kamien (about 4 km apart). All the deceased Budarz's, origonal emigrants, believed they and their anchestors were always Polish. As a kid I remember them always speaking Polish and sending packages back to Poland. The other surname is Charamut. They came from from Wolkowie. Again they always believed they were Polish for ever. Charamut looks French.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Burdalski

... I am researching the name Burdalski. I have done nationwide searches (myself and by paid researchers), and can find only one family in the US with that name (my group of cousins). In your book, you list BurDELski as derived from burda or burdel, but not BurDALski. Do you think these names are interchangeable? I don't understand Polish linguistics enough to make that judgment. I have found BurDELski to be very uncommon also. Again, thanks for your thoughts. ...

 

Burdalski isn't in my book because it's not all that common -- as of 1990 there were some 259 Poles with this name, scattered around but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Ciechanow (68), Elblag (36), Gdansk (21), and Olsztyn (54).

 

The -ski suffix makes one ask whether it is a surname derived from a place name, and that could be, but none of my sources show a place with a suitable name -- it would probably refer to a village or other locality named Burdały or something like that, and I can't find any such critter. That doesn't mean it isn't from a place name, sometimes surnames refer to places so small that the name was used only by local residents and would never show up in any map or gazetteer. Still, this may have nothing to do with a place.

 

In that case, I'm inclined to think it comes from the root burda, which means "row, brawl," and also "brawler." The -al- suffix is one typically used to show that a particular kind of behavior was habitual, so burdal- might have started as a reference to a guy who was always getting into a fight. If so, Burdalski probably was a way of referring to "the kin of that brawler fellow." This seems plausible, although we have no real proof.

 

The name could come from burdel, which can mean not just "brothel" but also an old building that's falling apart. When it comes to Polish vowels it's not wise to get dogmatic -- it's certainly not out of the question that Burdalski might derive from burdel. But I kind of think not, in this case. There is a perfectly reasonable interpretation for the name that doesn't demand presupposing a vowel change, so why not go with the obvious? I think the link with burda, brawler, is the most likely.

 

... ps, I have found some Burda's in the census in Philadelphia who claim Hungarian ancestry. I thought that was interesting. ...

 

Yes, it is. We often see that certain words appear in different languages, sometimes wholly unconnected. And some Hungarian-based names do show up among Poles. However, that -alski suffix is very Polish-sounding, and usually names of foreign origin have to be pretty Polonized before they start taking Polish suffixes. Burdalski could be ultimately Hungarian, but that's reaching a little bit. It's generally best to stick with Polish roots to explain Polish names, and only take foreign roots into account if no likely Polish derivation is indicated.

 

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the subject. I certainly could be wrong, but this is what seems most likely to me. And if you'd like some input on the subject from experts who might be able to give you a definitive answer, I'd suggest writing the Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute in Krakow. They can handle correspondence in English, they have excellent sources on name origins (they don't do any genealogical research, however!), and $20 is usually enough to get a good analysis of a name or two. The address is on p. 177 of the 2nd edition of my book, p. 137 of the first edition. [for more information see my introduction, or click here for the address: Institute address]. This is the one Polish organization I feel comfortable recommending to people, and I've heard back from quite a few folks who were very satisfied with the results. So if you'd really like to hear from the folks who are best suited to give a definitive answer, that's who I'd contact.

 

Copyright ©1998 W.F. Hoffman

 

Cholewa

...I'm wondering if you've heard of the Polish surname Cholewa? I was told by some Polish friends that it may mean "rubber boot"?!! The family would have lived in or near Niedergruppe, Kreiss Schetz in West Prussia before WWII (now Dolna Gruppa).

 

Yes, Cholewa is actually a common name -- as of 1990 there were some 8,100 Poles by that name, 797 with the spelling Holewa (both pronounced the same), plus quite a few more with related names such as Cholewiak (175), Cholewka (761), etc. Cholewa appears all over the country, with the largest numbers (more than 300) living in the provinces of Bielsko-Biala (731), Katowice (1,015), Kielce (395), Krakow (1,069), Lublin (517), Opole (307), Radom (405), Tarnow (694), Warsaw (338). It's hard to see a useful pattern to that distribution, except that the name seems more common in southcentral and southeastern Poland than elsewhere -- but that doesn't mean you won't find it in other places, such as West Prussia.

 

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surname of Poles], saying that it appears in records as far back as 1394 and comes from the Polish word cholewa, which in modern usage means "the top of knee-boots," so the boot connection is correct, although it doesn't apparently mean knee-boots themselves but their upper portions. It often happens in all languages that a word has a basic meaning, plus other meanings that have developed as slang or part of every-day speech (much as English "nut" can refer to a food, a particular piece of metal, or a screwball). My dictionary says that cholewa can also mean "drunkard," "a guy who says whatever comes into his head," and "a slovenly woman." These other meanings are often important for names because they often were used as nicknames. You might say "How did a guy get a name meaning 'boot-top'?", and these other meanings are often the answer.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Ciborek - Czciborek

... I realize you probably have many people sending you emails about their surnames from the Genpol group, but I have one that's stumping me, and I thought perhaps you could shed some light. The surname is Ciborek, and a friend has your book, and said he couldn't find it in there. The family came from the Posen region in the mid-late 1800s. I have a copy of a marraige from the original register in Szamotuły, and this is the correct Polish spelling. However, my g-grandmother spelled it Cziborek on the ship coming over, but it remained Ciborek again in the states.

 

Ciborek isn't in my book, but Cibor is, and the -ek is a diminutive ending. Cibor probably comes from either an old Polish first name Czcibor (from roots meaning "worship, revere" + "battle") or from the noun cibor, the cyperus. Of the two, I think the old name Czcibor is the more likely source, in most cases. The pronunciation of Czcibor is rather difficult, and it is quite credible that it would often be simplified to Cibor (which sounds sort of like CHEE-bore). Then the addition of the -ek would make Ciborek mean "little Cibor, Cibor's son." A great many Polish surnames originated just this way... Cziborek is not possible or correct in terms of proper Polish spelling, CZ cannot be followed by I (only ci or czy- are possible letter combinations); that doesn't mean you'd never see it, but you'd expect to see the "correct" spellings Czciborek or Ciborek more often.

 

I listed Cibor and Ciborowski and Ciborski in my book because they are very common names. Ciborek is less common; as of 1990 there were only 308 Polish citizens with that surname. Here, from the 10-volume Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland [Słownik nazwisk współcześnie w Polsce uźywanych] is the breakdown of how many people lived in each province:

Ciborek: 308; Warsaw 127, Białystok 3, Gdansk 2, Gorzow 2, Katowice 3, Lodz 5, Łomża 22, Nowy Sacz 1, Opole 4, Pila 2, Poznan 80, Siedlce 14, Skierniewice 3, Suwałki 19, Szczecin 16, Zielona Gora 3

Obviously Warsaw province, the area immediately around the capital city, is where you find the biggest concentration of Ciboreks, but there are some scattered throughout the rest of the country too. It's interesting that the second biggest concentration is in the province of Poznan, which fits in nicely with the info you have.

 

You might be able to get the address of some Ciboreks in Poznan province by writing to the Polish Genealogical Society of America, 984 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago IL 60622, and asking how much it would cost to have them search the Poznan province telephone directory for listings of Ciboreks. This isn't a sure bet -- phones in private homes are far less common in Poland than here -- but it's the only way I know of you might get the address of some relatives in Poland. The Polish provincial telephone directories are not available on-line, you have to order them, and they're expensive -- I think each one is $40 or so. The PGSA has copies of many of them, and I'm sure they have the Poznan one; I don't think the search would be terribly expensive. It costs less to have just one place searched, because the directories are organized poorly; you can't just look up all the Ciboreks in the province, it's not listed that way. You have to go through each individual town and village listed separately. So if you just ask for Ciboreks in Poznan itself, rather than the whole province, that will make the search much cheaper -- perhaps something like $10 or so. But it's best to write and ask them before you have it done. And there is no guarantee any Ciboreks will be listed.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Ciupierdo - Czupiradlo

I have been researching the meaning of my name for about a year now, and with the help of the Instytut Języka Polskiego in Krakow I have reached conclusion.czupiradło can be regionally or dialectically prnounced as either ciupieradło or even ciupidrało. This could certainly explain why the surname may have have changed in 1812.

 

The surname is originally Ciupierdo (1680 - 1812) and was changed rather abruptly to Ciupidro. Mrs. (pani, pana??) Janina Szymowa of the Instytut offers two possible derivations 1. the Polish verb ciupac meaning to strike or to chop. i.e. derived from someone who was a woodsman. or more likely 2. from the Polish noun czupiradło meaning: A. a frightening looking person or B. a scarecrow. (as I understand, peasants were employed to frighten birds out of the fields) Hey, we can't all be Jagiell's and Radziwill's.

 

Mrs. Szymowa further explained that the noun

 

czupiradło can be regionally or dialectically prnounced as either ciupieradło or even ciupidrało. This could certainly explain why the surname may have have changed in 1812.

 

I'm relating all of this to illustrate the depth that the Instytut Języka will go (if possible).

 

The people at the Instyut Języka work on these projects on their own time (not by the Institute itself). If anyone is interested, do not send a check payable to the Institute. You will be asked to forward funds to the individual who worked on your project. This is from experience, I did it wrong... The standard fee is $20.00 U.S. (at the time of my project).

 

If interested, click here: Institute address

 

Copyright © 1998W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Dudzik - Hoffman - Modrzewski - Mroczynski - Ostrowski

...I am inquiring about the origins of several surnames: Ostrowski, Dudzik, Modrzewski, Hoffman and finally, Mroczynski.

Hoffman is a German name from the roots Hof, "manor, court, yard" + Mann, "man." In some cases the name can refer to the modern German meaning of Hofmann, "courtier," but I think that is the source in a relatively small number of cases. Most often this is an occupational name, referring to the manager of estates owned by the nobility or church -- so says Hans Bahlow in his Deutsches Namenlexikon. Bahlow adds that this is an extremely common name in Silesia, right up there with Mueller, Schmidt and Schultz. I have no data on the name's frequency in Germany, but in Poland there were some 2,570 Hoffman's and 5,187 Hoffmann's as of 1990. They lived all over the country, though they were more common in the western areas once ruled by Germany.

Dudzik comes from the root duda, "bagpipes, person who plays the bagpipes" (yes, Poles have bagpipes, too, not just the Scots!) and also "a bad home-bred musician"; in some cases it also meant an idiot who goes around running his mouth and making a lot of empty noise. As of 1990 there were some 7,401 Polish citizens named Dudzik, and that name probably originated as meaning "son of a duda."

Modrzewski is a name derived from a place name such as Modrzew, Modrzewo, etc., and generally such names meant a person came from that place, often travelled there, owned it (if noble) or worked on a farm there (if peasant). There are several places that qualify, including Modrzewek in Piotrkow Trybunalski province. As of 1990 there were 880 Poles by this name.

Mroczyński was the name of some 735 Poles as of 1990. The basic root is mrok, "darkness," or mrokotać, "to squint." But this particular surname probably refers to a place name such as Mrocza, Mroczen, Mroczki, Mroczno, etc. -- there are several villages this surname could refer to, so you'll need more data on the exact area of the family's residence in Poland to make a reasonable guess which of those places the surname derived from.

Ostrowski is also derived from place names such as Ostrów, Ostrowek, Ostrowo, etc., and there are dozens of those in Poland. That helps explain why the surname is so common -- as of 1990 there were some 38,942 Poles named Ostrowski.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Iwanowski

...Any info on the name Iwanowski would be greatly appreciated.

 

In Polish, surnames ending in -owski are usually derived from place names ending in -ow, -owo, -owa, -y, something like that. So Iwanowski probably started as a reference to the place the family came from, or an estate they owned (if they were noble) or worked on (if they were peasants). Thus the surname Iwanowski would mean "people from Iwanow, Iwanowo, Iwanowka, Iwany," etc. There are quite a few villages in Poland that qualify, too many to allow us to focus on one without much more info.

 

An additional point is that such place names are often formed from the first names of people who founded them, owned them at some point, etc. All these different place names I've referred to come from Iwan, which is the Polish spelling of the Ukrainian, Belarusian, or Russian name Ivan, equivalent to Polish "Jan" (John). So the names of these villages, towns, estates, or whatever just mean "John's place." In practical terms, for "Polish" research that means the places in question can also be in western Ukraine, since that region was long ruled by Poland. So the places Iwany, Iwanowka, etc. in Poland aren't the only ones to take into account, places with similar names in modern-day Ukraine are also part of the picture.

 

Since Ivan is a very common name, places called Iwanowka, Iwany, etc. are also common, and that means the surname Iwanowski would be reasonably common. As of 1990 there were 5,164 Polish citizens named Iwanowski (and that doesn't include Ukrainians by that name, who are probably numerous but would not show up in the database from which the Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland was compiled). The Iwanowskis in Poland lived all over the country, with the largest numbers (more than 200) in the provinces of Warsaw (603), Białystok (247), Gdansk (296), Lodz (219), Olsztyn (200), Siedlce (246), and Suwałki (302).

 

One last note: by the nature of things, you'd expect any name beginning with Iwan- to be more common in eastern Poland, near the border with Belarus and Ukraine, and in fact many of the provinces mentioned above are in the east (Suwałki, Białystok, Lodz, etc.). But some of them (Olsztyn, Gdansk) are in western Poland. This is probably due to the enormous relocation of ethnic populations after World War II, which saw folks from the eastern borders of Poland forced to pick up and move to western Poland, to repopulate the lands Poland recovered from Germany after the war. So if we had data from before 1939, those Iwanowskis would probably show up mainly in eastern Poland -- not exclusively, this is a common name and over the centuries Iwanowskis had plenty of chances to work their way west. But logic says the name should be concentrated primarily near the eastern borders; that it's not is probably due to those post-WorldWar II relocations.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Jasionowski

A month ago I discovered that one of my grandfather's cousins was from Łomża. He was a catholic priest and I think he was ordained there. That was the only clue to my grandfather's origins that I had after 20 years of searching. The cousin's name was Jasionowski. Is that an important name in Łomża?

 

Jasionowski is pronounced roughly "yah-sho-NOFF-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database at http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html), there were 996 Polish citizens by this name. The largest number, 449, lived in the northeastern province of Suwałki, which is north of Łomża province. 71 Polish citizens lived in Łomża province, and another 71 lived in Warsaw province. So while this name is found all over Poland, it is most common in the northeastern part of the country. It sounds as if your Jasionowskis come from the general area where the name is most common, although the really big numbers show up a little north of Łomża.

 

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it can refer to a number of different villages with names such as Jasionów, Jasionowa, and Jasionowo. Those places, in turn, take their name from jesion, "ash tree," so that their names mean "[place] of the ash trees" and Jasionowski can be interpreted as meaning "one from the place of the ash trees." But in most cases a Jasionowski family got that name because it came from a place with a name beginning Jasion-. What that place name meant was incidental to the surname's development.

 

If your relative was a priest, that could be a valuable lead. Priests have always enjoyed a position in high regard in Poland, and the Church tends to keep detailed records regarding them. You might find it worthwhile to write to the Diocese of Łomża (if at all possible, have someone translate your letter into Polish) -- say you're a relative of a priest and ask if they can give you any information on him. Here's the mailing address:

 

Kuria Diecezjalna
18-400 Łomża
ul. Sadowa 3
POLAND

 

They also have an e-mail address, Kuria@lomza.opoka.org.pl. I have no idea whether an e-mail would get an answer, especially if it's in English. But I don't see how it would hurt to try. The priest in charge of correspondence may ignore your note; then again, he may say, "Oh, I'll be glad to help the relative of a brother priest!" You never know till you try.

 

One last thing I would mention in regard to Łomża. The Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast has a lot of members with roots in that area, and has done more work than anyone else I know to develop resources for that region. You might find it worthwhile to join. If you want to learn more, their Website is at www.pgsctne.org.

 

Copyright ©2006 W.F. Hoffman

 

Kolano - Rykaczewski - Zbikowski - Zembrzuski

...I have just begun researching my Polish ancestry, and am very interested in the background of the surnames I have found: Rykaczewski, Zembrzuski, Zbikowski, Kolano (in one death certificate it is Kolana). I have documents on each one, stating birth in Poland.

According to Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut, Kolano comes from the word kolano, which means "knee." People often received nicknames referring to some bodily feature, and these nicknames somehow stuck and became surnames; so an ancestor might have had a knee that gave him a lot of trouble, or was always on his knees, something like that. As of 1990 there were 2,185 Poles with this name, scattered all over Poland but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (113), Katowice (249), Przemysl (120), Rzeszow (137), Tarnobrzeg (374), and Zamosc (209) -- this suggests the name is most common in southeastern Poland, but is hardly restricted to that area -- which only makes sense, a name like Kolano could get started anywhere Polish was spoken and people had knees, i. e., anywhere in Poland.

Names ending in -ewski and -owski usually developed as a reference to some association between a family and a particular place name they came from, worked at, etc. So Rykaczewski suggests an association with a place named Rykacze, Rykaczewo, something like that. The most likely place in this case is Rykacze, a few miles southeast of Zambrów in Łomża province; there could be other villages with suitable names too small to show up on my maps, but capable of generating surnames. As of 1990 there were 1,159 Poles with the name Rykaczewski, living all over Poland but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (93), Łomża (103), Olsztyn (214), and Torun (143), suggesting the name is most common northern and northeastern Poland.

Zbikowski probably comes ultimately from the root Żbik, "wildcat" (I'm using Ż stands for the Polish dotted z, pronounced like the s in "measure"), but the -owski again indicates the family was associated with a place named Żbików, Żbikowo, Żbiki, etc., and those places got their names because there were wildcats around. There are several villages called Żbik, Żbiki, Żbikowice, and the surname could have originated in connection with any or all of them. As of 1990 there were 3,522 Poles named Żbikowski, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (598), Ciechanow (536), Ostrołęka (229), and Wloclawek (269), suggesting a concentration in central and north central Poland.

Zembrzuski also is probably connected with a place name, of which 2 prime candidates are Zembrzus Wielki (served by the parish church in Czernice Borowe) in Ciechanow prov., and Zembrzus-Mokry Grunt (Janow/Janowo parish), Olsztyn province. There could be other places that qualify, these are the only two I found offhand. The ultimate root of the name is ząbr, an illness affecting horses' gums, or ząbrz, "aurochs" (the ą stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as a with a tail under it and pronounced like on or om before b or p). As of 1990 there were 1,774 Poles named Zembrzuski, with the largest numbers appearing in the provinces of Warsaw (238), Ciechanow (427), Olsztyn (293), and Ostrołęka (151), suggesting a concentration in north central and northeastern Poland.

...Also, do you know anything about Przasnysz? It is stated as the birthplace of my great-grandfather.
Only that it's a town in Ostrołęka province that is mentioned in records going back at least to 1244; but I'm afraid I have no more info.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Kurzydło

Sir, I was unable to locate my family name of Kurzydlo. I am told we originated either in Poland or Austria. Any help you might be able to give would be greatly appreciated.

 

This is a Polish name -- if the family lived in "Austria," most likely they lived in that part of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that Austria seized during the Partitioning of Poland. It was called Galicia and consisted of what are now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. When a Pole is said to have come from "Austria," that's what it usually means -- he lived in southeastern Poland or western Ukraine, but at the time that area was ruled by the Austrian Empire (roughly 1815-1918).

 

The l in Kurzydlo is not plain l, but the Polish l with a slash or crossbar through it. Kurzydło is pronounced roughly "koozh-ID-woe."

 

Prof. Kazimierz Rymut's book Nazwiska Polaków [The Surnames of Poles] lists this name among those coming from the basic root kurz-, "dust." But he specifically mentions that the name Kurzydło appears in records as early as 1401, and is from the dialect term kurzydło, "decayed wood used to smoke bees away while collecting honey." So apparently when you wanted to collect honey from beehives, you used a kurzydło to help smoke the bees out. An ancestor would probably have been called by this name because he collected honey and used this kurzydło to do it.

 

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland and is now online as a searchable database at http://www.herby.com.pl/herby/indexslo.html), there were 876 Polish citizens named Kurzydło. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Krakow 135, Tarnow 133, and Katowice 99. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

 

This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the southcentral to southeastern region, near the cities of Katowice and Krakow and Tarnow.

 

Copyright ©2006 W.F. Hoffman

 

Ledochowski

...If able, please research the name Ledochowski. I've been led to believe it's derived from a former estate in Volhynia.

This is more or less correct. There are two places in what is now Ukraine that seem the likely sources of this surname in most cases. One is Ledóchów, according to the Słownik geograficzny gazetteer "a village (formerly incorporated as a small town) in Krzemieniec county [Krzemieniec is now called Kremenets, in Ternopil' district of Ukraine); not far from Radziwiłłów, in the direction of Pochajów [now Pochayiv]; the seat of the Halka-Ledóchowski's of Szatawa coat of arms. There is a Catholic chapel there, served by the parish church in Radziwiłłów."

The other candidate is Leduchówka: "a village on a small stream running into the Poltwa, Starokonstantynow county [Starokonstantynow is now Khmel'nitskiy in Ukraine], Teofilpol parish. Has a Catholic chapel. In 1753 Ostrogski gave Leduchówka to Sapieha as a gift."

The name Ledóchowski or Leduchowski could derive from either of these places. Obviously there was a noble family by this name with the Szatawa coat of arms, but I'm afraid I don't have any further info on them. It's worth noting that peasant families who were somehow associated with either of these places might also end up with this surname; all Ledochowski's are not necessarily noble.

As of 1990 there were 104 Poles named Ledóchowski and 236 named Leduchowski; the difference is minimal, ó and u are pronounced the same in Polish, so these are basically two different ways of spelling the same name. Here is the breakdown by province on where those folks lived in Poland (but remember, this is in modern Poland - this data tells us nothing about people by this name now living in Ukraine, and I know of no way to get such data).

Ledóchowski: 104; Warsaw 26, Bydgoszcz 4, Gdansk 31, Kalisz 4, Krakow 3, Legnica 1, Opole 7, Slupsk 5, Szczecin 9, Torun 10, Wroclaw 2

Leduchowski: 236; Warsaw 26, Biala Podlaska 6, Bielsko-Biala 3, Czestochowa 4, Elblag 5, Katowice 19, Kielce 5, Koszalin 9, Lodz 70, Olsztyn 18, Opole 5, Poznan 3, Przemysl 3, Radom 7, Siedlce 2, Skierniewice 38, Tarnobrzeg 6, Torun 2, Walbryzch 2, Wloclawek 2

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

 

Lesiecki

...My daughter has a Family Tree Project to do for her history class. Our surname is Lesiecki. I would appreciate any information you could provide on its origin and meaning.

 

Lesiecki is a difficult name to pin down, because it could have originated in several different ways. The one thing that is reasonably certain is that the ultimate root is the Polish word las, "forest"; the surname probably arose in connection with a name or word derived from this root. Forests covered much of Poland at one time, so names from the root las- are numerous and common. Lesiecki could well have originated as an adjectival form of the word lesiak, "forest-dweller," or as reference to a place name such as Lesica (there are several villages by this name) or Lesiaki (in Sieradz province). As a rule names ending in -iecki did originate as referring to the place a family came from, or an estate they owned (if noble) or worked on (if peasants); but derivation from a common noun such as lesiak is also plausible. Polish surnames ending in -ski, -cki, or -zki are adjectival in nature, meaning literally "of, pertaining to, coming from __," and when the suffixes were added the end of the root word often changed; this often makes it difficult to reconstruct exactly what place, occupation, first name, or distinguishing characteristic a surname refers to without detailed info on the family background.

 

Lesiecki is not an extremely common name in Poland, but it's not rare either. As of 1990 there were 486 Lesiecki's, living all over Poland but with the largest numbers in the provinces of Warsaw (48), Katowice (47), Lodz (40), and Sieradz (62). I see no particular pattern to the distribution, which is not surprising: such a name could start almost anywhere Polish was spoken and forests were prominent, i. e., anywhere in Poland.

 

Without detailed data allowing us to focus on a specific area in Poland, it's difficult to say exactly what the surname derives from. But we can say with considerable confidence that it refers to the family's dwelling-place at the time surnames were being established. It might refer to the fact that they were living in a forest (lesiak), or it might refer to a specific place that took its name from surrounding forests (Lesica, Lesiaki, etc.). So in practical terms this name is much like the English names Woods, Forest, Forester, etc. -- we can tell basically that the name refers to woods or forests, but there's nothing in the name that offers clues as to a specific place.

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Liberko

...I ran across your web site, and am wondering if you might have any information on the surname Liberko? I believe the derivation is from a "wheel maker," but have not confirmed this.

 

The "wheel maker" notion is interesting, I can't find anything like that -- I'd be interested in knowing where you heard that. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just that I can't find any connection, and I'd like to know if I'm missing something.

 

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut doesn't mention Liberko specifically in his book on Polish surnames, but he does mention the root liber and several other names that are closely related, including Liberek and Liberkowski. According to him they derive either from the Latin term liber, "free," or from the German first name Lieber, which basically means "dear one." Either is plausible: Germans settled all over Poland and many of their names came into use by Poles; and since for centuries the language of record-keeping was Latin, a person who was a free man -- not a noble, not a peasant, not a serf, but one who owned his own land -- could easily be referred to in records by this term liber, and it could get attached to him as a name. The -ko is a diminutive suffix used in Polish, Ukrainian, etc., basically meaning "little," so that Liberko could mean "little Liber" or "Liber's son."

 

As of 1990 there was no listing of a Polish citizen named Liberko, but there was a listing for Liberek (398 Poles by that name), Liberka (125), and Liberkowski (420). So similar names are not rare, though not really common either. The Liberka's lived in the provinces of Czestochowa (44), Jelenia Gora (3), Katowice (57), Legnica (1), Opole (5), and Wroclaw (15), all in southcentral and southwest Poland (Silesia). This tends to support the German Lieber theory, those are regions where large numbers of Germans live and German-influenced names are common. (Unfortunately, I do not have further data, such as first names and addresses).

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Maciag

I've have been searching the internet on the orgins/meaning of the name Maciag.

In Polish MACIAG is usually spelled with a tail under the second A, representing the Polish nasal vowel pronounced sort of like "on"; so the name would be MACIĄG, pronounced "MAH-chonk."

As of 2002, according to the best data available, from a database maintained by a Polish government agency, there were 7,340 Polish citizens by that name. They lived all over Poland, although the name was more common in the south and southeast than anywhere else. From the name alone you can't tell where a given Maciąg family might have come from -- the name shows up all over the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in Polish records as early as 1434 and in most cases began as a kind of nickname or diminutive of the first name Maciej, "Matthias." Polish has a wide variety of suffixes it adds to names to make nicknames, unlike English, which would just say "Matty" or "Mattie." In effect, the name would just mean "kin of Matt."

Some names beginning Mac- can come from the root seen in the verb macac', "to touch, handle, feel." But MACIĄG is pretty firmly established as coming from that given name Maciej, at least in most cases.

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck with your research.

William F. Hoffman
Author, Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings

 

Copyright ©2006 W.F. Hoffman

 

Molski

...I recently started researching my surname of Molski, and was wondering if you have any information on its origin. My great grandfather came from the Lesno, Orlik area about 25 km NNE of Chojnice.

Molski is a moderately common name in Poland. As of 1990 there were 2,003 Polish citizens with this name, living all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the provinces of Białystok (146), Czestochowa (109), Kalisz (106), Poznan (231), and Warsaw (377). There were 66 Poles by this name in Bydgoszcz province, which includes the Lesno and Orlik region. I don't see any pattern to the distribution that suggests anything helpful.

The derivation of the name is a bit of a puzzle. The only native Polish root I can find that might be relevant is mól, which can mean "moth" and also "trouble, problem." Either meaning could, I suppose, be connected to the name, but neither seems really convincing. In such cases we often find a connection with a place name, but I can find no place name that seems to fit. So about all I can say is it is a moderately common name, perhaps deriving from the root mól. I can't help feeling there's more to it than this, but that's the best I can find.

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

 

Wachna

...Regarding Wachna's from Nowy Sacz and Jaroslaw. Looking for opinion on the posibility that the name is related to Wagner. Question inspired by having found in a web page the word 'Wachna' used to describe the way Wagner is/was pronounced in southern Germany

 

Well, this is not an outrageous suggestion -- from "Wagner" to "Wachna" is a bit of a reach, but Germans usually pronounce the ending -er rather indistinctly, and it certainly could be rendered with -a in Polish; and the g could conceivably be altered phonetically to sound more like the guttural ch sound. So Wachna = Wagner is not preposterous, and in a given instance might be true.

 

Polish experts on names say that Wachno, obviously a closely-related name that appears in documents as far back as 1368, usually derives as a kind of nickname for other first names such as Wacław or Wawrzyniec. Poles historically had a kind of habit of taking the first couple of sounds from first names, dropping the rest, and adding suffixes; so Wa- from Wacław or Wawrzyniec + -chno = Wachno is a plausible theory. As for Wachna itself, I looked in one of my sources and found that Wachna appears in documents back in 1369 -- it was a feminine name, apparently regarded as a kind of variant of Więchna (the ę stands for the Polish nasal vowel written as an e with a tail under it and pronounced much like en). This name is thought to derive the same way Wachno did, as a nickname from a standard first name, such as Więcesław, which is the original Polish form of the first name that later became Wacław under Czech influence. The woman mentioned in that 1369 legal record lived somewhere near Kazimierz, which used to be a separate town but is now part of Krakow -- in other words, not far at all from Nowy Sacz.

 

As of 1990 there were only 51 Poles named Wachna, living in the following provinces: Legnica 1, Nowy Sacz 24, Opole 6, Radom 1, Tarnow 2, Walbrzych 3, Wroclaw 14. It's interesting to note that the name appears mainly in southcentral and southwestern Poland, areas where there were and are a lot of people of German ethnic heritage. All of this supports the idea that Wachna could come from Wagner. The only real problem is that we don't have any evidence that clearly says it did come from Wagner.

 

So the most I can say is that your idea is plausible, at least in regard to a particular family with this name; but in most cases the name probably is a kind of nickname derived from a more common first name. If your research is successful and you trace the family back quite a way, and find that they often bore Germanic first names, that would support your theory even more. Perhaps at some point you'll have enough evidence that you could notify Polish scholars that you have an alternative suggestion that merits consideration.

 

[Note: David contacted me again with the following note, which shed some additional light on this question...]

 

...My family descended from the Wachna from Nowy Sacz has always thought of itself as Ukrainian. My other three great-grandparents were all from Eastern Galicia. Is it likely, in your estimation, that there are Wachnas in Ukraine?

 

It's interesting you mentioned that, because yesterday I was working on my book on Polish first names, and I came across a Website that deals with all kinds of first names, including Ukrainian. On the Ukrainian page, there among the masculine names was Vakhno. This is just a phonetic way of rendering a name that in Cyrillic would look like B A X H O -- a Pole, hearing that name, would spell it Wachno. The same page also mentioned a couple of surnames deriving from that name, Vakhnenko and Vakhniak (both meaning essentially "son of Vakhno"). So yes indeed, this can be a Ukrainian name. The -o and -a difference is not necessarily a big deal, it's not at all rare to see the same name with either ending. Vakhno, in turn, is a nickname formed from Ivan (Polish spelling Iwan), the Ukrainian and Russian form of the first name "John." So Vakhno (Polish spelling Wachno) is basically a Ukrainian nickname for "John," not unlike "Johnny" in English. It must be a relatively common name to have shown up on that list of Ukrainian names. If you're interested, the address for the "Onomastikon," as the first name collection is called, is:

 

http://www.fairacre.demon.co/uk

 

Also worth a look is some of the info on the Website of Infoukes:

 

http://www.infoukes.com/

 

You can see the difference it makes knowing more details about the family! If this is a name borne mainly by ethnic Poles, the info I gave you in my last note is more relevant. But if it is Ukrainian, then it more likely comes from the nickname for Ivan! And the surname distribution info I gave you is compatible with the notion the family is Ukrainian, because Ukrainian names show up in southern Poland (and also in western Poland). Their presence in southern Poland probably dates back mainly to the days of Galicia, when southern and southeastern Poland were joined with western Ukraine under Austrian rule. In western Poland the presence of Ukrainians is probably due more to post-World War II ethnic dislocation -- huge numbers of Ukrainians were forced to pick up and move to Poland.

 

I hope this has cleared things up a little, and I'm glad you gave me that additional info. My original answer was correct, as far as it went, but the additional info shed a whole new light on the subject!

 

Copyright © 1998 W.F. Hoffman. All rights reserved. Used by Permission.

Zajglewicz

Can you tell me what the origins of Zajglewicz are?

In Polish it's pronounced roughly "zi-GLEH-veech," where the first syllable rhymes with "high" or "sky." The name does not exist in Poland today; 2002 data shows no Polish citizens by this name, though it does list 57 who call themselves Zajglic and another 18 named Zajglicz. All three of these names mean the same thing, "son of Zajgla." Prof. Rymut's book on Polish surnames says Zajgla is a Polish adaptation of the German personal name Seigel, which would be a diminutive of various old Germanic given names from the root sigu, "victory" (compare the infamous Nazi salute "Sieg, Heil!" which means "Hail to victory").

So presumably at some point a German named Seigel resettled among Poles, and over time his name was modified to Zajgla, and his sons became known as ZAJGLIC or ZAGLICZ or ZAJGLEWICZ, all meaning "son of Zajgla." We find people bearing names of German origin all over Poland, not just in the western part of the country; over the centuries large numbers of ethnic Germans left their homelands and headed east, fleeing war, famine, disease, religious persecution, etc.

Anyway, that's where the name appears to come from, according to Prof. Rymut. It sounds plausible to me -- the basic name root Zajgl- does not strike me as Polish, but it makes perfect sense as a Polonized form of a German name such as Seigel.

 

 Copyright ©2008 W.F. Hoffman


 

Zdanowski

I NEED HELP WITH NY LAST NAME ORIGIN, (ZDANOWSKI). I CAN NOT FIND ANYTHING ON IT'S ORIGIN AND I HAVE NO LIVING RELATIVES TO ASK.

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "z"dah-NOFF-skee." But it is quite common, in everyday speech in certain parts of Poland, to drop the sound represented by the letter W -- which usually sounds like our V but in this ending sounds more like F. In other words, it is often pronounced "z'dah-NOSS-kee," so it is often spelled ZDANOSKI. We see this fairly often with the many Polish names ending in -owski. The standard spelling is with the W, pronounced like an F; but because people often pronounced the name with that sound, it's not unusual to see the W dropped when the name was written down.

This is one of many names that has a masculine form, ZDANOWSKI, and a feminine form, ZDANOWSKA. So in Polish-language sources, you'd usually see males referred to as ZDANOWSKI and females as ZDANOWSKA. In modern Poland, some females prefer to go by the standard form instead of the traditional feminine form; but that's not very common.

There are Web pages with 2002 data on the distribution and frequency of both forms of this surname, with colored maps illustrating the data:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/zdanowska.html
http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/zdanowski.html

As you'd expect, the numbers and distribution for both forms are similar. As of 2002, there were 1,675 Polish citizens named ZDANOWSKI and 1,783 named ZDANOWSKA. They lived all over Poland, with the largest numbers in the counties of Warsaw (133+155) and Siedlce (138+119), in the east central part of the country. But as is true of most surnames in Poland, a given Zdanowski family could have come from just about anywhere.

I should mention that there is also a name spelled the same but with a dot over the Z, which gives it the sound of "zh"' as in "Zhivago." ZDANOWSKI/ZDANOWSKA with dotted Z is pretty rare, as you can see on these pages:

http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/%25C5%25BCdanowska.html
http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/%25C5%25BCdanowski.html

The data shows 16 ZDANOWSKA's and 11 ZDANOWSKI's with dotted Z, found most often in the city of Zamosc, in southeastern Poland, very near the border with Ukraine. Since languages like English don't use that dotted Z, a Pole named Zdanowski/Zdanowski with dotted Z would usually just have the dot dropped in America. So it would end up looking just like the name with plain Z.

Polish surname expert Kazimierz Rymut mentioned these names in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poels]. He says that ZDANOWSKI with plain Z appears in Polish records as early as 1495. He doesn't give a date for the version with dotted Z.

He says the name with dotted Z is a variant of the name with plain Z; in other words, they have the same basic origin, but in some areas the name was pronounced with "zh" at the beginning, in others with plain Z.

Like most surnames ending in -owski, ZDANOWSKI generally refers to the name of a place the family was connected with. ZDANOWSKI could refer to the village of Zdanowice, near Kielce, or to Zdanow, near Sandomierz. Those are two places Rymut mentioned specifically because research had established a connection between those places and families by this name. But there are several other places the name might refer to, including a Zdanow in northwestern Poland, Zdany near Siedlce, a village named Zdanow (with a dot over the Z) in southwestern Poland, a village named Zdanow (dotted Z) near Lublin in southeastern Poland, and so on. Basically, any place with a name beginning Zdan- such as Zdanow or Zdany or Zdanowice could theoretically produce this surname, since it just means "one from Zdanow/Zdanowice/Zdany, etc."

This is quite common with surnames derived from place names. You'd think they'd be really helpful, because they tell you the name of a place your family was connected with at some point centuries ago. The problem is, there's usually more than one place with a name that fits. The only way to establish which of those places your ancestors came from is by tracing the family history. With luck, you'll be able to find exactly where they lived in Poland. Then you can hope to find a place nearby with a name beginning Zdan-. That is probably the village or settlement from which they took their name, unless you find reason to believe they originally lived somewhere else back during the centuries when surnames were becoming established -- roughly the 14th-16th centuries for nobles, the 17th-19th for commoners.

Unfortunately, I can't do that, because I don't have the means to trace your family history. But perhaps you can, if you'd really like to know more.

That's about all I can tell you. I hope it's some help, and wish you the best of luck.

William F. "Fred" Hoffman
Author, Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings
www.fredhoff.com

 

Copyright ©2009 W.F. Hoffman