Goralczyk and meaning of czyk

Any knowledge or comment to offer my ramblings is a gift!

I heard Goralczyk means from the mountains. Maybe even 'Hillbillies'.

What does czyk mean?

My grandmother's mother is from Kra-something or Cat-something but not Krakow. Any ideas of a smaller town?

My Dad said that his grandfather is from Austria, but my grandmother (above) poo-poo'ed him saying we are Lithuania and Polish. My sister swears we could stand in a Russian breadline and not be out of place. I am also curious what a Pole looks like. All the taxi cab drivers say I am 'Salvic' which sound like about the town to me!

Thank you, Denise

Goral is a mountaineer>>>>>>>> Czyk>>> Son of.

Son of a mountaineer

to understand this you should read the wikipedia history of Poland.


there are a couple of picture/photo threads that might provide the answer.

Originally probably Góralczyk but both forms exist in Poland. Goralczyk is found mainly around Katowice, Góralczyk mainly around Kraków Wadowice also around Kolno NE Poland. Eastern Polish patronymic turned-surname probably meaning son of a highlander, but if you prefer Hillbilly it's OK too.

That was cute. Thank you, Denise

What are the differences between the endings -czyk, -czak, -czek, and -czok (and any I might be forgetting)? Did they stem from different regions?

-czak is an almsot 100% patronymic ending (son of...); -czok is a dialectic version common to Śląsk; -czyk is also usually a patronymic ending, but -czek may be only a diminutive, although it too can be used to indicate paternity. Polish is very rich and variant-prone, rife with regional and local alternatives.

Polonius3
thanks, i've been wondering about that. though no one was ever able answer my question

THe city could have been Katowice, the captial of the industrial region of Śląsk (Silesia) to the west of Kraków.

Hi,
I am a Goralczyk and my family came from Wadowice.
Barb

Near Zakopane in the highlands live Gorale who wear a national dress for weddings and special occasions. There is a museum in which the clothes are displayed . They are more rightly callled 'highlanders' as hillbillies has a negative connotation. They are a hardy people who bore a lot of aggression by the nazis in WW2. They moved in large numbers to North America during the last century because making a living was very hard. They have a proud heritage and are a living embodiment of the proud brave Polish people.

Chicago is the 'second Zakopane'!

Guest

Your dad is probably right also. His father was in a part of Poland called Galacia which was a part of Austro-Hungary at that time. (So when you immigrated you had to state you were Austrian but you were Polish just annexed) This make sense as the Polish Goral are in this part also. I am a descendant of the Goral in this area also, from Nowy Targ just north of Zakopane. There is a lot of towns with there with names that start with C. (I study genealogy so I had to learn the area is how I know) Grandma could be correct also as many poles left Lith-Poland to flee the Russians but this was a lot earlier however. (1790's)

My lat name is Goralczyk but i dont know where my family came from