When did Poles adopt surnames?

Hi,

I was wondering: When did most Polish people adopt last names? Thanks!

When did Poles adopt surnames ???? As a Pole Born and raised in Canada ,correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it was in the Middle Ages when Poles were "knighted" so to speak, by adding the "ski" to the common name they were , at the time known for, some word that was distinctive to a trait or personality or job

But many peasants didn't have surnames until 19th century.

I see. Thanks. How did churches record people without surnames?

No idea.

People with last names ending in wicz had the highest royalty.... :)

sledzwicz..from the Baltic

Krysiawicz...from Baltic also

Maybe there related?

I King Sledzwicz is on a bottle of Wodka too!

It's not true about "wicz" and "ski" and royalty. Actually, as Maciej Malinowski said there's no difference and I think we can trust him, because his knowledge about Polish is just amazing.

bubbawoowicz :)

but on a slightly more serious note... i am intrigued that many peasants didn't have surnames until 19th century... really...?

G... can you tell us more...?

I find that odd. The first Census in Austrian Empire - southern Poland had all the surnames listed for each family. That was 1797.

Peter, where is that census available?

surnames ending in "cz" do not come from the Baltic, they orginate from east, such as Russia , Lithuania :)


help.com/wiki/Family_name/Slavic_countries

I have copies of the birth records for the Sokal parish dating back to approx. 1781 and earlier which gives my family's surname and others in the town,

Does this mean they migrated recently or long ago?

surname endings in Poland

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

-ski
-cki
-dzki

35,6%

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

-ak 11,6%

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

-ek 8,6%

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

-ik
-yk
7,3%

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

-ka 3,2%

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

-owicz
-ewicz

2,3%

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------

remaining or others 31,4%

aj

is anoter ending

there is also

ej

Thanks Witek. I fit in the 8.6%. :)

robot man,

"aj" ending or others like ukrainain "uk" ending falls under the remaining or others category which represents 31.40% of the surnames:)

robot man. :)


im sure it does. merely adding to your list is all.

we gonna have a problem? :) hehe

2.3% ? Bloody hell.

According to a 1990 surname survey there were only 52 persons in Poland with my surname.

well, i don't know about suffixes like ski and wiecz...

but when it comes to "czyk" it is clear that names ending with this suffix were names of noble families.

this came about during the reign of Kazimierz IV, one of the Jagiellonian kinds of Poland who acceded to the throne in about 1447, I believe. It was Kazimierz who responded to the appeal of people living along the Baltic who were unhappy with the Knights of the Teutonic Order, the overlords in that area. In response, Kazimierz declared Prussia to be a part of the Polish domain, and a 13 year war ensued. In the absence of a standing army, Kazimierz had to do a LOT of haggling with local nobility and others, particularly in the western region of Poland, to raise sufficient officers and troops to conduct the war.

This was a period when the nobility succeeded in securing fairly important rights and privileges, in return for their support for this war effort.

At any rate, it was a peculiarity of this royal dynasty that, at about this time, they began to use the suffix "czyk" at the end of their name, as in Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk.

This practice was then imitated by members of the royal entourage, and it then spread to supporters of the king among the nobility.

So Polish family names ending in "czyk" ultimately date back to this period, when the adoption of the suffix "czyk" signified a noble family which was loyal to the king...

I've been using microfilm records compiled by the Mormon Church to research family in Poland. Because Births, Baptisms, Marriages & Deaths were recorded in a central parish (parafia) & in olden days everyone knew everone else, surnames were not necessary. Eventually, villagers became jnown by their profession-Jan Piekarski (Jan the baker), or the place from which they came-Jan Budny (Jan from the village of Budne) or by some physical feature-Jan Krotki (Jan short).

To Alladin: I would like to quote your message on the origins of czyk on a geneaology list i am on. Do i have your permission?

Les Ewenczyk
New orleans, La USA
piratefish@yahoo

Polish surnames started in the Middle Ages, they were usually derivated from nicknames or some other characteristics (like father's name), but they weren't hereditary (many of them were given from the father onto the son, but the process wasn't the only possible way or creating surnames). The obligation of inheriting father's surname was introduced only in the 19th century.

My understanding (from relatives) is that the wicz's were middle class types: competent and prosperous farmers, businessmen, trades people. The ski's were the nobility. And any other endings were the peasantry. Jews seemed fond of substituting a y for the i.

Remember reading in my Polish (second language) university class that a "royal" representative roamed the countryside to assign and register surnames, based on vocation, geography or some other characteristic, to single name hut dwellers, no doubt for tax collection purposes.