Genealogy / Matti - Krupa Family Members - Matti Castle Kracow [23]

There are more than 23,000 Krupas in Poland, making it a very popular surname. The likelihood of being related to some namesake is like finding relatives among Whites, Summers, Harrisons, Bakers and Wilsons in the English-speaking world.

Life / Polish Childrens Songs [22]

This calls to mind one such bit of prattle told to very young children:
Tu myszka gotowała kaszkę. Temu dała, temu dała i temu dału a temu łebek urwała i fruuuuuu poleciała.

Translation: (showing a stirring motion with forerfinger in palm of opposite hand as if stirring a pot with a spoon): Here a little mouse was cooking porridge. She (mousue is feminine in Polish) gave some to this one (one the figners), this and this one, buit this one she pulled its/his head of and whooosh flew aaway.

Genealogy / Researching the name Rosenthal [14]

Rosenthal is German/YIddish for rose valley. It is typical of the kind of names Prussian officials gave Jews in the 19th century when everyone was requried to have a hereditary surname. Prior to then, Jews used patronics, so your second name was different than that of your dad's and granddad's. For instance if you were Abram and your father was Mosze (Polish spelling), then you would be Abram Moszewicz or Mosiewicz. But your dad's father may have been Icek, so his full name would have been Mosze Ickiewicz.

This confusion drove the order-loving (Ordnung muß sein!) Prussians up a wall, so they insisted on systematising things and past teh appropriate laws. Often they gave funny-sounding names to Jews who offered them too skimpy a bribe. For non-German speakers these names sound funnier when translated into English, eg Apfelbaum (apple tree), Rosenzweig (rose twig), Mandelstein (almond stone), Nussberg (nut hill), etc.

Genealogy / What are the origins of the Polish name "Ciechosław"? [3]

Ciechosław is an extremely rare first name used today by only three people in Poland. Etymologically, this dithematic name comprises the roots ciech (joy) and sław (glory).

With regards to namedays, as citizens of a staunchly Catholic country, Poles have traditonally observed their imieniny (nameday) rather than birthdays. What with the ongoing McDonaldisaiton and Hollywoodisation of Poland that is becoming less common among youngsters and MTV types. The name day is the feastday of one's patron saint. Some people give their kids the name of the saint on whose feastday they were born. When that is not the case, it isi customary to celebrate the nameday closest to ones birthday. At nameday parties wishes are extended, the solenizant (person celebrating it) gets gifts, Sto Lat is sung to him or her, but there are no candles on the cake.

Presented below is an alphabetical listing of most common Polish given names and the days their owners celebrate their namedays. Some names such as Maria, Jan, Anna, Andrzej and others have several namedays, because more than one saint was thus named.

(Note: The Polish diacritics got lost in the transfer, but I'm sure most can guess the right ones.)
Adam - Dec. 24
Agata - Feb. 2
Albina - Dec. 16
Albina - Mar. 1
Alicja - June 21
Alina - June 17
Alfons - Aug. 1
Alojzy - June 21
Ambro¿y - Dec. 12
Anatol - July 3
Andrzej - Feb. 4, May 16, July 13, Nov. 30
Aniela - Jan. 4, Jan. 27
Anna July 26
Antoni - Jan. 17, June 13, Oct. 24
Antonina - Mar. 1
Arkdadiusz - Jan. 12
Artur - Oct. 6
Aurelia - Dec. 2
Balbina - Dec. 21
Baltazar - Jan 6 (one of the Three Kings)
Balbina - Mar. 31
Bart³omiej - Aug. 24
Bartosz - Apr. 21, Aug. 24
Barbara - Dec. 4
Beata - Mar. 8, Sept. 6
Benedykt - Mar. 21, July 11, July 13
Benon - June 16
Benigna - June 20
Bernard - Mar. 12, Aug. 20
Bernadeta - April 16
Blanka - Dec. 1
B³a¿ej -Feb. 3
Bohdan - Aug. 31
Bogna - June 20
Bogdan - July 17
Bogumi³ - June 6
Bogumi³a - Jan 13
Bogusz - Feb. 24
Bogus³aw - Mar. 22, Sept. 23, Dec. 18
Bogus³awa - May 29
Boles³aw - Aug. 19
Boles³awa - July 22
Bo¿ena - Mar. 13
Bronis³aw - Aug. 18
Bronis³awa - Sept. 1
Brunon - Oct. 6, Oct. 11
Brygida - Feb. 1
Cecylia - Nov. 22
Celestyna - April 6
Celina Oct. 21
Cezary - Feb. 25, Aug. 27, Dec. 28
Cyprian - Sept. 16
Cyryl - Feb. 2, March 18, June 27, Sept. 16
Czes³aw - July 20
Czes³awa - Jan. 12
Damian - Feb. 23
Daniel - Oct. 10
Danuta - Jan. 3, June 24
Dariusz - Dec. 19
Dobros³aw - Jan. 10
Dobros³awa - Apr. 9
Dominik - Aug. 8
Donat - Feb. 25, Apr. 30, Oct. 22
Dorota - Feb. 6, June 25
Edmund - Nov. 11
Edward - March 18, Oct. 13
Edyta - Sept. 16
Eleonora - Feb. 21
Elwira - Jan. 25, June 14
El¿bieta - May 11, July 4, Nov. 17
Eryk - May 18
Eryka - Feb. 9
Eugeniusz - Jan. 4, July 8
Eustachy - Sept. 9
Ewa - Dec. 24
Ewelina - May 26
Fabian - Jan. 1
Felicja - Apr. 24, Sept. 30
Felicjan - Oct. 29
Feliks - Jan. 14, May 18, June 11, Aug. 30, Nov. 20
Ferdynand - May 30
Filemon - Mar. 21
Filip - April 11, May 26, Oct. 22
Florian - May 4
Flora - Nov. 24
Franciszek - Jan. 24, April 2, June 4, Oct. 4 (of Assisi), Oct. 10, Dec. 3
Franciszka - Mar. 9
Fryderyk - July 18
Fryderyka - Mar. 5
Gabriel - Feb. 27, Mar. 24, Sept. 29
Gabriela - Dec. 19
Gawe³ - Oct. 16
Genowefa - Jan. 3
Gertruda - Mar. 17, Nov. 16
Gerwazy - June 19
Gra¿yna - April 1
Grzegorz - Jan. 2, May 25, Sept. 3
Gustaw - Aug. 2
Halina - July 1
Halka - Oct. 22
Halszka - Mar. 2
Hanna - Jan. 1, July 26
Helena - Mar. 2, May 22, Aug. 18
Henryk - Jan. 19, July 13
Henryka - Mar. 2. Mar. 16
Hieronim - Feb. 8, Sept. 30
Hilary - Mar. 16, May 5
Honorata - Jan. 11
Hubert - Nov. 3
Hugo - Apr. 1
Hugon - Apr. 1
Idzi - Sept. 1
Ignacy - Oct. 17, July 31
Igor - Oct. 5
Ilona - Aug. 18
Ireneusz - Mar. 25, June 28
Irena - Apr. 1, Apr. 5, Oct. 20
Irma - Sept. 18
Izabela - Feb 23, Mar. 16, Sept. 3
Izydor - Apr. 4, May 10, May 19
Iwona - May 19
Jacek - Aug. 17, Sept. 11
Jacenty - Feb. 10
Jadwiga - July 17, Oct. 16
Jakub - May 6, July 25, Oct. 21
Jan - Jan. 31, Feb. 8, Mar. 8, Mar. 30, Apr. 7, Apr. 9, May 18, May 21, May 30, June 12, June 24 (the Baptist), July 12, Aug. 4, Aug. 19, Sept. 13, Oct. 3 (of Dukla), Oct. 10 (Kanty), Oct. 23, Nov. 13, Dec. 4, Dec. 27 (the Apostle)

Janina - June 12
Janusz - Nov. 21
Jaromir - May 28
Jaros³aw - Jan. 21, Apr. 25
Jaros³awa - Jan. 21
Jerzy - April 24
Joanna - Feb 2, May 30, Dec. 12
Jolanta - June 15
Józef - Mar. 19 (Jesus’ guardian), May 1 (the Worker), June 23, Aug. 25
Józafat Nov. 11
Julian - Jan. 9, Feb. 13, Sept. 2, Oct. 18
Julianna - Feb. 16, Aug. Aug. 17
Julia - May 22, July 27, Dec. 10
Julita - July 30
Juliusz - Apr. 12
Jurand - May 6
Justyn - July 1
Justyna - June 16, Sept. 17. Dec. 20
Kacper - Jan. 6 (one of the Three Kings)
Kajetan - Aug. 7
Kamil - July 14
Karol - Nov. 4
Karolina - July 5
Katarzyna - Mar. 9, Apr. 29, Nov. 25
Kazimierz Mar. 4
Kazimiera - Aug. 21
Kinga - July 24
Klaudia - Mar. 30
Klaudisuz - Apr. 26
Klara - Aug. 11
Klemens - Mar. 3, Nov. 23
Klementyna - Sept. 8
Konrad - Feb. 19, Apr. 21, Nov. 26
Konstanty - Nov. 30
Kornel - Sept. 16
Krystyna - Mar. 13, July 24, Nov. 13
Krzysztof - July 25
Ksawery - Dec. 3
Ksenia - Apr. 16
Kunegunda - Mar. 3
Larysa - Mar. 23
Laura - June 17
Lech - Aug. 12
Lechos³aw - Nov. 26
Leon - Feb. 20, Apr. 19, June 12, Nov. 10
Leonard - Nov. 6
Leokadia - Dec. 9
Les³aw - Nov. 28
Les³awa - Nov. 28
Leszek - June 3
Lidia - Mar. 27, Aug. 3
Lubomir - July 31, Nov. 10
Lucjan - Jan. 7
Lucyna - June 30
Ludwik - Apr. 28, Aug. 25
Ludwika - Aug. 25
£adsys³aw - Sept. 25
£ukasz - Oct. 18
£ucja - Dec. 13
Maciej - Jan. 30, May 14
Magdalena - May 25, July 22
Maja - Apr. 9
Maksymilian (Maria Kolbe) - Aug. 14
Malwina - Dec. 4
Ma³gorzata - Jan. 18, Feb. 22, Oct. 16, Nov. 16
Marcel -Jan. 16, Mar. 10
Marceli - Jan. 16
Marcelina - Apr. 26
Marcin - Apr. 13, Nov. 3, Nov. 11 (of Tours)
Marcelina - Apr. 26, June 2
Mariola - Mar. 25
Mariusz - Jan. 19
Marek - Apr. 25
Maria - Jan. 1, Feb. 2 (Candlemas), Feb. 11. Mar. 25, Apr. 9, May 3 (Queen of Poland), May 24, May 31, July 5, July 16, July 22, Aug. 15, Aug. 22, Aug. 26 (of Czêstochowa), Sept. 8, Sept. 15, Oct. 7, Nov. 16, Nov. 21, Dec. 8

Marian - Apr. 30
Marlena - June 16, Oct. 23
Marta - July 29
Martyna - Jan. 30
Marzanna - June 2
Marzena - Apr. 26
Mateusz - Sept. 21 (Apostle), Nov. 13
Matylda - Mar. 14
Maurycy - Sept. 22
Melchior - Jan. 6 (one of the Three Kings)
Metody - Feb. 14
Micha³ - Apr. 10, Sept. 29 (Archangel),
Mieczys³aw, Mieszko - Jan. 1
Miko³aj - Dec. 6
Miros³aw, Miros³awa - Feb. 26
Monika - Aug. 27
Narcyz - Mar. 18
Natalia - July 27, Dec. 1
Nela - Nov. 10
Nikodem - Sept. 15
Nina - Dec. 15
Nora - Feb. 12
Norbert - June 6
Olgierd - Feb. 11
Olga - July 11
Onufry - June 12
Otto - July 1
Otylia - Dec. 13
Patryk - Mar. 17
Paula - Jan. 26
Paulina - Dec. 12
Pawe³, Jan. 15, Jan. 25 (Apostle), Feb. 6, Mar. 2, June 26, June 29 (Feast of SS Peter & Paul), Oct. 19
Pelagia - Mar. 23, June 9, Oct. 8
Piotr - Jan. 28, Feb. 21, Feb. 22, Apr. 28, Apr. 29, May 19, June 29 (Feast of SS Peter & Paul)
July 30, Sept. 9, Dec. 21
Prokop - July 8
Przemys³aw - Apr. 13
Rafa³ - Sept. 29
Rajmund - Jan. 7, Aug. 31
Regina - Sept. 7
Renata - Nov. 12
Remigiusz - Oct. 1
Robert - Apr. 17, June 7, Sept. 17
Roch - Aug. 16
Roman - Feb. 28, Aug. 9, Nov. 18
Romuald - June 19
Rozalia - Sept. 4
Ró¿a - Mar. 6, Aug. 23
Ryszard -- Feb. 7. Apr. 3, Aug. 9
Ryszarda - Sept. 7
Rudolf - Oct. 12
Sabina - Oct. 27
Sandra - May 18, Aug. 26
Sebastian - Jan. 20
Seweryn - Jan. 8, Feb. 1, June 8, Oct. 23, Nov. 8
S³awomir - May 17
Stanis³aw - May 8 (Bishop & Martyr), Sept. 18 (Kostka)
Stanis³awa - Aug. 5
Stefan - Aug. 16
Stefania - Sept. 18
Sylwester - Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve)
Sylwia - Nov. 3
Szczepan - Dec. 26
Szczêsny - Aug. 30
Szymon - July 18, Oct. 28
Tadeusza (Juda) - Oct. 28
Teodor - Feb. 7, Apr. 20. Sept. 19, Nov. 9
Teodora - Apr. 1
Teofil - Apr. 27, Oct. 2
Teofilia - Dec. 28
Teresa - July 6, Oct. 1, Oct. 15
Tomes - Jan. 28, June 22, July 3 (Apostle), Sept. 22, Dec. 29
Tymoteusz - Jan. 26
Tytus - Jan. 4, Jan. 26
Urban - July 2, Oct. 31. Dec. 19
Urszula - Oct. 21
Wac³aw - Sept. 28
Wac³awa - Apr. 15
Waldemar - May 5, Dec. 11
Walenty - Feb. 14
Walery - Jan. 29, June 14
Waldemar - Jan. 16
Wanda - June 23
Wawrzyniec - July 21, Aug. 10. Sept. 5
Weronika - Jan 13, July 9
Wiktor - Feb. 25, May 21, July 28, Oct. 17
Wiktoria - Dec. 23
Wincenty - Jan. 22, Apr. 5, Sept. 27, Oct. 9
Wies³aw - May 22, June 7
Wies³awa - May 22
Wirgiliusz - Nov. 27
Wirginia - Dec. 8
Wit - June 15
Witold - Nov. 21
W³adys³aw - June 25, Sept. 25
W³odzimierz - Jan. 16. July 15
Wojciech - Apr. 23
Zdzis³aw - Nov. 28
Zdzis³awa - Dec. 12
Zenon - Apr. 12, July 9, Dec. 22
Zofia - May 15
Zuzanna - May 24. Aug. 11
Zygmunt - May 2
Zyta - Apr. 27
¯aneta - Dec. 27
¯ytomir - Nov. 7
els

Genealogy / Researching the name Gunka.....any help appreciated [7]

Although the Gunka surname is extremely rare in Poland, it does exist and is researchable. For more information please contact research60@gmail

Genealogy / Matti - Krupa Family Members - Matti Castle Kracow [23]

While Krupa is undoubtedly a name of Polish or other Slavonic origin, Matti looks to be Hungarian. Naturally its bearrers may have lived in southern Poland for centuries, been thoroughly Polonized and not even aware of their distant Magyar roots. For more information on this please contact research60 // gmail

Genealogy / Old Gorzow Cemetery - help to find it? [10]

Dunno if this is the cemetery your grandfatehr is buried in, but a glimpse of Gorzów cemetery is provided at: miasta.gazeta.pl/gorzow/1,36844,4619053.html

This is apparently the scene on All Saints/All Souls Day (1-2 Nov.), when millions visit the final resting places of loved ones and Polish cemteries are ablaze with votive lamps. There is also an old Jewish cetmery in Gorzów.

Genealogy / Any info on the Sniatkowski surname? [3]

There are twice as many people in Poland surnamed Śniadkowski as Śniatkowski which probably started out with the d and got misspelt somewhere along the line. The reasion is simple: in front of a 'k' a voiced consonant such as 'd' becomes devoiced and is pronoucned like a 't'. A semiliterate clerk, scribe or priest simply wrote down what he heard with little knoweldge of Polish orthography.

The third Sch spelling you indicated was undoutbedly the doing of a Prussian official who also wrote down what he thought he heard but ended up pretty far afield. For more information on your surname please contact research60@gmail

Genealogy / wincenty [8]

It was Wincenty Witos, the peasant PM, who left his plough in the field to take the helm of the Polish government on two separate occasions.

Genealogy / wincenty [8]

Wincenty is the Polish equivalent of the Christian masculine name Vincent. It came into all languages from the Latin Vincentius, derived from the verb to conquer. The words victor and victory are also derived from that root.

Genealogy / Swiderski, Pelechata - Genealogical search [2]

The following are researching the Świderski name:
Swiderski -- POLAND > USA -- HppyGrl866@aol.com -- Jun/01
Swiderski -- Udrzyn & £omża area -- joeflip@earthlink.net -- Feb/01
Swiderski -- Poznań > Pennsylvania, USA -- workintv@aol.com -- Feb/97
Swiderski; Świderski; Schwederski -- Kreiss Goldap, EAST PRUSSIA; now Gołdap, POLAND -- tedjeo@maroon.tc.umn.edu -- Nov/96

Language / Help with Sentence Structure! [16]

Polish is an inflected language and that means that word order is far more flexilble than in positional languages such as English or Chinese. That is because the ending tells you which function a word performs.

Usually, one does use the standrad word order in Polish (as in English): subject, predicate and object. eg: On widzi psa (he sees the dog). However, for the sake of emphasis things can be switched about.

Psa /on/ widzi (which in English would be translated as: It's a dog he sees /not a cat or horse/).
In other words, it is important to learn your endings. On the other hand, in practical terms, Poles (unlike the French) are quite tolerant of foreigners butchering their tongue and bend over backwards to try to understand. So even if you engage in Kali-speak (me go, me want, etc.), named after a savage in Sienkiewicz's 'In Desert and Wilderness', you should be able to get by with a pocket dicionary and phrase book at your fingertips.

Genealogy / Luranc/Lorans surname [17]

Although it traces back to the Gerrman Lorenc (Lawrence), the Lorenc surname is used by more than 5,000 people in Poland, 849 spell it Lorens and over a 1,000 use the original Lorenz spelling. Central Europe has been a cauldron of confusion in recent turbulent centuries, marked by invasions, parititons, insurrections and border shifts not to mention the resultant cultural cross-fertilisaiton and inter-marriage. Troops were moving one way and streams of refugees the other, and there were deserters and wounded soldiers as well as assorted pedalrs, pilgrims and wanderers who settled in a neighbouring country and a myriad of other possibilities which would have to be fully researched (a well nigh impossible task) before anyone could conclusively specify the nationality of a given surname's bearer. There are nunmerous German Nowaks and Polish Millers who might well feel insulted if someone questioned their nationality on that basis.

Genealogy / Looking for the Klarnett Family [13]

Have you visited polishroots.com? Among its resrouces it contains ship-passenger lists which may be helpful. Good luck!

Genealogy / POLISH NAMES JEWISH CONVERTS ADOPTED [10]

Specifically what kind of info interests you?

Food / FRIED BREADED MOUNTAIN CHEESE (OSCYPEK PANIEROWANY) [5]

£owicz brand żurawina is presumably made with European cranberries.
This recipe is not indigenously Polish and appears influenced by a similar breaded brie one.

Food / POLISH CAMPFIRE FOOD [11]

I've not seen marshmallows in shops in Poland but I heard they were called pianki. As far as I know, there is only graham bread and graham rolls (grahamki), made with whole-wheat flour.

Genealogy / Surname Opajdowska/Opajdowski [4]

Opajdowski is a rare Polsih surname. For more information contact: research60@gmail

Genealogy / Any Information on Trzemeszno - my ancestors last name was Stiller (Sztyler?) [4]

There are only 316 Sztylers in today's Poland, but none in the Poznań area itself. Some do live in Wielkopolska (the voivodship Poznań is in) in and around the cities of Leszno (17) south of Poznań, Kalisz (8) to the SE of it and Piła (4) to the north of Poznań. The largest Sztyler clusters are found in and around the southern city of Katowice (42) and the SE city of Tarnów (52). For more information contact:

research60@gmail

Life / Pączki Day, what day is it! [6]

The French celerbate Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), for the Połes it's Jeudi Gras or Tłusty Czwartek (Fat Thrusday).

Food / Polish grochówka recipe? [23]

Not a professional chef, just a humble food writer.

Genealogy / surname: szkotek [2]

Both spellings are extremely rare (Szkotek is used by 12 people in Poland and Skotek by 9). 7 of the Szoteks live in eastern Poland's Chelm area along today’s Ukrainian border, whilst the Skoteks are more scattered: Jelenia Góra in SW Poland (recovered territoreis) - 3, and 2 each in the Ciechanów area north of Warsaw and the central city of £ódź.

The name may have originated to mean: 1) little Scotsman, Scotsman's son or the pedlar's son (Scottish pedlars were so common in olden-day Poland that the word Szot and Szkot became synonymous for any itinerant trader regardless of nationality), 2) cowherd, from the old word for cattle skot or szkot.

The s~sz alternation is common in Polish. The tendency to pronounce sz, cz and as s, c and z is known as masurianisation (mazurzenie), although it is encountered in peasant dialects all over Poland, not only in Masuria. Such speakers would say scotka and zaba instead of szczotka (brush) and żaba (frog). And conversely, there is another linguistic phenomenon known as szadzenie (pronouncing s as sz). One example is story (drapes) pronounced as sztory).The word for lard which is now smalec in standard Polish used to be szmalec (from German/Yiddish Schmaltz), except in areas of masurianisation.

But the totally different geographic distribution of the bearers of the names Skotek and Szkotek surnames seems to indicate that these two names emerged independently.

The spelling discrepancy might have come about because your ancestor, when asked his name said either Skotek or Szkotek, and it was this written down as such by some semi-literate priest, village scribe or clerk of the Russian or German-speaking partitioning. If possible check the ancestor's Old World documents which may show the pre-arrival spelling of the name. US naturalisation papers and other US-generated documents often show what happened to the name in the post-arrival period.

Food / Polish grochówka recipe? [23]

For practical culinary pruposes (taste and texture) the parsnip and somewhat thinner root parsley can be used interchangeably. Although related, they are not exactly the same, as indicated by theri scientific names:

parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
root parsley (Petroselinum hortense)

Food / Trout Recipe? [8]

PSTRĄG PO GALICYJSKU (trout Galician style or à La Galicja): This was a favoruite dish of the Jews of southern (Austrian-opccupied until 1918) Poland.
Allowing 1 trout per serving, gut and wash well inside and out but leave heads attached. Gouge out eyes and remove gills which may impart a bitter flavour in cooking. Dry with absorbent paper inside and out. Mince 1 bud garlic very fine with 1/8 t salt and mash with flat of knife on cutting-board until a paste forms. Rub fish inside and out with mixture, sprinkle with freshly milled pepper, place a parsley sprig inside fish cavity, sprinkle with lemon juice and fry in hot oil to a nice golden-brown on both sides. Top with with shavings of fresh grated horseradish and lemon slices. Serve with latkes ( potato pancakes made with coarsely grated potatoes).