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The Meaning and Origin of the Last name Czekaj


Fyrman  1 | -  
18 Dec 2009 /  #1
I am new to the forum and am very interested in the meaning of my last name and origin. I can remember calling my grandmother Buscia which I believe is polish. Unfortunately my parents divorced when I was young and I have not seen my biological father since I was 11. Any help is appreciated.
Seanus  15 | 19666  
18 Dec 2009 /  #2
Please wait for the answer ;) ;)

Seriously, I know a woman with the surname of Czekaj here. To my knowledge, it just means 'hold on'.
ASIO  2 | 12  
18 Dec 2009 /  #3
Czekaj comes from the commonly used verb 'czekać' which means 'to wait'. Czekaj is in imperative form, so it is an order, as if you're telling someone 'wait!'. Now it's possible the word meant something else once upon a time and I am no expert on the history of the Polish language, but at least that's what it sounds like to a modern day Pole.
popapraniec  - | 2  
18 Dec 2009 /  #4
It means exacly "you wait". "Czekaj" has the almost same meaning as "poczekaj" .Sorry for my english,... im from poland...
madzia1000015  
18 Dec 2009 /  #5
Czekaj, czekać, czekają, poczekaj, zaczekaj are means the same thing (almost).
czekaj - you wait
czekać - be wait
czekają - they wait
poczekaj, zaczekaj - you wait (future delivery made , czas przyszły dokonany)
bimber94  7 | 254  
18 Dec 2009 /  #6
Some Polish surnames are straight out of Monty Python. There are a few people I met called Jajecznica (Mr Scrambled Eggs!); or Wielobłota (Mr Loads-of-mud). Can you imagine having your name called out loud in your GP's surgery? And now for something completely different.....
Polonius3  980 | 12275  
18 Dec 2009 /  #7
Czekaj belongs to a small group of Polish surnames derived from the 2nd person singular imperative of different verbs. They include Biegaj (run), Gadaj (chat), Kuszaj (eat - from Russian), Koś (mow, harvest) and Stań (stand up - also in reference to an erection).

More common are surnames derived from the 3rd person singular past tense. These include: Przybył (literally: he has arrived), Świtało (day was breaking), Gwiazdała (she was whistling) and even Sikała (she was peeing).
billpawl  - | 32  
9 Sep 2010 /  #8
I once knew an American girl of Polish descent whose surname was Czekaj.
Bejma  
21 Mar 2017 /  #9
Had a classmate named "Czekaj." I asked my dad (very knowledgeable about these things) and his impression was that it is actually a shortened version of something, that sorta stuck as a surname, so it doesn't actually have a known meaning as other surnames do. Interestingly, our surname ends in "o." Which is a "nickname" not a surname. Dziadź, it turns out, was a orphan brought in from (protestant) Scandanavia raised in a Catholic orphanage, and given the "-o" surname. I will say, though, he was the proudest Pole I've ever seen!

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