Genealogy / Schalwig, Grittner, Schulz, Schmit, Szot, Bernat, Szwarc - were my ancestors Germans in Silesia, or Silesians? [22]

SCHALWIG: German name probably derived from the word Schall (sound, noise), so it could have meant noisy, loud, resonant;
1 such person in Poland (Silesia), 120 in Germany).

GRITTNER: probably an occupational tag for a sandstone worker; 40-some Grittners in Poland, some 600 in Germany.

Genealogy / Searching for Fedorowicz, Zebrowska and Redgate ancestry & records [2]

FEDOROWICZ: patronymicnickname meaning "son of Fedor" (Theodore).

ŻEBROWSKI: toponymic nickname from Żebrów or Żebrowo (Ribville, Ribton, Ribly, etc.).

Genealogy / Turkiewicz, Czajkowski - Looking to connect with people with ties to Dobropole [13]

JÓ-WIK: one of several patronymic nicks from Józef; others include Jóźwiak, Józefiak, Józefowicz and Józefowski; English equivalent: Josephson.

Genealogy / Sędziszów Małopolski- Surname origin - Dyc [3]

DYĆ and DYCZ: Polish adaptations of the German name Dietz, the hypocoristic (pet) form of the first name Dietrich. German likes to create monosyllabic pet forms of this type including: Fritz from Friedrich, Franz from Franziskus, Stetz from Stefan, Gotz from Gottfried, etc.

Genealogy / Stanislaw (Jan) Czternastek & Bronislaw Wydrowski - searching info on Polish War Pilots [45]

ANDRZEJEWSKI: topo nick from Andrzejewo (Andrewsville).

Genealogy / Tomasz Zenon Sliwka, Walbrzych [4]

ŚLIWKA: Polish word for plum; the names of foods, crops, livestock, wildlife, tools and housheold objects often served as nicknames applied to peasants.

Genealogy / LOOKING for Kogoska or Kogoski origin around Biezun - came to America @1890 [7]

KOGOWSKI: probaby derived from koga (Old Polish for ship) or koga (a cattle disease). The dropping of the "w" in -owski surnames was common among US immigrants as it more closely approximated the original pronunciation. Eg: Makowski pronounced the American way has a "cow" inside, but drop the "w" and you get perfect pronunciation: Makoski. BTW there were "blue-bloods" amongst Poland's Kogowskis.

Genealogy / Looking for Maria Kuczera from Poland, also looking for her family. [3]

KUCZERA: from Old Polish kuczer (coach drver)

Genealogy / Researching a Pole ( Wladyslav Kubik ) with not much to go on [5]

KUBIK surname: probably a variant form of the partonymic nick from the first name Kuba (pet form of Jakub); the more common form is Kubiak.

Genealogy / Stanislaw (Jan) Czternastek & Bronislaw Wydrowski - searching info on Polish War Pilots [45]

No, I'm just a poor onomastician!

Genealogy / Stanislaw (Jan) Czternastek & Bronislaw Wydrowski - searching info on Polish War Pilots [45]

CZTERNASTEK: root-word czternasty (14th); probably the 14th child born to a given family.

WYDROWSKI: root-word wydra (otter); most likely a toponymic tag for an inhabitant of Wydrów or Wydrowoi (Otterville, Otterton, Otterborough).

Genealogy / Researching " FURDAL" Family Tree [3]

FURDAL: root-word probably furda meaning a trifle, something insignificant and worthless; it could well trace back to the Roimania word furda mwaning a hamndful of animal hair. That is reminiscent of the Polish term funt kłaków (a pound of dustballs) meaning something of no value. The Lublin area is indeed Poland's Furdal stronghold. The White Russian connection doesn't ring a bell. The Lublin area bordered Ukrainian lands; Belarus was farther to the north.

Genealogy / Seeking information on Milewski/Ciborowski relatives/ancestors [2]

MILEWSKI: topo nick from Milewo

CIBOROWSKI: topo nick from Cibory or Ciborze

DZIERŻANOWSKI: topo nick from Dzierżanów or Dzierżanowo

Coats of arms accompany all three surnames.

Genealogy / Tuzinowska from Gruta area and Wojtowicz of Radom area [7]

SMO£EK: probably from smoła (pitch, tar); possible occupational nick for tar-maker (smolarz) or for an unkempt, soot-streaked person (osmołony).

Genealogy / Farther born in Poland and i.m looking for his birth place; Szczoczarz name information [7]

SZCZOCZARZ: Probably evolved from szczotarz, an old name for a blue bottle (flower), now known as bławatek.

The Szczoczarz surname surely must have tied quite a few tongues in Angloland!?

Genealogy / Searching for paternal family Wyszynski [5]

WYSZYŃSKI: topo nick from a number of localities in Poland called Wyszyna or Wyszyny.

One of several noble clans to which the well-born Wyszyńskis belonged was Sas. Since the term "Sas" in Polish means Saxon, some believed this coat of arms to have been of Germanic origin. However it was actually brought to Poland by noblemen from Moldavia and Vallachia, where "sas" in Hungarian (pronounced: shash) meant "eagle". Whatever the case, little more is known about this coat of arms and its legend remains obscure. The gold arrow surrounded by a gold crescent moon and stars on a blue shield in heraldic symbolism suggests it was awarded for some victory achieved under the stars (at night). Used by over 500 noble families.

Genealogy / Looking for city of Pluslaw Russia [16]

GRUSZCZYŃSKI: root-word gruszka (pear). Topo nick from one of several villages called Gruszczyn and one named Gruszczyno (Pearville, Pearton); 2 coats of arms.

Genealogy / Looking for city of Pluslaw Russia [16]

That makes sense. Pluchow would be the English transcription of the Russian version Плyxoв, Polish is Płuchów and in Ukrainian it would probably be Pluchiw, although back then Ukrainian didn't come into it, looked down upon by the Great Russians as a lowly peasant dialect.

Genealogy / Looking for city of Pluslaw Russia [16]

Couldn't find anyhting close to Plusław in Russia or Poland. In Poland there were only: Płusy, Pluski, Pluskocin, Pluskowęsy and Pluszkiejmy. Probabyl it got misspelt by an Ellis Island immigration official who wrote down what he thought he heard.

If the Russian passport was written in Cyrillic script, the letter P is actually an R in Russian, so it might be closer to Rusław. Will check.

Maybe it was Płosków. There are 3 such places, one of them in Masovia which would have been under the tsar.

Genealogy / Searching for maternal family Gurkowski / Gorkowski [7]

GURKOWSKI: probably a misspelling of Górkowski and that -- a toponmyic nick from places such as Górka, Górkowo and similar. Root-word górka (small hill), hence toponymic Eng. equivalents = Hillton, Hillbury, Hillville. Both Gurkowski and Górkowski have coats of arms.

SZCZGIELSKI: root-word szczygieł (bullfinch, bird species); probably originated as toponymic nick from places like Szyczygły or Szczyglice (Bullfinchville); 2 coats of arms.

LASKOWSKI: root-word laskowy (hazel); toponymic nick from villages such as Laski, Lasków and Laskowo (Hazelton, Hazelville); 12 idfferent coatrs of arms.

For more information on the above, please contact: resarch60@gmail

Genealogy / Maluchnik family (Margaret, Stanley, Anthony ) [4]

MALUCHNIK: Surnames incorporating the mal- root may be derived from terms of endearment for a small child such as maluch or maluszek (tot, toddler, tyke). But in some cases they may also be traceable to pet forms of such old first names as Małomir.

Genealogy / Searching for relatives of Stanislaus Wilczynski dead or alive [3]

Over 8,000 people in Poland currently sign themselves Wilczyński. The single largest concentration is Warsaw (388), followed by Wrocław (212), £ódź (208) and Poznań (159),

Genealogy / Looking for Tykocin, Poland Birth Records (Mendel Rozental) [4]

ROZENTAL: Polish spelling of German Rosenthal (Rose Valley) -- a fairly typical European Jewish surname.

Genealogy / Is there a family crest for my surname of "Rukat" [13]

No coat of arms for Rukat!

Genealogy / Babula Family [2]

BABULA: root-word baba which can mean woman in general, grandmother and prefaced by the adjective stara -- an old hag.

ZARVTUCKA: not Polish or misspelt. No such surname in Poland.

Genealogy / Turkiewicz, Czajkowski - Looking to connect with people with ties to Dobropole [13]

CZAJKOWSKI: root-word czajka (shore bird known in English as lapwing or peewit); toponymic nick indicating an inhabitant of such localities as Czajka, Czajki, Czajków or Czajkowo.

NOTE: IN Russian the same word (чaйкa) means seagull.

Genealogy / Looking for information on the name BUCZYNSKI / Todorowski / Trocki [16]

TROCKI: toponymic nick from Torki in Lithuania, once the seat of the Karaim ethno-relgious group.

BUCZYŃSKI: root-word buk (beech); toponymic nick from Buczyna (Beechwood).

TROCKI HERBU £ODZIA: The heraldic experts of yesteryear disagreed as to the origin of the £odzia (boat, ark, vessel) coat of arms. According to one version it traces its origin to Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), but others claim it went all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome, even connected it to the mythological Jason's quest for the golden fleece or the seafaring expeditions of the ancient Slavs. Whatever the case, it depicts a plain wooden boat (variously shown as gold, yellow or brown) on a red shield.

BUCZYŃSKI HERBU RADWAN: Radwan is one of several clans to which the well-born Buczyńskis belonged. The Radwan coat of arms is said to have originated during the reign off King Bolesław the Bold (1039-1081). During an attack by Ruthenian (early-Ukrainian/Russian) forces, the king's army was overwhelmed because his troops fled in panic after the enemy had captured the battle flag and killed the standard-bearer. A cavalry commander named Radwan galloped off to the nearest church, grabbed a religious banner, rallied his troops around it defeated the enemy. The coat-of-arms contains a gold pictogram of the church banner set against a blood-red shield. The crowned helmet topped with plumes is a typical embellishment of most Polish clan crests. It is shared by 286 noble families from Babski to Żądło.

Genealogy / looking for family history of Ignasiak Family [2]

IGNASIK/IGNASIAK: patronymic nick meaning son of Ignacy or Ignac (Ignatius).

WOLIŃSKI: toponymic tag from such places as Wolin, Woleń, Wolina, etc.

MOLIŃSKI: looks to be a topo tag but the closest potential sources is Молин (Molin) in Serbia; probably the reader wasn't sure whether the letter in fancy script was a W or M (Woliński or Molińdski).

GRYGIEL: derived from Grzegorz (Gregory), esp. Ruthenian version Grigori. Kreigel is a German name which may have been used (or confused with Grygiel) because of its similar sound.

Genealogy / Kośmider ancestors from Harta [2]

KOŚMIDER: scatter-brain (from German Koschmieder); also toponymic tag for an inhabitant of Kośmidry.