Genealogy / Turkiewicz Ancestors from Poland / Parobek [5]

TURKIEWICZ: patronymic nick meaning "son of the Turk"; it could have been a real Turk or just someone from some village called Turek, Turkowo, Turczyn, etc.

PAROBEK: occupational tag describing a hired farm hand or stable boy.

Genealogy / Galetka, Martin - married to an Elizabeth; I believe Klil - last name not sure of [14]

GALETKA: in old dialectal speech a milk jug or butter tub; a few users of the Galetka surname. No-one uses Galeta at present.

Genealogy / Duplaga, Data surnames [67]

DRAGULA: multiple potential srurces i ncluding draga (a type of anchor for dredging lake bottoms) and pet form of Drogosław or Drogomir (old first names). Also Dragulea from which the name Dracula evolved.

Genealogy / Polish family name search Stanislaus Kiernoziak, Antonia Marek, in or near Czarna Gora [3]

KIERNOZIAK: patronymic; root-word kiernoz (male pig); when someone nickamed Kiernoz fathered a son, the offspring would have been dubbed Kiernoziak by local villagers.

KIERZMARIAK: no such surname!

MAREK: first name used as a surname; this often occurred when only one person in a given hamlet had a certain baptismal name which eventually evolved into a surname.

STANISLAUS: In the past, parish records had been written in Latin, and this is the Latin equivalent of Stanisław.

Genealogy / Family Plawski [7]

There were two szlachta (gentry) lines amongst the bearers of the Pławski surname who belonged to the Plater and Radwan clans.

Language / Order of words when adding one word? [9]

With the exception of Wesołego Alleluja (Happy Easter), Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia (Happy Christmas) and Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku (Happy New Year) the "happy" formula is not normally used in Polish greetings. Instead we say:

Wszystkiego najlepszego or Najserdeczniejsze życzenia z okazji or w dniu and then add the relevant occasion.

In this case one might say: Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji dziewiątej miesięcznicy......(ślubu, zaręczyn, awansu, przejścia na emeryturę or whatever).

Rocznica, which refers to a year-long period as does the English word anniversary, should not be used.

Genealogy / Borysewicz (Borysiewicz?) family in Derewna, Osadnik? [6]

BORYSEWICZ or BORYSIEWICZ is unrelated to the Polish word bór (coniferous forest). That word has generated such names as Borowy, Borowiak and Borowski. Your surname is of patronymic origin and emerged to indicate the "son of Borys".

SEZON: This is coincidentally the same as the Polish word for season. But as a surname it is a variant of the East Slavic first name Sozont derived from Greek and used in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Genealogy / Last name Los (Łoś) from Bialystok, also: Moskal, Zoltek, Starzec - Galicia, Kolbuszowa [18]

SUDOL: short for Old Polish suchodół (dry ravine)

STARZEC: old man, oldtimer

MOSKAL: Muscovite

ŻÓ£TEK: yellow-skinned

GIL: bullfinch (bird species)

CIERYT: uncertain; possibly from dialectal verb cierać (to wipe, rub, scrape)

LOS: fate, lottery ticket

Genealogy / Baranowo Parish Records after 1902 [14]

GRZEGORCZYK: root-word Grzegorz (Gregory); patronymic nick equivalent to Greggson or McGregor.

KRONENBERG: German for Crown Mountain; mainly used by Germans and Jews in Poland.

P£OCHARCYK: patronymic nick meaning "son of Płocharz" (the płocharz being someone who made a combing tool for a weaver's loom).

Genealogy / Searching Polish relatives of the Berezowki family, Tarnopol [4]

BEREZOWSKI: topo nick from Bereza (Ruthenian for Brzoza - birch)

MUDRY: Ruthenian for mądry (wise).

Genealogy / Pazdyk Coat of Arms [3]

PAZDYK: probably derived from paździerz - the woody stems of the hemp and flax plants; now pressed togetehr to form fibre boards used in the building industry; possibly a topo nick from Pazdury, a village in Małopolska.

Genealogy / Cybert / Seabert - are my Ancestors English? [6]

SOT: Several hundred people in Poland sign themselves Sot. It may have come from the Old Polish verb sotać (to fray, unravel); in modern Polish strzępić. But one cannot rule out some exterior source likeLow German sot meaning a spring or well. In French the adj. sot means silly or foolish.

Genealogy / Cybert / Seabert - are my Ancestors English? [6]

Probably the name polonised itself. Centuires ago most people were illiterate and even parish priests nad village scribes who basically knew how to read and write were often semi.literate at best. Any name which sounds alien to a given language community usuallay succumsb to the pronucniaotn pattern of the local community. Long before anyone had seen the name in writing (because most could not read or write!), they naturally started pronunouncing it Cybert. (The "tsi" sound of the original German Ziebert does not occur in Polish). By the time many generations later when people began learning to read and could sign their name, they pronounced it Cybert and wrote it down accordingly.

So I strongly doubt that one day in 1532 or 1710 some Ziebert decided: "Hey chaps, I'm gonna start spelling it C-y-b-e-r-t from now on!"

Genealogy / Visit to Suwalki - Maximowicz, Ziezulewicz, Siemak, Jablowska, Gorka, and other surnames [3]

MAKSYMOWICZ: patronymic nick from Maksym, short for Maksymilian,

ZIEZULEWICZ: patronymic nick for the son of Zezula (a peasant dialectal term for kukułka - cuckoo).

SIEMAK: patronymic from Siemek (eastern pet form of Siemion/Szymon).

JAB£OWSKI: root-word jabłko (apple); toponymic tag from Jabłowo (Appleton).

GÓRKA: meaning: hillock, small hill; probably toponymic tag from many localities in Poland called Górka.

Genealogy / Cybert / Seabert - are my Ancestors English? [6]

CYBERT: This is the polonised version of the German name Ziebert. Cybert is rare in Poland, and four times as many use the original Ziebert spelling.

Genealogy / Family History Search: Anton Kulchinski, b. 5 Apr 1845 (E. Prussia, Germany or Poland) to America 1878. [4]

For additional information please contact me.

Genealogy / Family History Search: Anton Kulchinski, b. 5 Apr 1845 (E. Prussia, Germany or Poland) to America 1878. [4]

KULCZYŃSKI: Kulchinski is an English pseudo-phonetic respelling; probably originated as a topo nick from Kulczyn or Kulczyna; humorously from the verb kuleć (to limp), hence 'limpy'.

Coat of arms: Kulczyński herbu Rogala

Genealogy / Searching for paternal family Wyszynski [5]

WYSZYŃSKI: topo nick from Wyszyna or Wyszyny (Highville, Upperton); 5 coats of arms.

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

GURKOWSKI: misspelling of Górkowski; topo nick from Górka (many such loalities in Poland); also Górecki can be an adjectival from of Górka.

LASKOWSKI: topo nick from Laski, Laskowo, Lasków and similar (Forestville, Woodbury, etc.)

GÓRKOWSKI - 1 coat of arms
GÓRECKI - 14 coats of arms
LASKOWSKI - 12 coats of arms

Genealogy / Buczenski, Ostrowski and Matysiak. Discovering village/parish family came from? [6]

SZCZECH: Probably originally Sczech (z Czech = from Bohemia); possibly also pet form of Szczepan.

BUCZEŃSKI: root-word probably buk (beech); topo nick from Bucza or Bucze.

OSTROWSKI: root-word ostrów (archaic for island); topo nick from Ostrów, Ostrowo, Ostrówek and similar.

MATYSIAK: patronymic nick from Mateusz (Matthew).

KRACZ: from krakać (the cawing sound made by crows); when applied to people it indicates someone who always predicts bad things ahead, a doomsday sayer.

PRZYDZIA£: from przydzielać: to divide and share, portion out; nick for someone performing that task -- an army quartermaster, a civilian official entrusted with distrbution.

OCYTKO: uncertain; possibly a dialectal variant of Ocipko - a heavy, clumsy, lumbering person.

BARTHO: no such name in today's Poland, only Barthodziej and Barthold; the 'th' suggests its German orgin: Bartholomäus (Bartholomew).

Genealogy / I am looking for my family (Luszcz) who lived in Mielec, Poland. [3]

£USZCZ: another name for szelążnik, a poisonous wild plant with yellow flowers; or from łuskać (to shell, hull), eg łuskać groch = to shell peas;

possible toponmyic tag from Luszczów, £uszczewo, £uszczyn and similar.

Genealogy / Why the escape in the 1800s ? Searching for my family roots. [25]

CHOCIMSKI: toponymic tag from the town of Chocim, now in Ukrainian-occupied SE Poland; Hurko coat of arms..

MILCZAREK or MIELCZAREK: occupational patronymic from mielcarz (malter); mielcarek or mielczarek would be the malter's son or helper; no known coat of arms.

Genealogy / Trying to find old friend from Lubin, Poland [7]

OR£OWSKI: root-word orzeł (eagłe). Toponymic tag from Orłów or Orłowo (Eagleton, Eagleville); nine different noble lines amongst bearers of the Orłowski surname.

Genealogy / Hrabowski surname [9]

HRABOWSKI: Ruthenianised pronunciaiton of Grabowski; in addition to numerous toponymic sources in Poland, there are also a number of localities called Гpaвбoв in Belarus and Ukraine, where they would be pronounced Hrabow or Hrabiw. Someone hailing from there would have been nicknamed Гpaвбoвcкий or ГpaвбoвcЬкий which in Ruthenian would be pronounced Hrabowskij or Hrabowśkij and ended up in Polish as Hrabowski.

Genealogy / Can anyone help me prove two Pilakowski families are related? [3]

PILAKOWSKI: topo nick from one of two localities in Poland called Pilaki: Pilaki Małe in the Biała Podlaska area and Pilaki Wielkie in Masuria.

Genealogy / Searching for information about Zosia Cytryn and Stanislaw Romuald Hochedlinger [9]

CYTRYN: probably from cytryna (lemon) or short for cytryniarka (lemon vendor). This calls to mind the 1880s Gierymski oil painting called 'Żydówka z cytrynami' (Jewess with lemons).

Genealogy / Trying to find information about my grandad (Emil Wink) and possible family from Warsaw [10]

WINK: is obviosuly not a name of Polish origin but it is used in Poland. It's the German/Yiddish word WInk (pronoucned vink) which means exactly the same as English wink (wink, nod, sign).If you think he changed it, maybe originally it was Mrugacz or Mrugała which would be Polish surname equivalents of Wink.

Genealogy / Looking for the Perz family from Pruchnowo in Gniezniesnki county [5]

PERZ: means couch (a kind of grass); may hsve originated as a toponymic tag from such localities as Perze, Perzów, Perzyce or similar. Normally if someone was nicknamed Perz, his son would have been referred to as Perzyk, Perzak or Perzewicz. However, abroad someone with the Perzyk surname might have decided to shorten it to Perz.

Genealogy / Genealogy Polish last names-- Bic/Bikowski/Byk [5]

BIC/BIĆ: probably derived from bicz (whip); extremely rare - only one bearer each.

BYKOWSKI: root-word byk (bull); toponymic from such localities as Byków, Bykowce or Byki. (Bullvile, Bullton).

BIKOWSKI: toponymic from Bikówek or variant spelling of Bykowski.

Genealogy / Looking for my Polish family of Jozef Zdrojewski [6]

KACZALSKI: root-word kaczać (to roll) or kaczałka (pine log); toponymic tag from Kaczałka (Rollerville) - no szlachta amongst the Kaczalskis!

STRZELECKI: root-word strzelec (rifelman); toponymic tag from Strzelce (Riflemen, Rifleton, Musketeerville) - 5 coats of arms.

ZDROJEWSKI: root-word zdrój (spring), toponymic tag from such places as Zdroje or Zdrojewo (Springs, Spingville) - 1 coat of arms.

NOTE: For more information on these and other Polish surnames please contact me.