Life / Why Radosław, not Czesław? [34]


No big reason for that I think. From what I know, It came to Poland in ~13th century as Kasper (Gaspar?) and with time countryfolk changed spelling to Kacper. Wikipedia mentions two famous Poles from 16th and 17th centuries with names Kacper and Kasper respectively, so the change could have happened around that time.


Genowefa is not Jennifer in straight line (wiki for some reason links Polish Genowefa to Juniper and there you have explanation that origin of these names is different). As Jennifer is 'modern' version of Guinevere, it would be Ginewra (and we don't have modern version of that). The closest English equivalent of Polish Genowefa seems to be Genevieve (French), which comes from germanic Genowefa/Kenowefa. As for its lack of popularity, I would assume that it comes either from its 'old' vibe (from the perspective of younger people) or from Polish comedian Bronisław Opałko who performs as Genowefa Pigwa (old countrywoman).

pre-edit: Magdalena pretty much summed up why some names lose popularity.
Also, some Poles tend to name their children after characters from popular TV series (but I presume it's common in other countries too) which might give a rise in popularity of some odd/old names.

Life / Abrupt Poles explained ! [51]

rozumiemnic:



Yep, in such cases in Polish the subject is often implied and using additional "ja" or "my" is unnecessary. It doesn't mean that it is thrown away, only that it's already 'included' in the verb. By starting the sentence with 'I' you might sound like you're arguing/disagreeing with the other person(s) or want to bring additional attention to yourself

example:
- "MY zrobiliśmy ten projekt" instead of "Zrobiliśmy ten projekt"(both mean "We've done this project") - by putting pressure on "My" we imply that the other group wasn't involved in finishing the project or that only some of us finished it (others being lazy and wanting to take the credit for doing it)

- "JA znalazłem skarb" ("I've found the treasure") - an arrogant way of saying that it was ME (and no one else) who discovered it and I want everyone else to acknowledge my achievement or that it belongs to me.