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The name "Mitchell" in Polish


Rudy5  13 | 36  
27 Jun 2012 /  #1
How would the name Mitchell be spelled and pronounced in Polish? And sorry I didn't know what forum to put this in.
sofijufka  2 | 187  
27 Jun 2012 /  #2
Michał [Mee-khow]?
OP Rudy5  13 | 36  
27 Jun 2012 /  #3
Is there a name that means "who is like God?" or anything like that in Polish?
Wulkan  - | 3136  
27 Jun 2012 /  #4
Michał [Mee-khow]?

No, Michał is Michael
jon357  73 | 22934  
27 Jun 2012 /  #5
Double no. Mitchell as a given name is a alternative form of Michael. Therefore Sofjufka is right.

@Rudy - there are several names in Polish that mean blessed by God, given by God etc, although 'like God' might cause theologians a few worries. Except of course that Christians believe humans (but evidently not any other form of life) are made in the image of their god.

Try here: babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/polish-names.html. The ones you want mostly start with the three letters 'Bog'.
OP Rudy5  13 | 36  
27 Jun 2012 /  #6
Oh ok thanks.

I heard "Mieszko" means "who is like God?"
jon357  73 | 22934  
27 Jun 2012 /  #7
No. There are two theories about the name. One is that it is a diminutive of Mieczyslaw (miecz = sword sława = glory). The other is that it rives from an old Slavonic word meaning 'blind'. Both are potentially true in different ways. One website has the 'like God' thing, however it is wrong. In any case, the name Mieczo is not in common use now and even Mieczyslaw tends to be an old mans' name and usually shortened to Mietek; and this name is not Mitchell.

Out of interest, why are you asking?
strzyga  2 | 990  
27 Jun 2012 /  #8
There are two theories about the name.

There are lots of theories but none of them proven or even convincing enough. Another popular one derives the name from the bear, niedźwiedź (miś). Other possibilities are a purse (miech, mieszek) or a diminutive from two-part names like Kazimierz or Włodzimierz. Nobody really knows and there's a lot of discussion on it as it was the name of the first historical ruler of Poland.

A sample discussion on a historical forum - unfortunately, only in Polish:
historycy.org/index.php?showtopic=33985&st=45
rmytnik  
11 Oct 2013 /  #9
My father's name is Mitchell, but he says he was called Mieczyslaw when he was younger, and Miecz by his mother. Both his parents were immigrants from Poland.
Lenka  5 | 3475  
11 Oct 2013 /  #10
Yes, Mieczysław is a Polish name- praising sword :)
raina123  
13 Apr 2015 /  #11
I am wondering the same thing. I am doing some research into my Polish ancestry. my grandfather's name was Mitchell, but I was told that it is (phonetically) pronounced 'machishwaff'. how would you spell that in Polish?

thanks
Looker  - | 1129  
13 Apr 2015 /  #12
machishwaff

Mieczysław
Polonius3  980 | 12275  
13 Apr 2015 /  #13
Mitchell in the US Polonia is what might be called the customary (but not lingusitically acccurate) equivalent of Mieczysław. The children of the late 19th and early 20th-century immigrants were brainwashed by the WASP establishment into feeling ashamed of their quaint ethnic ways and encouraged to aspire to modern, trendy and dynamic WASPdom, and many let themselves be bamboozled. Mieczysław sounded so foreign, unfashionable, un-WASPy and downright un-American, they were told and picked some usually close-sounding Anglo-equivalent.

For Stanisław it was Stanley
Władysław became Walter
Bolesław was Bill
Czesław turned into Chester
Jadwiga became Harriet (not Hedwig for some reason)
Bronisława was redubbed Bernice
Władysława became Lottie
Grażyna turned into Grace
Pelagia passed herslef off as Pearl
Stanisława became Stella or Estelle, etc., etc.

emthingeuqivelnt of

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