Bernatowicz surname? (I am starting to wonder if anyone in my family was American?)

No. It didn't really happen like that and in any case you'd have known already.

Would you say what year they moved to poland?

Are you sure they're Armenian?

If there's an Armenian connection at all, and that's far from certain, one of your ancestors could have moved there any time from the 17th Century onwards. And for a big chunk of that time, Poland wasn't on the map. You'd need parish records, and even then, it could have been just one guy who moved. And not necessarily directly to PL.

Do you use ancestry.com?

No I don't look earlier, a guy did a research and found out my surname is Armenian

A quick look on the internet suggests it may once have been Peŕnat'enc. Though you'd have to go back many centuries since they stopped being Armenian.

Pernatenc?

Yes. Just google 'bernatowicz armenian'. It comes up on the first page.

Merged: Bernatowicz surname (Lithuanian?)

Is Bernatowicz Lithuanian?

May be but may be not. It can be Czech. Lithuanian surnames have -ys ending.

Really? Tell me more

No, it's of Armenian origins. I made a little research for somebody who was asking about that surname before, more in that thread: https://polishforums.com/genealogy/bernatowicz-surname-starting-wonder-family-68564/

merged

It could be Czech

Well - sources?
It could be "Czech" if some of them moved to Bohemia at some point.

Most reliable sources show that Bernatowicz was the surname of one of the oldest merchant clans that lived in the area that is western Ukraine now - they moved there from Armenia in the medieval times and "polonized" their surname with time. The source I found before dates it back even to the year 1400 (when two brothers of Bernatowicz surname funded a chapel in Lviv).

Well I got the surname of my granddad. He was either belarusian or Lithuanian or maybe Ukrainian.

So its armenian? Cool!

Yes, seems that the origins of that name are Armenian. Here's one text in English according to which the original form was Peŕnat'enc: lehahayer.com/uploads/Lehahayer%20en.pdf (on p.4)

I only found other sources in Polish (but I suppose you could write to any Polish-Armenian community for more documents if you're interested).

Here's a bulletin from 1998, a whole page there is dedicated to the Bernatowicz coat of arms:
otk.armenia.pl/new/biuletyn-pdf/Biuletyn-11.pdf[/url] (on p.18)

Besides that I stumbled across an article (two-part) from a "Kurier Galicyjski" newspaper, where Bernatowicz surname is mentioned among funders of some Armenian churches in Lviv/Lwów:

part 1: dziedzictwo.ormianie.pl/images/stories/KG_14_2010_koscioly_orm.pdf
part 2: dziedzictwo.ormianie.pl/images/stories/KG_15_2010_24-25.pdf (there's an old inscription with Bernatowicz surname in the stone!)

edit: the inscription in better quality:
dziennikpolski24.pl/files/common/filesone/gmer_Bernatowicza.jpg

Merged: Is my surname a Polonized Russian surname?

Hi I know this is the third thread of mine about my surname but it's a quickie I need a quick answer, is my surname Bernatowicz Polonized Russian surname? I know that my grandad was born in Belarus and that I am 1/8 Belorussian but can it be Russian or Belorussian? Russian would be Bernat-ovich Belorussian would be Bernat-ovic.

Please reply quickly

If your grandad was born in Belarus, whatever it means, maybe you think about nowadays borders, that is not proof he was Belorussian. He can be as well Russian, Polish or Jew.

But if your parents said your grandad was Belorussian it doesn't matter where he was born.

Below some links about Barnatowicz in Poland.

According to same of them surname Bernatowicz become from first name Bernat ( Bernat - Bernatowic - Bernatowicz ). It was known even in the XII Century.

But there was as well the Armenian families with this surname.

And there are more then 1 000 people in Poland now with such surname.

genealodzy.pl/PNphpBB2-printview-t-18944-start-15.phtml
bernatowicz.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=1
moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/bernatowicz.html

Belarus a country located in eastern Europe. Official language is Russian and Belorussian (Same as Russian) I am 1/8 Belorussian my gran dad was half and my dad was 1/4

I heard it was Armenia but the community on Yahoo thinks otherwise.

My great grandfather was born in Western Ukraine before WW1. He was born in Galicia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Perhaps, my family does originate from Armenia?

Surnames, HolyDuck. Surnames. Now you act like someone who says: "My ancestors were from Bergen, Norway. Perhaps, my family does originate from Greenland?". If you know geography and demography of Ukraine during Habsburg's reign, you should know the possibility. Do you have ancestors with surname's suffix "-an"?

No, Bernatowicz. Which is of Armenian origin.

Could be. But you need to have in mind, that Armenians were never Muslims - as Christians they were able to be involved in mixed marriages. They settled in Western Ukraine and most probably they were marrying Ruthenians and Poles. So it is difficult to admit that you have more than 20% of Armenian blood. This surname however, was used not only by the Armenians. Its "scheme" suggest... or at least suffix... Ruthenian influence. The root "Bernat-" was mostly present in Czechia, Silesia and Lesser Poland. Bernat is a name.

Perhaps one of my ancestor's name was Bernat and his son got granted the name Bernatowicz?

It also may have happened. My own surname was created this way.

Is it possible that his surname could've been Bernat? And his son got Bernatowicz as the son of Mr. Bernat?

Yes. Bernat is actually the equivalent of Bernard (used in Poland). Suffixes -icz or -uk (as in my case) are mostly meaning something like "Petersen" or "Palsdottir" in Scandinavia. "Petersen" means "son of Peter" and "Palsdottir" means "daughter of Pals". Your surname may simply mean "son of Bernat".

Is Bernat a surname? If so, could my ancestor's last name could have been just that and his son got Bernatowicz as stated previously?

Bernat may be a surname, but in Slovakia and Hungary it is also a first name.

It is possible that your ancestor was just "Bernat" without surname, and his son was named... for example Sviatoslav Bernatowicz. The suffix "-icz" is common in Eastern Slavic countries, as patronymic. So I assume, that simply your surname comes from the name of first Bernatowicz father - Bernat.

The way this would work, one of your distant ancestors would have the given name or nickname of Bernat (Bernard), and then he had a kid, and to differentiate between them, someone would call the child Bernatowicz (at this point it would still have been simply a nickname). Then, as the family multiplied, the nickname would become a surname.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name#Poland