GITLER... is it Polish surname?

My parents are Polish.... parents of my father as well. As far as I know everybody in my family are polish. So ... where is that strange surname from?

Google is your friend.

I just did a search. This is a quote from the first page I found:


Now that's just an internet source and you know how to treat the validity of said, but maybe it's a starting point for you. :)

yes, Gitler is the Cyrillic/Russian for Hitler..............

Adolf ? WTF ?

I just checked the list of claimants against Swiss banks for the reclamation of assets from WWII and there are three Gitlers. You may be richer than you thought

Maybe that's a Jew surname ?

I thought so too, but I have no any confirmation

jewishgenealogy.com.ar/surnames_eg.html well it's in there... I don't know if that means anything...

Does it means that we were Jews long time ago? All my family is Roman Catholic. How could that have happen?

Certainly sounds Jewish.

jewishgen.org/jri-pl/psa/bedzin_surn.htm

Check this out.

Many Jewish families converted to Roman Catholicism around the turn of the last century. Some for religious reasons some for rather more pragmatic reasons...say no more. Although the later didn't do any good if they were still in Europe between the mid 30's and 45.

It's hard to believe ....if It's true with my family

John Kerry and Madeleine Albright thought the same thing, too--- until they found out about conversions from Judaism in their families.

Are your grandparents or great grandparents living, so you can ask them about it? Would your parents know?

Do you have any immigration documents from long ago, which might state this info?

Ship manifests and US and UK census records stated "Hebrew" for Jews; I can look that up for you, if you have the names for me.

My grandfather is dead. He lived in Poland & died in Poland. His name was Tadeusz.

my first feeling of that surname was that it's germanic.

but with a grandfather's name spelled Tadeusz? it's 100% Polish form (not some bastardized Russian or German Taddeus, Thadaeus or whatever).

I have done a lot of genealogy in Poland. My family background is about 50% Polish and 50% ethnic German. Before WW I and WWII there were many Germans living in Poland. They were invited by nobles to drain the swamps and make farms. Over the course of hundreds of years, the first ethnic Germans became Polonized and changed their names to Polish. Some became Catholic. The more recent ethnic Germans retained their German names but often the Polish Archives and church records were kept in the Polish forms of the names. Witzke is my German line and I believe in Polish is Wycke.

Look for the names of your family who did come to America and the ship list may tell you from what area of Poland. I found mine for all three grandparents, but one who was born here. All I have is the general German Poland. Those are my Lewandowski-Babacz forbears. And my ethic Germans were from Russian Poland near Rypin. Good luck finding more out. It is fascinating. I went to Poland in 2000 and loved it.

Softsong: I just did a brief family trace for someone and found Lewandowskis in that tree. The person I did it for, is, I believe, on Polish Forums also. Maybe he'll see this and get in touch with you.

JG: Which of your family emigrated outside Poland? If you have their names, I can see if they ever were recorded as Jewish or Hebrew, if you want or need that info. Those that were, may have emigrated and those that weren't, may have stayed.

Thanks Bookratt! Seems you have a perfectly fitting username! You must have a love of books and research. You are also very kind!

I have found that I am better off looking for both names together. Bubacz is more rare and according to one expert on Polish surnames.....they were concentrated in just a few areas. Torun, Poznan, Bydgoszcz and Pila. So, if I find a place where both Lewandowski and Bubacz are together is my best bet. Those seems to be Bydgoszcz and Torun so I am going to get the Mormon films for those areas.

Good luck to the original poster for the Gitler name. That is why I love genealogy, so many mysteries to solve! :-)

- exactly


- No idea. Not my close family.

GITLER 100% Jewish, I know I am one all the Gitlers came for Czestochowa

the surname Gitler or Gittler is a variation of the German place name Gitter, which comes from the Germanic word gitter meaning grid, grating and describing the man who lived by the gate or barrier.

my great grandfather's name was Morris Gitler who changed his name to Mack Gordon (after his hometown of Grodno). By the way he is a famous songwriter. look him up on wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Gordon

I'm a Gitler too, are there any others in this thread?

There are 78 Gitlers in Poland today. The name is quite possibly Yiddish. Indeed Russians spell Hitler's name Gitler, but the Gitlers of Poland are most likely purely coincidental. BTW, the late US president in Russian is pronounced Gerbert Goover.

Gitler could be also Polish( germanized)or changed to German. Could be gitlera or gitla. Germans when did records of Polish people changed the names cause they didn't how to write it down properly. Lepper Polish posel real name is loper and is Kashubian name(Germans did this)

Sorry, but that's nonsense. Until 1874 there were no official rules on how to spell your surname or given name in Prussia. Pastors/ priests wrote names usually as they were spoken; thus the variations. Besides: you will find as many Polonized German names in the churchbooks as you'll come across Germanized Polish names.

Where did you find out that Lepper was originally Loper?

I'm a Gitler myself, is there anyone with a family tree going back some generations, maybe we can match and compare?

Ive done extensive research on the Gitler family, its definately got jewish roots.

Exactly - you are right here. Incidentally there is also a Polish name Chytła. Nothing to do with Hitler either.


It wasn't. Lepper is a trans-national surmane, not unlike my own. If somebody called Loper changed it to Lepper, they were changing it to a surname that had existed for other families for centuries.