Golash/Szynal

My maternal grandfather was Leo Josef Golash from Lomza, Poland, he arrived in the USA in 1012, and my grandmothers maiden name was Szynal. My great-grandparents said that the part of Poland they came from was in Austria. This must have been in the 1890's, my grandmother Theresa C. Szynal was their oldest daughter. My grandparents were married in July 1918 in Holyoke or Northhampton, Massachusetts.

GO£ASZ/GOLASZ: root-word probably goły (naked, dirt-poor); descriptiive of such a one. In modern Polish: golec. The diagraph 'sh' does not occur in Polish, so Golash was obviosuly a Stateside respelling.

SZYNAL: from German Schiennagel (rail nail, railway spike or nail used to fasten iron wagonwheel rims).

Or Goolash?

I don't think so, but anything is possible where names are concerned.

Hello. My name is Dan Szynal.
My grandfather came from Swiecany in southeastern Poland. He came to America around 1914. This area was generally under control of the Austrian Empire at that time.

I had also heard from my grandmother that the name Szynal means rail or rail road.
Please feel free to email me at
DanMan916 (at) aol (dot) com
if you would like me to give you more infromation.
Thanks