THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME?

The -ak ending ia almost always an indicator of patronymic origin, but here the base form is rather enigmatic. Could it have derived from some such Hebrew name as Ezra, Ezekiel, Ezrel or Ezsaias (Hungarian form of Isaiah, Polish - Izajasz)?

The Eizak spelling does not exist in Poland but there are bearers of the Ejzak surname.

What about Nowicki?

Like most names ending in "-cki" and "-ski" this probably originated as a toponymic nick to identify someone from places such as Nowica or Nowice (Newville, Newton, Newbury, etc.)

You probably have heard this name Anglo-mangled into some God-awful abomination such as "no-wicky". The correct pronunciaton is: no-VEETS-kee.

Polonius3

That is my mother's maiden name (Nowicki). Does that mean that her family originated from Nowica?
Unfortunately here in the US it is pronounced just how it is spelled "no-wick-e".

Interesting.

no, he usually makes a lot of stuff up. If you are really interested then you need to find somebody who actually knows something about last names.

He knows as much as I do - nothing about names, unless he has some links but I have never seen any;).
edit: I found a link:
genealogy.about.com/library/surnames/n/bl_name-NOWICKI.htm

so it is good to check on your own

and another one:

houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/nowicki-family-crest.htm

More likely than not for the Nowicki relatives you know of this was just a name. The original people initially nicknamed Nowicki many centuries ago could have come from some such locality as Nowica, Nowice, possibly also Nowe or others cotnaining the "now-" root.

It's comparable to any Mr Baker, Tom Cooper or Bill Taylor you may have heard of in the US. It is quite unlikely that those now bearing such surnames bake bread, make barrels or sew clothes for a living. These are simply surnames passed down from one generation to the nest.


In addition to the options you have mentioned, which are all plausible, Ruszczyk might have also arisen as a toponymic nick for someone hailing from such places as Ruszcza, Ruszczany, Ruszczyzna, Ruszczenica or Ruszki.

Porucznik besides signifying a military rank below captain, in old Poland was also used to mean emissary, envoy, deputy, plenipotentiary, commissar, viceroy and the like.

Sutkowski most likely originated as a toponymic nick (nearly all "-owski" names are!) identifying someone as an inhabitant of Sutków or Sutkowo (Nippleton, Nippleville).

I would like to know what mine and my fiance's last names mean. Can someone help me?
Kurowski and Schmolke
thanks
mannyk

KUROWSKI: toponymic nick for someone from Kurów (Cockville)

SCHMOLKE: German respelling of Szmołka, hypocoristic form of the Yiddish first name Szmul (Samuel). Note: German names ending in -ke such as Lipke, Rilke, Krupke, Mielke, Renke, Schoepke, etc. trace their roots to Slavonic (usually Polish ro Czech) sources.


GRYGORCZUK: Both the basic root Grygor as well as the patronymic suffix -czuk clearly point to this name's easterly place of origin. It would have been most common in the Ruthenian-influenced eastern borderlands of the sprawling Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

wesolek

hi i cant send any money to a researcher does anyone know the meaning of the last name
wesolek

WESO£EK: happy, gay, happy-go-lucky, fun-loving, etc.

i am from san antonio, tx usa - where there happen to be lots and lots of mexican americans. so go figure, my mother married one. she decided to have me keep her maiden name though. all my life i was teased for not being hispanic and having this last name. i absolutely hated it. then a few years ago i decided i would be proud of my polish roots and actually start looking into the history and culture. does anyone know what the name

moczygemba

means or the place of origin? any help would be appreciated. thank you.

moczy - from moczyc (to make wet)
gemba - possibly from the Silesian version of Polish gęba i.e. face. (pronunciation of both words is similar)

together, as one word, the words would mean (in colloquial speech) someone who drinks a lot of alcohol.

MOCZYGEMBA or more correctly MOCZYGĘBA means whistle-wetter or drunkard. That refers to the name's origin centuries ago and does not suggest such behaviour on the part of its subsequent users. To repeat -- Mr Baker probably does NOT bake bread for a living, although in the murky mediaeval past some distant forebear of his undoutedly did.

I read about some priest by the name of Moczygemba who settled in Texas sometime in the 19th century, along with 150 other Silesians.
The priest should have kids, but in the desert areas life could get boring ;)


implies Russian origin or association - from Rusin/ a Russian.


from Latin pius/a pious person, from pijar which was a member of the religious order Ordo Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum or, in Polish, Zakon Pijarow.

(that's a somewhat educated guess though based on linguistic roots present in the Polish language)


Sounnds like derived (or misspelled) Staszczak. The root is a form of a common Polish first name Stanislavus. The name would then be derived of the diminutive form Staszek.

SKWIRUT: from archaic verb skwirać (modern Polish: skwierczeć) to shriek as an eagle might when pouncing on prey. Hence skwirut could mean the shrieker.


KUJAWY: from an old word kuja meaning sand dunes. Old Slavonic verb kujati (to murmur) maybe like whispering sands???

GOMORCZAK: possibly from Gomora -- one of the biblical cities destroyed by God because of its people's homsexual deviation. Since -czak is a patroynmic suffix, perhaps it was used to mean the pervert's son.

FOR SURNAME LOCATIONS SEE: herby.com.pl

CZARKOWSKI: toponymic nick from Czarków, Czarkowo, Czarkowy or Czarkówka; possible etymology: from czarka (small cup, goblet or chalice), hence Gobletville, Cupbury or Chaliceton.


CIARKOWSKI: if this was merely the palatalised pronunciation iof Czarkowski, then the source would have been the same as above. But is could have been a toponymic nick in its own right from the village of Ciarka (meaning: nervous tingling, trembling, goose bumps, creepy feeling), hence Tingle, Shudderville (???).

.


No-one named Lewitowski in Poland at present. but there are Lewikowskis (toponymic nick from the villager of Lewików).
Lewitowski is found in the UK, however, so all of Poland's Lewitowskis must have died off or emigrated.
Most likely it comes from Lewita (Levite), a member of one of the biblical tribes of Israel.

Here's another option - you are of Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. The above reference is at best an over-simplification and at worst an outright attempt to deceive. Many (if not most) "Ruthenians"were actually Carpatho-Rusyns. For much more on the topic, see lemko.org

Cultural differences between English and the Slavonic tongues make it difficult to translate surnames such as Rusin into English. The word Rus' was once used to mean different Eastern Slavs known collectively as Ruthenians. There was Black Ruthenia, Red Ruthenia (nothing do to with Bolsheviks), White Ruthenia (tdoay's Belarus) and Great Ruthenia (Muscovites, today Russians). That is why the tsar called himself the ruler "of all the Russias". Of coruse there is also the Ukrainian subgroup known as Carpatho-Ruthenians or Rusniaks.

Now everything is finally clear....as mud, innit?

I am trying to get information on my family. I know my grandparents came from Poland in the mid to late 1800's. Their last name was Kordana and they lived in the New England area. I just don't know where to start.

KORDANA is a very rare name used by a dozen people in the Poznań area and a few more across the country.
The kord- root has generated words meaning a kind of sword (kord), monk's cord tie (korda), heavy woolen cloth of a monk's habit (kordelat) and a brawler (kordjał) always ready to pick a fight. There is also a locality called Kordowo which migth have generated a toponymic nick.


Probably originally Wójtowicz -- occupational patronymic nick meaning son of the wójt (village mayor).

I'd like to find out origin of surname: "Górnicki"

Who can help me? :)

Go~rnik, means coal (or any other) miner. This is the base for your surname.
-ski and -cki are very common ends of such surnames, but here "k" changes into "c".

Grace


It could be also Wojtowicz, which takes a base from Wojtek (male name).
Wojtek, or Wojciech (official) can be translated into Albert.

Grace

Nearly all surnames ending in -ewski or -owski are of toponymic origin, so this one probably originated to identify an inhabtiant of Kulaszew or Kulaszewo. Etymologically, kulasza and kulesza was once a common food of the peasantry -- a kind of porridge made by cooking flour or groats into a mush.

trying to find out some info on family possibly still in Poland. my last name is Kordecki

Koredecki -- perhaps from korda, the rope monks and nuns use to tie their habits at the waist. Possibly also toponymic nick from Kordowo.


The original Górnicki was either a miner's son or, even more probably, hailed from some such locality as Górnica or Górniki.


No accents! Olkowski - toponymic nick from Olki, Olków or less likely Olkowice. Olek is shrot for Aleksander, hence Olkowski = "of Alexville or Aleckton".

Anyone know the origin of the name, Polsfuss? The legendary Les Paul just died and I recall reading somewhere that he was of Polish ancestry. Don't know if that's true.

No Polsfuss in today's Poland, but around 100 people surnamed Polsfuß and 30-some who spell it Polsfuss in Germany. Meaning (just a wild guess): possibly Paul's foot or Polish foot?????

Les Paul's ancestors may have come from Polish territory but were probably not of ethnic Polish stock.
The name could well be Yiddish: German-sounding name + US entertainment industry. Call it ethnic stereotyping or Sherlock Holmesian deduction, as you prefer.

Thanks for the information.

The caveat is that I have known Polish people with Germanic last names including one named Berlin who was 100% Polish. Another I knew was named Stumber and he was Polish also. You never know these days; thanks again.

Where did he (his family) get the name "Berlin" from if he is 100 percent polish???



wiki-de.genealogy.net/Berlin_(Familienname)

There are many German names in Poland. Most ethnic Germans were expelled, but some descendents of ethnic Germans who do genealogy have found they still have cousins in Poland carrying the ethnic German name. They have been some of the few who swore loyalty to Poland after WWII and were permitted to stay. They married Poles and the ethnic surname survived. Some have made it more Polish like Schultz being Szulc. Or Witzke being Wycke. However, BB....I believe the name Berlin is actually a Slavic name in origin. *ducks*

Yes and the supporters of this theory often point to the document from around 1200's where the name was written as “Barlin”. Another interpretation of the name “Barlin” suggest that it was derived from the name “Bral” short for “Bratosław” which undoubtfully is Slavic.

The truth is that “Berlin” was founded in the IX c. by the Slavs as “Kopanica” in German “Köpenick" which today is one of the districts of Berlin and was referred to as “Berolina” in Latin which in turn is derived according to one of the theories from Slavic words “Bór, Rolina”. Up until 1200's it was in the possession of Slavic rulers of the land mainly Stodorans. “Berlin” or “Kopenica” was ruled by a Slavic Prince Jaksa from Kopenica when it was finally taken over by the Germans around 1200's.

Off topic Jaksa was very interesting character, he married a polish Princess Agapia and laid claim to Brandenburg when Henry died. Aided by the Poles he took possession of Brandenburg from Albrecht the Bear only to loose it to Albrecht after only three years.


As you can see it has been spelled and called differently. There is no Ifs ot buts about it, it's roots are Slavic.