Only 5 people in Poland use the Ledwina (Polish spelling) surname, and all live in Lower Silesia, the Polish region closest to Bohemia
STANKIEWICZ: This could have originated as both a patronymic nickname from Stanek (endearing form of Stanisław) as well as a toponymic tag for someone from Stanki, Stankowo, Stankuny ro similar. Names such as Stankiewicz have been used by Gypsies, Jews, Germans and whoever but the name itself is Polish-Slavonic.
Hi all! Does anyone have any information on the name Marczynski? I wish I would have tried to obtain this information while my daddy was still with me! I have done much searching for meaning and family crest and have hit nothing but dead ends. The closest thing I have found is Maczynski, just omitting the r! Thanks in advance, Renae.
MARCZYŃSKI: Possibly a patronymic derived from Marek (Mark) meaning 'son of mark'; Eng. equivalent: Marcusson. But snce most -ski ending names are of toponymic origin, perhaps it traces back to some locality such as Marczyce.
There were nobles amongst the Marczyńskis entitled to use the Mściszewski coat of arms.
KUCZERA: Probably from kuczer~koczer (coachman). It was a borrwing from french cocher (coachman).
I can give your surname a go even if it isn't Polish. Free of charge!
SZPALA: possibly derived from spalać (to burn), the sz being a dialectal pronuciation. That would rank it amongst verb-derived names such as Migała, Biegała, Gwizdała, etc.
DROZDOWSKI: Root-word drozd (thrush, a songbird); nearly all surnames ending in -owski are of toponymic origin (derived from place-names) and yours would have originated to identify an inhabitant of Drozdów or Drozdowo (Thrushville).
WOJCEK: two likely sources: 1) dervied from the first name Wojciech (Adalbert) which has generated such surnames as Wójcik, Wojciak, Wojcicki, Wojc, Wojcak, Wojcek and others; 2) a toponmyic tag from such localities as Wójcice or Wojcieszyce.
SO£DEŃSKI: comes from the German word Sold (soldier's pay) which was the origin of the Polish word żołd (soldier's pay). Sołdeński might have been coined to identify an army paymaster or someone associated with soldiers in some way. It could have also arisen as a toponymic tag for someone hailing from the village of Sołdany.
Światłowski, from światło (light) or a village with such root word. Today, 611 people in Poland are named Światłowski. The name sounds Polish, but anyone could use it: a Catholic, Jew, Protestant, agnostic, Armenian, Tartat.
Lazaruk (4 in Poland) or £azaruk (119), from Hebrew Eliza, Latinized to Lazarus, then Polonized to Lazaruk, £azaruk. Planty of similar sounding names. The name first documented in the 13 century. Same story: anyone could use it.
Note that Jews in Poland traditionally used only one name. In court documents of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a patronimic could be added to distinguish Izaak son of Dawid (Izaak Dawidowicz) from Izaak son of Abraham (Izaak Abrahamowicz) or Izaak from Kraków (Izaak Krakowski) from Izaak from Tarnów (Izaak Tarnowski). Only after the partition of Poland Jews were forced to use a second name (19 century) by Austria, Prusssia and Russia. Austrian soldiers forced Jews in Galicia (stretching from Kraków to Lwów) to buy Germanized names from preselected lists of names. Nice sounding names were purposely expensive. Ridiculous sounding names (to the Austrian soldiers) - such as Bloomberg, Rosenblatt, etc. - were the cheapest. This is the reason why so many Polish Jews have German names, and not because they had them when they migrated to Poland from Germany centurier earlier.
Would you help me with the name Kojro?My family was Polish, but they were living in what is now Lithuania.
Maybe someone in your family knows original pronunciation. My only guess is Koiro which comes from Lithuanian Kairys/ Kaira aka 'left-handed' (according to my Lithuania's surname dictionary).
I have just come across this site whilst trying to learn about my Polish side of me and not really sure how to use it. My last name is Fialkowski can you tell me anything about my last name. If so thank you in advance!
FIA£KOWSKI: root-word fiałek - dalectal version of fiołek (violet - the flower). However since nearly all Polish surnames ending in -owski are of toponymic origin, most likely yours also goes back to the village of Fiałkowo in Mazowsze.
KOSZTELLA (?): No-one at present uses that surname, although they may have done in the past. Only 1 person signs himself Kosztela is living in the Katowice area. Possible derivation: the word koszt (cost, expenditure) or perhaps the localities of Kosztowa, Kosztowo or Kosztowy. Less likely but not impossible, this might have been the polonised version of the Anglo-Norman name Costello which made its way into Ireland. Maybe one of tis bearers made it over to Poland.
Thank you so much. I'm trying my hardest to learn about my heritage-background etc and it's just so hard since I have lost my father who was Polish and knew all about this. I have been trying to figure out any little thing I can about my last name and am very happy with what you told me. If there is anything else you can tell me about the Fialkowski name please please do. If not that's okay. Thank you for your time!
PODOLAK: this surname originated to describe an inhabitant of the SE region of Podole (Podolia), now in Ukraine or (as some see it), Ukrainian-occupied Poland.
MA£UGA: root-word mały (little, small, tiny); one of many surnames incorporating this root; others include Małysz, Małek, Malec, Malesa, Małocha, Malusi , etc. In English too there are surnames a such as Small and Little.
KRZESIŃSKI: yes, this is a name of toponymic origin traceable to the Wielkopolska (West Poland) village of Krzesiny (no accent over the 'n') , originally Krzesin, founded as a gentry-owned village in 1294. Its etymology can be traced to the Old Polish verb krzesić (modern Polish: krzesać) which means to strike sparks. The word krzesiwo means the fllitn and steel struck together to start a fire. Perhaps we might roughly translate the village's name as Strikespark, Sparkville or Sparkington.
SOCHOWSKI: root-word probably socha (primitive wooden plough); but nearly all -owski ending surnames are of toponymic orgin so this one most likely emerged to identify someone from Sochów or Sochowo (Ploughville?).
KOSAKIEWICZ: the -wicz ending tells us this is a last name of patronymic origin (son of somebody), in this case 'the Cossack's son'. Kozakiewicz is the more common spelling.
