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

Orlenkowicz: From the city of Orleans, France, or a type of light woolen fabrics made in that city and exported to Poland. Possibly, your ancestor was a marchant/vendor of such fabrics or an emmigrant from Orleans (Orlean in Polish). The ending "wicz" means "son of" and is typical of the eastern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth called Kresy. Only 2 people in Poland have this name today. But there are many similar names, sounding Polish-Ukrainian: Orleniuk, Orlenko, Orlenkiewicz, Orleński.

Thank you for the thoughtful response, Astoria. I have as of late been trying to find more documents of that ancestor. Perhaps there was a clerical mistake in regards to the spelling. Although it is interesting there are some with that name in Poland, even if it is only a couple. I think logically it may more likely be of that Polish-Ukrainian origin or something else. I am not sure why a Frenchman from Orleans would desire to settle in small town east Poland. I'm sure much of the area is lovely and all...are there any noted significant numbers of French migrating to Poland in the modern or early modern era?

In addition, I remembered one more surname: Pawacki.

Thanks again. I won't pester with any more names!

He may have been a native Pole who made his living selling light woollen fabrics from Orléan and got the Orlen-derived tag attached to him.

Pawacki: No-one at present uses this name in Poland. If it existed. it might have been derived from Paweł (Paul) or paw (peacock).
You needn't apologise for asking about surnames. If you've got more, bring them on. That's what we're here for!

I've stumbled upon the knowledge that the two "Orlenkowicz" individuals reside in an unexpectedly westerly part of Poland: Szczecin. Of course people can move, but what else is interesting is the fact that the city apparently was settled by some Huguenots in the 17th century (according to a little visit to Wikipedia), and the city surrendered to the French during the War of the Fourth Coalition. Interesting, nonetheless. Of course, by that logic, why would a French colonist and/or soldier polonize themselves with a -wicz suffix, when they resided in the far west? Again, folks migrate all the time, but alas...

Anyhoot, I know this is a thread about meanings of surnames, and I don't mean to dribble with anecdotes. Just came across that info and found it interesting, once I discovered where the other two resided.

Cheers!

Also, while not a Hansa city, it is along a somewhat Choice part of the Baltic and no doubt many exotic goods came in. Your potential theory about the merchant could be quite likely.

Can anyone tell me the meaning of these surnames?

Bartoszewski
Górkiewicz
Kowalski
Wielicki
Stuglik
Kosak

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE SURNAME KAWSKI

KAWSKI: likely root-word kawa/kawka (jackdaw, the least skittish and most domesticable bird of the crow family); since most -ski ending surnames are of toponymic orign, this one is probably traceable to some such locality as Kawki or Kawce.

Can somebody tell me the meaning of the surname Pyszko please?

PYSZKO: likely root-word pyszny (proud, haughty); perhaps a nick for such an indivudal; or a toponymic tag for someone from Pyszków or Pyszkowo (Proudville).

A bit curious about the deeper ancestry of the "Pawlowski" surname.

The on-the-surface meaning, of course, is not so mysterious. Some allusion to the name "Paul", or belonging to a domain named after a Paul.

"My" Pawlowski was born in "Wilno" (Vilnius), and I have done some searching and found some other Pawlowski's with roots in Vilnius. Perhaps Polonized Lithuanian nobles? Were names like this popular among Lithuanian/Ruthenian nobles who actively sought the then more prestigious Polish culture? I always though that side of my family had a bit of a "Baltic" look to 'em (not to start getting deep into anthropology here or anything)

PAW£OWSKI: You are correct to assume that this surname is traceable to both patronymic (Paulson) and toponymic (from Paulville) sources.
Although this is not to suggest that your line of the Pawłowski family was of noble birth, there were numerous gentry lines amongst yoru namesakes who belonged to such clans as Gozdawa, Godziemba, Bawola głowa, Jastrzębiec, Leliwa, Lubicz, Ślepowron and Prus. There was even an own-name clan whose coat of arms depicted the head of a white billy goat on a red shield.

What's the meaning of

Wesolowski

And weslowski

Also wesowski????

Thank you!!!! :)

Could someone please tell me the meaning of the surname Pasławski ?
Thank you in advance!

What does the name Kanski mean? and does it have a coat of arms?

A coat of arms (herb) is often shared, with the defining detail in the centre.
This one:
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janina_%28herb_szlachecki%29]
Should be the base ( click pokaż in the right hand column to see Kański)
Anthony Casey
Editor
Inside-Poland

WESO£OWSKI-PAS£AWSKI

WESO£OWSKI: root-word wesoły (happy, jolly, cheery); more likely than not it originated as a toponmyic tag for an inhabitant of some such village as Wesoła, Wesołów, Wesołowo, Wesółka and similar (Jollyton, Happyville, Cheerbury).

A dozen people use the Wesłowski spelling which was an obvious misspelling of Wesołowski. No-one uses the Wesowski spelling.

PAS£AWSKI: toponymic tag for an inhabitant of the village of Pasławki in northern Poland's Masuria region.

KAŃSKI: root-word kania (kite - bird of the hawk family); could have arisen as a patronymic nick for the son of someone called or nicknamed Kania or as a toponymic tag for someone from one of several villages named Kania or Kanie.

There were four noble lines amongst the bearers of the Kański surname entitled to identify with the following coats of arms: Gryf, Janina, Rola or Sas.

Abbi
BARTOSZEWSKI: possibly a patronymic nick for the son of Bartosz, but far more likely (nearly all -ewski ending surnames are dervied from place-names) a tag for someone from the villages of Bartosze, Bartoszewo, Bartoszów and similar.

GÓRKIEIWCZ: a patronymic nick for the son of someone known as Górka (meaning little hill, hillock), possibly because he haield from the village of Górka..

KOWALSKI: a patronymic nick for the son or heloper of the kowal (blacksmith); or a toponymic nick for soemone from the village of Kowale (Smithville); Kowalski is Poland's second most popular nickname shared by some 140,000 people; Nowak is No. 1 with around 200,000 users.

WIELICKI: either a toponymic tag for someone from the town of Wieliczka or possibly a patornymic nick for the son of some Wielisław or Wielimir.

STRUGLIK: root-word strugać (to carve in wood, whittle), hence most likely an occupational tag from a woodcarver or woodworker; possibly also a toponymic tag from someone from Strug or Strugi.

KOSAK: root-word kos (blackbird); probably a patronymic nick for the son of someone nicknamed Kos

Does anyone know the meaning of the surnames Górkiewicz, Stuglik, and Kosak?

Thank you for the information Polonius3!

what about brzęczyszczykiewicz? (lol)

Miejscowość Chrząszczyżewoszyce - Powiat £ękołody!

Is it Stuglik or Struglik?


Actually this is quite striaghtforward. The -wicz can only be a patronymic tag so this name (if it existed) would have originated to identify the son of someone nicknamed Brzęczyszczyk.

Baraniak

Thanks...

BARANIAK: root-word baran (ram, male sheep). The -ak is a typcial patronymic ending, so someone nicknamed Baran (in Polish that creature is regarded as stubborn), fathered a son, the offspring would get called Baraniak. Or maybe Barański, Baraniec, Baraniewicz or Baranowicz (Polish is rich in variant forms). The English equivalent would be Ramson.

How can I tell which crest my ancestors used?-
Kanski

First of all, do you know your line of the Kański family were 'blue-bloods'? Members of the szlachta (gentry) accounted for only about 10% of Polish society. The farmhand or cook at the Kański estate was also called Kański by the locals for easy identification.The only way to find out whether your Kańskis were of noble birth and, if so, which noble clan they belonged to, would be to contact a good professional. Possibly Count Andrzej Zygmunt Rola-Stężycki can help: instytut-genealogii.com.pl

BTW, he traces his ancestry to the Noble Clan of Rola, one of the gentry to which the Kańskis belonged.

Merged: Pierścianowski

What is the meaning of the surname Pierścianowski?

someone who comes from the village of Pierścianów (possibly the name of the noble owner of the village but not necessarily) - the name Pierścianów comes from the old Slavic name for finger

KRZYSIK: root-word Krzyś (pet form of Krzysztof); it probably originated as a patronymic nick to identify someone as 'the son of Chris'.

Possible meaning of Zaharek, may have originally been spelled Zacharek.

Thanks in advance.

ZACHAREK: from the biblical name Zachariasz. Most likely this originated as a patronymic nick to indicate 'Zack's boy' (son of Zachary).

What would be the meaning of Matuszewski and Slabinski