KRECZMAN: variant version of Kreczmer, Polish spelling of the Yiddish word for innkeeper. The Polish version is Karczmarz and its derivative Kaczmarek ranks amongst Poland's most popular surnames.
would like to find out more about my name, Opalinski. I presume it has something to do with the jewel opal? Apparently it is a famous name, but my father passed on leaving me with little information to trace.
I have already posted in the forum or the last name "Duda", but was wondering if anymore information has been found out on it's origins and meaning? Also what's the origin on Kwiatkowski/Kwiatkowska?
KWIATKOWSKI: root-word kwiatek (little flower, blossom, bloom); probably originated as a toponymic tag for someone from Kwiatków or Kwiatkowo (Florlaton, Flowerville).
I have a family surname in the early 19th century that I think may be a mangled version of a Polish or other Slavonic name. It is spelt on most documentation as Rufskufska, I wondered if the Fs should be Ws? One of the girls' names was Tabitha, are there any Polish versions of this name? Any suggestions would be helpful.
The closest I could find were names such as Rufiński (Rufińska = feminine version), Ruwiński and Rówieński. Tabitha doesn't ring a bell. It is surely not a Polish name -- maybe Jewish?
Thank you for your quick reply. I wondered about Tabitha possibly suggesting that they were Jewish. It was the right part of the world, they were in Stepney. Although the family seem to have arrived here around 1800 which seems early for them to be part of the Polish Jewish influx into the East End.
I was wondering about names like Ruszkowski/ ska, thought it might have sounded similar to an English ear if they weren't writing the name themselves. Can an f sound like a w in Polish?
georgiegirl13 Ruszkowski is more like it. That would have originated as a toponymic tag (named after a place-name) to indicate an inhabitant of some locality such as Ruszków or Ruszkowice. The Rufskufska veriion you gave led me to track down surnames starting with Ruf, Ruw and Rów.
You may be interested to know there were nobles amongst the Ruszkowskis belonging to a number of different gentry clans including £abędź, Bożcza, Gryf and Lubicz. (Google these if you want to see what they look like.)
Thank you again. Having had a look at other documents the first f is missing from a lot of them in which case I guess that Ruszkowski would seem more likely. The first names were Charles and Eleanor, so I am presuming it would have been Carol or Carl and Eleanora? I am Googling the gentry clans now, exciting! Dziękuję for your help :)
Karol (like the late John Paul II) and Eleanora. In Polish there would be no initial f. You're probably right that the name got Anglo-mangled by some British clerk at the UK border or elsewhere. The English are not generally known for their foreign language skills.
GÓRNIAK: (pronounced: GOOR-nyahk); root-word góra (mountain, hill) and adjectival derivative górny (higher, upper). Many localities Poland comprise two parts (neighboring villages or townships), one of which is called górny (upper) the other -- dolny (lower), eg Brzezina Górna and Brzezina Dolna (Upper Birchville and Lower Birchville). Area residents would refer to the person from the former as Górniak for short meaning the guy from the upper one.
I'm reading this and it's making so much sense. My last name is Sernaker. The family history that I heard is that our family came from Spain to Poland in 1492, and took a common Polish name to fit in. Apparently we had a Spanish name before, and were kicked out of Spain because of our Jewish religion. We came through Ellis Island, and everyone in the family changed the name to spell it the same. We came over in 1905.
It depends. If it is ŻABKIEWICZ it would a patronymic tag for someone whose dad was nikcnamed Żabka (the frog). ZĄBKIEWiCZ: in turn would be the son of someone nicknamed Ząbek (little tooth). In both cases the dad may have had a topo-patronymic nick: the first guy was called Żabka because he came from Żabków (Frogton), and the second was nicknamed Ząbek because he hailed from Ząbków (Toothville).
KOBOS: that was the Old Polish name for a goatskin bagpipe, one of the old peasant instruments; in modern Polish it's called a kobza.
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KRAS: This is a root with several different meanings; krasota was an Old Polish word for beauty; krasny as an adjective can mean ruddy-cheeked but also described black or red on white cattle or horses. The verb krasić means to embellish or (regarding food) to garnish. A krasomówca (literally beautiful speaker) describes an eloquent orator. A kraszanka is an Easter egg. A krasnopiórka (English rudd) is a red-finned panfish.
PAPIEŻ: This is the Polish word for pope; It could have originated as a toponymic tag describing someone from the central Polish village of Papieże.
