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

Pociask or pociak is a hoe-shaped tool for scooping ash out of a stove.


KOZ£OWICZ (son of Kozioł or Kozieł). Kozioł is a male goat or buck deer. In America, a Jew with this Polish name might well spell it Kozlovitz.


WITOWICZ (son of Wit -- short for Witold).

Tobolkiewicz

Tobołkiewicz from tobołek (bundle, travel bag).

what about the meaning of Posądziejewski????

Posądzejewski - probably from posądzać (to suspect, impute some wrongdoing)

Anybody know the meaning for the surname 'Beszczynski' ?

Beszczyński - obscure; possibly toponymic nick from some locality, eg Bieszcza, Bieszczyna, pronounced the "hard" Ukrainian way: Beszcza, Beszczyna.

Trying to find the meaning of my last name of SUPINSKI for a school project.

Perhaps your surname was derived from Sopinkski. I've met a few in Southen Cali.

There is an older Polish word supinacja (from Latin supinatio) meaning to lie supine, but I doubt if that could be the source.

What can you tell me about the name Zrodlowski? My father was born in Rohatyn, when it was Polish. Another relative, surname Lodyga, was born in Wilno.

Just looking at Google results surprises me because I didn't think that Zrodlowski was that common, especially in the U.S.

-ródłowski (basic root: źródło - source, spring), probably toponymic nick from -ródłów or -ródłowo (Sourceville, Springton).

What can you tell me about the name Pirsztuk?, my grandfather thinks he was born in a village of the same name, is that correct? i am not sure whether it could be now in Belarus. Please let me know

It sounds very Russian.

There isn't a village in Poland with this name.

However there are at least 41 people in Poland who share this surname. The most in Augustów on the border with Lithuania and Belarus.

It doesn't. It looks more like Belorussian or Polish or Ukrainian.
I did a quick search and got results mostly from Belorussia. Пирштук is spelling in Cyrillic if needed.

Thanks. Could Pirsztuk maybe be a village in Belarus?

There is a village called Pirsztuki in the Homel/Gomel district of Belarus. In 1744 it was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Wilno.

KAMYKOWSKI: toponymic nick from the village of Kamyk (Pebbleton)
KUKU£KA: little cuckoo, either nick based on some characeristic or toponym from Kukułów or Kukułowo (Cuckooville)

Thank you Polonius3 for that info. Nice to know that I officially have a little "cuckoo" in me! LOL

Is Kamyk still the current name of the village? What did you mean by Pebbleton?

Kamy girl...Polonius3 often translates what the village name would mean if it were rendered in English. Pebbleton (pebble town), is the closest English meaning for the name Kamyk.

Polonius3 where did you get the information from? I cant find Pirsztuki on a map? Is it a small place?

Upon closer inspection all I could find were people in Belarus with the Pirsztuk (Пирштук) surname. Пирштуки сeло (Pirsztuki village) produced nothing. However, I did find Pirsztuki under the heading Homel/Gomel - back in the 18th century it was in the Wilno Archdiocese. That suggests that the name may have disappeared or even the village itself may have vanished over generations of wars, insurrections, revolutions, natural calamities, etc. But it must have existed at least up till the birth of your ancestor.

Zavisha, Zawisca. My ancestors were from Poland, I'd like to find out what that name means. I know about history of Zavisha, but I want to know how can I translate the word itself, and after what word name Zavisha comes. Thanks

Sergey Zavisha

The name is Zawisza, as far as I know Zawisza is the first name so it would be a patronymic name formed from the name of the father and I think it means ambitious one, although it could be confused with Polish word zawistny. With a name like that no Pole would associate you with being Russian. With a Noble last name like that what's up with Sergey?

Zawisza appears to be a variant of the name Zawisław whose basic roots were zawiść (envy) and sława (glory). It might have originally meant envious of glory, but by the time of the hero of the Battle of Grunwald, the knight Zawisza, it was already probably only a name.

What is witold? They changed it to white when they arrived here... i was told anything with witz, vitz or icz was jewish... is that correct?

Witold is the Polish version of the Lithuanian name Vytautas.
Someone with a Wit-starting name in Ameircan could have changed it to anything he wanted: Whtie, Smith, Schultz, Fabiano, Gomez...it's a free coiuntry.

In the US Jews with -wicz ending names often changed it to -vitz.
Now I've got a question: how are Jewish -wicz ending names respelt in other countries? The name of the late Soviet dictator Khrushchev (Polish: Chruszczow) was spelt some 30 different ways in different countries - the fate of all Cyrillic-written names.

Polonius, would have any insights on the name Balitewicz?
Any insights into a place called either Schipliski or Lyepisaki, both in turn of the 19th century Russia?

Thanks in advance.

No-one in Poland uses Balitewicz and its source is also obscure. There does exist the localtiy of Szypliski in NE Poland's Suwałki area near the Lithuanian border. Perhaps

Lybiškiai is the toerh place you were lookign for. It is in today's Lithuania.

Both places make sense. My great-grandfather's origins are obscure, and his wife was from Zielona Gora (Green Hills). His brothers emigrated after he did, and the two cities you researched were listed as their places of origin on immigration documents. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate my great-grandparents' documents (arrived in Baltimore in 1903 with an infant). What confuses the issue, for me at least, are what their daughter (traveled with them as an infant in 1903) lists on some of her documents. She lists both of her parents as Galician on a census. She also lists her place of birth as Hrys, Poland on her husband's naturalization form (She married a man from Sanok). I can't find Hrys anywhere. I suspect it's Hzran, or something close. Basically, it looks like my great-grandfather really moved around. He was probably born in or near present day Lithuania, traveled to Galicia, married a woman (maiden name Domicella Marcela Prugar) and eventually they traveled to.....Hamburg(?) and then to the US via Baltimore.

Polonius, thank you for your insights. They are much appreciated.

Thanks about your answer..I've been trying to tell my mom that I am pretty sure my grandfather was probably Polish/Lithuanian-Jew.. but been told with the name more towards the Lithuanian-Jew side and here u say it too. She thinks i am crazy, like I am begging to me Lithuania-Jewish..ya, that was my dream when I was born..Just finding out after almost 35 yrs about this jewish and what not is kinda shocking.

For your answer, the Vitz, Wicz and the Witz is all that i know of...But for instance, my name is Minnich, which is American form that is suppose to be German, which I been told came from 3 different Jewish names ages ago and I believe a Romanian one too. I don't know if this is any help.