Hello all. I'm new to this forum and I am enjoying it greatly! I am a second generation Australian and just trying to learn so much more about Poland and its history as well as my family history.
Is there a translation and/or a crest for my name: Skrzeliński?
SKRZELIŃSKI: Possibly a toponymic tag identifying someone from Skrzelew in Sochaczew district (Centrla Poland). Skrzelin (if such a place existed) wold have been the ideal match, but with surnames one never knows. Rough English equivalents of Skrzelew might include Gillton, Gillbury and Gillville.
ALBOSZTA: Probably derived from Germanic 1st name Albert (traceable to Germanic roots meaning noble + brilliant); there's a place in Romania called Alboteşti but that would probably be stretching things a bit.
WASZKIEWICZ: Patronymic from Waszka (pet form of Wasyl = Bazyl); rough Eng. equivalent: Basilson.
TURKIEWICZ: Patronymic meaning son of the Turk; the father might have really been Turkish, but many Polish Jews used the land they came from as single-generational quasi-surnames, e.g. Egipski, Syryjski, Grecki, Krymski, Hiszpański, Bawarski, etc.
FILIPOWICZ: Patronymic meaning son of Philip (originally a Greek name meaning "lover of horses")
PAW£OWSKI: Toponymic tag indicating a resident of Filipów, Filipowo or similar; or patronymic meaning Paul's son (Paulson).
CORRECTION SHOULD READ:
PAW£OWSKI: Toponymic tag indicating a resident of Pawłowo, Pawów, Pawłówka or similar; or patronymic nick meaning Paul's son (Paulson).
I was discussing some ancestry with my family and my grandmother's maiden name was Świążek.
I am only Polish from what I know and this name always sounded Polish to me so I never thought much of it, but today my family realized there is no living person with that last name at all in Poland.. or anywhere else for that matter. So we were thinking the last name may have originated elsewhere, and was changed to sound Polish? Any ideas?
ŚWIĄŻEK: A very rare surname used by only 7 people according to a 1990s census. Nearly all lived in Mazowsze -- Siedlce area (4), Radom and vicinity (2). A sole isolated Świążek lived in Dolny Śląsk's Wrocław area. This could have originated as an off-pronunciation of związek (union, relationship) back when illiteracy was widespread and some semi-literate priest or scribe wrote down what he heard.
It is possible that since the census was taken they all died out or emigrated. One cannot rule out that a misspelling may have occurred somewhere down the line, and it originally was Świątek, a popular surname.
My father's name was Uscianowski, and his family migrated from around Bialystok. My mother's family name was Zimka. Her family was from southeast Poland. Do you have any idea of the meaning of both these names? Thanks.
UŚCIANOWSKI: root-word Uścian (old pet name for Justyn); either a patronymic nick or toponymic tag from such places as Uściany, Uścianki or Uścianek.
ZIMKA: diminutive of zima (winter); patronymic tag for the son of someone nicknamed Zima or toponymic nick for an inhabitant of Zimin, Zimno, Ziminice or similar.
For more information on the above and other surnames, please contact me.
I am american but lived in Poland as a child in Wilamowka, Podlaski and later in biaylstok. I am working on my family tree with the help of family here in USA and POLAND. my maiden name is MIECZKOWSKI my mothers maiden name is Szorc. My paternal grandmother maiden name is Tolczyk. My maternal great grandparents where Wyszowaty from Wyszowate Podlaski. Actually all my family for at least a thousand years come from the podlaskie region. Also in my family tree are Kulesza Tolyczk Gutowska Pisanko Chojnowska Hermarnowska Rutkowska again they were from that region. I also believe that i can trace wyszowaty and mieczkowski to royalty.
WSÓ£: Masurianised pronunciation of wszół meaning a louse; possibly originated as a nick for a lice-infested bloke or a toponymic tag for someone from Wszołów (Louseville).
FIC: Dialectal pronunciation of Wic (Wicek), pet form of Wincenty (Vincent).
I'd like to ask if there is a last name "Swiszek"?
I have found old documents of my great-grandfather who's last name was Świążek... he lived in France for quite of bit of time, and all the documents from there have his last name as "Swiszek". His nationality is listed as "Polish", and the parent's names are Pierre (possibly French?), and Franciska Kazimiera (obviously Polish). His birth place is not legible in any of the documents so we don't know where he was born at all. It does appear that he may have changed his last name to Świążek when he moved to Poland.
The closest I could find was ŚWISZCZAK. Maybe Swiszek is the way someone tried to spell it phonetically as he heard it. The root is świst - a whistling sound made by some birds or the crack of a whip.
OBIREK: variant of obierek (peeling) form verb obierać (to peel or pare fruit, potatoes). Obierki means the peel itself. Only potential toponymic soruce might be the village of Obierwia in Mazowsze.
MIECZKOWSKI: root-word miecz (sword); toponymic tag from Mieczków, Mieczkowo and similar (Swordville, Swordton).
SZORC: a kind of apron or waist-cloth, also part of a knight's armor
WYSZOWATY: possibly a patronymic nick from the old first names Wyszebor or Wyszermir or topo tag from Wyszomierz.
KULESZA: a kind of mush made by boiling grain meal, sometimes with potatoes added; a staple of the poor peasantry.
TOLCZYK: patronymic nick for the son of Tolek (pet form of Anatol).
GUTOWSKI: topo tag from places such as Guty, Gutów, Gutowo, etc.; German-originated "Gut" means estate, landed holdings, grange, etc.
PISANKO: from pisać (to write); possibly a nick for the village scribe; a pisanka is a patterned Easter egg but men were never involved with them -- only the womanfolk.
CHOJNOWSKI: chojn- root means pine or evergreen in general; topo tag from places like Chojnowo and Chojnów (Pinwville).
HERMANOWSKI: patronymic nick for the son of Herman or (more likely) topo tag from Hermanów or Hermanowo (IHermanville).
RUTKOWSKI: root-word ruta (rue - a plant associated with spinsterhood); topo tag from places like Rutków and Rutkowo (Rueville, Ruebury).
For more information on the above please contact me
In a follow-up to the preceding post, you may be interested to know that coats of arms went with all the surrnames you have listed ecepted Tolczyk.
Thank you for the breakdown. I knew of the coat of arms for Mieczkowski and Wyszowaty but not the others. How do i find them?? Also to clarify that coat represented prestigious or royal families?
Again thank you for the wonderful breakdown. My question is the SZORC last name. It looks so different than other names. Have you seen other last names that look similar? Or is this from a different country
It apparently came from German Schortuch (a kind of apron protecting the wearer's back used by blacksmiths) which got shortened to Schürz or Schörz, and the latter form went into Polish as szorc.
There were two noble lines in the Wyszowaty family - Abdank and Roch, whilst the well-born Mieczkowskis boasted half a dozen different lines, each a separate coat of arms. It would take an essay or lecture to even scratch the surface of the convoluted and meandering world of Polish heraldry.
My parents have always gave me some vague history of these noble ties. I find this history fascinating. I want to pass this knowledge to my young american born children. Is there any literature, essays, books that you can direct me to regarding this lines ( both my mom and dad are from that same area in Poland and they both share a great great great grandparent who is Wyszowaty. My mother was born in Wyszowte podlaskie. So i have heard some history on that name. So that name runs strong in my DNA. and frankly the Mieczkowski name is important because that is my family name.
Hello, My name is Jerry Wopschall. I would be very much interested in the information on your family. I have heard that our Wopschall ancestors were wheelwrights and cart makers, were German, and moved to what is now Poland to establish a German presence in the area sometime in the 1600's.
No-one in Poland by the name of Wopschall or similar. The name definitely appears to be German. There are two people named Wopschall in the western German city of Essen. They appear to be the only Wopschalls who haven't emigrated. Nearly all Wopschalls now live in North America. Meaning and origin obscure.
Can anyone give me any information on the origin or meaning of these two last names. Rykiel, and Robak. I believe them to be Polish, but I don't know much about them. Thanks.
RYKIEL: known and used in Poland - most likely a polonised version of the German name Rickel, probably derived from Old High German rik (ruler, king) or rihhi meaning royal, powerful or rich..
No Kosztella in Poland at present. A census in the 1990s showed a single Kosztela (with one 'L') living in Warsaw. Possibly derived from Latin castellum (castle) which incidentally gave Poles the word for church - kościół.
Maybe your dad changed it because nobody had ever heard of Abbot & Kosztella!
