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

There is a list of names.

I don't know if it spelled right. But my Father said our name in polish is "jazgracz". I can only go back to my Grandfather when I search for this name. I can only trace my family back to around 1920. They lived in Shomkin, Penna.

The only word I found in Polish that is close to it is a word for a fish.
The english spelling of the name is Yesgosh

Indeed, it must be Jazgarz (ruff, a small fish of the perch family). But someone known for making a racket and raising a rumpus (jazgot) might have been humorously nicknamed Jazgarz as well. And let's not forget the toponymic possibility -- a nick for someone from Jazgarka, Jazgarew or -- watch out! -Jazgarzewszczyzna.

Hafia or (Ahafia) Kapeluch and John Holod were my great grandparents, immigrated to USA from Nowica in ~1896 (born in ~1874) and settled in southwest PA (after a time in Luzerne County, PA) Is Holod really the family name or had he change it? What would be the polish/ukraine version of John Holod? What does Hafia Kapeluch mean? How would I find out more information about their parents/family? - Thanks, Miriam

Hafia sounds Jewish. Kapeluch could mean hat (Hafia the Hatter?) Holod would be Ukrainian for hunger or starvation, in Polish - głód. The odl Polish-Lithuanian Commowealth was a mish-mash of crisscrossing ethnicites, and people's naems did not always reflect their ancestral roots.

No it doesn't. It just looks a bit like "Haifa" but it's not related.

Sorry. I fell into the Haifa trap. Ahafia or just Hafia is the Ukrainian for Agata (Eng.: Agatha), originally of Gr. origin (Agathos) meaning kind or good.

Sounds Ukrainian. Son of Onufry. Onufry is a name.
For instance
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onuphrius

does anyone know the meaning of the surname Czymmek?, it is polish and is supposedly prussian, back when prussia was still a country. Our family has been searching for ages, I think it was first spelled Symek or something of that nature before we moved here.

there are many variations actually but they are all roughly pronounced zimik

With so many varants, there is little to work with. One person in Poland signs himself Zimik, there are a few Czymmeks and four times as many with one "m" -- Czymek.

There are also a few people named Symek.
Symek might be the way Anglos would tend to pronounce Czymek or Czymmek.
Did you mean German Prussians or Baltic Prussians slaughtered, to a many by the Germans?
The original Prussian was a Baltic, but a Slavonic tongue. The -ek ending is clearly Slavonic.

Lesinski

Lesiński - las~leś root (wood, forest); most likely toponymic nick from Lesiny (Forestville).

mowinski

mowinski = can be "mówiński" which can be explained as "saying too much"
krapko = i think its a part-name of a city :) like krapko-wice krapko-rzecze itp itd. :)

Does anyone know the origin of the name Lechwar?

Possibly a variant spelling of lekwarz (a plum pomade once used in medicine, now mainly in cakes and pastries).

lechwar can be a splot of Lech (first name) and War (from Warmia - polish region)
laski = "chicks" :P it also can be a name of a city £ask-łaski

Polonius3
I would like to know about the name Slenczka (in English) and Sleczka (in Polish. Not sure which s you would use.

ŚLĘCZKA (the proper spelling) in Polish peasant dialect once meant a woman not invited to a wedding who would stand outside and peer through the window at the festivities. Maybe not a party-crasher but rather a party-peeper. The masculine equivalent is Ślęczek.


Kapeluch - the augmentative* form of kapelusz (hat), is a bona fide Polish word. It came into Polish from middle Latin capellus. That does not mean that it does not also exist in Ukrainian. From a lingusitic standpoint, we cannot go beyond that statement. To determine the ethnicity of your ancestor, you would have to consult a professional genealogist.

* augmentative -- a grammatical form that makes something sound bigger, coarser or more overwhelming that the original; eg -- pies (dog), psisko (big, old, nasty cur).

[Moved from]: Researching surname of Czekanski and Ciesla from Potok, Galicia

Hello,

I am not sure if Potok is Austria or Poland. I am researching two surnames Ciesla and
Czekanski. (father is Ignacy Ciesla: daughter Antonina Ciesla born in 1885. Antonina married Joseph Czekanski and I believe they immigrated to USA in 1901 (Holyoke MA area). Does anyone know how to research Potok

Potok is in Ukraine now

Check here: jewishgen.org/Communities/LocTown.asp

Levandovski - I'm betting that you're Jewish. "Levan" = "Levin" ?; and "Levin" is derived from "Levi".

"Dov" is "bear" in Hebrew, as I just found out. A son of a Levite bear is who you are, perhaps.

knock on your forehaed little bear :)

Lewandowski is most propably from a place name (say Lewanda/Lewandy which in turn comes from 'lawenda' (lavender) (being a corrupted form but these were quite common in folk speech)

you should consider Portnoy name origins as in Phillip Roth :P

There was once a neighbourhood called Lewandów in right-bank Warsaw's Białołęka area.
Also a locality called Lewandowszczyzna in the Lublin region, and these are the most common sources of the Lewandowski surname.
Any Polish surname may have been used by someone of Jewish descent, but the actual source of Lewandowski does not seem Hebrew or Yiddish.

how bout:

bialoglovski

BIA£OG£OWSKA - from białogłowa, literally whtie head, an old-fashion name for a married woman; there is also a Białogłowski coat of arms depicting three white skulls (białe głowy) on a red shield.

does anyone know where the last name oleszczuk comes from

English equivalent would be Alecson (patronymic nick); -uk ending suggests Ruthenian (eastern) origin.

what does my last name szynalski mean?

SZYNALSKI - from szynal (rail nail, large nail used for railway sleepers, rafters, &c.), adapted from German Schienenagel.