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

Indeed, Myślin and Mylina are the prime sources, but Myślinów cannot be ruled out. If linguists had been coining nickanmes centuries ago then from Myślinów you could get only Myślinowski. But most nicknamers were illiterate peasants with no knowledge of grammar, spelling or etymology. Always bear in mind that 90% of the time a -ski ending indicates toponymic origin, so always first head for the atlas, as you have done.

It's a big aristocratic name and hence another possibility: in the 19thc. there were a few armed uprisings and fights with the Russian forces occupying parts of Poland, all of them unfortunately lost. After that, in order to punish the aristocrats who supported these uprisings, the Russian tzar (or tzarina) gave their names to numerous Jews. Lots of Potockis, Czartoryskis and others appeared then. So if you know nothing about your ascendants coming from an aristocratic family, then there are good chances that one of them might have been a Jew.

There are many "real" Potockis' descendants alive now though. You may also look them up in Wikipedia - a lot of important historical figures there.

Perhaps you mean Janowicz.


Never saw it spelled that way but I know a Naitzke family.


My Altlas/Gazateer shows 7 villiages named Jaźwiny in Poland. My dictionary defines 'tabor' as an army camp with trenches. The gazateer shows one village named Paluchy.

I'm pretty sure there is a Paluch music publishing firm in Chicago.


The word 'rad' means to be glad or pleased.


'Chamski' translates to boorish. The word stingy is skąpy in Polish.

By coincidence, that was my paternal grand-mother's maiden name.'Buk' is Polish for beech tree. There are about 80 villages in Poland that begin with Buk-.

There are two towns named Stargard. Stargard Szczeciński, and Stargard Gubiński. Riewald sounds German.

Precisely one town is Stargard Szczeciński and second is Starogard Gdański. the name of Rewal is German language originated and comes from German name Rewahl

NEITZKE: I believe someone has already indicated that Neitzke was probably derived from Nikolaus (German for Nicholas). So it would be something like English Nicky or Polish Mikuś. Naitzke is pronounced in German exactly like Neitzke. As a result of widespread illiteracy, Germans also had spelling problems way back when.


RADEK: Radek is the pet form for the first name Radosław. There is a group of Polish surnames identical to first names and including: Wiktor, Augustyn, Fryderyk, Zygmunt. It is said they often evolved into patronymics if only a single person in a given hamlet bore such a name. So the original Wiktor’s children would have been identified as Adam Wiktor, Jan Wiktor, Maria Wiktorówna, etc.

This simply means PRIEST and it is written KSIĄDZ.

what does danowski mean?

DANOWSKI - toponymic nick from Danowo (several such places in Poland), probably from Daniel and roughly translatable as Danville, Danton, Danbury, etc.

Hi everyone! Anyone familiar with the name 'Wichłacz'? Id really like to know if theres a root. I heard from someone once that it meant 'deceiver' but they didn't sound too sure. Can anyone back that up? any other possible origins?

by the way this whole forum has been incredibly interesting

WICH£ACZ: The root of this surname is to nowe archaic Polish verb wichłać (to entangle, confuse, involve). In mdoern Polish it is spelt wikłać.

The -acz ending is occupational or pertains to someone doing something or known for something, hence it indeed could have arisen to identify a schemer, swindler, crooks or some such con artist. But it might have also emerged as a toponymic nick from Wichowo, Wichorze, Wichowicze, etc. with the -łacz ending thrown in for no special reason. The nicknamers of yesteryear were mostly illiterate peasants with no knowledge of grammar, spelling or etymology. They blurted out whatever came to mind and sometimes (if it was regarded as clever or catchy) it stuck.


On the basis of that information (Patronym), Neitzke would be the equivalent of Nicholson.

Can you tell me the meaning of SUMSKI and WALCZAK ? Thank you.

SUMSKI: sum = sheatfish; probably toponmyic nick from Sumowo, Sumówko or Sumki

WALCZAK: patroynmic nick (son of Walenty or Walerian)

My maiden name was Bambynek I believe that this is more common in Germany than Poland, can anyone help with the origin and meaning of this? Thanks

BAMBYNEK: There are some 250 people in Poland (mostly in Śląsk) using the Bambynek surname. I'm wondering if it wasn't possibly connected to Bamber, the term applied in the Wielkopolska region tp Polonised Germans. The diminutive ending may have served a patronymic function so it would have meant 'son of the Polonised German'.

Yes, the overwhelming majority of Bambyneks hail from the Częstochowa area and the Katowice area to the sotuh of it.

hi my last name is wolos i live in the usa
in my city of phila.im the only one listed is it a rare name
and could you tell me what it means

WO£OŚ: It is rare also in Poland, used by only 26 people. Like Wołoch and Wołosz it means a Valachian -- a Romanian shepherd from the opposite side of the Carpathians.

My last name is 'Szlufik' and I hear it means 'belt-buckle'..?

I'm unfamiliar with the belt-buckle meaning of szuflik. Maybe it's a regionalism. A szuflak is a male elk or deer, and a szuflica is a river and canal-dredging machine. Those are the closest words I could find. A szaflik is a wooden washing-up basin or a mason's trough for carrying mortar in.

CORRECTION: Mea maxima culpa - I misread Szlufik as Szuflik and obviously could find no connection. Szlufa was once an alternative form of szlifa (epaulette); another meaning of szlufa or ślufa was a metal tag (shoelace tip) or point protector of a walking stick, scabbard, etc. It was also a loop in a cable used in mining as well as modelling clay. The Szlufik nickname might have originally identified someone who worked with such items details or was otherwise associated with them.

Anyone know what 'Malachinski' means?

hi
could you please tell me what my grandfather from my mother side means

the name is...nitka

MALACHIŃSKI: toponymic nick from the Kashubian village of Malachin in Pomerania.

NITKA: thread; possibly occupational nick of a tailor or toponymic nick from a locality containing the nitk- root.

TOMASZEWSKI THANKS

TOMASZEWSKI: toponymic nick from any of a number of localiteis in Poland called Tomaszew or Tomaszewo (Thomasville, Tomsboro. Thomton, etc.).

WOW!!! Do you have any info on Lamusga???

My mom's maiden name was Marcinek?
My dad's last name was Morawski?
Can you tell me anything on these two?

LAMUSGA: Possibly from the word lamus (storage room or shed), borrowed from German Lehmhaus. The -ga suiffix often has a pejortive meaning as in włóczęga (vagrant), łazęga (idler, vagrant) and ciemięga (clumsy oaf), so maybe it originated to indicate someone who lived in a storage shed or was otherwise aassociated with it.

MARCINEK: hypocoristic (pet) form of Marcin = Marty. Possibly used as a patronymic nick.

MORAWSKI: nationality-rooted nick from Moravia, the part of Bohemia that borders Poland's Śląsk region.

My last name is officially "Pazehoski" but it was changed when my great grandfather came over from Poland. The original spelling is thought to have been "Parzuchowski". Any info would be greatly appreciated!

PARZUCHOWSKI: a typical toponymic nick from Parzuchów or Parzuchowo, Nearly all -owski names are of toponymic origin.

How about Czyryca, all I seem to come up with is NorthWest Poland?

CZYRYCA: The -ica/-yca endings are normally used for diseases (miadżyca, pryszczyca, wszawica) so this sounds to me like a very unpelasant disease -- one that produces pus boils (czyraki). However, an alternative source might be the chirping sound of czyryk-czyryk (supposed to imitate a sparrow's tweeting). Also, there are at least 2 places in Poland called Czyrna and Czyrnowa -- both in Małopolska. Whether one of the above was the source of the Czyryca surname is hard to say. It must have come from Soviet-annexed eastern Poland because the largest concentration is now in West Pomerania.