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

I am a senior in high school and need to know the meaning of my last name for a writing assignment. Last name is grutkowski. Can anyone help me?

GRUTKOWSKI: Since there is no such word in Polish and no such place in Poland as grutek, grutka, etc., most likely the original spelling was Grudkowski or Gródkowski. Grudka is a lump of something such as a clod of frozen soil and gródek is a small fortified town, but

-owski ending names are usually toponymic so the surname probably is traceable to such localities as Grudek or Gródek. All three surnames exist in Poland: Grutkowski, Grudkowski and Gródkowski.

Could that be the result of a spelling mistake somewhere? maybe something like Grotowski?

Hi, does anybody know the meaning or origin of the surname Filipczuk?

I am desperately trying to find out more about my Polish heritage, and unfortunately my only living Polish relative that I know of is my Aunt Natalia who is 96 yoa.

Can somebody please help? Thanks.

GROTOWSKI: It migth have been Grotowski, which would have been a toponymic nick derived from Grotów (Grottoville or Arrowhead). But these are only specualtions. Yuu would probably be closer focusing on names incorporating the "tk" or "dk" spelling.

FILFIPCZUK: patronymic nick from Filip, esp. in the Ruthenian borderlands (Eng. equiavalent: Philipson or Philson).

Could you find out this one?

Kołoda

Thanks
Adam

My last name if Firack. Would there be some connection?

Firack (sounds like fear ack) does anyone know the meaning of this name or what area this family may have come from?

KO£ODA: From the Ukrainian word for log „колода” (the Polish equivalent is „kłoda”)

FRYDRYCHOWSKI: toponymic nick from Frydrychowo (Fredericksville);

FIRACK: ??? no such surname currently in Poland. Possible derivation – an archaic term for a promiscuous woman was once fira. Or maybe it was originally Piracki (the f~p is not unusual in different dialects, eg Filipiuk>Pilipiuk). No-one at present is surnamed Piracki (pirate-like), but that name has been recorded in the past.

The Polish spelling is Firak. It would be pronounced differently here if there was a letter C. There was an (SLD) politician called Witold Firak, who I think is from Silesia. It should be easy enough to find contact details and ask him about family roots, though he seems to be a bit of a character. I think I met him a couple of times, a few years ago.

Do you know the meaning of my family name? Hryckowian
Thanks for your help!

FIRAK: That changes things entirely. There are soem 100 people in Poland naemd Firak. As I said before, there was an archaic or dialectic term fira for the village wh*re. The -ak is a patronymic or (in this case) matronymic ending. The good news is that few if any modern-day Poles know this. To them Firak is just a meaningless name withno special connotation of any kind.

Sounds a bit like zdzira, which isn't nice either.

@Polonius3, have you come across the surname Kuciapski?

Anyone know what "Zatika / Sitika" means?

KUCIAPSKI: from kuciapa (pundendum muliebre = woman’s external genitals); nearly 300 Kuciapskis in Poland

SZMYD: Polish respelling of German Schmied (blacksmith).

ZATYKA: stopper, plug, cork, peg – someting to close up an opening

SITIKA: no such word, name or place in Poland; unless you meant sitka as in ‘orzeł czy sitka’ = heads or tails (archaic); possibly a clumsy attempt to Anglicise or Germanise the Zatyka surbame?!


HRYCKOWIAN: root-word is hryczka, Ukrainian for buckwheat (Polish: gryka); possibly from a locality containing that root.

Fabisiak and Wejkowski?

FABISIAK: patronymic nick for 'son of Fabiś' (pet form of Fabian)

WEJKOWSKI: toponymic nick from Wejków or Wejkowo

What know the meaning of Cieniawski.It looks my Great grand parent Cieniawski.
What name was mother @father of my Grandfather name Piotr From Raba Nizna?

CIENIAWSKI: root-word cień (shade, shadow). Toponymic nick from Cieniawa (Shadebury, Shadowville) in Małopolska.

BARWINA: possibly derived from barwa (colour), barwić (to colour) or barwinek (periwinkle, a plant) or such toponyms as Barwino or Barwinek.

Does anyone know what "F i l i p c z u k" means, or what its root-word is?

What region of Poland it is from, or how common it is?

Cheers!

FILIPCZUK: root is Filip (first name) and -czuk is a patronymic suffix esp. common in the Ruthenian borderlands. So it'd be somtthing like Philson or Philipson. More than 1,700 users in Poland today.

How about "Marchiel"? Very uncommon but my father isisted it was of Polish origin. (NE Poland around Byalystok)

Most have said it sounds french... but when I confronted may dad with that he became very defensive and insisted it was Polish. As I mentioned, I know it is not common at all. I wonder. He was from a small village in the north east. I'll have to come to Poland one day and do some serious searching. It's difficult from the computer. I hear local church records are a valuable source for tracing surnames.

Checking Google in Polish, there are certainly some people called Marchiel in North East Poland. But looking at in French, there far more people with that name in France.

Various battles happened in NE Poland during the Napoleonic Wars, Ostrolenka (Ostrołęka) etc.; the French army were here for a long time and presumably some of them stayed.

Marchiel exists as a surname in Poland although it's quite rare. The more common form is Marchel (without the added 'i'). This is a dialectic (peasant) form of the first name Melchior (traditonally the name ascribed to one of Three Kings/Magi).

What about last name Furman, from Świętokrzyskich? Is it a Jewish last name?

My surname is Ryczko......what is your guess of origin?

Can anyone verify whether Myszka is a Polish last name? I have understood that it is, and perhaps means "little mouse". Is this correct?

Sounds plausible.

could anyone tell me what the original spelling of the surname Kuchinski is? I have been told that originally it was spelled different and even with more letters.

Kuczyński

FURMAN: from German Furhmann (carter, waggoner); could be a Jewish name but not necessarily.

RYCZKO: from ryczeć (to low, below, roar); or toponymic nick from Ryczka,. Ryczki, Rycza, Ryczeń, etc. (Roarville, Lowington?)

MYSZKA: litle mouse or toponymic nick from Myszki, Myszkowiec, Myszkowo, etc. (Mouseville, Mousebury?)

KUCZYŃSKI: from kucza (hut, lean-to) or toponymic nick from Kuczyn or Kuczyna (Hutville?).