FURMAN: from German Furhmann (carter, waggoner); could be a Jewish name but not necessarily.
Thanks Polonius! I always teased my mother about her maiden name and her thrifty ways - she is staunchly anti Israel but suprisingly pro Jewish - but all she had to do was point at that side of her family; blond, steel blue eyed with little upturned noses.
LECH: the name of Poland's legendary founder and Lech, Czech and Rus fame. Natrually someone might decide to anglicise it into Leach or Lechly or whatever.
BWAIKO, BJALKO: those spellings could be most anything -- Albanian, tribal African?? Maybe it was somethong like Białko (egg white and protein), a common Polish surname.
RAŚ: quite unusual; perhaps not of ethnic Polish origin but German/Yiddish Rasch (serge, worsted wool) or the adj. rasch (hasty, rash). If indigenously Polish, then possibly a toponymic nick from some places such as Rasząg or Raszelki or a pet from of some given name such as Raścisław.
What is the best way to find family in Trawy? I have two family names that came from the same village in Poland. One half of my family is Trawinski, the other half is Rysz. My grandfather followed his wife to be from Poland one year after my grandmother left Poland. They were married in the US.
If you are lookign for living fmaily, find out what gmina it's in and phone the Dział Ewidencji Ludności to see if any Trawińskis still live there. For historical records, check with the Archiwum Akt Dawnych or a private genealogist. If desired, I can provide some addresses.
FRANIEWSKI: most likely a toponymic nick from Franiewo (Frankville)
SALIK: this could also have origianted as a toponymic nick form csuch palces as as Salno, Salino, Salnicze, etc. But the Polish adj. salicki refers to the Salian Franks (see below) and Salik migth have originally meant a Salian???
The Salian Franks or Salii were a subgroup of the early Franks who originally had been living north of the limes in the coastal area above the Rhine in the northern Netherlands, where today there still is a region called Salland. The Merovingian kings, responsible for the conquest of Gaul were of Salian ancestry. From the 3rd century on, the Salian Franks appear in the historical records as warlike Germanic people and pirates, and as "Laeti" (allies of the Romans). They were the first Germanic tribe from beyond the limes that settled permanently on Roman land.
The Salians fully adopted the Frankish identity and gradually ceased to appear by their original name from the 7th century onward, when they evolved into the Franks par excellence.[1]
Polonius3: FURMAN: from German Furhmann (carter, waggoner); could be a Jewish name but not necessarily. Thanks Polonius! I always teased my mother about her maiden name and her thrifty ways - she is staunchly anti Israel but suprisingly pro Jewish - but all she had to do was point at that side of her family; blond, steel blue eyed with little upturned noses.
Don't hurry with assessing nationality by name only. My family for example is of Austrian origin with very German family name, but polonized in the middle of Ukraine (what a mockery).
Furman was Polish proper noun for waggoner as early as in 16th century. It was, of course, a German borrowing, but made hundreds years ago, so it gives you NO EVIDENCE of the nationality or religion of the family - or let's better say - an origin of the first guy consequently described with this moniker.
He could be a Pole of Catholic or Lutheran denomination, or German living together with Poles, or Ruthenian (Ukrainian or Belorussian) or even Jew. In Yiddish (a German dialect with Hebrew and Slavic borrowings spoken by majority of Jews in former Poland) a carter was called: furman (from German) or bałaguła (from Ruthenian).
Thanks. That's what I thought. Furman and furmanka are still pretty common names for horse pulled wagon and it's driver. But you hear it here, and everyone assumes its Jewish.
I know. The world is full of besserwissers (or knowing better), so please show them, if you like the map with geographical localization of persons with last name Furman in Poland - total of 6 193 persons, from whom - unfortunately - only very very few could be of Jewish descent.
Im not sure but "wierczanie" was a polish tribe of unknow localisation. This is only meaning that comes to my mind. Also surnames that ends with -ski, -ska are <b>usually</b> surnames of nobles :) for exemple Trojak - not noble Trojakowski-noble :)
"Why would someone have that name?" I meant, could a person be named this because he made canes or used a cane perhaps?
You say this name is Polish. This is interesting. My deceased father had told me it was Kashubian and he grew up in a USA town that had a large concentration of Kashubian Poles. Also, he spoke what he called "low Polish" which he said was looked-down-on by those who spoke "high Polish". I had assumed that Low-Polish = Kashubian. On the other hand, my father told me his parents were from Poznan which seems to be separated quite a bit from the present day Kashubian territory. Like many male Poles around 1880, my grandfather served in the Prussian army; I assume in the Franco-Prussian war. I suppose that could put him anywhere in the NW quadrant of Poland under Prussian control.
My father said his family had the surname " Bień " in Poland as far back as he knows. He had one sister remaining in Lvóv up to 1977, no other remaining family. He said maybe some French people moved up when the a French Queen came to Poland. Is this true?
Do you know where the name "Bień" came from? Are there any people left?
My Mom's surname is Stępien, any ideas on this one?
BIEŃ: from Benedykt (patronym) or locality incorporating it (toponym); some 4,500 users in PL; no connection to French adverb bien; Benedyktz ah spawned a plethora of surnames including Bieńkowski, Benko, Banach, Banaś, Banasiak, Benedyktowicz, etc..
STĘPIEŃ: someone who married into an inheritance.
The Poznań connection is explainable. As a matter of principle the old Polonian immigrants would give the name of the provincial capital when asked where in Poland they were from. They figured no-one in the USA could possibly have heard of Pcim Dolny or Kozia Wólka so they said they were from Kraków, Warsaw, Białystok, Poznań, etc. The former Großherzogtum Posen (Grand Duchy of Poznań) bordered Prussia which included Pomerania (Kashub country). Perhaps your ancestor had lived in a border area between the two. On the other hand, he may have been born in one place and identified with his Kashubian roots till his dying day, but later had to move before coming to America.
PROKOP: originally from Greek name Prokopios (meaning battle-ready). Prokop is a popular first name amongst Eastern Slavs, but rare amongst ethnic Poles.
Indeed, Nowatzke would be the German respelling of the Polish surname Nowacki. It could have originated as both a patronymic nick (Nowak's son) as well as a toponymic one (an inhabitant of Nowaki, Nowe, Nowiec, Nowęcin, etc.). NOTE: Most if not all German surnames ending in -ke (Lipke, Bromke, Zemke, etc.) are probably of Polish, Wendish or Czech origin.
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