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

My Polish surname is Gniazdowski which is suppose to mean Bird in a nest, and stars in the heavens. Aleast a dear friend of mine who's past away recently told me.

GNIAZDOWSKI: root-word is gniazdo (nest); probably originated as a topo nick from Gniazdów or Gniazdowo (Nestville); the star association seems erroneous and must have resulted from a confusion or misspelling of gniazdo (nest) and gwiazda (star).

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hehe, rather not.

Gniazdo = nest

If your last name have been Gwiazdowski then it would derive from word star (gwiazda=star)

KOCIE£KO: from Old Polish kocieł (kettle, cookpot), modern Polish: kocioł

BUCEK: peasant dialect for Buczek (little beech tree or topo nick from Buczacz -- now in Ukraine)

PILIP: variant form of the first name Filip (Philip)

STOK£OSA: brome grass (coarse forage grass)

JASBIMYSKI???: No such name; spelling isn't Polish; please re-check.

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BRZOSTEK: Scotch elm

SURZAN: from Old Polish szurza (brother-in-law; modern Polish szwagier)

GNIAZDOWSKI: root-word gniazdo nest; topo nick from Gniazdowo or Gniazdów (Nestville).

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URBANIAK: patronymic nick meaning Urbanson

SAKOWSKI: toponymic nick from Saki or Sakówko

HUMIŃSKI: from the nwo archaic word humeń (Russian: igumen, Ukrainian: yhumen), superior in an Eastern Orthodox monastery.

Does anyone know the meaning of Sklodowski? I heard it's because my family owned a place called Skłodów.

SK£ODOWSKI: topo nick from Skłody (3 such places in Podlasie); skłody is possibly a
dialectic peasant pronunciation of składy (stores, depots, yards)

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The last names of my great grandparents are:

Ruszkiewicz
Poliwoda
Jagodzinski
Domachowski
Markowski
Perlaczynski
Kitzke (or Kitzki or Kicki)
Rosploch (or Rozploch)

I believe Jagodzinski has something to do with coming from an area of berries, but I haven't a clue on the others. I would be interested in hearing any thoughts. Even if you could just pick the most interesting one and comment on it, that would be helpful to me.

BTW, if it makes any difference, Ruszkiewicz and Poliwoda were from near Strzelno. Jagodzinski was from near Kosztowo. Domachowski was from Pinczyn. At least, that is where they lived before they came to America. The others I don't know, but I assume they came from the western side of Poland.

Thanks,

RUSZKIEWICZ: patronymic nick for the son of someone from Ruszki, nicknamed Ruszek or Ruszko
POLIWODA: root-words polić (dialect for palić=to burn) and woda (water); old colloquial meaning=liar
JAGODZIŃSKI: root-word jagoda (berry), topo nick from Jagodzin or Jagodzineic (Berryville)
DOMACHOWSKI: probably patronymic nick for the son of some Domamir or Domasław nicknamed Domach
MARKOWSKI: topo nick from Marki or patronymic from Marek
PERLACZYŃSKI: possibly this evolution: Perel or Perl (often Jewish jewel name like Rubin, Diament, etc.); Perlak patronymic nick, Perlaczyński - son of Perlak (??)

KICKI: topo nick from Kitki or Kiki; possibly patronymic from rare first name Kilian
ROZP£OCH: a kind of fern or from rozpłoszyć=to frighten and cause to scatter in fear (eg a known cat-hater who has cats scurrying for dear life whenever he appears).

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Hello! My last name is Sczekan, although my family suspects some letters have gone missing/changed throughout the generations. Anyone have any ideas?

what does skibicki mean, is it polish? Its my last name

My Grandparents surnames were Kupczak, Pindel and Kaminski. All were from the village of Sopotnia Mala.
Thank you.

KUPCZAK: patronymic from kupiec for the merchant's/trader's/shopkeeper's son

PINDEL: root-word pinda (c*nt, vulgar term for vulva or, by extension, a flirty, pestering slut or tramp); possibly a metronymic nick indicating the son of such a one

KAMIŃSKI: topo nick from one of many localities called Kamień.

SZCZEKAN: from verb szczekać (to bark), hence barker

SKIBICKI: root-word skiba (furrow); topo nick from Skibice (Furrowville)

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can anyone give me the background to the name Pietek and Nowak? Thank you in advance

Nowak is officially the most common surname in Poland (Novak in Czech rep. and Slovakia is also the most common).

"Nowy" means "new".


maybe Piętek? First thing which comes to my mind is word "pięta" - "heel" (of foot). But its certainly a name derived from some village rather than from "pięta"...

NOWAK: newcomer, 'new guy in town'; compare German Neumann, English Newman

PIĘTEK: most likely topo nick from Pięty in Świętokrzyskie region

Surname: Poliwka

POLIWKA: variant of polewka (a type of peasant soup)

BOBROWSKI: root-word bóbr (beaver); topo nick from Bobrów or Bobrowo (Beaverton)

no what about birdina its not anywhere and never been heard of its my middle name

never heard neither.

Hello, could you please tell me the meaning of my grandparents' Polish surnames:

Pconka (used to be spelled Pczonka in Poland, but the "z" got lost in the ocean on the way to America! :-) )

Strojny

Uszko

Gonciarz

Thank you very much!

BIRDINA?: No clue!

PCZONKA/PCONKA: probably variant spelling of Pstrzonka from verb pstrzyć (bespeckle, cover with spots, dapple, make multi-coloured)

STROJNY: dressy, fancy, smartly decked out, fashionable

USZKO: little ear; also tiny filled dumpling or mini-pierogi (uszka)

GONCIAR: Czech-influenced form of gonciarz (shingle-maker).

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Thread attached on merging:
Wnukowski - what it means and possibly where in Poland its from, and how common it is.

Wnukowski

Just wondering what it means and possibly where in Poland its from. oo and how common it is.

My last name is Berkowski does anyone know the meaning or where it originated at? Any help will be great as I am clueless of where it came from and who in my family came from Poland.

Wnuk means grandson.

WNUKOWSKI: root-word wnuk (grandson); topo nick from Wnukowo (Grandsonville); fewer than 1,000 users, nearly 200 in Radom area

BERKOWSKI: possible sources include the German word Berg (mountain), German name Behr or Jewish name Berko.

BIRDINA?: There exist such surnames in Poland as Byrda and Byrdy; origin is uncertain uncertain but some suggest Old Polish bardo (weaver's comb), barda (baltle-axe) or bard (hillock) as possible sources.

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PI£SUDSKI: topo nick from Piłsudy, Polish name for Pilsudai in Samogitia; from patriotic Polish family reportedly of partially Lithuanian stock..

MATEJKO: common to Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine; hypocoristic form of first name Matyjasz (English Matthias) originally from Ancient Hebrew Mettithejah meaning ‘gift of Jehovah’; father was Czech, motehr Polish-German.

CHOPIN: name of French origin possibly from the verb “chopiner” (to tipple), so a chopin would be a boozer, souse, etc. Chopin’s father was a full-blooded but culturally polonised Frenchman.

COPERNICUS: Latin name for astronomer Mikołaj Kopernik; topo nick from Silesian village of Koperniki, earlier also known as Köppernig and Köppernick, or occupational tag because dad was a Kraków copper merchant; mother was German-Polish

KOŚCIUSZKO: from Belarussian hypocoristic form of Konstanty.

NOTE: Names are not the same as nationality, and the contributions of the above to Poland’s national heritage is indisputable Anyone know if any DNA studies have been conducted on the above? If a Frenchman named Lapin settled in Poland in 1721 and nearly all his male antecedents over the following generations married Polish women, with a few marrying German, Jewish and Ukrainian ladies, would the Lapins of 2010 still be considered French?

what is the meaning of and how do you spell and pronounce this properly : Laneski?
do i need the e in there or is it Lanski or something? im part polish and Lane is the last name i use but the proper last name is Laneski or something? would be great if i could get some help cheers!

did some searching and it came up with : £ańskie ? is that correct? cheers

£AŃSKI: topo nick from £ańsk; root-word probably archaic/dialectic łańka (łąka) - meadow

BOBER: bober is the peasant dialectic form of bób (broad bean or fava bean, scientific name: Vicia faba); peasant nicknames derived from the names of corps, tools, livestock, etc. often evolved into bona fide surnames including Groch (pea), Sałata (lettuce), Żyto (rye), Byk (bull), £opata (spade), Motyka (hoe), etc.

STASIAK: this is a straightforward patronymic nickname indicating the son of Staś (compare Stanson).

Stasiak and Bober have already been explained elsewhere.

£YSZCZEK: possibly from verb łyszczeć (regional for błyszczeć - to shine, glitter, glisten, sparkle)

RÓG - róg is the Polish word for horn; possibly topo nick from Rogowo (Hornville)

KWAŚNY: from word for sour (kwaśny); maybe a nick for a sourpuss.

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thank you all very much for your answers, they have helped a great deal.

my grandfather was supposedly born in Eastern Poland, so it may very well be yiddish, which is odd, because there has never been any mention of jewry in my family. the only thing i can think of, is the pair of books, in hebrew, from the 40's with the "Berlin Library" stamp on it. my family, as well as many others, did get deported a lot during the war, so they may have picked it in the fracas.

there should be more interest in Polish surnames, and Polish history in general. we have had such a long eventful history, and i'm sure there's a lot of lost history, due to war.

(P.S. sorry for the double post)