BATKOWSKI: topo nick from Batków in Soviet-annexed Krzemieniec district (now in Ukraine). Root-word batko (Uktrainian for Eastern Othodox priest), so roughly translatable as Clergyville, Priestbury or something in that vein.
Merged thread: ZALESKI, ZALEWSKI, ZA£ĘSKI
ZALESKI: topographic (overwood, other side of the forest) or topo nick from villages called Zalesie
ZALEWSKI: topographic (from zalew = lagoon, bay, floodwater) or topo nick from villages called Zalew or Zalewo
ZA£ĘSKI: topographic (łeg = marshy field + prefix za = beyond) or topo nick from Załęże.
ALEKSANDROWICZ: a nice clear-cut patronymic nick or a topo-patronymic one. So either the dad had been baptized Aleksander or he hailed from Aleksandrów and got the Aleksander as a topo tag.
FELIKS: from Latin felix (happy, joyous); Chorzów makes sense becuase this name's stronghold is obviosuly Śląsk (Silesia). That includes the Katowice industrial district, the Częstochowa area to the north of it and the Opole region to the west of it. Another bastion is neighboring Małopolska, esp. the Kraków area.
Yes, in general the Ruthenian patronymic ending typcial of the Lithuanian-Ruthenian borderlands, where the Tatars mainly settled, is found in the surnames of many Polish Tatars. Their roots include Arabic names lile Achmatowicz (from Ahmed), Jewish ones (Dawidowicz) and Greek ones (Aleksandrowicz).
I'd like to know the origin of my maiden name LAWRUK... I have a few clues, but I am often asked by my relatives and friends what nationality is it.
My great grandfather was born in Austria in 1852. His name was Nicholas Lawruk and he was married to Anna (?) born in Ukraine in 1876. Nicholas came to Canada in 1911 or 1912.
Anna and her two sons Antoine (my grandfather) and Michael followed. My grandfather, Antoine was born June 1904 in Husiatyn, Tarnopol (Austria) Poland. My grandfather, Antoine spoke Austrian, Ukrainian and Polish and English. Since the borders were moved so frequently back then, it is hard to pin down what nationality 'Lawruk' is and it's meaning. One relative suggested 'Lawruk' was actually a name of a town. Was there a historical significance of why they escaped?
The spelling of your name would be £awruk. There are 43 people in Poland with that name: and probably a lot more in the Ukraine. On the map, in red is where your possible relatives might live. Galicia.
£AWRUK: Ukrainian patronymic nick from first name Lavrentiy (Eng: £awrence; Polish: Wawrzyniec), hence originally meaning something like 'Larry's kid'.
Hi, My name's Monica my last name is Gosdinski. I've done some research about the origin but I just want to compare your opinion with which I have. Thanks
DZIEKAN: This is the proper spelling. As noted above it means dean. It can be a university official, or a priest in charge of 10 parishes (dekanat), or a senior diplomat. It could have origianted as an occupational/titular nick or a topo nick from places such as Dziekanów (Deanville).
Hi was up everybody, this is my first post but i had a question about my last name. Now i`m 100% polish as both my parents and grandparents were born in poland, but is My last name Koleda, 100% polish, as i know it is a common slavic term for christmas as well
KOLĘDA: derived from Latin calendae (first days of the month). It made its way into the Eastern Orthodox realm to mean New Year's Day and spread throughout the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and was extended to things (songs, gifts, etc.) pertaining to the entire Christmas-New Year's season. Kaledos is the Lithuanian word for Christmas itself. In Poland kolęda means both a Christmas carol as well as the New Year's pastoral visits to the homes of parishioners. As a surname it is also spell as Kolenda.
Does anyone know if "KESIK" means "slab" or does it mean something else??? I googled it and it came back as that, I am refering to my last name KESIKowski. please help?
KĘSIKOWSKI: root-word kęsik (small bit of food, morsel, bite); Kęsikowski could have arisen as a toponymic nick from Kęsików or Kęsikowo (Morselville) or as a patronymic one for the son of someone nicknamed Kęsik.
DOBOSZEŃSKI: variant spelling of the more common Doboszyński; from dobosz (army drummer); possibly a patronymic nick for his son or maybe even a Romanian toponymic connection to the locality of Doboşeni.
What about the meaning of Tontala or Tontała? (I have found Polish citizens with the spelling of Tontała). We're originally from southern Poland, Krakow area according to relatives. Thank you!
TONTA£A: from now archaic verb tątać (to thoroughly search every corner, bustle about or fastidiously perform some task); Karłowicz & Co. define it as krzątać się. So a person known to act this way would have been nicknamed Tątała or Tontała.
STEC: probably a pet from of Stefan using the German pattern of short one-syllable forms including Stetz (Stefan), Dietz (from Dietrich) and Detz (Dettlaff).
I am looking for the last name with different spellings. The last name I am looking for is Dereniwski or Dereniwsky or Derewinski. When my grandfather came to Canada there was a spelling mix up. If anyone has any information please let me know.
