OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 17 May 2011 #1,831JAB£ONOWSKI: topo nick from Jabłonów or Jabłonowo (Appleton).MICHALSKI: a very popular last name in Poland (some 50,000 users and maybe an additional 12,000 or so in N. America and world-wide). Originated as either a patronymic tag (Michaleson) or a topo nick from places such as Michale, Michałki, Michalin and similar.
Niecz 18 May 2011 #1,832Meaning for my last name: NieczyperowiczMeaning for my mother's maiden name: WaśI have never been able to get a sufficient answer for any of the meanings.
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 18 May 2011 #1,833NIECZYPEROWICZ: patronymic nick derived from the first name Nikifor, originally from the Greek Nikiforos, but eventually popular as Nikifor through the eastern Ruthenian borderlands.WAŚ: Short for Wasyl (Ruthenian form of Bazyli). This first name has generated many surnames including Wasiak, Wasiewicz, Wasilewski et al.
jwozniel33 - | 2 19 May 2011 #1,834I know that my family is polish and that there only 50 - 60 people in the us with the same last name, i do believe that my name was changed a bit when my great grandparents arrived, does anyone know if "Wozniel" is a derivative of any names or if it is the original, and if it is do you know of a coat of arms for my name?thanks if anyone can help
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 19 May 2011 #1,835WO-NIEL: I reckon it was derived either from woźny (minor law court official) or the verb wozić (to transport like a carter). About six dozen users and a handful that spells it Wozniel (without the accent mark). No coat of arms.
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 20 May 2011 #1,837However, possible Woźniel descendants did achieve noble status and were entitled to stamp their documents and possessions with a coat of arms.
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 21 May 2011 #1,839SOBIESZCZYK: probably originated as a patronymic tag for the son of Sobiesław (endearingly called Sobuś, Sobiesik, etc.)FLORCZYK: most likely a patronymic tag for the son of Florek (pet form of Florian).For more information on the above please contact me
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 21 May 2011 #1,841SZUMSKI: form szum (rustle of leaves, murmur of water); or locality containing that root such as Szum or Szumów.SIKORSKI: from sikora (coaltit, titmouse - a small bird); or locality containing that root such as Sikorki or Sikorzyn.
SoaringSoftly 2 | 15 21 May 2011 #1,842Origin of the surname Sobieszczyk??? Anyone have any ideas what part of Poland?
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 21 May 2011 #1,844SOBIESZCZYK: the ancestrral nest appears to be NW Poland's adjoining Piła and Bydgoszcz area.IWAŃSKI: probably patronymic from Iwan, Ruthenian form of Jan (John).
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 25 May 2011 #1,846JASZCZYŃSKI: root-word jaszcz (ruff, small fish of the perch family). Probably topo nick from Jaszcz, Jaszcze Duże or similar.LACHOWICZ: patronymic for "son of the Lach (Pole)". Ukrainians used to refer to Poels as "Lachy".
SoaringSoftly 2 | 15 29 May 2011 #1,847Looking for the meaning of the last names Koztoski and Hudonka and where in Poland they might originate.
ShortHairThug - | 1,101 29 May 2011 #1,848Koztoski is misspelled, should have been "Kozłoski" or "Kozłowski". You have a "T" there instead of Polish "£", big difference. Both are formed from a root word "Kozioł" which stands for goat in Polish. "Kozłoski" is rare you'll find it mostly around "Radom" region today but "Kozłowski" is common could be anywhere in Poland.Hudonka is new to me, originally probably "Hudon" or "Hudoń" in which case the meaning of both would have been skinny. Must have been a woman who had this surname hence ending in -ka as that's the way she would have been called but her surname would have still been "Hudon" or "Hudoń" in written form. Sounds like somewhere in eastern Poland or today's Ukraine.
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 29 May 2011 #1,849CHUDON/CHUDOŃ: This was probably the original spelling derived from the word 'chudy' (thin, lean, wan, skinny). Etymologically similar names include Chudor, Chudol, Chudola, Chudolej and Chudoś which probably originated to describe some local skin-and-bones type.B£AŻEJEWCIZ: patronymic tag indicating the son of Błażej (Blaise); the single largest concentration is in northern Poland's Kujawy region in and around the city of Toruń.WIECHA: a bundle of straw, hay or branches; an evergreen bouquet placed at the pinnacle of a newly built house to celebrate the completion of the basic structure; as a surname it is mainly concentrated down south in a contiguous area encompassing Częstochowa, Katowice, Kielce and Kraków and their surrounds.For more information on these names and their bearers please contact me
SoaringSoftly 2 | 15 31 May 2011 #1,850Sorry, it should have been Kontowski. Don't know if that one was ever discussed as to meaning and possible origin in Poland? Thanks.
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 1 Jun 2011 #1,851KĄTOWSKI: This is probably the original seplling of Kontowski; its root-wrod is kąt (corner). There are perhaps four dozen localities in Poland called Kąty (corners) and a number with a qualifying adjective such as Kąty Czernickie, Kąty Rybacki, Kąty Wielkie. Kątowski would be the derivative topo nick.
SoaringSoftly 2 | 15 1 Jun 2011 #1,852Thank you but could you please explain what "derivative topo nick" means? Thanks again.
Des Essientes 7 | 1,290 1 Jun 2011 #1,853derivative topo nickIt means derived from topography. In your case from a bit of land that people see as a corner. The Spanish equivalent of your surname would be Rincon
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 1 Jun 2011 #1,854There is a fine-point difference between toponymic and topographic nicknames.Topography has to do with describing the terrain, so if someone was caleld Zaleski because he lived on the opposite side of a forest (za lasem), that would be a topographic nick.However if he hailed from the village fo Zalesie (Overwood, Edgewood or something along those lines in English), that that would be a toponymic nickname. A toponym is a place-name.Merged thread:Dad-derived last namesMany Polish surnames were derived from patronymic nicknames which identified a person on the basis of whose son he was. They were created both from the standard form of the Christian name, eg Stanisławski from Stanisław, as well as from its hypocoristic (pet) versions, eg Stach and Staś > Stachowiak and Stasiak respectively. Other common examples:ADAM > Adamczyk, Adamiak, AdamowiczAMBROŻY > Ambroziak, Ambroziewicz, JamrozikANTONI > Antczak, Antoniak, AntonowiczBENEDYKT/BANADYK: Benedyktowicz, Banach, BanasikDANIEL > Danielak, Danielewicz, DanielskiGRZEGORZ > Grzegorczyk, Grzesiak, GrzeszkowiakJERZY> Jurkiewicz, Jurczak, JurkowskiKAROL > Karolak, Karolewicz, KarolczakLUDWIK > Ludwiczak, Ludwicki, LudwikowskiMARCIN > Marciniak, Marcinkiewicz, MarcińskiFor more information on these and other Polish names please contact me
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 8 Jun 2011 #1,856SZAR£OWSKI: probably a patronymic nick from the German name Scharl -- Scharl's son. The German name incorporates the same root found in English share (as in ploughshare) -- the blade of the plough that cuts the soil (Polish: lemiesz).
ady - | 1 10 Jun 2011 #1,857trying to track down the meaning of my last name: Buirski . I would also like to know if there is a Coat of arms/family crest for this last name. Thank you
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 10 Jun 2011 #1,858BURSKI: topo nick from Bursz or from the German word Bursch (student); during the partitions a bursz was a Warsaw University student belonging to a secret patriotic society (similar to the Filareci).There actually is a Burski c-o-a, besides several others used by the well-born Burskis.Buirski is not a Polish surname. The extraneous letter 'i' appears to have been erroneously inserted.BTW what is Tai-ping?
alliehosinski 10 Jun 2011 #1,859My last name is Hosinski, I'm not sure if that is the American and Polish spelling but as far as I know it was not changed when my ancestors came to the U.S. What does Hosinski mean?
OP Polonius3 994 | 12,367 10 Jun 2011 #1,860Only CHOSIŃSKI exists in Poland today. Possibly a toponymic nickname for an inhabitant of the village of Chosna, but a German source cannot be ruled out.