polonius 54 | 420 6 Dec 2012 #2,911Yes, bryłka can mean a lump or clod of most anything. What your personally remembered ancestors did for a living was not necessarily a reflection of their surname which probably originated centuries ago. On the other hand, since Poland was a nation of peasants 85%), it is not inconceivable they were amongst them.But we cannot entirely rule out a possibly toponymic source such as the villages of Brylewo or Bryłówek.
bernie79 2 | 3 7 Dec 2012 #2,912Thanks for all the info, they certainly where in the 85% as there jobs on their marriage certificates where classed as Einliegers which in German is apparently somebody who basically works for a nominal wage and recieves a house on the farmers land as a privilage. It's very interesting that you mention that the surname may of come from a village as Bryłówek is about 45 minutes from where they lived (Dobrodzien), and I have found the serveral families with my surname in that area (not all related), in fact the distribution of the surname appears to be concentrated soley in the Upper Silesia region, so it seems very plausible.Thanks again.
mvaleria - | 3 12 Dec 2012 #2,913Merged: meaning of possible polish last nameHiI'm from Brazil and my boyfriend says his family has a polish last name. I'd like to know its meaning, it is Dziobczenski.Thank you.
rybnik 18 | 1,454 12 Dec 2012 #2,914Dziobczenski.the first half of his name, dziób, means beak (as in bird's beak).
mvaleria - | 3 12 Dec 2012 #2,915Thank you for your answer.If you don't mind me asking, what about the second half? Does it have any meaning?
berni23 7 | 379 12 Dec 2012 #2,916Its just an ending, comparable to the Brazilian "eira" like in Ferreira, Oliveira etc..
polonius 54 | 420 13 Dec 2012 #2,918DZIÓBCZYŃSKI: Dziobczeński does nto exist in Poland at present. Under 3 dozen people in Poland sign themselves Dzióbczyński, and their epicentre is western Poland's Wielkopolska region, specifically its Konin area.Such names are usually of toponymic origin, ie dervied from a village called Dzióbczyn.The Brazilian analogy was brilliant. Since dziób = beak, rough English equivalents might be something along hte lines of Beakly, Beaking, Beakington, Beakton, Beakman, Beakwood, Beakmont, etc.
taninoz - | 2 15 Dec 2012 #2,919Merged: Any information on the name SzkopkowskiJust wondering if anyone could give me any information on our surname "Szkopkowski" please? I cannot seem to find out much about it... Many Thanks
marcy633 - | 2 17 Dec 2012 #2,921Hello I am trying to find out about our sir name Grzeszak or Grezeszak can anyone help me ?
polonius 54 | 420 17 Dec 2012 #2,922GRZESZAK/GRZESZCZAK: Both versions exist and both are of patronymic origin. British Isles equivalents would be Gregson or McGregor.Other Polish patronymic surnames derived from the pet form of the Christian name Grzegorz (Grześ, Grzesio) include Grzesik, Grzesiak, Grzesiuk, Grześkowiak and Grzeszczuk. From the full name, we get Grzegorczyk, Grzegorzewski, Grzegorek et al.
marcy633 - | 2 17 Dec 2012 #2,923thank you I can see there is so many spellings of our name. Now to find our family crest if there is one.
Marysienka 1 | 195 17 Dec 2012 #2,924those are different surnames of the same origin, not different spelling.Polonius, couldn't it also be from word "grzech"= sin.
polonius 54 | 420 18 Dec 2012 #2,925From gzech we have such surnames as Grzesznik (sinner) and Grzezny (sinful), but you are right. Your surname could have taken its root from grzech. So many different things have happened in name development that most anything is possible. And the original nicknamers were not university profs but usually simple, illiterate peasants who blurted out the first thing that came to mind. If others heard it and found it clever and appropriate, they repeated it and it often caught on and stuck.One should not rule out the toponymic option out of hand. Maybe in some cases it had nothing to do with some Grzegorz or Grześ but was traceable to the village of Grzeszyn in central Poland. An inhabitant could have been known as Grzesz, and when he fathered a son -- instant Grzeszak or Grzeszczak.
msboehme - | 1 22 Dec 2012 #2,926I'm looking for the history of the Polish last name KONIUSZY. I've also been looking for a Coat of Arms. I'm trying to find it to make a display of it all for my fiance and the sooner the reply the more grateful i would be. Thank you!
polonius 54 | 420 27 Dec 2012 #2,927KONIUSZY: equerry, formerly a royal official in charge of the king's horses. No coat of arms accompanies the Koniuszy surname. The closest is Koniuski, which might have originated as a patronymic tag for the koniuszy's son. The noble Koniuski line were entitled to identify with the heraldic device Junosza.
kcharlie 2 | 165 27 Dec 2012 #2,928Jabłoński.Jabłoń means apple tree. It's probably a Polonisation of Apfelbaum, since that part of my family is Jewish. Lest there be any doubt, Apfelbaum also means apple tree in German.
polonius 54 | 420 28 Dec 2012 #2,929Jabłoński is a name shared both by ethnic Poels and Polish Jews. Actually most any Polish name has been used by Jews at some point, however, some of the more popular ones include:Czarnecki = SchwartzBiałek = WeißZieliński = GrünGóra = BergGruszecki = BirnbaumZłoty = GoldSrebro = SilberMały = KleinDuży = Groß
secuono - | 1 28 Dec 2012 #2,930Merged: DembinskaHello, wondering if anyone knows anything about the name "dembinska"?My mother said that if we follow our line back far enough, you could say we were nobles.But I really know little more than that.Thanks.
kcharlie 2 | 165 28 Dec 2012 #2,931Dembińska looks like an alternative spelling of Dębińska (it's pronounced identically). At first glance, "dębina" means "oak forest-stand" or "oak woods".Jabłoński is a name shared both by ethnic Poles and Polish JewsIt's good my surname can pass for a Polish one, but I still look like an Israeli soldier and can calculate compound interest faster than I can add :D
gumishu 13 | 6,138 28 Dec 2012 #2,932Dembińska is a place-name derived surname - the place name is probably Dembiny or Dembina which is a non-standard form of 'dębina'/'dębiny'
kcharlie 2 | 165 28 Dec 2012 #2,933I thought so too. Still, the place name, "Dębina" and "Dębiny" itself would probably be derived from "dąb" ("oak").
misiaczek - | 2 31 Dec 2012 #2,934Hi, I am trying to de-anglicize a friend's family name "Chalupowski", but have had little success so far. I wonder if you might be able to help me with this one?
gumishu 13 | 6,138 31 Dec 2012 #2,935"Chalupowski"Chałupowski with Ch pronounced like 'H' and ł (pronounced as 'w')
ancro 3 Jan 2013 #2,937Trying to figure out the meaning of surname. But I don't know exactly how to spell it in polish. I live in Latvia so we spell it PAVĻUKEVIČS, in russian it's ПАВЛЮКЕВИЧ, in english PAVLUKEVICH. I guess it's PAWLUKEVICH maybe? Any info would be nice.Thanks in advance. :)
Bieganski 17 | 888 4 Jan 2013 #2,938Transliterated it is most likely Pawlukiewicz.This is a patronymic surname derived from the common Christian given name Pawel (Paul).
ancro 4 Jan 2013 #2,939So I guess it's similar to 'son of Pawel' in a way? The end of surname mean anything?
kotlomoy - | 10 4 Jan 2013 #2,940ancroYes, "-ewicz" means "son of". As example, I'm Russian and my second name - patronym - is "Dmitriyevich", which means "son of Dmitriy".