Mosiondz/Mosiadz/Mosiedz surname

What is the meaning and origin of the surname Mosiondz/Mosiadz/Mosiedz?
I heard it meant Brass, for a Brass worker perhaps?
Thanks

Indeed, MOSIĄDZ means brass. As a nickname-turned-surname it could have originated to identify someone who worked or traded in such metal. Names derived from precious or non-precious metals and stones (Srebro, Złoto, Rubin, Diament, Koral, Granat, Marmur, Żelazo, Bursztyn, &c.) often identified artisans and traders, many, but certainly not all, of Jewish background.

Many with the surname Mosiondz here in Canada are not Jewish, but rather Ukrainian (West Galician) or Polish?
I often see this surname on Jewish lists and Jewish surname books so I was just wondering.

Would you say the surname Mosiondz is therefore a:
Polish and Jewish: derived from the Polish word mosiądz 'brass'
an occupational name for someone who works with brass, or often, in the case of the Jewish surname, an ornamental name.

Thank you for the reply.

MOSIĄDZ: Mosiądz is Polish, but it came from the mediaeval German Massing (brass) -- in modern German Messing. In the great Central-East German-Yiddish-Slavic cauldron names were often translated. So depending on the shifting winds of history and who was in charge, a Góra may have decided to pass himself off as Berg, Krawiec might become Schneider and vice-versa.

SZCZERBACKI: Szczerbacki and Shcherbatsky are different spellings of the same name, something widespread when Cyrillic enters the picture. It can be Polish, Russian, Belarussian and Ukrainian.

So you mean to say, a German could have changed his name from messing to mosiądz, mosiedz, or mosiondz, and a Jew or Slav could have done the same too. But it could have also been an occupational name taken by poles, Jews took the names for ornamental perpose (metals,birds). What Is a Gora?

I just wanted to make the distinction that Mosiondz/Mosiądz is NOT strictly a Jewish surname, as many I know are gentiles.
This surname for Poles would be taken for occupation no?
For Jews an ornamental name?
For foreigners a translation?
Lastly do you suppose a Ukrainian in West Galicia could have translated his name to Mosiondz/Mosiądz?
Thank you.

My point was that none of these names are restricted to bearers of a single nationality. A name may be German or Polish or something else in etymological terms but is used in one form or another in neighbouring lands as well.

The word mosiądz is Polish, but a Ukrainian or Russian would spell it in Cyrillic Mosiondz, as the nasal vowel 'ą' does not exist in that alphabet.

Góra means hill or mountain, as does Berg in German and Yiddish. I'm sure you know that Yiddish is a dialect of German.

By and large it wasn't people taking on names, but others calling them by some nickname which eventually evolved into a surname. When there were many people named Józef in a given village, when describing their activities people had to tell them apart. So the bushy-moustachioed one became Józio Wąsacz, the blacksmith was Józek Kowal, Józio Dubiel, the clueless clumsy oaf -- Józio Ciemięga, Tom's boy Joe was Józwa Tomczyk, and Limpy Joe was Józio Kulej.

One example: a common German and Jewish name is Weiß. In a Polish-speaking area it could have got written down phonetically as Wajs, and when such a one emigrated to America, the Ellis Island folks, his employer or maybe he himself may have anglicised it to Wise, which of course completely changes its etymology. On the other hand if Wajs was aware of the etymology, he might have changed it to White.

But that's not all folks. It could have gone in a different direction. When Poland was independent, it may have been a better career move not to have a German/Yiddish-sounding name, so some people named Wajs would have translated it to Biały which in the Russian area would have been Byeliy and in Ukraine Biliy. In America, the Anglo-Saxon eye would have seen Bialy as Baily, and its bearer (so as not to have to explain things to everyone he met) might have gone along with it. But many generations away from a name's point of origin, it is often extremely difficult to track down its original form and nationality, especially since most people do not attach that much importance to family-name history and regard their surname as 'just another name'.

Hope this helps.

Thanks that helped.

Hello

I am responding to this thread as my paternal side of my family is named Mosiondz. This is based on my knowledge of the family, Ukrainian and Armenian names and the history of both areas.

So let's begin:

The name Mosiondz is of Armenian origin, and is an alternate spelling of Mosian. It means "Son of Mosis" It is pronounced just like its base form of Mosian (moaz-ee-in" (like the first part of Mosis/moses with the standard -ian ending common to other Armenian names.

It also has a Georgian form of Mosondz, which retains its Armenian name but with a short O sound in the first cyllable, unlike the long O in its Armenian form, and the dz being pronounced like a z in the second cyllable, unlike the -ian ending in its Armenian form. it is important to remember that both Mosiondz and Mosondz are alternate forms of the original Armenian name Mosian, and that Mosondz is simply the Georgian spelling of the Armenian Mosian/Mosiondz.

All other branching forms of this name would therefore be considered Armenian, assuming they retain the same meaning of "Son of Mosis" or a variant meaning. We must also take int oaccount that Mosis is an alternative spelling of Moses, as well as the fact that Armenia is a Christian nation.

Also that Mosis/Moses does not necessarily refer to the Moses from the bible, rather it can refer to anybody named Mosis, as Mosiondz/Mosian/Mosondz is a patronymic surname, meaning it si derived from a father's surname, much like Scandinavian surnames like Ericson or Carlson.

I also want to make note that the surnames Mosian/Mosiondz/Mosondz have no relation to the Polish term mosiadz, which is Polish for "brass."

Some people on internet forums, notably this one at "Mosiondz/Mosiadz/Mosiedz surname" In that forum, the people draw parallels between the fact that "mosiadz" ends with "iadz" and starts with "Mos" and the "Mosiondz" spelling looking similar. However this forum does not take into account the Armenian name that Mosiondz and Mosondz originate from, nor does it take into account the history between Armenia and Eastern Europe.

As for the belief of the believed Polish/West Galician origin origin of Mosiondz and Mosondz, again, one needs to take into account the fact that many Armenians migrated via the Caucasus or the Black Sea to Ukraine, and established diaspora in the area for various reasons. Most notably the Armenian genocide, but also trade between Armenia and Western Europe, and Armenia's status as a former member of both the Soviet Union and the Ottoman Empire, both of which also claimed the Ukraine area.

In fact, the name Mosian/Mosiondz/Mosondz is a somewhat odd name for an ethnic Ukrainian, as -dz and -ian endings do not exist in Ukrainian surnames. These endings would come from ethnically Armenian and Georgian families that moved to Ukraine for one reason or another. This also means that all born into a Mosiondz family are ethnically Armenian, no matter what, as the Mosian families are Armenian. As for why the spelling was changed to "Mosiondz, " while the pronunciation remains the same, it is possible that an older romanization may have not taken into account that Armenia and Georgia are separate countries, as both were part of the Ottoman empire and the Soviet Union over the eons.

the "-iondz" is also a romanization of more ancient Armenian names too.

Hope this clears things up as to the origin of the name Mosiondz.

thank you.

@The Caucasian
The thing is that the Polish word mosiądz is pronounced mosiondz and there are lots of spelling mistakes when it comes to surnames as in the past not all clerks were good at it.

So if you're talking about someone who immigrated from Poland, there's little likelihood their surname originated in Armenia or Georgia.

My mother's maiden name is Mosiandz (Mosyandz) , the Ukrainian spelling is Мосяндз. At least 5 generations of her ancestors with this last name lived in the village Novoselytsia, Kelmentsti district, Chernivtsi region (western Ukraine). We still don't know what the origin of this last name was. I was wondering if there are any people with a close spelling to this who originated from that region? Thank you

There was also a lot of Mosiadz in Berezhany region in Western Ukraine during XIX century. After WWII there were resettled to Poland