What does my Polish name mean?

@Jmartusewicz, as for meaning - I don't know, but maybe it comes from the Latin name Martinus (English: Martin). The ending "-ewicz" suggests Eastern origin:

https://polishforums.com/language/ethnic-backround-suffixes-surnames-72736/


So, Martusewicz could mean "a son of Martin", for example.

Also, it seems there's a possibility that you can have noble roots (but only genealogical research could confirm that) - your surname is connected to one of the oldest Polish coat of arms called Łabędź (Swan), which was also adopted by Lithuanian boyars:

pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%81ab%C4%99d%C5%BA_(herb_szlachecki)

In English:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%81ab%C4%99d%C5%BA_coat_of_arms

Hello,

My surname is Kizner, but in the village my family comes (Rzyki located in Małopolska) is typically found as Kiznar. I have seen variations from the area such as Kieznar, Kyznar, Kiznarczyk etc. but at root it is Kiznar.

The village was founded under Wallachian law and other surnames from the village are suggested to be "Wallachian" in origin. Perhaps the below text is helpful (copy-paste removed).

Why? Is it considered to be anti-semityzm lol! Well, I should laugh it might be a reality for some.
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As I tell numbers people asking similar questions - if you are really interested and what to know you should go and hire a professional, it will cost you, not too much I think but than you will have your answers.

Asking here is rather pointless, for people in Poland names are just names and doesn't convey some secret meaning, not to mention looking for its origin or some such... it a bizarre idea for most Poles

Every surname has a story, and in what's now Poland, there are names from most of the ethnicities who live/have lived there.

Sure, but people do no pounder- what it means, where it comes from, what it is the story.
Some are into genealogy but most do not give a ... do not care at all about such issues.
I'm only telling to people - mostly Americans it seems - to get real and stop asking those questions on some random website.
I mean if they are interested in a true answer.
If not, and it is just some play on the American dream of being an aristocrat or as a second best to have an ancestor being an aristocrat and thus justifying their feeling they belong in the ranks of aristocracy even from Eastern Europe, be my or rather be the PF guest but don't expect too much.

My opinion won't stop them from coming. lol!

@tylerkiz

the name Kizner, Kiznar probably has German origins - in 13th century if I recall correctly there was a wave of settlers from Germany in the Polish Karpathian mountains and piedmont - these people eventually adopted the language of their Polish neighbours later in 16th-17th century but their (phonetically altered) surnames remained - I don't know what Kizner means (my wild guesses are "cheese maker" (cheese is "Kaese" in German) or a surname connected to "Kiese" (gravel in German) but my guesses may be completely off and my knowledge of German is quite limited)

Edit: I found a surname Kiesner (mostly found in Germany, the US and Poland) - alas there was no explanation on the meaning of the name, but I think it is the most likely candidate for the source of the name Kiznar/Kieznar/Kizner (to focus your attention a German surname Weiner (wine-maker/wine grower) became a Polish surname Wojnar (the surname also comes from the same area: the Polish part of the Karpathians and their piedmont)

What a strange opinion to have in a topic about this exact question. I do not think I descend from royalty or have some special heritage. My family were farming peasant, and at best thieves. When they came to America they were poor and lived in arguably the worst city in the entire country.

Every surname has a background whether it be occupational, locational, partonymic or some other form. They did not come out of thin air.

I am interested in genealogy and where my family MAY have come from prior to arriving in Poland.

Good for you. It is not a website where you can get an answer to your question.


I would say it is an honest and helpful opinion. It lets you know that the chances you will get some specific information are almost nonexistent and if you want to find some answers you need to look up Polish websites and specialists providing such services.

Hi everyone! So I have some questions about my family's surnames that have popped up in my genealogy investigations.

First my surname is Rólka, which has a variety of spellings in my family (Rolka, Rulka) but one that popped up that I'm confused about is Rolko. At least one baptismal record has Rolko and a cousin of mine in Poland who does genealogy has our surname as Rolko for a lot of my direct ancestors tho Rolka/Rólka will appear in parentheses but for a number of cousins it's only Rolko. The Slovak equivalent of my surname ends in -ko but our Rolka/Rolkos are from northern Masovia/southern Mazuria (Mława, Lidzbark Welski, Płock areas). Is there any reason that could possibly account for this variation?

Second question, one of my great grandmother's appears in marriage records for her children as Anna z Kaliszów. While I know z. d. can mark maiden names, does having z + maiden name in the plural genitive play the same role in these sorts of documents (late 19th century)?

Third question, not about surnames but how common was the first name Szymon among non Jewish Poles in the 19th century? I have a great grandfather with the name Szymon Stawski and I'm curious if he's likely Jewish or not.

Thank for any insight!