Does "Ryszard" work as a surname in Poland?

Saw a dude with the username "edwardryszard" in some forum. But I always assumed Ryszard was only used as a first name, not a surname.

It's rare, but it happens

He has probably two first names which is quite common in Poland.

Our super's Ryszard and I typically call him "Panie Ryszku!" whenever we see each other.
Oh yes, forgot to mention we've got a Polish maintenance man now, fair English, yet speaks with yours truly solely in Polish.....except of course if my wife's present:-)

It does, if I met a guy named Michał or Patryk Ryszard I'd not think much of it, Paulina Ryszard sounds more like a contrast but I'd automatically know it's a surname and not a middle name.

I've mostly heard it as a given name. Sometimes as a middle, but never a surname.

I have never heard Ryszard used as a surname in Poland.
Always a first or middle name, sometimes shortened to Rysziu or Ryszek.

Yes, exactly.

Rysiek.

And the vocative "Ryszku".

Nobody ever called me Ryszku. It was Ryszard or Rysiek. I should know.

*Ryśku

Now I know that you and others are not Polish. Never once did I hear my name with "u" at the end of it except from my parents as Rysiu.

@Rich Mazur
Yyyyyy, that might have been caused by growing up in a country where Polish is not spoken.

Glad I taught you something.
You're welcome.

I think only a few male given names and/or diminutives ending in -EK are also used as surnames, such as Bartek (diminutive of given names Bartłomiej and/or Bartosz) and Marek (given name)

Where I grew up it was not Polish that was poken. It was Polski jezyk.

@Rich Mazur
And I grew up where język polski was spoken :)

Apparently, Ryszard is used as a surname
nlp.actaforte.pl:8080/Nomina/Ndistr?nazwisko=Ryszard

I call my super "Panie Rysku!" and he appreciates the opportunity to speak Polish:-)

I have never heard Ryszku.
Ryszek and Ryszu yes, but never Ryszku.

Hey, guys, "z" is only in Ryszard.

When on the phone, I can sometimes hear others address him the same way.
It may simply be a question of correctness vs. colloquial usage, that is to say
"incorrect", if slangy, conversation.

European workmen on the whole, have a better education/schooling than their
US counterparts in my experience. I don't know this guy except as a super, but
perhaps in Poland he was an engineer and was forced to work in the States
as building handyman.

If nominative singular is Rysiek, then are the other declensions (singular and plural) stemmed from Ryśk-? Is nominative & vocative plural Ryśkowie? Are the singular genitive & accusative Ryśka and plural genitive & accusative Ryśków? Is dative singular Ryśkowi and dative plural Ryśkom? Is instrumental singular Ryśkiem and instrumental plural Ryśkami? Is locative & vocative singular Ryśku and locative plural Ryśkach?

It's Rysiu and Rysiek.
Panie Rysiu/Panie Ryśku.

It's ś not sz.

Rysiek Forever!

@mafketis
Polska straciła Ryśka i Hankē mniej więcej w tym samym czasie :(

faktycznie Rysiek Petru i Hanka GW zniknęli z horyzontu mniej więcej w tym samym czasie :P

All three are acceptable. 'Rysiek' is technically a nominative, but it is often used in the role of a vocative. 'Ryśku' is the true vocative of 'Rysiek'', but indeed is rarely heard.

'Rysiu' is technically a vocative of 'Ryś'. It is used as the vocative of the name 'Rysiek' even though its proper vocative would be 'Ryśku'. On the other hand, 'Ryśku' is likely to be heard in conjunction with 'panie': 'panie Ryśku' rather than 'panie Rysiu'.

You may add 'Rychu' to the list which vocative is mostly used between male friends or colleauges among the working class.

@NieNazwany.
To me all your declensions look correct.

@Ziemowit

Thank you.
That puts us all straight :-)

Polish - an insane language for masochists...

I switched to Richard when I was naturalized. From that day forward, the only form I and everybody else used was Rich.
That's it. Just one word for all occasions and the earth is still spinning in the same direction.

Like I said, Polish is insane.

Rysiu may also be used in the nominative case.

@gumishu
Your first thought? :S