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Looking for Polish Spelling of Last Name


dkiefer  1 | 3
29 Jan 2009   #1
My Great- Granfather's last name was Nerswig. I am looking for the Polish spelling/translation of it. He was born in the US, however his parents were not. Upon coming to the US they changed the spelling of there last name to a english one. Any help would be great!!!! Both of his parents were born in the US
Polonius3  980 | 12275
29 Jan 2009   #2
Couldn't find aynthign even close: Nieświerk, Nieświk, Nieszwierg...
Looks Germanic or Yiddish. Were yoru ancestors ethnic Poles?
OP dkiefer  1 | 3
29 Jan 2009   #3
Yes, they were from Poland, that was my errot. I belive it is Neutashavetz. Ofcourse I have spelled the all wrong. When they came to the US the chaned it because it was to hard to spell and say. And I have been told that the translation was Nerswig.
Davey  13 | 388
29 Jan 2009   #4
I can't really tell but the ending of the name looks like it would be -siewicz
OP dkiefer  1 | 3
29 Jan 2009   #5
Thanks.... I am trying to do a family tree for my grandmother for her 75 birthday and evvery i turn i come up at a dead end road. I have the names of my great great grandparents on my grandma side and i am coming to dead ends there. I never know it would be this hard to look up your family history.... and ofcourse since i only speak english. going to any of the polish websites is out of the question. I would be happy with the meaning of some of the last names i have found..... thanks again!!!
dashflyer
8 Jul 2016   #6
Merged: Spelling of a last name ..... Spearchek

Hi there,

I live in Ontario and am working on my genealogy. I'm looking to add a couple of people to my family tree but the spelling of the Polish last name is incorrect. It sounds like "Spearchek" but I'm pretty certain that isn't the correct spelling. In fact, I should also confirm the spelling of the first name "Tanak" too! :)

If you are able to figure out what first/last name those could sound like and the spelling of them, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks in advance!

Wojtek
kpc21  1 | 746
8 Jul 2016   #7
It's definitely not the proper spelling, if you wrote it phonetically in English, because we don't have "ea" in Polish and "ch" is pronounced totally different than in English (it's pronounced like in Loch Ness).

It would be written Sperczek, but there is no such last name in Polish, Google doesn't find anything.

Maybe someone will have an idea about possible Polish surname that sounds similarly.

"Tanak" also isn't a Polish name, even though in Polish it would be read almost same as in English. Google says that Tanakh (pronounced Tanach with ch like in Loch Ness) is a Jewish name of a part of the Bible. Maybe it's not a Polish, but a Jewish name.
rlmarten
5 Nov 2017   #8
Plavacheck
kaprys  3 | 2076
5 Nov 2017   #9
@rlmarten
Are you sure it's Polish and not Czech Plavaček?
@dashflyer
How about Sperczak?
whiteboy
8 Jul 2018   #10
how to spell berkowitz
pawian  221 | 25486
7 Mar 2020   #11
Berkowicz. So simple. Anything else?

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Berkowicz
DeborahButler
26 Feb 2021   #12
I'm looking for the correct spelling of the last name:
'Yungtuzski.' ( This is as close as I can remember to the correct spelling. ) I'd like to find my friend from grade school.
pawian  221 | 25486
5 Apr 2021   #13
'Yungtuzski.'

The closest which comes to mind is Jankowski. Pronounced Yankofski. I had a class friend - Grzegorz Jankowski. We went different ways after elementary school.
polacaca  - | 1
11 Sep 2024   #14
Merged:

Shetakowski? Shkowski? Spelling Help



My grandfather recently told me that his father changed his last name on Ellis island from Shetakowski (my English phonetic spelling) to Sierak. Can anyone help me find the proper spelling of this last name??
Atch  23 | 4294
11 Sep 2024   #15
I think it's most likely to be Siatkowski. (In Polish the 'si' pairing is pronounced like 'she' in English, more or less.) Or it could be Sikowski.
mafketis  38 | 11058
11 Sep 2024   #16
Shetakowski (my English phonetic spelling) to Sierak.

Probably was Sierakowski and shortened to Sierak, most Americans would hear Sierak- as Shetak- or Shedak- the Polish r between vowels sounds like t in city.... the name comes from a kind of outer garment worn by peasants... The name Sierak is still found in Poland.

sjp.pwn.pl/doroszewski/sierak;5496455.html
Atch  23 | 4294
12 Sep 2024   #17
most Americans would hear Sierak- as Shetak- or Shedak

Gosh! That's so weird! I was wondering how on earth they got Sierak from 'Shetakowski'.

But bearing the American accent in mind, what you say about it being shortened from Sierakowski to Sierak makes absolute sense.


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