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Surname Szarałło/Szarało?


arelis 3 | 11
11 Apr 2016 #1
Does anyone know something about the origin of the surname Szarałło (also spelled Szarało)? One of my great-grandparents had this name and I'm curious because it is quite unusual. My family is part of the Belarusian speaking minority in east Podlasie but that name doesn't sound Belarusian to me.

I did some quick looking on google and it looks like, along with villages in Bielsk County, there are people who also have this surname in Białystok and in some villages in Warmia-Masuria.

Is it possible this name is maybe from Jotvingians or Lithuanians? The double "łł" spelling seems to be used in Polish translations of Baltic names (for example Jogailo becomes Jagiełło and Radvila becomes Radziwiłł) and the ending "o" seems more common with Baltic than Slavic names. We know Jotvingians lived in Podlasie and part of Warmia-Masuria and some assimilated with Belarusians and Poles, so that was one possibility I thought of.

Any information would be helpful. :)
adsalk 1 | 17
20 May 2016 #2
I have a friend in the USA whose last name is Surwilo (Surwiło/Surwiłło) and his family lived in today Belarus area and some of them still live in Wilno, Lithuania. He asked me a similar question. His family in Wilno speaks Polish but I cannot tell this name is Polish for 100%. I think it's more of a Baltic origin but I'm not an expert on this matter.

Szarałło/Szarało might have similar background. However, the "Sz" at the beginning might suggest it is Polish because these two letters form one sound which is very common in Polish language. But it is also possible that this name could be a little Polonized since a lot of people from the east that lived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth considered themselves more Polish (especially after the partitions of Poland) despite of not being an ethnic Pole.
OP arelis 3 | 11
29 May 2016 #3
Thanks. That's interesting about your friend. I agree the 'Sz' could be Polonisation, it's somewhat similar to Lithuanian sound 'Š', and like you said some non-Polish people from the Commonwealth did take Polish sounding versions of their names. That side of my family mostly speaks Belarusian (or rather mixed Polish-Belarusian dialect) so that might be the case that the surname just took a Polish spelling because of living next to the Polish speaking territories.


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