Ski- Suffix of names

I think I can put this here.
Where did -ski at the end of a name come from? A lot of Poles have it, why? And does it really sound different in Polish names than in Russian?

The suffix -ski is a continuation of Proto-Slavic -ьskь-jь. It defined belonging and was also used for creation of adjectives:

pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/-ski_(formant)

As for surnames, at first it was used to create surnames of Polish nobility in the 13th century - surnames were made up of a city/town/village name which belonged to a particular noble family and the suffix -ski was added at the end:

pl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/-ski_(nazwisko)

For example:

City: Tarnów = surname: Tarnowski
City: Zamość = surname: Zamojski

Later surnames with the suffix -ski became more common. For example, one of the most common surnames in Poland is Kowalski. It probably denotes someone's profession since "kowal" means "a smith" (blacksmith) in Polish. It's an equivalent of the English surname "Smith".


I guess it does since from what I can see in Russian a long "y" ("й") is added at the end:

Russian: Дзержинский
Polish: Dzierżyński

In Polish there's only the short "i" ("и") at the end, without the long "j" ("й").

Very interesting, thanks! :)

@BB, my pleasure :)

Wow, that is really precious education. It seems teaching is your true vocation. :):)

@pawian, I'm a zodiacal Gemini, so I like gathering and spreading information :))


In a way, I guess, it is... It seems to be part of my nature :)

Gemini has two different faces, nevertheless Happy Birthday soon.

@Alien, what do you mean by "two different faces"?


Thanks, I guess...

I am zodiacal Gemini too. Two sides because of two twins, the good one and the bad one. But, don't worry, it is only superstition.

@Paulina
Thank you! That's very interesting history.
That makes sense re. the pronunciation. I always thought that my fathers friend whose name ends in -ski sounded like he was stopping his name short. So, it would be, say, Kowalski correctly and not Kowalskiy as I was saying it. Now I'll know how not to look like an idiot.

@RussianAntiPutin, you're welcome :)

@Paulina
My last name is Katski. I was told by my late grandfather that it mean't "Of the Axe" and it denoted someone who executed justice for the crown. I was also told that we were distantly related to Count Marcin Katski of the 17th century, but I've never been able to confirm either of these things. All of my relatives have passed on and so far, I've only been able to trace family history to the early 1800s when they immigrated to United States.