Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

GRZEJKA: dervied from verb grzać (to give off heat, warm, etc.). The term grzej was once used to indicate a mountain's sunny slope. There's an off-chance that Grzejka might have referred to a female who generated lots of heat???

History / Terrible past for the Jews in Poland? [930]

Before rehashing yet another very déjà vu disucssion about alleged Polish anti-Semitism, first check out how Jews feel and think about Poles and other Gentiles. The Talmud is a good place to start!

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

GA£KOWSKI: root-word gałka (ball, knob, gałka oczna = eyeball, gałka muszkatałowa = nutmeg); topo nick from Gałków or Gałkowo (Knobville, Ballton).

Śledziewski: root-word śledź (herring), hence topo nick for someone from Herrington or Herringville.

KIPNIS: that final 's' gives it a Lithuanian look; it may be derived from the verb kipierć (to overboil).

Of course, that was obviously meant to be kipieć. (My comptuer is an atrocious speller!)

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

The 'n' sound some from the nasal 'ę'. The correct spelling is Stęszewski, not Steszewski. The lack of a diacritical mark is a misspelling in Polish, as 'ę' is a separate letter that follows 'e' in the alphabet.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

STĘSZEWKI: toponymic nick from the village of Stęszew in the Poznań area of western Poland.
Owing to the nasalising squiggle (ogonek) under the first 'ę', it is is pronounced roughly: sten-SHEFF-ski..
How do people in Angloland distort it: 'stess-YOU-ski' or what?

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

ŚWIECA: candle

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

SZCZOMBROWSKI:it is rare but exists in Poland; according to Polish name-forming rules it would most likely have originated as a toponymic nick from some locality such as Szczombrów or Szczombrowo, however none such can be found at present; neither is there any word in the dictionary starting wtih szczomb-.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Linda91254
GONIWIECHA/GONIWIUCHA: from goniwiecha (Old Polish term for bird catcher).

TYCZYŃSKI: root-word: tyka (pole); topo tag from Tyczyny

PLUTA: Old Polish for bad weather (modern Polish: plucha).

BO£DA: variant form of bałda (bare rock outcropping)

NARLOCH: obscure, uncertain; distorted topo tag from Narol??? Unless it was actually Marloch (one of the humps of the 'M' got lost?!). In that case it would trace back to the dialectal verb marlić się (to become wrinkled).

S£YSZEWSKI: topo nick from Słyszew or Słyszewo or misspelling of Śliżewski (below)

ŚLIŻEWSKI: topo nick from Śliżowo (now in the lost territories of the WiIno area).

KÖRBL: German or Yiddish diminutive of Korb (basket), hence little basket (Polish: koszyczek).

GLÜCK: German or Yiddish word for luck, good fortune (Polish: szczęście).

For Jewish genealogiy please contact Yajl Reisner at the Jewish Historical Institute:

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

To my great surprise the name Dudsik (noit Duidsic) actually got recorded in Poland somewhere along the line, although no-one uses it currently. The most common version is:

DUDZIC: root-word: duda (bagpipe), an occuaptional nick for a homespun rural piper or fiddler.

Genealogy / Does your last name end in CKI not SKI [60]

MURAWSKI: from murawa (turf, grassy field, footbalłl pitch)

MORAWSKI: from Morawy (Moravia - region in Czech Republic).

However I'm sure these were often inadvertently interchanged on the immigrant/Ellis Island circuit. If the prongs of the handwritten letter 'u' were brought too closely together, someone might have taken it for an 'o'. That and simialr thngs happened all the time.

The point is illustrated by this old anecdote. In San Francisco there's a Kowalski's Chinese Hand Laundry. Naturally this piques the curiosity of visitng Polonians who drop in and ask about it. The owner replies: Me go through immigration. Man in front say his name Kowalski. Official ask me what my name so I say Sam Ting, and he write Kowalski, and it' stay like that ever since.

Genealogy / Does your last name end in CKI not SKI [60]

If one wanted to adjectivalise it (all -ski, -cki and -dzki names are adjectives from a grammatcial point of view!) then it would be Dziedzicki. In fact there are about 600 poeple in Poland with that surname.

Language / The shame! I can't pronounce my Polish wife's name (Ola) [69]

What about AWL-ah? Awl like the tool for piercing leather with an ah at the end.

Genealogy / Poland Genealogy Resources [130]

It is good as far as it goes but contains only a limited number of surnames.

Genealogy / Seeking Czarniecki family members and ancestors from Lublin, also Margiewicz, Danilowicz and Andrulewicz [77]

The Margiewicz comment is but one hypothesis. There could have easily been other sources, for instance the old verb margać (to wag, move; in modern Polish merdać) or the dialectal verb margotać (to mutter, mumble, speak under one's breath; standard Polish mamrotać). The only certian thing is the patronymic -wicz ending. So it might have originated to indicate the mumbler's son.

Regardless whether it is Foćko or Focko, Polish is a variant-rich language and the old first name Fortunat has generated a varity of forms inlcuding Foc, Foca, Focan, Fociuk, Focz and probably many more. With names often a 'unique-case scenario' comes into play -- a name thought up and used by only one family or even one branch of a given family.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

TRUDNIAK: possibly patronymic tag for the son of someone nicknamed Trudny (difficult, hard to get along with)..

MONKA: variant spelling of mąka (flour) - good occupational nick for a miller or flour vendor

FOĆKO: possibly endearing form of first name Fortunat.

Genealogy / What are common Polish character traits? [425]


Indeed, and hospitality can be perceived as a offshoot of gebnerosity. On the minus side I would note straw enthusaism with a lack of follow-through.Like a straw fire Polish enthusiasm flares up in a bright but short-lived blaze and nothign comes of it.

Another bad trait is disinterested envy towards one own. The Polish cauldron in hell joke is a good illustration. So is the one about the neighbour's pig dying.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

NALIBORSKI(?): origin uncertain; possibly misspelt toponym from Naliboki in today's Belarus which should have generated the adjectival form Nalibocki: Possibly someone misheard it and wrote down Naliborski. In rapid speech the two sound pretty close. No coat arms goes with this surname.

NALIBORSKI/MALIBORSKI: Since no-one in Poland uses either the Naliborski or Nalibocki surname, perhaps it was originally Maliborski. The shaky hand of a semi-literate peasant might have omitted one of the M's peaks. when signing a document. Or (since the M and N are next to each other on the keyboard), some Ellis Island official could have struck the wrong key producing Naliborski. Whatever the case, over 300 people sign themselves Maliborski, and their single biggest concentration is found in SE Poland's Tarnobrzeg area. Maliborski as well as Malborski are variant toponymic tags for a resident of Malbork .

KAWECKI: root-word kawka (jackdaw, bird of the crow family); probably topo tag from Kawka or Kawki. Kawecki used by some 6,000 in today's Poland, the most in Mazowsze.

PYTEL: flour sack; someone associated with milling might have acquired such a nkkcname, and his son could have been given a patronymic tag such as Pytelowski, Pytlowski, Pytelski, Pytlak or Pytlewicz.

KOVACS: Hungarian occupational nickname for blacksmith.

KWAŚNY: Polish for sour; nickname for a sour puss (someone with a sour disposition) or topo tag for an inhabitant of Kwasy or Kwaśniów (Sourville).

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

**GIZYŃSKI**RUTKOWSKI**BABOLA**CUBEK**KRULICKI**MRYG£OCKI

********************************************************************** ***********************************
GIZIŃSKI/GIŻYŃSKI: root-word giża (hind thigh of livestock); probably topo tag from Giżyn.

RUTKOWSKI: root-word ruta (rue, a herb); probably topo tag from Rutków or Rutkowo

BABOLA: probably variant form of babol, bobak, bobal, babok (bogeyman),

CUBEK: Masurianised form of czubek (top, point, peak)

KRULICKI: variant form of królicki, adjectival form of królik (rabbit); either patronymic for the sdon of soemone nickanemd Królik or topo nick from Królików or similar.

MRYG£OCKI: possibly Ruthenian respelling of Mrzygłodzki, probably patronymic nick from mrzygłód (miser) – someone so mean he prefers starving than spending a penny.

News / The quality of Polish media coverage [54]

Just a small sample...

tvn24.pl/2502076,12690,0,1,1,matka-magdy-zostaje-w-areszcie,wideo.html

se.pl/wydarzenia/kraj/pogrzeb-madzi-z-sosnowca-katarzyna-w-chce-pozegnac-madzie-chociaz-groza-jej-smiercia_227389.html

polskieradio.pl/5/3/Artykul/537563,Matka-Magdy-chce-byc-na-pogrzebie-corki

wprost.pl/ar/305632/Detektyw-doniosl-na-Rutkowskiego-On-szkodzi-nam-wszystkim

Polish TV news bulletins have kept up a steady stream of Madzia-related items

News / The quality of Polish media coverage [54]

Merged: Poland media business, journalistic decline

The endless commotion and rumpus beinga anned by the Polish media round the death of baby Madzia are an example of how journalism has deterioriated into a crude and vulgar free for all with no holds barred. The death of an innocent child is a tragedy and its cirmumstances should be fully investigated. But to turn the whole thing into yet another media circus of unending news conferneces, late-breaking news flashes, provocative commentary and tabloid/paparazzi style sensationalism just the keep the topic alive... The case of the British couple whose child went missing in Portugal a while back was also sensationalised beyond belief. But one might have hoped that Poles would somehow be a bit wiser, more restrained, decent and able to rise above their copy-cat reality.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

WITKOWIAK: patronymic tag from Witek (short form of Witold)

WITKOWSKI: topo nick from Witki, Witków, Witkowo or similar

PRZYBYLSKI: patronymic nick for the son of Przybył (newcomer, newman)

KUKURA: from kukuruza/kukurydza (maize).

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

BIGOS: this meat & cabbage and/ or sauerkkraut ragoût is often referred to as Poland's national dish. An extended meaning is a mess, confusion, a topsy-turvy situation (compare English 'a fine kettle of fish'). Its etymolgoy is uncertain but some trace it to the Gemran verb begießen (to baste meat, water plants, sprinkle liquid on something) whose past participle is begossen.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

PYKOSZ: probably from verb pykać (to puff), hence pykacz or pykarz would be a puffer (pipe-smoker). The -osz ending is a dialectal variant.

News / Police and priests save homeless in Poland [29]

No, they take them to homeless shelters. Homeless topers are often relucatnt becasuer the shelters don't admit those under the influence, but PM Tusk himself has appealed to the shelters to accept everyone in the severe weather. The priests are usually regarded as more credible than police.

News / Police and priests save homeless in Poland [29]

Wh knows if the sectarians weren't slipping some oriental halluciniogens into the grub?! Better to be on the safe side.

Life / Babcia or Busha - any social class difference? [359]

Any linguistic genocide is being committed not by remote overseas Polonians but by Polish advertisers with their 'dwa w jednym', 'od Wedla' and myriad other non-Polish intrusions. They corrupt the language from within all the more effectively due to frequent repitition which distorts the public's lingusitic sensitivity.

Language / What were the first Polish words and phrases you have learned? [63]

Probably: mama, tata, babcia, dzidzia, bebe (sowemthing bad). But I most recall 'pan gla'. There was this moving billboard advertising Pfeiffer's beer which showed Johnny Fifer (a Revolutioanry War icon) marching along and playing the fife. Some grown-up pointed it out to me and said 'pan gra' and at the age of 2 or 3 I was only able to blurt out 'pan gla'.

Genealogy / "Choroszucha" - Jewish family name? [19]

By 'Jewish' do you mean Hebrew or Yiddish? The name is obviously Slavicc alhouhg it could have been used by Jews. Many Jews had names such as Kowalski, Zieliński, Białasiewicz, Nowak, Skowroński, you name it!

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

KORONA: crown

KORONA---BUGALSKI---MAĆKOWIAK
************************************************

KORONA: crown; possibly topo tag for someone from Korona, Koronówka (Crownville), etc.

BUGALSKI: probable Old Polish root-word bug (bend in a river, hence the River Bug known for its numerous meanders)

MAĆKOWIAK: patronymic nick for the son of Maciek (Matty from Matthias).

CHOMCZYK: an obvious patronymic nick but the root-word may surprise you. It is Toma (peasant version of Tomasz) whose Ruthenian forms were Foma and Choma. In other words, the English equivalent of Chomczyk would be Thomson.