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

Don't you mean Andrzejewski?

News / Does Poland support the idea of Slavic unity? [142]

The dispartiy between Western-Latinic-Cathoilic Slavdom, to which Poles, Czechs,. Slovak, Croates and Wends belong ,and the Eastern-Cyrillic-Byzantine-Orthodox camp is far too great for any thought of unity.les feel a closer affinity with non-Slavic Hungarians and Italians than with the eastern branch of the Slavic family. Also, Panslavism in tis 19th-century edition is invariably associated with Muscovite hegemony -- not something Poles take too that well.

History / Do Polish people in general dislike Russia or Germany more? [369]

A joke I heard a number of years ago. A Pole was asked if he had to shoot a German and a Russian, whom would he shoot first, The reply: 'Naturally the German!' *Why?' 'Bo najpierw obowiązek, potem przyjemność! (Because duty comes first, then pleasure!).

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

GOSZCZ: basic root gost- which has generated such words as gość (guest) and gościć (play host). Could have also been derived from the old first name Gościsław or such localities as Goszczyn and Goszczowa. Couple hundred users in Poland.

For more info on Goszcz and other surnames please contact me.

PORĘBA/POREMBA: from verb porąbać (chop up, hack to pieces). A poręba is a forest clearing.

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

S£OJEWSKI: root-word słój (jar or tree ring or layer of rock, marble, etc.); topo nick from Słoja or similar.

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

KRISZCZUK: Haven't we already dealt wiith this name recently? The -uk is a Rutrhenian patornymic indicator, but which language did the basic root come from? One Lithuanian equivalent of Christopher (Polish Krzysztof) is Krisèius. In Ukrainian it is Христофор but it may have been turned into some endearing pet form. The Englihs equivalent of the surname would be Chrstopherson.

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

It could be both but I would venture to say it was of Polish origin.

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

SOBOLEWSKI: Could be Polish, Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian. Soból is the Polish word for sable and in Russian it is cоболь. The
-ewski ending suggests toponymic origin, and there are numerous places in Poland, Russia, Ukraine (Sobolewo, Sobolew, etc.) that could have generated it.

KOZIARSKII: Amongst the bearers of the Koziarski surname there were two separate noble lines entitled to use the Ślepowron and Wężyk coats of arms resepctively.

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

FRENDAK: probably patronymic nick from Frend --- short (pet) form of the German first name Ferdinand. There are a couple people in Poland surnamed Frendak.

KOZIARSKI: patronymic from koziarz (goatherd), hence the goatherd's boy.

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

The Mazowsze region is Poland's main Rukat stronghold, notably Greater Warsaw as well as the Ciechanów and Siedlce areas.

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

RUKAT: possibly from Old Polish verb rukać (to squeal during rutting time said of pigs); also to fart.

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

Litwinski
LITWIŃSKI: patronymic = son of the Lithuanian; the normal adjective for Lithuanian is litewski.

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

'Bez łaski' or inverted to 'łaski bez' or with the augmentative 'łachy bez' (for greater emphasis) is a sarcastic retort along the lines of 'don't do me any favours!'

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

in Czech laska means love (sam root as Polish łaska (mercy, grace, favour, clemency).

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

KLABACHA **** JĘTKA

KLABACHA: Also Klabach is used in Poland but is not of Polish origin. It could come from the dialectal German verb klabastern (to bungle, bumble) or the noun Klabautermann (bogyman). At least one Polish onomastician believes Klabachto be a Gertman pet form of the first name Nikolaus. The surname Klabacha in today's Poland is most common in the former Galicja area of the SE.

JĘTKA, JETKA: from jętka - an ephemerid (insect whose entire lifespan is 24 hrs). Yetka looks to be an Anglophone phonetic respelling to facilitate pronunciation.

Merged: Laska surname correction

The Laska surname entry should read:

LASKA: stick, cane, pole, the modern slang meaning bit of fluff, bird, chick, good-looker, knock-out, etc. did not exist when surnames were emerging centuries ago.

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

Tetzlaff also spelled as Tatzlaw and Tatzłaff is Germanized form of Polish Tacław. Derived from an ancient Slavic name, in old Polish Ciesław, Ciechosław, or it's Czech equivalent Teslav, or Těchoslav, so take your pick.

This surname exists in Poland but is not of Polish origin; it is the Germanised version of the Czech name Tetěslav .

LASKA: stick, cane, pole, 'knock-out; the modern slang meaning bit of fluf', bird, chick, good-looker, etc. did not exist when surnames were emerging centuries ago.

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

modafinil
BRZĘCZYSZCZYKIEWICZ (???): non-existent but appears derived from verb brzęczeć denoting a clinking, clanging, jingling or buzzing sound. A buzzer is a brzęczyk and 1 person in Poland uses that surname. His son might have become Brzęczykiewicz, but someone added a superfluous extra syllable (szczy) just to heighten the ridiculous effect.;

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

GASIŃSKI; root-word gasić (to douse, extinguish a flame); topo nick from Gasyzna (Douseton).

GĄSIŃSKI: root-word gęś; topo nick from Gąsin (Gooseville).

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

TERESKO: most likely source feminine first name Teresa; metronymics were often used to identify an unwed motjer's bastard: Less likely but not impossible as a source tereśnia (Old Polish for sweet cherry, czereśnia in modern Polish).; the -ko ending is more common in the Ruthenian tongues than in Polish but was once widepsread in Old Polish first names: Zbyszko, Staszko, Janko, etc.

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

WARANOWICZ: the only thing 100% certain is that it started as a patronymic tag -- the -ic and -icz are nearly always indicators of paternity! As for the basic root, perhaps this originated as a topo-patronymic. Someone from Варановка in Russia got nicknamed Waran and the son he fathered became Waranowicz. Or maybe the source was the Lithuanian locality of Varaniškiai.

Genealogy / Surname Krzyszczuk [35]

While Krzyszczuk. Kryszczuk, Kryshchuk and suchlike trace back to Krzysztof, possibly alsdo Krzysztan, Krzczuk (used by one of the eaarlier posters of this thread) could have come from krzciuk, a dialetcal form of kciuk (thumb).

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

KOSAKIEWICZ: from kosak (a kind of knife for coring cabbage or cutting straw). Someone nicknamed Kosak (like in the 'Mack the knife' song') fathered a son who got dubbed Kosakiewicz.

KADZIECKI: probably topo nick from Kadzie (Cauldrons, Cauldronville).

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

JSMoczydlowski
MOCZYD£OWSKI: topo nick from Moczydło; a moczydło is a small pond, forest pool or very large puddle.

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

MALEŃCZAK: The -czak ending is a dead give-away that this is a name of patronymic origin. Someone was nickanmed Maleńki (tiny, runt, little guy) and when he sired a son, fellow-villagers called the offspring Maleńczak (Tiny's boy). The largest concentrations are in the recovered lands, meaning that this name was most popular in the one-half of pre-war Poland annexed by Stalin and never returned. The Jelenia Góra area in the country's extreme SW corner contains one such concentration.

WIELGAT: root-woird wielgi (dialłectal for wielki - big, large, hude): wielgat and othjer such words (wielgas, wielgogh, wielgus, etc.) were used to describe a moutain of man, a big bruiser or the biggest and beefiest bloke in the village.

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

CZAPSKI: most likely a toponymic tag from several localiteis called Czaple (czapla is a heron). The letter 'L' must have dropped out of Czaplski somewhere along the line becuase it was hardly audible anyway. Or maybe a long-legged bloke got nicknamed Czapla and his son got patronymically dubbed Czap(l)ski.

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

BESTA: multiple possible sources: 1) Polish phonetic spelling of German Bester which is actually pronounced Besta. (Bester in German means ‘the best one’); 2) bestia – beast. animal (from Latin); 3) Masurianised pronunciation of beszta (from verb besztać – villify, brow-beat, smear (which I believe originally came from Hungarian – any Magyars on PF to verify this?); 4) verb bestwić – goad, tease, infuriate; 5) topo nick from places such as Bestwin or Bestwiny in Poland or numerous Best- localities in the German-speaking countries (including Besten and Bestenheid) as well as Turkey, Scandinavia and South Africa.

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

KANIEWSKI: root-word kania (kite - small predatory bird); probably topo nick from Kaniew or Kaniewo (Kiteville).

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

-ski (and its variants -cki and -dzki) are adjetcival, hence they must agree with the person they modify: Kowalski for men, Kowalska for women. The adj. here means of, from or related to. So Brzezińdski comes from Brzezina (Birchville), Makowski from Maków (Poppyville), etc.

Amongst Polish nobles, the -ski and variant naems were the single most common group.
Adrzej z ·Zubrowa (Andrew of Bisonville) eventually evolved into Andrzej Żubrowski (ANdrew Bisonville).

HELESKI: This surname as well as Helewski, Heleński, Heleszko and toehrs are probably metronymic nicknames traceable to the woman's name Helena. Metorynmcis are rare in Polish but did occur esp. when an unmarried girl bore a bastard.

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

FABRYCY: rare first name (used by only 2 people in today's Poland) but shared more than 120 as a surname (the largest single concenetration being in Kraków). It comes from the Roman clan-name Fabricius (its Latin root is the word faber or smith).

Genealogy / Russian Poland-what general area would this be? [30]

For what it's worth, there are a numeber of localities in today's Ukraine called Krasnoselka and places in Russian known as Krasnoselsk. Duno if this will help?