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

UŚCICKI: probably a patronymic tag for the 'son of Uścik' (the latter being a hypocoristic form of the old first name Uściwoj).

Genealogy / Want to find a person [773]

KULACH: extremely rare; from verb kuleć (to limp), therefore it probably started out as a nickname for a clubfoot, someone who hobbled or limped along, similar to the English 'limpy'.

For more information please contact me

Genealogy / Zientara Surname [12]

ZIENTARA, also spelt ZIĘTARA: believed to have been derived from the German term Sinter meaning the scum formed on molten metal. Someone working in a smelter might have been nicknamed Sinter which in a Polish-speaking area got Polonised into Zientar, Zientarz, Zientarski, Zientara or similar.

For more information please contact me

Language / Is Polish amongst the best-sounding languages in the world? [123]

I wonder if Czech sounds as silly and amusing to non-speakers of Polish?

Polonia / Polish Gazette in Brazil [25]

WITOS£AWSKI: patronymic tag from first name Witosław or toponymic nick from (the village of) Witosław or Witosławice.

CHOMIŃSKI: patronymic nick from Ukrainian pet form of of Tomasz - Choma or Foma. Equivalent of English Thomson.

PREISS: from German or Yiddish word meaning price, fee, reward or prize; also used by ethnic gentile Poles.origin

WOLF: from German or Yiddish word meaning wolf; also used by ethnic gentile Poles in this spelling or with double F (Wolff).

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

ANTCZAK (this is the correct Polish spelling BTW): One of several patronymic tags derived from the first name Antoni (English: Anthony). Others include Antkowiak, Antosik, Antoszewski and Antonowicz.

SUWALSKI or SUWALCZYK: topo nick for an inhabitant of the NE Polish town of Suwałki near the Lithuanian border. When he got p*ssed on weekends and was asked his name, all he could babble was Śó£ółó.

Food / Does Poland have any similar beers to guinness? [22]

Belfast has been around for quite some time, so it's hardly new. It is brewed by Jablonów brerwery and is their best brew. Their pale beers are cheap and nasty.

Genealogy / Palczewski coat of arms [2]

You could contact a reputable genealogical-heraldic researcher. One such source is:
Institute of Genealogy

instytut-genealogii.com

They operate in English, or so they claim.

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

The closest I could find in Poland was Martyneczko which looks to be Ukrainian.
Martinecz is defintiely not a Polish spelling.

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

S£AWEŃSKI or S£AWIEŃSKI were probably the original forms. Looks like a topo nick from one of at least 8 places in Poland called Sławno.

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

SOBCZAK: Sobek is the pet form of Sobiesław; when such a one fathered a son, he produced an instant Sobczak (Soby's kid).

KNAPIK: borrowing from German Knabe (boy, helper, hired hand) which went into Polish as knap. Knapik would have been a diminutive or patronymic tag.

ADAMCZAK: patronymic nick equivalent to English Adamson

TARNOWSKI: topo nick from Tarnów (Sloeberryville).

For more information please contact me

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

GUZIOR: root-word guz (bump, lump, tumor); the -or is an augmentative ending with often pejorative overtones, so it might have meant something like big, old, prominent protrusion and could have been applied to someone with a large, visible tumor on his face or head.

For more information please contact me

NOWAK: fom adj. nowy (new) = newcomer, newman, new guy in town; most popular Polish surname used by some 200,000 people in Poland.

PRZYGODZIŃSKI: root-word przygoda (adventure); probably a topo nick from Przygody, Przygodzice or similar.

For more information please contact me

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

Laudamus coems from Latin and means we praise. It is one of a relatively A small group of Polish surnames derived from words found in Latin prayers or liturgy. Usually they were applied to people associated with the parish or things religious such as the sexton, organist, acolyte, sacristan, seminarian, etc. These have included Deus (God), Meus (my, mine), Dominus (Lord), Mater (mother), Frater (brother), Pater (father), Noster (our as in Pater Noster – the Lord’s Prayer), Korpus (body) and the highly Polonized Sekuła – from “soecula” (centuries), found in prayer fragment “Per omnia soecula soeculoram” (Forever and ever/Na wieki wieków).

Genealogy / Any information about Dziedzic Surname? [35]

DZIEDZIC: heir, squire; probably topo nick from Dziedzice

BADURA: from badurzyć (to tell tall tales, speak rubbish) hence yarn-spinner

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

RUSIECKI: from the Old Polish adj. rusy (the colour of light chestnut hair or a ruddy-swarthy complexion); it appears related to Rusiec and Rusin as that was how Ruthenians (esp. Ukrainians) were once widely perceived by Poles. Rusiewski and Rusiewicz could have origianted as patronymic nicks to indicate the Ruthenian's son. No coat of arms goes with Rusiewski, but there were 5 different ones accompnying the etymologically kindred surname Rusiecki.

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

MANOWSKI: topo nick from Manowo in the Baltic coastal region (German name: Manow).

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

WERSCHKI: This must have got misspelled somewhere along the line. The only thing close in Poland are Werski, Wersecki and Werszko -- all believed to have derived from the German name Wersch

MATUSIAK: patronymic nick for the son of Mateusz (Matthew), hence Mattson or Mattheson

KUNKOWSKI: topo nick from the village fo Kunki; no coat fo arms accompanies the Kunkowski surname but six different ones were used by individual noble lines of the Kunowski family.

For more inforamtion please contact me

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

There were two separate noble lines amongst the Iwińskis entitled to use the Jastrzębiec or £odzia c-o-a.
The Kruszewskis were even more gentrified stamping their documents and possessions with the Abdank, Gryf, £ada, Ogończyk, Pniejnia, Pobóg, Prawdzic, Radwan or Rogala heraldic devices.

The noble Świderskis belonged to the following clans and used the attendant
c-o-a: Ciołek, Lubicz, Ogończyk,Ostoja, Półkozic, Przerowa, Rawicz, Ślepowron or Tępa podkowa.

For more information please contact me

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


IWIŃSKI: one of several surnames derived from the first name Iwan (eastermn form of Jan/John); others include Iwańczyk and Iwanowski.

KRESZEWSKI: probably misspelling of Kruszewski 9root-word krszyć - to crumble or crsh); probably topo nick from Kruszewo (Crumbleton, Crushville).

ŚWIDERSKI: Swederski is probably a misspelling or dialectal variant of Świderski (root-word świder = drill).

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

Only CHOSIŃSKI exists in Poland today. Possibly a toponymic nickname for an inhabitant of the village of Chosna, but a German source cannot be ruled out.

Love / What strange/unnerving/funny things do your Polish wives do? [153]

Some Polish women (esp. those from the countryside) see to have an obsession about rushing to draw the blinds should anyone turn the light on when it's dark outside. Not just the bedroom, but also the ktichen, dining and living room. So what if a fellow-villager gets a glimspe of your furniture while walking by. You're not doing anything (reading, watching the telly, brewing tea, etc.) to be ashamed of!

USA, Canada / What do Poles think about drinking raw milk? In America, unpasteurized milk is PROHIBITED. [49]

Merged:straight-from-the-cow milk?

Slot machines offering unpasteurised milk have apperared in some Warsaw shopping areas, one outside the Carrefour off Marymoncka street. You can take it in your own bottle brought from home or new litre bottles are available for 2 zł from another slot machine next to it. It goes sour and clabbers after a day, as it contains no anti-clabbering chemicals. Has anyone tried it?

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

BURSKI: topo nick from Bursz or from the German word Bursch (student); during the partitions a bursz was a Warsaw University student belonging to a secret patriotic society (similar to the Filareci).

There actually is a Burski c-o-a, besides several others used by the well-born Burskis.
Buirski is not a Polish surname. The extraneous letter 'i' appears to have been erroneously inserted.
BTW what is Tai-ping?

Food / Polish Sour Milk / Maślanka [44]

[Moved from]: new potatoes & sour milk

On a hot summer day can there be anything better than a bowl of cold sour milk and some hot, buttered, dilled potatoes on the side?

With all the chemicals added to American homogenised milk it would turn bitter when soured. But now Polish delis offer dairy-made zsiadłe mleko. Some Polonians use dairy buttermilk (maślanka) instead.

News / Another Polish city honors President Reagan [49]

Know of any other streets (I think there is one in Warsaw), squares, circles, roundabouts, etc. in Poland bearing Reagan's name?

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

SZAR£OWSKI: probably a patronymic nick from the German name Scharl -- Scharl's son. The German name incorporates the same root found in English share (as in ploughshare) -- the blade of the plough that cuts the soil (Polish: lemiesz).

Genealogy / "Krzysik" family from Poland [16]

KRZYSIK: probably originated as a patronymic nick from Krzyś (pet form of Krzysztof). More than 400 users in Poland.

Genealogy / Looking for any and all information on Dabrowski/Dombrowski from Poland [88]

DĄBROWSKI: originated as a topographic nickname to identify someone living in or near a 'dąbrowa' (oakwood) or as a toponymic nick for an inhabitant of a loclaity called Dąbrów, Dąbrowo or Dąbrowa (Oakville, Oakton, Oakwood).

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

There is a fine-point difference between toponymic and topographic nicknames.
Topography has to do with describing the terrain, so if someone was caleld Zaleski because he lived on the opposite side of a forest (za lasem), that would be a topographic nick.

However if he hailed from the village fo Zalesie (Overwood, Edgewood or something along those lines in English), that that would be a toponymic nickname. A toponym is a place-name.

Merged thread:
Dad-derived last names

Many Polish surnames were derived from patronymic nicknames which identified a person on the basis of whose son he was. They were created both from the standard form of the Christian name, eg Stanisławski from Stanisław, as well as from its hypocoristic (pet) versions, eg Stach and Staś > Stachowiak and Stasiak respectively. Other common examples:

ADAM > Adamczyk, Adamiak, Adamowicz
AMBROŻY > Ambroziak, Ambroziewicz, Jamrozik
ANTONI > Antczak, Antoniak, Antonowicz
BENEDYKT/BANADYK: Benedyktowicz, Banach, Banasik
DANIEL > Danielak, Danielewicz, Danielski
GRZEGORZ > Grzegorczyk, Grzesiak, Grzeszkowiak
JERZY> Jurkiewicz, Jurczak, Jurkowski
KAROL > Karolak, Karolewicz, Karolczak
LUDWIK > Ludwiczak, Ludwicki, Ludwikowski
MARCIN > Marciniak, Marcinkiewicz, Marciński
For more information on these and other Polish names please contact me

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

KĄTOWSKI: This is probably the original seplling of Kontowski; its root-wrod is kąt (corner). There are perhaps four dozen localities in Poland called Kąty (corners) and a number with a qualifying adjective such as Kąty Czernickie, Kąty Rybacki, Kąty Wielkie. Kątowski would be the derivative topo nick.