Law / The right to own guns: would you support such legislation in Poland? [2237]

Coming from a country with so many gunshot deaths (USA), I shouldn't want to see the same thing taking place in Poland. Often a family quarrel will end in verbal abuse, shouting, throwing things or maybe a black and blue mark or two. If someone in a fit of drunken rage had easy access to a firearm.......

Food / Traditional Polish Soups. [85]

Beetgreen soup? (Actually some beetroot must also be added beacuse the greenish tops alone do not produce that ncie pink hue.)

Genealogy / SKI...SKY...ZKI...Polish surname endings [38]

JASIŃSKI: probabaly a topo nick from places such as Jasin, Jasień, Jasieniec and similar.

Genealogy / SKI...SKY...ZKI...Polish surname endings [38]

Yes and no. In some cases the -ski ending can serve as a patornymic indciator, eg, Nowak the newcomer, Nowacki - the newcomer's son, but more oftrn than not it is a toponymic tag.

More typical patronymic endings include: -ak, -siak, -czak, -czuk, -czyk, -wicz and -ic. The latter would be more like the O', Mc, Mac and Fitz of the Celtic world.

The -sky ending is used in Czech and Slovak as well as in transliterated Cyrillic surnames and Jewish ones as well, but never in Polish ones.

Genealogy / SKI...SKY...ZKI...Polish surname endings [38]

Yes, -ski and its variants -cki and -dzki are adjectival endings. A blacksmith is a kowal so kowalski would mean something like smithly -- of about, descended from or otherwise associated with the village smith. Hence Józio Kowalski probably originated to mean 'Joe the blacksmith's kid'.

Amongst the szlachta (gentry) those were the most common endings as they indicated the estate or village someone owned.
Originally, a nobleman would have been referred to as Andrzej z Janowa or Michał z Brzezin (Andrew of Johnston or Michael of Birchville). In time those names got adjectivalised into Andrzej Janowski and Michał Brzeziński.

In English a somewhat similar process occurred whereby the 'of' got dropped to become simply Andrew Johnston and Michael Birchville respectively.
It is strictly phonetics that determines whether the -ski, -cki or -dzki are to be used. If the root ends in a -k (Marek) or -t (Drobot) then it becomes Marecki and Drobocki respectively. If it ends in a -d (Zawada) or -g (Wałęga) it becomes Zawadzki and Wałędzki. All other cases generally use the -ski: Radkowski, Młynarski, Jaworski, Szymański, Kamiński, Dąbrowski, Zalewski, Witkowski, Wiśniewksi, etc.

For more information on the above-mentioned or other Polish surnames please contact me

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

ŻABICKI RACKIEWICZ SIEDLEWSKI

ŻABICKI: root word żaba (frog); topo nick from Żabice (Frogsonville)

RACKIEWICZ: patronymic nick from Racek, Racuś and suchlike pet forms of Racisław or Racibór.

SIEDLEWSKI: topo nick from Siedlew or Siedlewo; Siedleski would be an attempt in English-speaking countries to retain the proper pronunciation; leaving to 'w' intact would produce a pronunciation similar to seed-LOOSE-key.

For more info on the above and other Polish surnames including their coats of arms please contact me

GA£ĘZA: root-word gałąź (branch); topo nick from Gałęzów, Gałęzewo, &c.
DYBKA:root-word dyba (pillory) or dybać (to lie in wait); topo nick from Dybki or Dybków
ZYMA: adaptation of German name Ziemann or from zeman (ziemianin) Czech for squire
CHODORÓW: patronymic nick from Chodor, variant of Teodor, Todor, Fiodor (Teodore)
WOJKROW: no record (check spelling)
KREMERÓWKA: no record (check spelling)

FOR MORE SURNAME INFO PLEASE CONTACT me

KREMER: Whilst no-one at present is using the Kremerówka surname in Poland, Kremer does exist and is used by several hundred Poles. It comes from the German word Krämer, someone who owns as Krambude (market stall) or Kramladen (small shop). Perhaps Kremerówka was slang for Kremer's unmarried daughter. By rights it should have been Kremerówna, but with names one never knows.

KUCZAJ: possibly from old verb kuczyć (pester, annoy, tease) or topo nick from Kucze, Kuczyn, etc.

WALICKI: from first name Walerian or Walenty or topo nick from Валіца (Walica) in Ukraine.

CZUCHRA: from verb czuchrać/czochrać (to tousle hair or flax)

ZAJDEL: Polish respelling of German Seidel (mug, stein)

TEMPOLSKI(?): no Tempolski or Tępolski in today's Poland; 1 person named Tympolski

PELC: from German Pelz (pelt, skin of fur-bearing animal)

HABRAT: possibly from chaber/haber (cornflower, bluebottle)

For more info on the above and other Polish surnames please contact me

KUCZAJ: possibly from old verb kuczyć (pester, annoy, tease) or topo nick from Kucze, Kuczyn, etc.

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

KUKU£A: cuckoo; possibly topo nick from places like Kukały or Kuklin.

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

KĘSIKOWSKI: root-word kęsik (small piece of food, morsel, bite, titbit). Since -owski ending names usually originated as topo nicks, we should look for a place called Kęsikowo or Kęsików. Wielkopolska appears be this name's main stronghold.

Lewicki: topo nick from Lewice (Lionsonville).

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

ZARACHOWICZ: patronymic nick from Zarach. Perhaps Zarach came from the verb zarachować (to miscalculate a bill, make a mistake with figures, short-change, etc).

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

KASZUBA: Kashuba is a phonetic respelling of Kaszuba. If left intact, you'd have Anglos going about calling you kaZOOba.
Kaszuba is a member of the Kashubian ethnic subgroup akin to the ancient Pomeranians.

PULCZYŃSKI: Pulchinski is a phonetic respelling of Pulczyński, used to prevent Anglos calling your ancestor "pull-ZIN-ski". It probably originated as a topo nick from Pulczynów.

PULCIŃSKI: Extremely rare variant spelling of Pułczyński (see above).

K£OPOTEK: troublesome fellow or topo nick from Kłopoty

BOJANKOWSKI: topo nick from Bojanów or similar.

TOMAKA: one of many surnames derived from Tomasz (Thomas)

WOROSZ/WOROS: probably from Ukrainian-influenced dialectic verb woroszyć (to obliterate, destroy)

ITELMACH(?): Probably Stelmach (wainwright), the American way of handwriting the capital letter 'I' is a bit strange, so someone may have mistakenly written it in when recopying Stelmach.

FELCKOWSKI: Doers not exist currently in Poland, but there is one person named Pelckowski, a likely variant form that probably originated as a topo nick from Pelczyce, Pelczyska, Pelczyn, etc.

For more information on the above and other Polish surnames please contact me

Love / 20% of adult Poles are single and live with Mummy! [241]

As I said, there are cafeteria Catholics and other Christians (probably Jews, Musluims et al) who pick and choose from their relgious faith only that which is easy, pleasant and convenient... I have never for a moment doubted that such people exist. I have also not heard so far that the 6th Commandment has been repealed. The numbering may be different for Protestants but neither has your religon revoked it, has it?

Love / 20% of adult Poles are single and live with Mummy! [241]

Living in a multi-generational family (unless incest is invovled) is much different than illicit cohabition by unmarried coupes or flagrant living in sin. That is how anyone who's not a phony, lapsed or cafeteria Catholic evaluates such shacking-up.

USA, Canada / WHAT IS THE US POLONIA LIKE? [42]

Merged: Polonia - transitory necessity?

There are those who value patriotism for its own sake and others who say my country is the one that pays me the most. The same holds true for Polonia. Do you believe it has some intrinsic value and should be cultivated and maintained for it's own sake. Or, on the contrary, is it simply a convenient temporary stepping stone for new arrivals who still aren't fluent in English and don't know the ropes. Once they do, they should move on and forget Polonia.

Love / 20% of adult Poles are single and live with Mummy! [241]

There are also positive sides to mutligenerational cohabitation otehr thank financial savings. These could include more opportunities to enjoy family togetherness and solidarity, never lacking a 4th for bridge, more frequent common family dinners, someone to consult and rely on when facing problems, built-in child-minders and having ageing parents close at hand when they are no longer as fit as they one were and require looking after.

Love / 20% of adult Poles are single and live with Mummy! [241]

Many Polish adult males live with parents

A new report from Eurostat shows that 44 percent of Polish men aged 25-34 are reluctant to move out of their family home. One in three young Polish women in this age bracket live with their parents. Scandinavians are the most inclined to go off on their own.

What are the pluses and minuses of each option?

Food / Polish & US heat & eat foods? [23]

I agree, the bottled gołąbki (Pudliszki or whatever) are awful. So are the pulpety (taste like they forgot to add ther meat). What about the fasolka po bretońsku? I wonder what Heinz-baked-bean-loving Brits think about it? Never eat them when planning to take your gf up for a several-hour spin in a 2-seater plane!

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

The closest I could find were Kawieciński, Kawięciński and Kawęczyński. All are alternative spellings of a topo nick from the village of Kawęczyn and have nothing to do with shoemakers.

However, prohibition-era bootlegging as well as other illicit activities could have been a reason to change one's name to confuse law enforcers.

Merged thread:
Kwiatkowski, Krawczyk, Zając

KWIATKOWSKI: topo nick from Kwiatków (Floralton)

KRAWCZYk: occupational patronym from krawiec = tailor's son

ZAJĄC: hare; either descriptive or topo nick from Zając, Zajączkowo, etc.

TOCZYŃSKI: probably topo nick from Toczeń or Toczyska.

STELMACH: German word for wainwright (wagon-builder)

What is the French-sounding name your ancestors changed it to? Sometimes people translate the surname into another language and Kwiatkowski becomes Flowers, Bednarczyk > Cooper, Pastusiak > Shepherdson, etc.

Others choose a sound-alike: Borkowski > Burke, Kalasiewicz > Calsavage, Kupczyk > Cooper, etc.

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

Little shoemaker would be Szewczyk. I can't imagine what the initial K-syllable might mean.

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

SOSNOWSKI: topo nick = the bloke from Sosnowo (Pineville).

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

Robowski & Naparstek:

ROBOWSKI: root-word probably Rob – along with Robuś and Rocio – a hypocoristic (endearing) form of Robert; Robowski would have functioned as a patronymic nickname

NAPARSTEK: thimble (a word borrowed from the Czechs where prst is the word for finger); Naparsteck would be a German or English adaptation.

WRONA: crow - characteristic-based or topo nick
ITELMACH: obscure, uncertain; looks German or Yiddish but no-one using it in Poland at present (nor in Germany);
BOŻY/BOŻA: divine; probably topo nick from Boża, Boże, Boży Dar, etc.
SZYMAŃSKI: topo nick from Szymany (Simmons, Simonville)
CHMIELEWSKI: root-word chmiel (hops); topo nick from Chmielewo (Hopton);
(Chomielewski looks like a misspelling or miscopying of Chmielewski)
For more info on these and other surnames kindly contact me

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

GRYSKO: Also spells Gryszko and (farther east) Hryszko was derived from the Christian name Grzegorz (Gregory).

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

Since there is no-one in Poland with a name anywhere close to Darbouze, I suspect my hypothesis of it being an adaptation Dar Boży (donne de Dieu) was unfounded. In an alphabetical list of currently used surnames we find: Daraś, Darawski and Darcz without a single name starting in Darb- in between.

There is however one person in Poland using the Bożydar surname and some 180 using it as a first name. It means the same as Dar Boży.

Perhaps the name was of French or other non-Polish derivation. I suggest you check wtih the Faculté de Philologie Française at a good university in Haiti. Bonne chance!

WOROŃCZUK: from Ukrainian word for crow worona;-czuk is a typcially Ukrainian patronymic ending. So when someone nicknamed the Crow (for whatever reason) fathered a son: presto and we got Worończuk.

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

Exactly. At a time when most people were illiterate and mainly spoke their own local dialect, you'd be surprised to learn the things that happened to Polish last names.

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

These surnames currently encountered in Poland
Rycąbel
Rycombel
Rycombell
Rycembel
Rycember
Rycomber
all come from the peasant term rycząg (also rycong, rycomb, etc.) meaning a type of carter’s seat in a horse-drawn farm cart. It most likely was an adaptation of the German Reitstange.

Of course, Rycabel (without the little nasalising ogonek under the 'ą') also exists.

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

SNAK(?): No-one in Poland currently uses the Snak surname but it has been recorded and there are a few dozen people named Snakowski (son of Snak). The origin is uncertain. Perahps it was dervied from the localtiy of Snarki or the old Polish word snaga (cleanlienss). Snag and Snak are pronoucned identically in Polish, since final consonants are devoiced.