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

PĘCZYŃSKI: from pęczyna (lump of soil, kind of plant) or toponymic nick from Pęczyny.

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

Herke might ba a German rendering of herka or hyrka, dialectic Polish for squirrel (normal Polish: wiewiórka). Interestingly, it was common in areas under German cultural influence (Pomerania, Wielkopolska, Silesia and derived from Eichhörnchen (German for squirrel).

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

ŻĄBROWSKI: -owski surnames are usually toponymic so it would have derived from a hamlet, village or estate called Żąbrów or Żąbrowo; root-word żąbr (archaic/regional for żubr = bison).

GRYGORCZUK: Ruthenian patronymic nick from Grygori (British Isles equiv. = Gregson or McGregor; ethnic Polish equiavlent = Grzegorczyk).

Genealogy / William Alexander, 1850, Krunicza, Prussia, Poland [11]

PASZKIET: And paszkot are archaic regional words for the fieldfare (bird) which in standard Polish is known as a kwiczoł. The ancestral nest of the Paszkiet family is the Bydgoszcz (in German: Bromberg) area of northern Poland.

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

Indeed, Nowatzke would be the German respelling of the Polish surname Nowacki. It could have originated as both a patronymic nick (Nowak's son) as well as a toponymic one (an inhabitant of Nowaki, Nowe, Nowiec, Nowęcin, etc.). NOTE: Most if not all German surnames ending in -ke (Lipke, Bromke, Zemke, etc.) are probably of Polish, Wendish or Czech origin.

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

PROKOP: originally from Greek name Prokopios (meaning battle-ready). Prokop is a popular first name amongst Eastern Slavs, but rare amongst ethnic Poles.

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

BIEŃ: from Benedykt (patronym) or locality incorporating it (toponym); some 4,500 users in PL; no connection to French adverb bien; Benedyktz ah spawned a plethora of surnames including Bieńkowski, Benko, Banach, Banaś, Banasiak, Benedyktowicz, etc..

STĘPIEŃ: someone who married into an inheritance.

The Poznań connection is explainable. As a matter of principle the old Polonian immigrants would give the name of the provincial capital when asked where in Poland they were from. They figured no-one in the USA could possibly have heard of Pcim Dolny or Kozia Wólka so they said they were from Kraków, Warsaw, Białystok, Poznań, etc. The former Großherzogtum Posen (Grand Duchy of Poznań) bordered Prussia which included Pomerania (Kashub country). Perhaps your ancestor had lived in a border area between the two. On the other hand, he may have been born in one place and identified with his Kashubian roots till his dying day, but later had to move before coming to America.

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

KĘPIŃSKI (original spelling) toponymic nick traceable to one of several localities called Kępiny (etymology: kępa: grove, wood, clump of trees)

History / Is There A Polish Foreign Legion? [35]

A few years ago there was talk in Poland of setting up something like a foreign legion.
Check out: peb.pl/polityka-i-spoleczenstwo/133192-polska-legia-cudzoziemska.html

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

Hetel possibly from hetnal (a large spike used to nail down sleepers???); Kaspruk - probably patronymic nick from Kasper; Sączek = drain.

Nearly all -owski names are of toponymic origin so Wierczkowski probably would have arisen as a nickname for someone from Wierczków or Wierczkowo.

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

The surnames Hetel, Sączek and Kaspruk are all known and used in today's Poland.

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

FRANIEWSKI: most likely a toponymic nick from Franiewo (Frankville)

SALIK: this could also have origianted as a toponymic nick form csuch palces as as Salno, Salino, Salnicze, etc. But the Polish adj. salicki refers to the Salian Franks (see below) and Salik migth have originally meant a Salian???

The Salian Franks or Salii were a subgroup of the early Franks who originally had been living north of the limes in the coastal area above the Rhine in the northern Netherlands, where today there still is a region called Salland. The Merovingian kings, responsible for the conquest of Gaul were of Salian ancestry. From the 3rd century on, the Salian Franks appear in the historical records as warlike Germanic people and pirates, and as "Laeti" (allies of the Romans). They were the first Germanic tribe from beyond the limes that settled permanently on Roman land.

The Salians fully adopted the Frankish identity and gradually ceased to appear by their original name from the 7th century onward, when they evolved into the Franks par excellence.[1]

Genealogy / William Alexander, 1850, Krunicza, Prussia, Poland [11]

Infortunately, with so little to go on, determining your ancestor's original surname would seem next to impossible. If he changed it to Alexander, it might have been Aleksandrowicz, Aleksiak, maybe even Olkiewicz (all derived from the Aleksander root), but not necessarily. There are people who translated their Polish names (Nowak and Andrzejak became Newman and Andrews respectively), but others arbitraily changed them on a whim (Kwiatkowski became Smith, Grzyb -- Bradley, Baran -- Peterson, Żurek -- Armstrong, etc.).

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

If you are lookign for living fmaily, find out what gmina it's in and phone the Dział Ewidencji Ludności to see if any Trawińskis still live there. For historical records, check with the Archiwum Akt Dawnych or a private genealogist. If desired, I can provide some addresses.

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

LECH: the name of Poland's legendary founder and Lech, Czech and Rus fame. Natrually someone might decide to anglicise it into Leach or Lechly or whatever.

BWAIKO, BJALKO: those spellings could be most anything -- Albanian, tribal African?? Maybe it was somethong like Białko (egg white and protein), a common Polish surname.

RAŚ: quite unusual; perhaps not of ethnic Polish origin but German/Yiddish Rasch (serge, worsted wool) or the adj. rasch (hasty, rash). If indigenously Polish, then possibly a toponymic nick from some places such as Rasząg or Raszelki or a pet from of some given name such as Raścisław.

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

FURMAN: from German Furhmann (carter, waggoner); could be a Jewish name but not necessarily.

RYCZKO: from ryczeć (to low, below, roar); or toponymic nick from Ryczka,. Ryczki, Rycza, Ryczeń, etc. (Roarville, Lowington?)

MYSZKA: litle mouse or toponymic nick from Myszki, Myszkowiec, Myszkowo, etc. (Mouseville, Mousebury?)

KUCZYŃSKI: from kucza (hut, lean-to) or toponymic nick from Kuczyn or Kuczyna (Hutville?).

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


Marchiel exists as a surname in Poland although it's quite rare. The more common form is Marchel (without the added 'i'). This is a dialectic (peasant) form of the first name Melchior (traditonally the name ascribed to one of Three Kings/Magi).

Genealogy / Last Name Information - Lewandowski [16]

Also Lewandowszczyzna in the Lublin region.

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

FILIPCZUK: root is Filip (first name) and -czuk is a patronymic suffix esp. common in the Ruthenian borderlands. So it'd be somtthing like Philson or Philipson. More than 1,700 users in Poland today.

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

CIENIAWSKI: root-word cień (shade, shadow). Toponymic nick from Cieniawa (Shadebury, Shadowville) in Małopolska.

BARWINA: possibly derived from barwa (colour), barwić (to colour) or barwinek (periwinkle, a plant) or such toponyms as Barwino or Barwinek.

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

FABISIAK: patronymic nick for 'son of Fabiś' (pet form of Fabian)

WEJKOWSKI: toponymic nick from Wejków or Wejkowo

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

KUCIAPSKI: from kuciapa (pundendum muliebre = woman’s external genitals); nearly 300 Kuciapskis in Poland

SZMYD: Polish respelling of German Schmied (blacksmith).

ZATYKA: stopper, plug, cork, peg – someting to close up an opening

SITIKA: no such word, name or place in Poland; unless you meant sitka as in ‘orzeł czy sitka’ = heads or tails (archaic); possibly a clumsy attempt to Anglicise or Germanise the Zatyka surbame?!


HRYCKOWIAN: root-word is hryczka, Ukrainian for buckwheat (Polish: gryka); possibly from a locality containing that root.

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

FIRAK: That changes things entirely. There are soem 100 people in Poland naemd Firak. As I said before, there was an archaic or dialectic term fira for the village wh*re. The -ak is a patronymic or (in this case) matronymic ending. The good news is that few if any modern-day Poles know this. To them Firak is just a meaningless name withno special connotation of any kind.

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

KO£ODA: From the Ukrainian word for log „колода” (the Polish equivalent is „kłoda”)

FRYDRYCHOWSKI: toponymic nick from Frydrychowo (Fredericksville);

FIRACK: ??? no such surname currently in Poland. Possible derivation – an archaic term for a promiscuous woman was once fira. Or maybe it was originally Piracki (the f~p is not unusual in different dialects, eg Filipiuk>Pilipiuk). No-one at present is surnamed Piracki (pirate-like), but that name has been recorded in the past.

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

GROTOWSKI: It migth have been Grotowski, which would have been a toponymic nick derived from Grotów (Grottoville or Arrowhead). But these are only specualtions. Yuu would probably be closer focusing on names incorporating the "tk" or "dk" spelling.

FILFIPCZUK: patronymic nick from Filip, esp. in the Ruthenian borderlands (Eng. equiavalent: Philipson or Philson).

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

GRUTKOWSKI: Since there is no such word in Polish and no such place in Poland as grutek, grutka, etc., most likely the original spelling was Grudkowski or Gródkowski. Grudka is a lump of something such as a clod of frozen soil and gródek is a small fortified town, but

-owski ending names are usually toponymic so the surname probably is traceable to such localities as Grudek or Gródek. All three surnames exist in Poland: Grutkowski, Grudkowski and Gródkowski.

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

CZYRYCA: The -ica/-yca endings are normally used for diseases (miadżyca, pryszczyca, wszawica) so this sounds to me like a very unpelasant disease -- one that produces pus boils (czyraki). However, an alternative source might be the chirping sound of czyryk-czyryk (supposed to imitate a sparrow's tweeting). Also, there are at least 2 places in Poland called Czyrna and Czyrnowa -- both in Małopolska. Whether one of the above was the source of the Czyryca surname is hard to say. It must have come from Soviet-annexed eastern Poland because the largest concentration is now in West Pomerania.

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

PARZUCHOWSKI: a typical toponymic nick from Parzuchów or Parzuchowo, Nearly all -owski names are of toponymic origin.

History / Famous Russian Poles [243]

What about Bierut? His name certainly has a Russian ring to it and he was thoroughly Russified and Sovietised. Anyone know his ethnic roots?