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

Lesiński - las~leś root (wood, forest); most likely toponymic nick from Lesiny (Forestville).

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

With so many varants, there is little to work with. One person in Poland signs himself Zimik, there are a few Czymmeks and four times as many with one "m" -- Czymek.

There are also a few people named Symek.
Symek might be the way Anglos would tend to pronounce Czymek or Czymmek.
Did you mean German Prussians or Baltic Prussians slaughtered, to a many by the Germans?
The original Prussian was a Baltic, but a Slavonic tongue. The -ek ending is clearly Slavonic.

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

Sorry. I fell into the Haifa trap. Ahafia or just Hafia is the Ukrainian for Agata (Eng.: Agatha), originally of Gr. origin (Agathos) meaning kind or good.

News / Original cars manufactured in Poland [64]

The VW Beetle had a front luggage compartment under the bonnet, so to speak. I don't believe the Mikrus has an openable bonnet, does it?

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

Hafia sounds Jewish. Kapeluch could mean hat (Hafia the Hatter?) Holod would be Ukrainian for hunger or starvation, in Polish - głód. The odl Polish-Lithuanian Commowealth was a mish-mash of crisscrossing ethnicites, and people's naems did not always reflect their ancestral roots.

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

Indeed, it must be Jazgarz (ruff, a small fish of the perch family). But someone known for making a racket and raising a rumpus (jazgot) might have been humorously nicknamed Jazgarz as well. And let's not forget the toponymic possibility -- a nick for someone from Jazgarka, Jazgarew or -- watch out! -Jazgarzewszczyzna.

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

99% of the time a -wicz ending indicates a patronymic nick. Someone could have been nicknamed Tobolek because he came from Tobolice or Tobolowo, and when he fathered a son... presto! - TOBOLKIEWICZ

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

Nadolna is the name of a village in Radom district of Mazowsze voivodship south of Warsaw. (Eng. equiv.: Downville, Lowerton???) It is also a surname used by more than 2,500 people in Poland.

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

Probably originally Szczęśniak - patronymic nick meaning "son of Szczęsny" (Felix).

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

As long as you don't call him an "old goat"!!! (ha-ha)
BTW is your maiden name Polish?

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

As noted above, names ending in -ski, -cki or -dzki are usually of toponymic origin. Kozanecki comes from the locality of Kozanki in Wielkopolska voivodship. But you're right about the goat connection. The locality might be tanslated into English as Goatville, Goatman, Goatwood, Goatboro, etc.

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

Only 10 people in Poland are now surnamed Szałomski. The vast majority of surnames ending in -ski (including -cki and -dzki) accounting for over one-third of all Polish sruanmes are of toponymic (place-name) origin.

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

KO£ODZIEJCZAK - patronymic nick meaning "the wheelwright's son"

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

SZA£OMSKI - possibly linked to szałomaje (a rustic shepherd's pipe) known throughout Europe as a shawm (Eng.), Schalmei (Ger.), chalemie (Fr.), originally from Latin calamus.

There is also a locality in Poland caleld Szałamaje.

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

Morończyk - toponymic nick for some from Moroń

Kroczak - patronymic nick for son of Krocz (inhabitant of Kroczów)
Konderowicz - possibly a variant from of Kondratowicz (son of Kondrat); Konderatek was once a hypocoristic form of Kondrat

Filipowicz - patronymic nick meaning "son of Philip"

£odziński - toponymic nick from £odzina

Jankiaza - ??? (some exotic derivative of Jan) ???

Demianowicz - patronymic nick for the son of Demian (Ukrainian equiv. of Damian).

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

The original Kajzerski (Polish spelling) might have been called that because he was in the employ of the German imerial court (even as a gardener or stable hand) or because he hailed from some locality such as Kaiserhof, Kaiserdorf, Kaiserfeld, etc. Or maybe he was a baker who produced the best kajzerki (kaiser rolls) in his shtetel?


SUSZKO - from such~susz root meaning aridity, dryness. Probably a toponymic nick for someone from such places as Suszki or Suszewo (Dryton, Aridville).

MI£EK - probably derived from a pet form of the old first name Miłosław. The mił- root itsellf suggests someone nice, kind, pleasant and appears in such words as miłość (love) and miłosierdzie (mercy, literally: kind heartedness).

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

SKWARA - archaic Polish fem. noun skwara once meant scorching heat; in modern Polish it is skwar. The diminutive of skwara is skwarka and means a crunchy pork crackling.

Not all Polish surnames end in -ski, -wicz or -ak!


KONECKI – Typonymic nick from the village of Koneck. Konetski is an attempt at a German or English phonetic respelling.

There are other synomyms such as upał, żar, etc. but we are dealing with a given surname, not the concept of heat, and Skwara is etymologically not related to Gorąc.

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

There are 9 people in Poland named Minnich at present, and all live in or around the SE city of Tarnów, up till 1918 part of Austrian-ruled Galicja. There are about 800 Minnichs in today's Germany.

The etymology seems obscure -- could it have been a pet form of the Jewish first name Menachem?
With what little you have to go on, probably only a professional genealogist could help you.

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

No-one in Poland uses Balitewicz and its source is also obscure. There does exist the localtiy of Szypliski in NE Poland's Suwałki area near the Lithuanian border. Perhaps

Lybiškiai is the toerh place you were lookign for. It is in today's Lithuania.

USA, Canada / Cigarettes reach nine dollars a pack in New York [109]

What do fags cost in Poland at present? Are Popualrne still produced? And Carmen, Caro, Extra Mocne?

Language / Funny/strange/deviant words in the Polish language [35]

I think I read somewhere once that it came form książę - meaning a princely celestial body, but not sure???

I know many feel Wikipedia is none too reliable but it does include tusz as shower:

Tusz
Nazwa tego hasła odnosi się do więcej niż jednego pojęcia.
tusz (farba)
rysunek wykonany tuszem
kosmetyk do rzęs
prysznic, natrysk
fanfara
touche (szermierka) (czyt. tusz) – dotknięcie przeciwnika bronią
tusz (zapasy) – położenie przeciwnika na łopatki

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

Witold is the Polish version of the Lithuanian name Vytautas.
Someone with a Wit-starting name in Ameircan could have changed it to anything he wanted: Whtie, Smith, Schultz, Fabiano, Gomez...it's a free coiuntry.

In the US Jews with -wicz ending names often changed it to -vitz.
Now I've got a question: how are Jewish -wicz ending names respelt in other countries? The name of the late Soviet dictator Khrushchev (Polish: Chruszczow) was spelt some 30 different ways in different countries - the fate of all Cyrillic-written names.

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

Zawisza appears to be a variant of the name Zawisław whose basic roots were zawiść (envy) and sława (glory). It might have originally meant envious of glory, but by the time of the hero of the Battle of Grunwald, the knight Zawisza, it was already probably only a name.

Language / Funny/strange/deviant words in the Polish language [35]

Sasha - Kak nazywajetsja eto pa russki? Chwost?
(What's it in Russian - khvost?)

Doesn't tusz (as in wziąć tusz) exist in Polish anymore for shower? Presumably from French douche. I think I saw it in Dyzma, but maybe that was pre-war Polish.

Food / Your all time favourite Polish Dishes! [108]

My favourite is not on the list. It is KURCZĘ PO POLSKU - roast chicken stuffed with dill-flavoured bread & liver stuffing.
Anther is JAJK FASZEROWEANE - egg half-shells filled with chopped hard-cooked eggs, cooked onion and dill, sprinkled with bread crumsb and fried in butter and served warm.

Life / Civil Wedding Programme in Poland [5]

This is what I remember from attending a few civil marriage ceremonies in Poland over the years. Naturally there are bureaucratic preparations with which I am not familiar so this is only about the ceremony itself.

In generally it is a kind of pseudo-religious affair. Attempt are made to give it a solemn, festive air. So in big cities the USC Civil Registrar's Office) is often in a renovated palace (confiscated by the former commie regime from its rightful owners) with marble columns, fancy mirrors, paintings, statues, etc. There are flowers and recorded organ music. Instead of vestments worn by priests the registrar wears a toga and a chain with the Polish eagle on and stands behind a table at the front of the wedding hall. There are two chairs in front of them for the bride and groom, maybe four if the 2 witnesses are included. The b&g are asked to identify themselves with their identity cards and then the registrar asks them whether they have voluntarily agreed to enter the estate of matrimony. They say "tak" and sign some paper. I don’t recall if the registrar gives his little “sermon” about the importance of marriage before or after that. Probably before. The marriage is concluded when he/she says something like: By the power invested me by the Republic of Poland, I hereby proclaim you man and wife. Family and friends congratulate the newly weds and some USC premises have a hospitality room for a champagne toast.

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

Upon closer inspection all I could find were people in Belarus with the Pirsztuk (Пирштук) surname. Пирштуки сeло (Pirsztuki village) produced nothing. However, I did find Pirsztuki under the heading Homel/Gomel - back in the 18th century it was in the Wilno Archdiocese. That suggests that the name may have disappeared or even the village itself may have vanished over generations of wars, insurrections, revolutions, natural calamities, etc. But it must have existed at least up till the birth of your ancestor.

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

There is a village called Pirsztuki in the Homel/Gomel district of Belarus. In 1744 it was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Wilno.

KAMYKOWSKI: toponymic nick from the village of Kamyk (Pebbleton)
KUKU£KA: little cuckoo, either nick based on some characeristic or toponym from Kukułów or Kukułowo (Cuckooville)

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

-ródłowski (basic root: źródło - source, spring), probably toponymic nick from -ródłów or -ródłowo (Sourceville, Springton).

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


There is an older Polish word supinacja (from Latin supinatio) meaning to lie supine, but I doubt if that could be the source.