The BEST Guide to POLAND
Unanswered  |  Archives [3] 
  
Account: Guest

Posts by Polonius3  

Joined: 11 Apr 2008 / Male ♂
Warnings: 1 - Q		 Last Post: 9 Apr 2018
Threads: Total: 980 / Live: 115 / Archived: 865
Posts: Total: 12270 / Live: 4516 / Archived: 7754 		From: US Sterling Heigths, MI
Speaks Polish?: yes
Interests: Polish history, genealogy

Displayed posts: 4631 / page 149 of 155
sort: Latest first   Oldest first   |
Polonius3   
15 Aug 2009
News / Original cars manufactured in Poland [64]

ludeka - did the mikrus have a front luggage comaprtment like the old vw beetle or was that used up by legroom. Also were those 12" wheels?
Polonius3   
14 Aug 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

ill Około "Pociask" dzienkuja bardzo

Pociask or pociak is a hoe-shaped tool for scooping ash out of a stove.

Ktokolwiek znać "kozlowits" on jast mi brats naźywasć Dzienkuja bardzo

KOZ£OWICZ (son of Kozioł or Kozieł). Kozioł is a male goat or buck deer. In America, a Jew with this Polish name might well spell it Kozlovitz.

Anyone ever hear of witovitz or whitovitz? i believe it to be Polish-jew.. or lithuanian, not sure..

WITOWICZ (son of Wit -- short for Witold).
Polonius3   
14 Aug 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

No Polsfuss in today's Poland, but around 100 people surnamed Polsfuß and 30-some who spell it Polsfuss in Germany. Meaning (just a wild guess): possibly Paul's foot or Polish foot?????

Les Paul's ancestors may have come from Polish territory but were probably not of ethnic Polish stock.
The name could well be Yiddish: German-sounding name + US entertainment industry. Call it ethnic stereotyping or Sherlock Holmesian deduction, as you prefer.
Polonius3   
12 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Czutkowna origins [3]

I have never encoutnered eitehr Czutkówna or Czutek.
All the information you provided is correct. There may only be one person in Poland currently named Czutek, but this is on the basis of the last census, so he/she may no longer be alive. That is probably the source of your gran's surname. If she came to England unmarried, then she may have had Czutkówna in her Polish documents. This is just a wild guess, but maybe some British immigration official saw it, wrote it down without the accent over the ó, and so it remained.

It may have also been derived from some locality such as Czutki, Czutek, Czutków or Czutkowo. The inmhabitant thereof could have been called Cutek or Czutkowski and his unmarried daughter Czutkówna (from Czutkowski probably Cztukowszczanka).

It is absolutely true that the name probably emerged many generations ago and its meaning has nothing to do with your immediate ancestors.
With what little you have to go on, not much more can be said about it.

Sorry for the typo. That should have been Czutkowszczanka). BTW I have run across a locality called Čutkov (Polish spelling Czutkow) in neighbouring Slovakia. There has been a fair amount of interaction and cross-fertilisation between those two trans-Carpathian lands, so that source should not be too hastily ruled out.
Polonius3   
12 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Czutkowna origins [3]

anyone know any info on my last name Czutkowna

CZUTKÓWNA: This looks to be a form once used to identify someone's unmarried daughter. If the father's surname was Okuń his daughter would be Okuniówna. And similarly, the daughter of a man surnamed Czutek would be called Czutkówna. It seems strange however that this should be a surname used by the entire family!!??
Polonius3   
9 Aug 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Koredecki -- perhaps from korda, the rope monks and nuns use to tie their habits at the waist. Possibly also toponymic nick from Kordowo.

ogor

The original Górnicki was either a miner's son or, even more probably, hailed from some such locality as Górnica or Górniki.

I don't know if there are any accents in this name but i would like to have a slight idea of what this last name means:
Olkowski.

No accents! Olkowski - toponymic nick from Olki, Olków or less likely Olkowice. Olek is shrot for Aleksander, hence Olkowski = "of Alexville or Aleckton".
Polonius3   
9 Aug 2009
Genealogy / Surnames Gall / Figura / Odrowaz [34]

GALL - from Latin name Gallus or the ancient Roman name for France - Gallia.
FIGURA - from Latin/Italian, in Polish means figure in the sense of a statue.

STAFIERA – parade-dress coachman (from Italian staffiere)
ŻMUDA – time-waster
CEPIL – flailer (someone beating grain with a flail to separate kernels from husks)
GALL – Gaul
PETIN – ??? (from Piotr???)
FIGURE – statue
Polonius3   
9 Aug 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

I would certainly appreciate some help also with my surname which is "Kulaszewski"

Nearly all surnames ending in -ewski or -owski are of toponymic origin, so this one probably originated to identify an inhabtiant of Kulaszew or Kulaszewo. Etymologically, kulasza and kulesza was once a common food of the peasantry -- a kind of porridge made by cooking flour or groats into a mush.
Polonius3   
8 Aug 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

KORDANA is a very rare name used by a dozen people in the Poznań area and a few more across the country.
The kord- root has generated words meaning a kind of sword (kord), monk's cord tie (korda), heavy woolen cloth of a monk's habit (kordelat) and a brawler (kordjał) always ready to pick a fight. There is also a locality called Kordowo which migth have generated a toponymic nick.

This is my Grandma's maiden name - any help would be great. Thank you.

Woytowicz.

Probably originally Wójtowicz -- occupational patronymic nick meaning son of the wójt (village mayor).
Polonius3   
4 Aug 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Cultural differences between English and the Slavonic tongues make it difficult to translate surnames such as Rusin into English. The word Rus' was once used to mean different Eastern Slavs known collectively as Ruthenians. There was Black Ruthenia, Red Ruthenia (nothing do to with Bolsheviks), White Ruthenia (tdoay's Belarus) and Great Ruthenia (Muscovites, today Russians). That is why the tsar called himself the ruler "of all the Russias". Of coruse there is also the Ukrainian subgroup known as Carpatho-Ruthenians or Rusniaks.

Now everything is finally clear....as mud, innit?
Polonius3   
1 Aug 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

what about Skwirut please help, thanks

SKWIRUT: from archaic verb skwirać (modern Polish: skwierczeć) to shriek as an eagle might when pouncing on prey. Hence skwirut could mean the shrieker.

How did Kujawy get it's name

KUJAWY: from an old word kuja meaning sand dunes. Old Slavonic verb kujati (to murmur) maybe like whispering sands???

GOMORCZAK: possibly from Gomora -- one of the biblical cities destroyed by God because of its people's homsexual deviation. Since -czak is a patroynmic suffix, perhaps it was used to mean the pervert's son.

FOR SURNAME LOCATIONS SEE: herby.com.pl

CZARKOWSKI: toponymic nick from Czarków, Czarkowo, Czarkowy or Czarkówka; possible etymology: from czarka (small cup, goblet or chalice), hence Gobletville, Cupbury or Chaliceton.

Any thoughts on meanings or associations for Ciarkowski

CIARKOWSKI: if this was merely the palatalised pronunciation iof Czarkowski, then the source would have been the same as above. But is could have been a toponymic nick in its own right from the village of Ciarka (meaning: nervous tingling, trembling, goose bumps, creepy feeling), hence Tingle, Shudderville (???).

.

Lewitowski ? Any suggestions, thanks.

No-one named Lewitowski in Poland at present. but there are Lewikowskis (toponymic nick from the villager of Lewików).
Lewitowski is found in the UK, however, so all of Poland's Lewitowskis must have died off or emigrated.
Most likely it comes from Lewita (Levite), a member of one of the biblical tribes of Israel.
Polonius3   
31 Jul 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

MOCZYGEMBA or more correctly MOCZYGĘBA means whistle-wetter or drunkard. That refers to the name's origin centuries ago and does not suggest such behaviour on the part of its subsequent users. To repeat -- Mr Baker probably does NOT bake bread for a living, although in the murky mediaeval past some distant forebear of his undoutedly did.
Polonius3   
31 Jul 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

KUROWSKI: toponymic nick for someone from Kurów (Cockville)

SCHMOLKE: German respelling of Szmołka, hypocoristic form of the Yiddish first name Szmul (Samuel). Note: German names ending in -ke such as Lipke, Rilke, Krupke, Mielke, Renke, Schoepke, etc. trace their roots to Slavonic (usually Polish ro Czech) sources.

Grygorczuk last name

My grandparents immigrated to US pre WW1. Last name I know of was Grygorczuk. Anyone out there familiar with this spelling or what part of Poland it may have originated from?

GRYGORCZUK: Both the basic root Grygor as well as the patronymic suffix -czuk clearly point to this name's easterly place of origin. It would have been most common in the Ruthenian-influenced eastern borderlands of the sprawling Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Polonius3   
30 Jul 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

More likely than not for the Nowicki relatives you know of this was just a name. The original people initially nicknamed Nowicki many centuries ago could have come from some such locality as Nowica, Nowice, possibly also Nowe or others cotnaining the "now-" root.

It's comparable to any Mr Baker, Tom Cooper or Bill Taylor you may have heard of in the US. It is quite unlikely that those now bearing such surnames bake bread, make barrels or sew clothes for a living. These are simply surnames passed down from one generation to the nest.

My last name is Ruszczyk

In addition to the options you have mentioned, which are all plausible, Ruszczyk might have also arisen as a toponymic nick for someone hailing from such places as Ruszcza, Ruszczany, Ruszczyzna, Ruszczenica or Ruszki.

Porucznik besides signifying a military rank below captain, in old Poland was also used to mean emissary, envoy, deputy, plenipotentiary, commissar, viceroy and the like.

Sutkowski most likely originated as a toponymic nick (nearly all "-owski" names are!) identifying someone as an inhabitant of Sutków or Sutkowo (Nippleton, Nippleville).
Polonius3   
29 Jul 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Like most names ending in "-cki" and "-ski" this probably originated as a toponymic nick to identify someone from places such as Nowica or Nowice (Newville, Newton, Newbury, etc.)

You probably have heard this name Anglo-mangled into some God-awful abomination such as "no-wicky". The correct pronunciaton is: no-VEETS-kee.
Polonius3   
27 Jul 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

The -ak ending ia almost always an indicator of patronymic origin, but here the base form is rather enigmatic. Could it have derived from some such Hebrew name as Ezra, Ezekiel, Ezrel or Ezsaias (Hungarian form of Isaiah, Polish - Izajasz)?

The Eizak spelling does not exist in Poland but there are bearers of the Ejzak surname.
Polonius3   
26 Jul 2009
Genealogy / the name Markiewicz / also Szczygielski [17]

Any name can be a Jewish name! Jewish surnames are derived from not only Hebrew and Yiddish but also from Spanish, the Slavonic tongues, Romanian, English, etc., wherever Jewish people settled.

Personally I do not perceive the term Jewish in purely religious terms. To me it identifies a Semitic ethnic group akin to Arabs. Centuries of different admixtures have naturally altered the original purely Semitic DNA.
Polonius3   
21 Jul 2009
Genealogy / Polish surname Gil. My ancestors were from the town of Widelka. [74]

The surname Gil has a different etymology depending on the language it is in:
גִיל (Hebrew) Gil means joy or happiness
English Gil is derived from the Christian name Giles (which in Polish BTW is Idzi)
Spanish (pronounced: heel) & Portuguese (zheel) Gil is also from that first name
Polish Gil = a bullfinch, a small yellow bird whose Polish name probably derives from the Latin word for yellow gilvus (whence the Germans got gelb/yellow).
Polonius3   
21 Jul 2009
Love / WHAT TRAITS DO POLISH MEN LOOK FOR IN A FEMALE? [34]

As a Polish male, in what order would you rank the following traits of a potential girlfriend, fiancée or husband? Feel free to add any additional traits you like. Of course there are those who look for something different in a gf and a future spouse, in fact some say there are 2 different kinds of girls: those you want to date and those you want to marry. If you agree, please feel free to distinguish between the 2 categories.

-physical attractiveness
-libido
-personality (extrovert-introvert, sense of humour, gift of the gab*, etc.)
* I can't see too many males wanting to link up with a human chatterbox!
-education
-professional prestige
-size of income (generous wealthy father)
- interest in maternity, no. of kids desired
-age
-nationality
-common goals, priorities and interests
-religion (same or different, religous or irreligious)
-family (eg nasty future mum-in law, cool future bro-in-law, holiday home on the Riviera?)
-other

Sorry for the "husband". As you probably imagine, I copy-pasted the one addressed to the ladies and neglected to make all the necessary adjustments. The item should read:

As a Polish male, in what order would you rank the following traits of a potential girlfriend, fiancée or wife? Feel free to add any additional traits you like. Of course there are those who look for something different in a gf and a future spouse, in fact some say there are 2 different kinds of girls: those you want to date and those you want to marry. If you agree, please feel free to distinguish between the 2 categories.

-physical attractiveness
-libido
-personality (extrovert-introvert, sense of humour, gift of the gab*, etc.)
* I can't see too many males wanting to link up with a human chatterbox!
-education
-professional prestige
-size of income (generous wealthy father)
- interest in maternity, no. of kids desired
-age
-nationality
-common goals, priorities and interests
-religion (same or different, religous or irreligious)
-family (eg nasty future mum-in law, cool future bro-in-law, holiday home on the Riviera?)
-other
Polonius3   
20 Jul 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Marnik (from the adjective marny --empty, futile, trivial, unimportant, insignificant, hopeless, destitute, etc.) has come to mean either a spendthrift or squanderer (in modern Polish: marnotrawca) or a useless person. However, if in your family's case Marnik was used to replace Marcinkowski (Martinson or Martinviller), then that definiton is useless, becuase Marnik and Marcinkowski are not related in any way whatsoever.
Polonius3   
20 Jul 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Marnik exists as a surname in its own right in Poland, and most of its bearers live in SE Poland. However, your hypothesis about that being the shortened version of Marcinkowski also cannot be ruled out. Your immigrant ancestors' Old World documents (if availablłe) could solve the riddle.
Polonius3   
16 Jul 2009
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

DĄBEK - little oak tree; possibly a toponymic nick from one of the many localities containing the dąb root. Married woman Dąbkowa, unmarried Dabkówna or Dąbczanka

How about Kolis

KOLIS - kolis = packet, bundle, crate of merchandise from French colis; possibly derived from kulesza (cooked mush)

Meaning of Tatz

TATZ - most likely from German Tatze (paw, claw).