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

Stankiewicze.com lists about 28 or so surnames derived from the root Grym- (including Grymel) : Grym, Gryma, Grymajło, Grymak, Grymal, Grymała, Gryman , Grymanowski, Grymański, Grymek, Grymel, Grymiel, Grymienko, Grymin, Grymiński, Grymis, Grymiuk, Grymko, Grymkowski, Grymla, Grymm, Grymmel, Grymula, Grymuliński, Grymulski, Grymuła, Grymułek, Grymuło.

According to author of that list, Ewa Szczodruch, a genealogist (she researches many sources), they all come from German personal name Grimm, and this is turn from Middle-High-German gminn, grimme - meaning grim, fierce, mad, raging, stubborn

Language / -ski/-ska, -scy/ski, -wicz - Polish surnames help [185]


This part of your quest is a bit easier to handle. One database lists 29 surnames "Misiewicz", born between 1850-1885 in Podlasie Voivodship. Two of those are Bronisława and Jan. Check if their birth dates match.

+ 1885, Bronisława Misiewicz, Suwałki
+ 1865, Jan Misiewicz, Jaminy (Gmina Sztabin, Augustów County)
Check this: geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?rid=B&from_date=1850&to_date=1920&search_lastname=Misiewicz&exac=1&rpp2=50&rpp1=0&bdm=B&url1=&w=10pl&op=gt

The name Schublekowitz, Schublikowitz, Schuplicovitch is very much encrypted. If it was ever spelled in Polish fashion it should be of the form: SZU-----WICZ. I have no idea what are the letters between: Szulakowicz, Szulakiewicz, Szublikowicz?

But if the name was spelled in Cyrillic, Russian way, then the transliteration could involve SCHU---WITZ or SCHU---WITCH, etc.

Language / -ski/-ska, -scy/ski, -wicz - Polish surnames help [185]

^^
Jedliżanka, of course.

Genealogy / Mackowiak surname, Maćkowiak [17]

You may want to start with Poznan Marriage Indexing Project.
poznan-project.psnc.pl/project.php

Read the introduction; it is in English. Then search the database. It is very friendly, since all you need is to know just one surname (bride or groom), unless you know exact names of both parties. First names are usually written in Latinized version, but that depends on a parish. If you are lucky and find the match or few, look for the location of the the original marriage certificate and then fetch the copy (in person or by proxy) from the local parish. This could tie you to a baptism certificate of at least one surname, since in those times many married in the same parish where they were born. The database handles various denominations and you do not have to specify it during the search.

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

KOSZTOWNIAK: from "koszt" ("wartość, wydatek") - cost (value, expenditure); from "kosztowny" - costly, expensive, valuable. The suffix -AK is one of the forms signifying an offspring of somebody. In this case: Kosztowny => Kosztowniak. But it could be also a means of converting an adjective "kosztowny" to a noun "kosztowniak".

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

If you ask me, I am not getting into such speculations since everything is possible in border areas: surname Polish, given name German - nothing particularly strange. National allegiances change too. People with Polish surnames became very German and vice versa. General Anders, a commander of Polish Second Corps in Italy, a great Polish patriot, was born to his Baltic-German father Albert Anders and his mother Elizabeth, born Tauchert. Even one branch of the Habsburgs became proud Polish patriots. See for example this:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Wilhelm_of_Austria

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

^^
Nadworna, Nadworny, Nadworniak - from "nadworny", belonging to "dwór", a manor house

Jansa - from a given name Jan (Jan is used in Poland since XIII c.)

Burda - from "burda", a brawl; or from "burdać się" ("przewracać się, rozrzucać"), to fall over, to scatter

Haman - from German personal name Hamann, this from Hann or Hanne (Johann); same as Jan in Polish (Han was used instead of Jan in Old Polish)

Peter, Petera - from a given name (German: Peter, Petir, Piter), (Polish: Piotr, Piotro, Pietr, Pioter, Piotyr, Pietyr). All those names come from the Greek word "petra", meaning rock.

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

Weinar: From German personal name Woiner, and this from Wagner

Wagner: from Middle- and High- German wagener; or from Middle-German wainer, or weiner. It means a craftsman involved in making wagons, or the wagon driver (in southern Germany). In the North-East and the South-West Germany it means a wheelwright, cartwright; here and there it also means a smith making wheel rims or even a saddler making harnesses.

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


Cassandra, cheer up, don't try to take it too seriously. I am only reporting some historical tidbits. Things have no real meaning over the ages. One of my favourite characters from the novel "The Three Musketeers" were the clever servants, such as Mousqueton or Picard, who actually saved their master's skins more than ones.

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]


Yes, it is. But I decline the medal for now. :-)

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]


Again, due to the power of deduction (I hope): Bohdan Poręba, Hubal

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


Ciurczyński, as well as about 30 other such names - Ciur, Ciura, Ciuraczek, Ciurakowski, Ciurkiewicz, Ciurko ... - derive from Old Polish "ciura" - a camp-follower.

This word "ciura" is so described in the Old Polish Encyclopedia by Zygmunt Gloger:
Polish nobility going to war, especially militia, more properly known as "pospolite ruszenie" (mass movement), took with them carts filled with arms, food, and fodder - accompanying by the bravest of their servants. For this reason the armies were followed by numerous caravans with apprentices, servants, attendants; which were much feared by the rural population, as they stole whatever and whenever they could. For this reason peasants called them maliciously "ciury" (plural) - "ciur, ciura" being originally just an onomatopoeic sound. Wacław Potocki composed in his "Jovialitates" the following satirical tombstone inscription:

"Ciura leży w tym grobie, radujcie się kury!
Ale o cóż na świecie łatwiej jak o ciury?"
(Here lies a "ciura", rejoice chicken! But what in the world is easiest to find than "ciury"?)

In the parliamentary debates, concerning wars, there were provisions regarding "ciuras". Many commanders successfully used them during the war. Stefan Czarniecki took Warsaw back from the Swedes with the help of "ciury". They distinguished themselves with courage in the battle of Chocim 1673. Later, however, the word has gained only disdained meaning of an incompetent and a fool.

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


I have no idea what mental state of your ancestor was when he was making the T dropping decision:
+ he did it because he had no affiliation with the meaning of the name; he did not understand the name to start with; it felt foreign to it anyway.

+ he did it because he thought it would be easier to assimilate to the German culture; -itz sounds more German than -icz.
+ he did it because he felt ashamed of his possible Slavic association
+ he did it because he was just sloppy
+ he did it because ... of hundreds other reasons

Any real Pole can easily understands what T actually mean in the Dutkowicz. The surname Dutkowicz derives from one of the several words:
+ from a German personal name Dut(t), and this in turn from the personal names staring with Theud-
+ from the Polish name dutka, a handbag

The roots Dutka- and Duka- are really miles apart.

Dukowicz derives
+ from the verb dukać 'mówić niewyraźnie', to speak in a fuzzy way
+ from the dialectal "duk" meaning 'dziupla, dół' - a hollow in a tree, a bottom


^^
That's correct. The Polish word comes from "kuśnierz", a furrier. Kuśnierek is a diminutive of kuśnierz, like a little furrier, a son of furrier.

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]


Kutz, Sól ziemi czarnej. Pure deduction, never saw it. So many hateful comments on youtube.

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


The older spelling yet was "wikaryusz", as you can easily check now since many old documents have been scanned and digitized by google: books, heraldries, memoirs, annuals of Towarzystwo Przyjaciól Nauk (Society of Friends of Science), etc. One good example is "Liber Beneficiorum" Jan £askiego (1456-1531), edited by Jan £ukowski and published in 1881: archive.org/details/joannisdelascol00asgoog

One advice though: digitizing (optical character recognition) Polish text is often very crude so when searching through digitized plain text always compare the results with the original scanned material (PDF). In this particular context of "Liber Beneficiorum" the word "wikaryasz" appears only as a scanning error of the original "wikaryusz".

Genealogy / Seeking relatives of Klepadlo family, originally from Brzeniny, Poland [9]


You are on a good track. The verb "klepać" means to clap, to strike. So it could lead to door knocking, as you said, and hence to the noun "kołatka". It could also mean "klepać kosę", to clap a scythe - the first stage of sharpening it. It could also derive from the Old Polish "klepadło", a kind of a fish net.

Original poster: There are 446 people using "Klepadło" surname in Poland, but 0 "Klepadlo". So make sure that you use the correct spelling when searching Polish sources. That's KLEPAD£O: the second letter is a regular L, but the seventh one is £ - L with stroke, roughly pronounced as English W.

The biggest distribution of the Klepadło surname in Poland is in NE Poland: Counties Mońki (160), Białystok (87), Ełk (35) and Gryfino (29).

There are 37 villages and towns named Brzeziny in Poland. The one best matching the "Klepadło" distribution, is this: Village Brzeziny, Gmina Trzcianne, Mońki County, Podlaskie Voivodship .

Anna SUPIŃSKA (again, watch the spelling, this is N acute): the name SUPIŃSKI (male) and SUPIŃSKA (female) derives from the village Supienie, Gmina Filipów, Suwałki County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, NE Poland.

The combined Supiński/Supińska current name distribution is this: Total: 1319
Ełk County: 107
Mońki County: 58
Białystok(city+county): 144
£omża County: 53
Zambrów County: 47

So both names Klepadło and Supińska are again pointing to Mońki County as highly probable place of living of your ancestors. So Brzeziny, or any other village in its former parish Trzcianna would be a highly probable place of living for Franciszek and Anna.

There is an ongoing GENETEKA project, which combines efforts of hundreds of volunteers, who browse hundreds of parish books from various time periods and digitize them.

This shows that the surname KLEPAD£O appears in databases of three voivodships:
Mazowieckie (19 births, 7 deaths, 7 marriages), Warszawa (6, 0, 6), Podlaskie (58, 65, 18). Concentrating on Podlaskie you can see the following picture:

58 births between 1836-1848, surname Klepadło, village Trzcianne
65 death between 1831-1848, surname Klepadło, village Trzcianne
18 marriages between 1800-1848, surname Klepadło, village Trzcianne (1 Tykocin)

What it also tells us is this: the indexing from this area is highly incomplete, for whatever reason: missing parish books, or just work in progress. So there is no digitized record for marriage of Anna Supińska and Franciszek Klepadło, neither the digitized birth certificate of Leszek Benjamin Klepadlo, Brzeziny, 1937.

Currently village Brzeziny belongs to Laskowiec Parish (2 km away), which has been established sometime after 1958. I supposed that Brzeziny used to belong to Trzcianne Parish before that and and all the parish books are still there.

Parafia p.w. Św. Apostołów Piotra i Pawła (St. Appostles Peter and Paul Parish), Trzcianne

ulica 3 maja 33
19-104 Trzcianne

Telefon: (85) 738-50-08
Telefon/fax: (85) 738-50-94

E-mail: kancelaria@parafiatrzcianne.pl
Preview by PolishForums.com Close

Genealogy / German war memorial in the Upper Silesian village of Biestrzynnik (Biestrzinnik-Ringwalde) [18]

Check this page, findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=91094177 , posted by Paul Warzecha, on May 31, 2012. He claims that he is a distant relative of Josef Warzecha, listed on the memorial in Biestrzynnik.

The page links to photographs of the monument, as well as to a hand written list of all who died.
The monument contains three group of names
1. Ehrentaffel der im Weltkrieg 1914 - 1918, Gefallenen aus Biestrzynnik (Died in WWI)
2. Die Gefallenen vom Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939 - 1945 (Died in WWII)
3. Ermorde 1945 (civilians murdered by Russians in 1945)
Josef Warzecha is listed in group #2. No ranks, or other details are shown.

P.S. Looking back, I realized that you must a person, who posted the link I referred to, or at least are aware of the link. I apologize for redundancy of my message, but you were not very clear that you wanted some additional information about Josef Warzecha, other than the confirmation about him being listed on that monument.

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]


For small pictures: Just copy the image to your local disk. Optionally scale it down. Name it whatever you want it. Use the PF feature "attach file(s)". For large images you may need to use services of "Image Shack" or similar.

One of the most terrifying scenes in "Quo Vadis" was the martyrdom of Christians in the amphitheater.
- From the school notebooks

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]

Maksym Krzywonos, Krivonos. One German source said that he was of Scottish origin. In this case his real name may well have been not a nickname based on his crooked or broken nose, but a translation of his Scottish family name Cameron - this in turn possibly deriving from Gaelic cam ("crooked", "bent") and sròn ("nose"). [Both interpretations are not unique]

News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [493]

I am not expert on strategic military issues, but perhaps you wish to read this expose by Polish four-star general Mieczysław Cieniuch, Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, in Military Technology Magazine:

miltechmag.com/2012/09/mspo-recent-and-future-developments-in.html

Check also this thread about MSPO-2012 (Międzynarodowy Salon Przemysłu Obronnego) - Internatonal Exhibition of Defence Industry, in Kielce, Poland. You will find there a bunch of official materials from various exhibitors (400 or so), but also some photographs taken by individuals visiting the place. Today is the first day of the exhibition, so there will be more photographs coming.

militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?217041-MSPO-2012-Military-industry-exhibition

Genealogy / Is there a website where you check which Polish family names are popular in which region [6]

We have been using such site for a long time in PF, particularly in the thread "The meaning of your Polish last name" (3021 posts so far).

It is based on the same engine as many other sites elsewhere: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc. You have to watch one thing: it does not recognize that -SKI and -SKA are the same names, so you have to test it twice to get totat statistics. It is also very sensitive to diacritic signs, so make sure to put them wherever needed.

Edited:
I believe that data collection in Poland is based on PESEL numbers; in Germany of phone lines.

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

There is some correlation between Chosiński surname and those two villages. Today they belong to two different administrative provinces, yet they are only 19 km appart:

Retkowo, (municipality) Gmina Szubin, Nakło County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, 33 km SE of Bydgoszcz.
Srebrna Góra, Gmina Wapno, Wągrowiec County, Greater Poland Voivodship, 55 km SE of Bydgoszcz.

The biggest concentration of people named Chosiński (male) and Chosińska (female) is in Wągrowiec County - 14 and 22, correspondingly (out of total 95).
See the red areas in those two maps: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/chosi%25C5%2584ski.html, moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/chosi%25C5%2584ska.html. That's Wągrowiec County. Coincidence? [Move your pointer around and the county names will show up. Summaries are shown at the bottom and in in right lower corner]

The Poznan Project database has 22 exact matches for marriages of grooms Chosiński or brides Chosińska between the years 1834-1874 (scanned 1800-1950), from various catholic parishes, including Srebrnagóra (alternate spelling of Srebrna Góra). I'll just post the exact matches from Srebrnagóra and Wągrowiec.

Srebrnagóra, 1853, Jacobus Knoch (28), Catharina Chosinska (19)
Srebrnagóra, 1860, Andreas Chosinski (28), Marianna Horka (30)
Srebrnagóra, 1861, Andreas Sobecki (22), Francisca Chosinska (19)
Srebrnagóra, 1864, Telesphorus Radaj (23), Antonina Chosinska (20)
Srebrnagóra, 1865, Franciscus Chosinski (27), Marianna Szaskowska (20)
Srebrnagóra, 1867, Andreas Chosinski (36), Margaretha Ryback (45), Additional information: viduus/vidua
Srebrnagóra, 1873, Michael Crzech (24), Helena Chosinska (26)
Wągrowiec [Wongrowitz], 1859, Thomas Chosinski (29), Marianna Rexmer (31)
There are also approximate matches listing Choysińska , Chozińska, Chocińska alias Choczyńska, Chozinski, etc. You can get it from this page: poznan-project.psnc.pl/search.php

Just select the date period and use the simple surname search in the right upper corner.

There are five exact matches for Hosiński? and Hosińska/Hosinska in Gostyń and Kletno parishes. Inexact matches involve Hoziński, Hozińska, Hasiński, Hasińska. Most of them from catholic parish in Gostyń, none of them from Srebrnagóra.


Domanski, Domański - since 1436, from village names Domanin, Domanice (several in Poland); directly from the given name Doman (= Damian). In Old Polish it was known as Damijan since 1178, Demijan 1405, Doman 1250. It derives from from Latin nickname Damianus. It came to Latin from Greek, and to there from Egyptian goddess Damia.

There is a bunch of related surnames, having the same root, ranging from Doman, Domanek, Domanczuk, Domanicz, Domańczyk, Domanowicz, to Domańszczyński, etc.

The surname Domański (with N acute) is quite popular in Poland: 10944 + 11336 (Domańska). It is fairly well distributed all over the country, but the biggest concentration is east of Warsaw, in Podlasie historical region.

Domanski/Domanska - only 15/14 persons of this name. A little acute sign and such a difference! :-)

Domansky - 0 people of this name in contemporary Poland; this is according to "Moi Krewni" database.

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

The surnames ZEHALUK, ŻEHALUK, ŻEHALAK, ŻEHA£KOWICZ, as well as related ZAHALAK, ZAHALIK, ZAHALUK are extremely rare in Poland. The surname ZAHALKA is present among surnames of Czech Republic.

My interpretation of those surnames , which can be completely faulty, is as follows:
The prefix ZE, same as Z, means from. The prefix ZA, means beyond.

Suffixes -AK, -IK, and -UK refer to an offspring of somebody. The first two suffixes are more typical to Polish lands, the last one - to Ukrainian.

The core of the name is HAL or HALA, which in modern Polish means a mountain meadow, or in older times - the bare empty spaces between peaks, high mountains

So ZE-HAL-UK would mean FROM-MOUNTAIN_MEADOW-OFFSPRING - an offspring of somebody living in a mountain meadow (or high mountains).

Etymology of HALA:
From the Old Slavic root GOL, meaning naked, bare; from there comes GOLIZNA, bareness. It means a naked mountain, a bare space between peaks. In Old Polish GOLA would correspond to HALA, a mountain meadow. The presence of H, instead of G, indicates Czech, Slovakian or Ruthenian origin. However there is no word HOLA, HALA in Ruthenian, so this leaves us with southern influence.

In Czech HOLA, HOLE means an open space, a clearing. In Upper-Sorbian HOLA, diminutive HÓLKA, means empty space, not overgrown space, but also woods. Slovenians and Serbians use GOL in the same meaning. Poles and Belarusians living in Lithuania used the words HALE, HALIZNA, PRZEHALINA.

PODHALE: A geographical region in southern Poland, a piedmont of high Tatras. The names means "under the mountain meadows", or "under the bare mountains, high mountains" - known as TATRY, TATRAS, The Tatra Mountains

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]

Re: Message #9
Andrzej Munk, Zezowate szczęście, Bad luck (1960)

I did not recognized Bogumił Kobiela at first on that picture. He was quite chubby later.

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

The question about Hosinski was already asked in this thread on Jun 10, 2011, 22:09, message #1,960.

I am not going to give you any definite answer, but I will open your options a bit.

One possibility is this: in Polish the following two names sound almost the same "Hosiński" and "Chosiński". Note that in the proper Polish both of them use the soft N, N acute, Ń. This is because in Polish it is easier to pronounce the group "ŃSKI" rather than "NSKI".

But that's not the major issue: the major issue is CH vs. H. The first phoneme is voiceless, rough, like in Scottish LOCH NESS, or German Johann Sebastian BACH. This is the basis, and this was the only "h" sound present in Old Polish. With time new words were borrowed from Czech, Ruthenian and Romance languages, which preferred the voiced H . Several generation ago people could easily differentiate between voiced H and voiceless CH, two generation ago only the actors knew the difference, and people from the Borderlands: today's Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine. Now very few people can hear any difference at all and fewer yet can properly pronounce both phonemes. For a modern Pole, both H and CH sound exactly the same - just like CH.

According to "Moi Krewni" database there are 95 Chosiński/Chosińska people currently living in Poland. This is a very poor record, but on the other hand there are zero Hosiński/Hosińska in the same database. Think about it a bit.

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]

Kawalerowicz, Faraon (1965).
Yes, this was a bit easier due to unforgettable .. arms .. of Barbara Brylska.

News / THE ARMY OF POLAND - THE REALITY [493]

Quite a bunch. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_awards_and_decorations] lists all Polish civilian and military orders, decorations and medals. The oldest (1792, reactivated in 1919) and highest military decoration is War Order Virtuti Military for valor in the face in enemy. It comes in five classes: Silver Cross, Gold Cross, Knight Cross, Commandor Cross, Great Cross. Awarded to persons, military units and even navy ships.

Some military decorations are given for actions in peace time, some are for combat valor against acts of terrorism in Poland and abroad. Military Cross is a combat decoration, conferred to a military, irrespective of rank and service for combat valor against an act of terror in the territory of Poland or while on a mission of the Armed Forces overseas. Established in 2007. It comes in three classes: (I) Great Cross, (II) Commander Cross, and (III) Knight Cross. Most soldiers who died in Afghanistan have been posthumously awarded the Knight Cross of Military Cross.

At the very bottom of the hierarchy are stars awarded to any soldier having serving abroad: Afghanistan Star (since 2002), Iraq Star (2003-2008), Chad Star (EUFOR and MINURCAT 2008-2009), Congo Star (EUFOR RD CONGO 2006), Mediterranean Sea Star (For service in Active Endeavour; since 2005), Air Crew Star (for service, inter alia, in Baltic Air Policing; since 2005).

Polish Army Medal is a special medal, since it is awarded for services to the Polish armed forces by foreign civilian and military personnel. Since 1999.

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]

Kawalerowicz, Pociąg, Night Train (1959) ?

Genealogy / How can I find my family in Poland? (Hochajzel) Malinowska. [15]

^
To start with: this is P£OCK, not PLOK. The second consonant, £, is known as L with stroke - roughly pronounced as English "w". The fourth character, C, is pronounced separately from K, approximately as TZ or TS in English. So putting it all together: P£OCK is pronounced PWOTZK, more or less.

I found Agnieszka Malinowska (Hochajzel) on the list of the portal "Nasza klasa" (our class), which lists various students from the school "Zespół Szkół Ekonomiczno-Kupieckich Płock" (A unit of economic-business schools, Płock). She is listed under "Klasa BLT 1996-2000". That would make her about 30 years old now, more or less.

You can see her picture here (with her daughter, it seems), nk.pl/school/89429/7. But in order to send her a message you have to register to the portal. You can register just as a guest. If for some reason she is hard to reach you can send a message to her class teacher or to any other student from this class.

Life / Polish film and serial riddles [137]


Please don't. I am not that good in subject of movies, especially the newer ones.