Genealogy / Place / Surname: Łomza + Krzewo Stare / Celmer + Potynska [6]

CELMER: Polish spelling of German or Yiddish Zellmer.

POTYŃSKI: Probably of toponymic origin but the only locality that fits is Potin in soutehrn Russia.

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

ŻÓ£KIEWICZ: 99% of the time the -wicz ending is a patronymic indicator; some modern exceptions like majsterkowicz (do-.it-yourselfer) and przytakiewicz (yesman) are irrelevant to Polish omnomastics. Someone from such localities as Żółkiew or Żółkiewka got called Żółko and when he fathered a son: presto, instant Żółkiewicz!

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

SURAŻYŃSKI: topo nick from Suraż in Podlasie.

PABIJAN: a dialectal alternative of the first name Fabian.

BOJDO: This is trickier. Could have been derived from old Polish bojeć się (to be afraid) as a nick for a timid, easily frightened person; or maybe a topo tag from places like Bojanay, Bojanów and similar; BTW there is a town in Germany called Boyda.

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

All those names (some badly misspelt) originated as patornymic nicks, so they reflect not where someone was from (a toponymic) but who his father was.

JASIAK: from Jaś or Jasio (pet form of Jan) = Johnson; Jaseak and Jasick are misspellings.
JANIK: another patronymic derived from Jan
JÓ-WIAK: patronymic derived from Józwa, peasant form of Józef.

More info on the above at: research60@gmail

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

LEWANDOWSKI: toponymic from Lewandów -- once a village outside Warsaw, now a section of the right-bank suburb of Białołęka. Lewandów would roughly translate as Lavenderville.

Genealogy / Polish-Ukranian roots and genes [72]

ZIELONY: Polish for green; might have originated as a toponymic nick for someone from Zielonka or similar; it could have also bene the Polonised version of the German/Yiddish name Grün which at times is Polonised as Gryn or Gryń.

PATERUCHA: root is Latin pater (father); bits of prayer or liturgical formulae were the basis of Polish surnames of people connected with the church (sextons, organists, etc.). These include Pater, Dominus, Nobis, Sekuła (saecula), Pleban, Kościelny, Klecha, Kleryk, etc. The -ucha is an augmentative suffix which may express disdain or other negative sentiments.

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

KULEWSKI: could have originated as a toponymic nick from villages called Kule; it could have been a nickname for kulas (limpy); and it could have been a misspelling of Kulerski. Back in the day when illiteracy was widespread, misspellings were in the course of recopying were not uncommon

Genealogy / Stanislaw Paduch born in Tarnobrzeg around 1890 - search for information on my Grandfather [2]

PADUCH: Old Polish term for bandit, highwayman, brigand or scoundrel.

Genealogy / Want to find a person [770]

OSICKI; root-word osika (aspen, tree species); this nickname-turned-surname probably originated as a topo nick from such localities as Osice or Osiczyzna.

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

Indeed, there is a surname Gorak, probably from the Old Polish verb gorać (to burn); gorak cold have been a nickname for
someone burnt out of house and home, the more common form of which is pogorzelec. Several dozen people in Poland use the Gorak surname, over 2,000 sign themselves Górak.

While with surname most everything is possible. After all, the original nicknamers were not university professors but simple, illiterate peasants. Nevertheless, a village called Rybka or Rybki should have generated Rykowski, not Rybczyński.

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

GÓRAK: root-word góra (mountain, hill); hill-dweller, less common form of góral (highlander); also topo nick from one of many localities called Góra.

STUDZIŃSKI: root-word studzić (to cool, chill); eg studzienina (jellied pig's trotters); toponymic surname from Studziny, now in Ukrainian-occupied SE Poland.

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

Likely sources of Rybczyński might also be 2 villages called Rybczyzna (in Mazowsze and Podlasie) as well as 2 called Rybczewice in the Lublin region.

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

WOJTYGA: One of many Polish surnames traceable to either the first name Wojciech (Adalbert) or wójt (village major).
Others include Wojtyła, Wojtysz, Wojtyszek, Wojtych, Wojtyń,Wojtyczko, etc. About five dozen people in Poland sign themselves Wojtyga.
If it were Lithuanian it would have to be something like Vojtygas (No letter "w" in Lithuanian and nearly all surnames end in "s").

Genealogy / Looking Into The Surname Bednarczuk: Ukrainian, Polish, Ruthenian, Belarusian, etc? [27]

BEDNARCZUK: is a Ukrainian patronymic meaning the cooper's son or apprentice; the more Polish ending wojuld be -czyk or -czyk.

KOWALCZUK: same as above; Polish would be Kowalczyk or Kowalczak (blacksmith's son or helper).

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

BODANOWICZ: a straightforward patronymic nickname-turned-surname meaning Bogdan's son.

SUPIŃSKI: originated as a toponymic nick for a villager from Supienie in the Suwałki area along the Lithuanian border.

That of course is a typo. It should be BOGDANOWICZ!

Life / Relation in Poland to Orthodox Christians? [117]

*Konopiełka"

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

CZARNECKI: (from one Detroiter to another) root-word czarny (black); toponymic nickname from any of dozens of localities in Poland called Czarna or Czarne. (Since Black and Blacks doesn't sound good in English as place-names, let's imagine their equivalents are more like Blackville, Blackly, Blackton or Blackbury.) The Czarneckis of Poland belonged to numerous gentry clans including one actually called Czarnecki.

Genealogy / Info about: Miroslaw Karpinski, married Hilda Hollyhead. He died 1955 in Blackpool [3]

KARPIŃSKI: topo nick from Karpin or Karpiny.

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

POCIAN: Poznań University onomastician Ewa Szczodruch beleives this name was derived from the German name Potz. But in some cases it might have emerged as a misspelling, generated by the mispronunciation and resultant miscopying of Bocian (stork).

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

WOJTAŚ: One of many nicknames-turned-surnames derived from the fitrst name Wojciech, specifically its hypocoristic (pet) form Wojtek.

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

CHOWAŃSKI: probably from verb chować (keep, hide, safeguard); ałsp possible topo nick from Russian localities such as Xoвaнь or Xoвaнcкoe

KRYNICKI: topo nick from Krynica

LASKOWSKI: topo nick from Lasków or Laskowo

SURAŻYŃSKI: topo nick from town of Suraż.

NOTE: Coats of arms accompany all of the above except Surażyński.

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

DeMucha/Demucha?: The spelling DeMucha suggests someone had prefaced the Polish nickname-turned-surname Mucha (fly) with the French preposition de (of, from), found not only in some French aristocratic surnames (eg Degaulle, DeLaSalle) but also in purely plebeian patronymics such as DePierre (Polish Pietrzak, Spanish Perez, English Peters, etc.).

In actuality Demucha spelt together is a purely Slavonic name, a hypocoristic (pet) form of the first name Dymitr.
Other variants include Demuch, Demuć, Demus, Demek, Dejmek, Dejmuś, Dymuś, Dymek and many others.

Genealogy / Place / Surname: Łomza + Krzewo Stare / Celmer + Potynska [6]

CELMER: probably Polonised version of German names Zelmer or Zielmer.

POTYŃSKI: this one is a real stumper; usually -ski ending names are toponymic nicks but there is no locality in Poland or surrounds that could have generated it. Unless the root-word here wad pot (sweat) and Potyński was meant as a humorous appellation for "that sweaty bloke".

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

STALEWSKI: Yes, this is a nickname-turned-surname of toponymic origin from the village of Stale in Podkarparckie or Stalewo in Pomorze. It is shared by some 500 people.

In English-speaking countries dropping the "w" is often a good way to retain the proper pronunciation. Stalewski in the US would be instinctively pronoucned by most as sta-LOO-ski.

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

BERNAT could be Polish or Czech. It comes from German Bernard or Bernhard which derived from the Old High German roots bero (bear) and hart (strong). Another Polish variant is Biernat. Bernard is now the most popular as a first name.

Genealogy / Need help with the origins of the surname von Czapiewski [21]

CZAPIEWSKI: toponymic nick from Czapiewo; someone probably added the von to pose as a Prussian aristocrat.

PYNER: probably from pyna (brass trouser button); pyner could have been Yiddish for someone who made such buttons.

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

The ending -witz may have been German but not the name's origin. The patronymic Polish -wicz ending as well as similar endings in other Slavonic tongues (Russian -вич, Croatian -vić, etc,) are routinely transcribed into German and Anglicized Yiddish as -witz.

Most likely it went this way: Bernatowicz changed the spelling to Bernatowitz (or had it changed for him by some overzealous Prussian clerk); then when borders shifted someone found it expedient to revert to the original Polish version.

Merged: SIWY, KARPIŃSKI, BEDNARSKI, SZCZEPANEK, SKRZYPEK

SIWY: the colour grey; probably nick of a gray-haired person.

KARPIŃSKI: root-word carp (fish species); probably topo nick from Karpin, Karpiny, Karpinówka or similar.

BEDNARSKI: patronymic nick from bednarz (wooden-tub and barrel maker); Eng. equivalent Cooperson.

SZCZEPANEK: from first name Szczepan (variant of Stefan); probably a patronymic nick equivalent to Stevens or Stevenson.

SKRZYPEK: occupational nick for a violinist or home-spun fiddler.

TOBOLSKI: root-word toboł or toboła (traveller's sack, bundle); quite likely originated as a toponymic nick from Tobołowo, Tobolice, Tobułki, Tobałówko or similar in Poland or Tobolsk in Siberia (a good name for an exile).

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

BERNATOWICZ: patronymic tag which originally meant "Bernat's son".Bernat is an Old Polish form of Bernard. One of the first books ever printed in Polish was a prayer book entitled "Raj duszny" (Spiritual paradise) by a priest known as Bernat z Lublina.

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

TYSZKA: This nickname-turned surname originated as the hypocoristic (pet) form of such first names as Tymoteusz or Tytus, so at least the first name given would be the equivalent of Tim or Timmy (from Timothy). Another common form is Tyszko. Most every Polish surname has been used by Jews at one time or another, but that does not make it a typically Jewish name. Typically Jewish names include Lewin, Szapiro, Margolis, Kabała and those incorporating the names of precious substances: perl, rubin, diamant, silber, gold, bursztyn, etc.

Tyska would be the mazurianised (peasant dialectal) version.

GADZIŃSKI: root-word gadzina (poisonous snake, viper, reptile); also said of a vicious, toxic person); most likely a toponymic nickname for an inhabitant of Gadzinowo (Viperton, Snakeville). You are correct that its noble line stamped their documents, adorned their manor house façades and engraved their tombs with the Pobóg heraldic device.

PAWLOSKI: This is the regional (probably Śląsk/Silesia) version of Pawłowski. The latter is a toponymic nick for someone from Pawłów or Pawłowo (Paulville, Paulton).

DZIDO: probably from dzida (spear - ancient weapon comprising a pointed blade mounted in a long thin shaft); another possibility is dzid -- an Ukrainianised word from grandfather or old man (Polish: dziad).

RĘBISZ: names with the rąb~ręb component refer to wood-cutting or forest-clearing, so it could have emerged as an occupational nick; but in some cases it may also be traceable to toponymic sources such as the villages of Rębisze, Rębiszewo and similar.

Genealogy / All Future Polish Genealogy Researchers: Please Read before you start a thread [45]

What's the grandfather's name?