Genealogy /
THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]
@DominicB
@kaprys
You both have been so helpful, so first and foremost I just want to thank you!
I'm attaching the images of the records I have. One is the marriage record for John Rog & Mary Opata - they are row 13. Looks like Roj is Rog, and Gumula is his mother's maiden name. Similarly, Lopata seems to be Opata, with Cub being her mother's maiden name. I have reached out to the church to see if they have the original wedding record that may hold where John & Mary were born and/or when they were baptized.
Also attached are the Ellis Island papers for Magdalena Supka & her children. It appears that they were detained because one of the children, Michal, was hospitalized. It also denotes that Magdalena named her husband, Josef, as her nearest relative (his last name is written as well - I don't want to speculate, but it looks like Cupke? Supke? Not sure.). I'm going to reach out to the Ellis Island people to see if they can make sense of the numbers written on the kids' rows of the passenger list (Marjanna, Jan, and Michal). There is also her detained alien record - she is row 27 - while Michal was in the hospital. Not sure if these records help uncover anything, but wanted to share what I have.
Finally, I attached the 1940 census when Peter Supka was head of the household but his mother, Magdalena, lived with him. He shows as naturalized, but Magdalena is denoted as an alien. It's my understanding, since she didn't die until 1957, that she would have had to file for citizenship. Is that correct? I couldn't find her or Peter's alien files in the national archives, but am planning to submit a request for search through the US Citizenship & Immigration office. Here's the catch - the SEARCH alone is $65, so I want to make sure I'm requesting the right info....they ask for a country selection. I've seen both Austria and Poland on their various censuses and paperwork, as Galicia is a gray space. What should I use for my search? Poland?
Thanks again!
