Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


KAMECZURA: Possibly derived from the first name Kamil. The -czura ending usually serves as an augmentative (something that makes the original sound bigger, tougher, gruffer) and may have a facetious or pejorative undertone. English lacks such a form but it might be the difference between just calling someone Bill and adding such emotive descriptives as "big, old, clumsy (good for nothing) Bill.

About six dozen people in today's Poland sign themselves Kameczura.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

@jadz
KRASZEWSKI: toponymic nick from several localities named Kraszew or Kraszewo. Root is "kras-" (to beautify, enhance, adorn),so one might roughly translate those names as Beautyville, Glamourburg, Enhancerville, Adornton, etc. The largest Kraszewski concentrations are found in the Warsaw Łódź and Białystok areas.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


Yes, it could be Jewish, as rasch in German (of which YIddish is a dialect) means quick, swift, nimble, etc. If it got shortened it might have originally been something like Raschmann, Raschdorf or Raschberg.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


WALIŃSKI: most likely originated as a patronymic nickname-turned-surname to identify the son of someone first-named Walerian or Walenty. Possibly (although far less likely) a comical nick for the village brawler who went about bonking people (walił po mordzie).

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


How about Wolin Island as a toponymic source for Woliński. Wołyń would have generated Wołyński.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


IWIEŃSKI: Looks to be a nickname of toponymic origin from the village of Iwno in Wielkopolska (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwno,_Greater_Poland_Voivodeship)

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


IWIŃSKI: toponymic nick from the loclaity of Iwno in Wielkopolska.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


PACZYŃSKI: toponymic nickname-turned-surname generated by localties such as Paczyn or Paczyna. There were four different noble lines in the Paczyński family each with a separate coat of arms. More info at: research60@gmail

PS - Pochinski is a fairly good folk-phonetic re-spelling if one considers the American o=ah pronunciation where pot is pronounced like paht.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


TURAŁA: one of a group of nicknames-turned-surnames derived from the past tense of verbs. In this case the verb is turać (variant forms: tulać, tułać, turlać) which means to roll somthing (a football, barrel, other rollable object, etc.). Most such names are in the feminine (-a) so Turała would literally translate as "she was rolling". The reflexive form turać się means to wander, ramble, travel aimlessly.

other examples Gwizdała (whistler), Przybył (newcomer), Mrugało (winker).

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


BANISZEWSKI: The -ewski and -owski endings of Polish surnames are nearly always toponymic in origin. In this case, this nickname-turned-surname is traceable to Baniszew (aka Bieniszew), a small settlement first recorded in the 14th c., built round a Camedulian monastery in Wielkopolska. As to the etymology of that locality's name, both Baniszew and Bieniszew are tracebale to Banadyk, the peasant verison of the first name Benedykt.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


Please contact: research60gmail

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


ZIEMSKI: adjective from earth, soil (ziemia); once used in such terms as majątek ziemski aka folwark, a landed agricultural holding or grange.
Zemsky may be a transliteration of the Cyrillic 3eмcкий. Transliterators often forget that the Cyrillic "e" is not the same as the English "e" but actually has a "yeh" sound. But there is also a Czech surname Zemský.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

WESOŁOWSKI: root-word wesoły (merry, gay, happy, jolly); but -owski endings usually signal toponymic nicknames-turned-surnames, hence more likely than not it is traceable to such localities as Wesoła, Wesołów, Wesołowo, Wesołówka and similar of which there are quite a few in Poland. These are rougly translatable as Happyville, Gayton, Merryburg, Jollywood or something along those lines. Three gentry lines in the Wesołowski family each with a separate coat of arms. More info at: research60@gmail

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


PUCYKOWICZ: possibly from pucować (to clean, scour, polish. shine, groom /of a horse/) originally a borrowing from German putzen. Someone with a fetish for keeping something (boots, saddle, metal ornaments, etc.) polished to a high gloss could have earned the nickname of pucuś or pucyk. When he fathered a son -- instant Pucykowicz! It cold have also been Pucykiewicz.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


Topographic names were derived from terrain (topographic) features, for example Zaleski from "za lasem", Podgórski from "pod górą"; toponymic surnames were derived from the names of localities, in this case a village called Zalesie or Podgórze respectively.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


Not exactly. At present yes, but in earlier centuries it was just -ic as in Paweł Włodkowic, later it evovled into -icz and finally became -wicz. Similar endings are shared throughout Slavdom (in the Balkans it's -ić) as well as in Yiddish (eg Manischewitz -- a well-known Jewish wine company).

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


Yes and no. It originated as a patronymic ending but evolved into the toponymic sphere. It also nicely illustrates that before -wicz there was -ic.

Let's take a place called Borkowice. A man known as Borek had a son who was called Borkowic (Borek's boy) by fellow-villagrers. He fathered additional sons and when they grew up, went off and set up shop in a formerly uninhabited place, people in the area would instinctively have called it Borkowice. Translatable as the holdings or land settled by Borek's sons.

An interestimg example of the -ic~-icz phenomenon is Poland's lost eastern town of Baranowicze. In genitive plural it is Baranowic (a reversion to the oldest patronymic form).

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]


It is often extremely difficult to conclusively determine the exact ethnic origin of many Slavic sruanmes. The -icz, -owicz and -kowicz endings have occurred in different Slavic tongues to mention only the great 20th-century Russian composer Шocтaкoвич.

Genealogy / My mothers family? Sobkevitz (?) Moved from Poland in the early 1900's [8]


SOBKIEWICZ: patronymic nickname-turned-surname. Root-word was Sobiesław, a first name rarely encountered these days, whose hypocoristic (pet) form was Sobek or or Sobko. When such a one fathered a son, the offspring would have been dubbed Sobkiewicz or Sobczak by fellow-villagers. For info on Poland's Sobkiewiczes please contact: research60@gmail

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


Hola! Normally the German diagraph "ie" goes into Polish as "y" so the probable Polish equivalent would be Szydek. There are fewer than 8 dozen Szydeks in today's Poland.

Buena suerte! Hasta luego!

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]

@TwentiethNov
WELESZCZYK: Centuries ago, illiteracy was widespread and even those who knew how to read and write (parish priests, village scribes) were often just barely literate. Some people could just barely sign their names and in their shaky untutored hand easily misshaped letters beyond easy recognition. One educated guess (or stab in the dark) is that this might have originally been Walaszczyk or Wałaszszyk. Possibly derived from such first names as Walenty or Walerian or the word Wałach, a Romanian shepherd ethnic subgroup living on the opposite side of hte Carpathians.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


ZBAGNIEWSKI: If it ever existed (no-one at present uses it in Poland) it could have originated as both a toponymic nickname (z Bagniewa) or a topographic one (z bagien). The latter type often underwent adjectivalisation over time, so Wojtek zza rzeki (Wojtek who lives beyond the river) could have evovled into Wojtek Zarzecki.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]

Merged:

Cierech surname?

CIERECH: Could have come from the verb trzeć or daielectal cierać (to rub, scrub, scour) and be used to describe someone whose work involved such action. Possibyl also from ćwierkać (to chirp) or its dialectal form cierkać, said of someone constantly chattereing. If it is a shortened version, it could have come from Cieraszewski or similar. Toponymic origin? Possibly from Cierchy in Świętokrzyskie Kielce) voivodeship.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


POLAK: At times used by Jews to define their diaspora homeland. In Germnay, Spain or elsewhere it would identify the original domicile of a Jewish family. Many Jews had such nicknames-turned-surnames as Egipski, Syryjczyk, Litwin, Arabski, Pruski, etc. But goyim also had nationality-themed names.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


Polish is a language rich in variant forms, so whereas in English there is John, Johns, Johnson, Johnston, Fitzjohn and few others in Polish we have: Janaczek, Janas, Janasz, Janda, Jańczyk, Jańczak, Janeczek, Janeczko, Janowicz, Janiak, Janecki, Janick, Janiga, Janota, Janiewicz, Januszkiewicz and many more, not to mention those derived from the hypocositic forms (Jaś, Jasio) -- Jasek, Jasiek, Jasicki, Jasiewicz, Jasielski, Jasiński, Jasiak, Jasiuk, Jasiukiewicz, Jaśkowiak, Jasina, Jasinkiewicz and many, many more. That doesn't even take into account the eastern-borderland (Ruthenian) root Iwan- which generates another vast array of forms including: Iwańczyk, Iwańczuk, Iwaniak, Iwaniuk, Iwanicki, Iwankiewicz, Iwanowicz. Iwaniec, Iwaszko, Iwański, Iwczenko, Iwicki and many, many more.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


Gajl lists 10 different gentry lines in the Gutowski family including an own-name one (herb własny).

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


The Polak nickname would have most likely been coined to indicate some odd Pole living in a predominantly German, Ukrainian, Lithuanian or Jewish community of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and it got passed down to his descendants. When he or his descendants moved elsehwere, the nickname-turned-surname stuck and by then had become just another name with no special meaning. If you have an appointment with your dentist Dr Baker, you probably don't ask him how many loaves has he baked that day. The original John Baker did bake bread for a living but over the generations, etc., etc.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


Let's not forget the element of class and fertility. Poor peasant families with 12-16 kids (only half of whom survived to adulthood) were once not uncommon. Amgnst townsfolk 3-4 offpsring were more common and the survival rate was higher, but on balance they were still outnumbered. Another factor to consider is that centuries ago most people, being largely illiterate, did not consciosuly change their names' spelling. It got changed for them by the way some priest or clerk chose to write it down, and during the partitions by non-Poles of the occupation forces. Don't recall if this was a Prus short story, but there was a scene where a peassnt tells a Prussian clerk his name is Słowik (Nightingale). The Prussian replies: "Czlowik? Das heißt Mensch," (He did not disitnguish the sound of słowik and człowiek.) In America, WASP Ellis Island officials also had a hand in mucking up Polish surnames.

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


The blame lies mainly with the name's bearer. The average American cannot be expected to know all the orthographic quirks of Polish, Hugarian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Albanian, etc. It is up to the name owner to set the outsider straight. If he/she meekly accepts the anlo-mangling, then it serves them right if people call them Rob-loose-key (Wróblewski) and Dumb-cow-ski (Dombkowski),

Genealogy / What does my Polish name mean? [400]


Please refresh my memory. What info did you get and what else do you want to know?