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Posts by polonius  

Joined: 24 Sep 2012 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 10 Apr 2013
Threads: Total: 54 / Live: 13 / Archived: 41
Posts: Total: 420 / Live: 153 / Archived: 267 		From: USA Shelby Township, MI
Speaks Polish?: yes
Interests: everyhting pertianing to Poland, Polonia, Poles and things Polish

Displayed posts: 166 / page 1 of 6
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polonius   
10 Apr 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Other than being the son of a difficult (trudny) person, such surnames could have also emerged as toponymic nicknames. In Wielkopolska there is a village called Trudna, and Trudniak might have been the way an inhabitant thereof was called by outsiders. There are places such as Tруд, Трудный, Tруднвиков and others in Russia that could have generated similar toponymic tags as well .
polonius   
9 Apr 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

POLOWY: Indeed, the root-word here is pole (field). Polowy is an adjective so it would mean of, associated with or pertaining to a field or fields. It might have originated as a toponymic tag from a village called Pole (at least 2 in today's Poland). It can also have a military connotation as in szpital polowy (field hospital). BTW, the Polanians (early Poles got their name because they were 'field dwellers'.
polonius   
1 Apr 2013
News / Homosexual lobby steps up infiltration in Poland [110]

Newsweek.pl quoted actress Joanna Szczepkowska as saying in an interview that homosexuals promote their own kind and sidestep others or throw them out of the game. "Heterosexuals do not meet up on the basis of their orientation, but homosexuals do. If you're not homosexual you won't get invited, or at least you won't get invited to certain gatherings, hence you do not belong to the inner-circle. That's the impression one gets, but you can't even ask if it's true. If you do you become a homophobe." Daily Rzeczpospolita recently reported the LGBT lobby launching an assault on school textbooks by demanding that they promote 'alternative households', with the Education Ministry succumbing to the pressure. Scholars who believe a mother, father and children constitute a family have been quietly eliminated and are no longer invited by the ministry to review textbooks.
polonius   
1 Apr 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

MASZCZYŃSKI: root-word possibly names in Ma- such as Maciej, Marcin, Mariusz, Małomir, etc. It may have originated as a topo nick from Maszczeny, now in Belarusian-occupied eastern Poland.
polonius   
31 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

ACERES: I haven't the foggiest about the meaning, origin or ethnicity of this surname or even if it is spelt correctly. It is certainly not of Polish origin and only one thing is certain: No-one in Poland uses it!
polonius   
29 Mar 2013
Genealogy / Last name - Murzyn [33]

MURZYN: originally from Latin Maurus (dark, black), which became Maur in German and Moor in English. Although it originally signified north Africans of mixed Berber and Arab blood, in Polish Murzyn has evolved to mean any representative of the Negroid race. Presumably in the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth anyone who stood out in his village for his unusually swarthy complexion might have been humorously dubbed 'Murzyn'.
polonius   
27 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

SNOPKOWSKI: root-word snopek (sheaf of grain); probably topo nick from the village of Snopków (Sheafville)

KROSTUJ: root-word krost (Old Polish for chrost/chróst/chrust) firewood or krosta ( pimple, skin blemish); possibly topo nick from Krotkowo..

SKIBA: furrow; possibly topo nick from Skiby or Skibice

SKOWROŃSKI: root-word skowron (skylark); possibly topo nick from Skowronno or Skowronów.

CORRECTION: KROSTUJ: root-word krost (Old Polish for chrost/chróst/chrust) firewood or krosta ( pimple, skin blemish); possibly topo nick from Krostkowo
(changing Krotkowo typo to Krostkowo).
polonius   
26 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

KOZIURA: root-word koza (goat); one of several names suggesting a goatherd or goat trader; others include koziarz, koziara, and koziur. None-too-common in today's Poland (some 300 users). Since the biggest clusters are in the Recovered Territories (Ziemie odzyskane), it probably orginated in the eastern half of Poland annexed by Stalin in 1939 when he split the country down the middle with Herr Hitler. I do not know whether it was widely used by representatives of ethnicities other than Polish.
polonius   
25 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

RECZKO: possible etymology - topo nich from Reczków; reczek (a field rodent similar to a hamster); reczka - from of hreczka (buckwehat); reczka - Ruthenian for little river, in Polish rzeczka.
polonius   
24 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

Sopot Kamionka
WARCHO£: In Polish this means trouble-maker, instigator, someone rocking the boat and stirring up unrest. Since I believe Andy Warhol's family was of Slovak origin, the Polish equivalent of his surname might be Wargol -- meaning someone with a prominent lip.

HOSZYNIAK, HOSZNIAK: possibly derived from the old first names Gościmir or Gościsław, esp. their Ruthenian or Slovak versions Hostimir or Hostislav.
polonius   
23 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

HAWRY£KO: The 'w' is what tells you this was dervied from the first name Gabriel, in Ukrainian Hawryło. To the untrained ear, it may have sounded in rapid speech like horyłka (vodka).
polonius   
23 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

the German name 'Schwarz' (which means black). Polonius?

Definitely. Germans and Jews named Schwarz (under whatever spelling) sometimes translated it to something like Czarnecki when they did not wish to broadcast their ethnicity.

MALEŃKI: one of the forms of mały (small, little). Other such surnames include Mały, Malutki and Malusi. In English we also have the surnames Little and Small., as do Germans and Jews -- Klein.
polonius   
14 Mar 2013
Genealogy / Family members immigrating from Bereska [26]

BARRON: altrnative spelling of Baron which means baron, a minor noblemen. (In Poland gentry titles of count and baron emerged only under the occupying partitioners in the 19th century.) Only a handful use the Barron spelling in Poland but many spell it Baron. Perops the double vowel occurred in the New World.
polonius   
11 Mar 2013
Genealogy / Family members immigrating from Bereska [26]

Tymko is a pet for of Tymoteusz (Timothy). I was surprised to find a handful of people in Poland surnamed Barron. Doule consonants are quite rare in Polish names.
polonius   
11 Mar 2013
Genealogy / Family members immigrating from Bereska [26]

MADEJCZYK: Probably dervied from pet names for Amadeusz such as Madej, Maduś, Madek; the patronymic ending -czyk suggests that it probably emerged to indicate "Maddy's kid". Around 1,000 users in Poland, one-third in Upper Silesia, the principal bastion.

DUDA. primitive, goatskin bapgpipe; probably originated to identify a home-spun rural musician. The major stronghold is again Górny Śląsk.
polonius   
11 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

WO£OSZYN: from Wołoch (roving Vallachian /Romanian/ shepherd); Wołoszyn could have been a patronymic nick meaning "the shepherd's son"; also a topo tag from Wołoszyny in Podkarpackie.
polonius   
10 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

SZMAK: root-word smak (taste), a borrowing from German Geschmack

DOBROSIŃSKI: root-word dobro (good, goodness, kindness); probably topo tag from Dobrosin (Goodville, Goodbury) now in Ukraine.

WIŚNIEWSKI: root-word wiśnia (cherry); probably a topo tag from Wiśniew or Wiśniewo (Cherryville).
polonius   
6 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

KORPULIŃSKI: root-word korpal/korpel (dialectal form for rutabaga); possibly topo nick from Korpele in Masuria.

STACHLIŃSKI: root Stachel or Stach (short for Stanisław and Eustachy) - most likely a patronymic tag to indicate the son of Stach or Stachel..

ZDZIEMBORSKI: toponymic tah from Zdziebórz, village in Masovia

LISSOWSKI: variant spelling of Lisowski, topo tag from one of several localities called Lisów (Foxville).
polonius   
3 Mar 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

KULIKOWSKI: Root-word kulłik (curlew or pewit - species of wading bird); 5 noble lines inlcuding an own-name one.

BONDAROWICZ: Root-word Ukrainian bondar (cooper, barrel-maker); derived from Polish bednarz borrowed from German Büttner; no coat of arms.

For more information on the two families, where they live and the Polish noble clan system please contact me.
polonius   
21 Feb 2013
Genealogy / Looking for Jasinski family members. [13]

JASIŃSKI: Probably originated as a toponymic tag to identify a native of the village of Jasin or Jasień (Ashton - from jasion = ash tree, or jasin = Johnsville).

A very popular surname shared by some 35,000 people in Poland.
polonius   
21 Feb 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

SMAGA: From verb smagać (lash, thrash, slap).; originated either to identify an individual who did such things (Bolko Smaga = Bolko the slapper) or as a toponymic tag from Smagów (Lashville).

KUPKA: diminutive of kupa (pile, heap, mound); often refers to manure; Maluch już zrobił kupkę = the little guy has already pooped..
polonius   
19 Feb 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

ROTKO: Possibly a toponmyic tag for someone from the village of Rotki (Podlasie region); or perhaps a Polonisation of the German/Yiddish name Roth (red), maybe also traceable to Old German hrod (fame).
polonius   
18 Feb 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

BUZDEREWICZ (?): There are coupla dozen people by this name in Poland, the most in t'he Bielsko-Biała area bordering Slovakia. Origin is obscure. Only one thing is certain: the -wicz always was a patronymic ending, but who was the father?

No toponmyic sources in today's Poland. There is a Buzda in Russia and a Buzd in Romania and several localities called Buzdar in Pakistan and Buzdara in Afghanistan.

Could if have come from the old verb buzerować (top sodomise someone)? If so, where did the inserted 'd' come from?
polonius   
17 Feb 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

SERY£O: origin uncertain - possibly dervied from ser (cheese) or the East Slavonic adjective seryj (Polish szary) for grey.

SURKA£O: from dialectal verb surkać (to slurp, eat soup whilst loudly smacking one+'s lips).
polonius   
15 Feb 2013
Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4500]

RATUSZNIAK: Since ratusz is the word for town hall and the -ak ending often indicates the doer of some aciton or job, then most likely this surname was coined to identify someone linked to the town hall in some way -- probably not the mayor or a councillor but someone lower down such as a caretaker, custodian, handyman, aide or other staff.