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

Soroski: Although currently 4 Soroskis live in Poland, the name seems a misspelling of Sorowski (7 Sorowskis live in Poland). Both Soroskis and Sorowskis live in the same area of Silesia, which suggests the same place of origin of both names. I have found no meaning for Soroski. Sorowski: from surowy "beeing in natural state, raw (like meat); serious; thrifty."

Sowul: from sowa "owl." Many similar names: Sowól, Sowula, Sowulak, Sowowski, Sowyk, Sowyczko, Sowulewski, etc. Currently, 482 Sowuls live in Poland, most in Suwałki.

Marczyński: first recorded in the 13th century, from personal name Marcin from Latin Martinus "belonging to the god of war Mars." Currently, 1318 Marczyńskis and 1436 Marczyńskas live in Poland.

Krasiejko: from krasa "beauty, prettiness" or from krasić "to make beautiful, to add fat to a meal." Currently, 136 Krasiejkos live in Poland. As this map shows, most of Krasiejkos live close to the Belarussian border: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/krasiejko.html

This suggests Polish-Belarussian origin, but the name can also be considered to be Ukrainian and Polish-Lithuanian.

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

Miesik: from mieszać "to mix, knead." Currently, 10 Miesiks live in Poland.
Czajak: from Proto-Slavic èajati "to wait, expect, lurk." Currently, 90 Czajaks live in Poland.

Life / Should citizenship in Poland be removed for particular crimes? [7]

No Polish citizen can be stripped of his/her citizenship by any state authority, says the Constitution. The only way to lose Polish citizenship is to renounce it. One has to apply to the President who may agree but he doesn't have to.

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

Chudyba: root word chudy "thin," from chudoba "thinness, leanness, poverty." Currently, 321 Chudybas live in Poland, many in Brzesko.
Gajda: first recorded in 1536, from gajda "bagpipes," bagpipes player, also a clumsy, unshapely person in Old Polish. Currently, 20168 Gajdas live in Poland.
Strzelec: first recorded in 1397, from strzelec "archer" and strzała "arrow." Currently, 4109 Strzelecs live in Poland.
Pawlak: first recorded in 1640, from Paweł "Paul," Paweł from Latin Paulus "small," "son of Paul."
Gajzler: from German personal names Geisler, Geislar, these from gisler, gideler "guarantor, hostage" or from name Gieselheri. Currently, 1057 Gajzlers live in Poland.
Jarentowski: toponimic "a person from Jarantowice, Jarantów (Greater Poland)."

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

Wreczycki: toponimic from villages Wręczyca or Wręczyca Wielka. Similar name Wręcki with the same origin. Currently, 2 Wreczyckis and 4 Wreczyckas (females) live in Poland.

Jedrzejewski: from first name Andrzej "Andrew" of Greek origin, first recorded in the 12th century. Currently, 22 Jedrzejewskis and 23 Jedrzejewskas live in Poland. More common spelling: Jędrzejewski (15000).

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

Ochałek: from verb ochać "to say oh! ah!" Many similar names: Ochał (first recorded in 1388), Ochalski, Ochalik, Ochała, Ochałka, Ochaj, Ochajski, etc. Currently, 595 Ochałeks live in Poland, most in the south-east in Krosno and Jasło.

Feedback / NEW: Notorious trolls of the PolishForums Community are being permanently suspended [120]

This forum is boring without Delph. Get him back.

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


This is a map of (almost) all names currently in use in Poland: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/mie%25C5%259Bcier.html
This site combines etymologies of almost all Polish names based on 6 academic sources (in Polish): stankiewicz.e.pl/index.php?kat=44&sub=530

Radziłowski: first recorded in 1492, toponimic from either Radziłowice or Radziłów, in the group of names derived from personal names such as Radosław, Radomir, also from rady "glad, pleased, happy, contented" or from radzić "to advise." Currently, 8 Radziłowskis and 11 Radziłowskas live in Poland.

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

In contemporary colloquial Polish a "man about town" can be called Mieścior but not Mieścier. But this is not the etymology of both names, according to academic sources I use.

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


Mieścier: also Mieścior, from nestor "the oldest in the family," also from personal name of Greek origin Nestor. Currently, 13 Mieściers live in Poland.

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

Zierwen/Dzierwinski: Currently, no one in Poland uses these names. 10 people in Poland and 690 people in Germany use the name Zier. Closest to Dzierwiński are Dzierwicki and Dzierwanowski - both from Proto-Slavic drviti "to run fast."

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

It's not implausible, but I have no knowledge how heralds were nicknamed 500 or 700 years ago. Equally possible is that your ancestor was an owner of a bunch of noisy dogs in the 12th century and his neighbours called him szczekot. It's also possible your ancestor was from the city of Szczekociny "Barktown." One thing we know for sure - that the root-word szczekać was popular in Poland for generating nicknames and later names, as currently there are two dozen names with the same etymology: Szczek, Szczeka, Szczekala, Szczekalik, Szczekalski, Szczekała, Szczekało, Szczekan, Szczekarewicz, Szczekla, Szczeklik, Szczekna (since 1402), Szczekocin (since 1215), Szczekociński, Szczekocki (since 1362), etc.

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

Szczekot: from szczekać "to bark" (like a dog or fox). Currently, 69 Szczekots live in Poland, most in Leżajsk.

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

The ending -czyk is typical in Polish names. But Powelczyk is incorrect.
Pawełczyk: first recorded in 1605, from Paweł "Paul," "son of Paul" or "Paulson;" Paweł from Latin Paulus "small" since the 12th century. Currently, 3611 Pawełczyks live in Poland, most in Będzin:

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

Jaroch: since 1444, from names such as Jarogniew, also from jary "springlike, young, strong." Currently, 1147 Jarochs live in Poland - most in Bydgoszcz.

moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/jaroch.html

Other names are not in use in today's Poland. Most are orthographically impossible in Polish. Names beginning with Szach- are common. Szach comes from Persian Shah and the game of chess.

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

Wilkanowski: since 1640, toponimic from Wilkanowo, a village in Płock County, Masovian Voivodeship. Wilkanowo = wilk "wolf" + nowo "new." Currently, 135 Wilkanowskis and 152 Wilkanowskas live in Poland. No info on Wilganowski or Wilkinowski.

Feedback / NEW: Notorious trolls of the PolishForums Community are being permanently suspended [120]

Delph knew Poland, was smart, interesting, liberal, and fought the rednecks on this forum. Was banning him politically motivated?

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

More likely German or Prussian than Polish as this area was part of Germany before 1945. But you can't deduce someone's nationality from their name alone or from the name of locality they came from.

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

Białołęcka (female)/Białołęcki (male): toponimic from Białołęka, a village near (now part of) Warsaw founded in 1425, from biały "white" + łąka "meadow." Currently, 45 Białołęckas and 33 Białołęckis live in Poland.

Zahacefski: likely a corrupted form of Zachaczewski, from names beginning with Za- such as Zachariasz, Zacheusz, Zabor, Zasław or toponimic from a village no longer existing in Poland.

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

Data: from datek "offering, dole, charity" (from Proto-Slavic dati), from data "date" (from Latin data). Currently, 1691 Datas live in Poland.

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

No. Działecki is from działać "to do," not from dzielić "to divide" or działka "a parcel of land." Even names such as Działek, Działko, Działkiewicz, Działkowicz, Działkowski, Działkowiec come from działać "to do."

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

Szott: since 1671, from Szot in Old Polish "Scot, Scottish person," from szot in Old Polish "trader, herring," from German personal name Schot. Similar names: Szotta, Szottek. Currently, 734 Szotts live in Poland. Sources:

stankiewicz.e.pl/index.php?kat=44&sub=828
moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/szott.html

Genealogy / Want to find a person in Poland [742]

If you know which school he went to, you can try to find him on Nasza-klasa.pl ("Classmates"): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasza-klasa.pl

Life / Installing a solar panel in Poland [13]

The best place for solar panels is in the basement.

Genealogy / Last Name Information - Lewandowski [16]


Currently, 43690 Lewandowskis live in Poland as this map shows: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/lewandowski.html

Of course, all of them belong to nobility and own peasants who work for them. This is their current Coat of Arms:

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

Papka: from papka "gruel" or from verb papkać "to eat" in Old Polish. Currently, 476 Papkas live in Poland. Most Papkas live in Sandomierz and Kielce. The name is not "more eastern." Distribution in Poland: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/papka.html

Genealogy / Is Gajos a Silesian or Polish surname? [12]

Gajos is a popular Polish surname. 4146 people named Gajos live in Poland. Distribution of Gajos name in Poland: The largest concentration of Gajoses is in Miechów and Kielce, suggesting that the origin of the name was not in Silesia.

News / Emigration from Poland (2.1m Poles are living abroad, most within Europe) [37]

How about 2011 England riots? Lasted for 5 days, 5 dead, lots of damage to property. Would you deduce from that: England has a difficult time governing itself? There appears to be a lack of civic responsibility?

Genealogy / Help needed about my Polish surname, Dobbert. [73]

Dąbrowski: root word dąb "oak," toponimic from a village such as Dąbrowa or Dąbrówka, first recorded in Poland in 1386.

Dabrowski: Germanized Dąbrowski, rare in Poland with only 28 users, more popular in Germany: 414.
Dobrowski: likely, originally Dombrowski, with the same etymology as Dąbrowski, as dąb used to be spelled domb. Or possibly Germanized Dąbrowski as there are only 3 Dobrowskis in Poland and 11 in Germany.

Genealogy / Polish surname Youshefskie [5]


I agree. The spelling of Youshefskie/Youshefskie suggests that someone intended to preserve the exact sounds of the Polish name (rather unusual in the USA), so Juszewski would likely be the original name. However, there is also Juszczewski which to an American ear would sound very similar to Juszewski. Currently, the are no Juszewskis in Poland, but there are 6 Juszczewskis. Juszewski is from personal names starting with Ju: Justyn, Julian, Józef. Juszczewski from the name Just, from Latin Justus "just;" also from Celtic Jodocus, Judocus.