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

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? [4500]

Szejwa: before the Holocaust, a popular Jewish woman's first name. Currently, no one uses Szejwa as family name in Poland.
Siejwa: from Old Polish siejać "to sow" or from sieja "European whitefish." Currently, 74 Siejwas live in Poland.

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

Hejnowski: from German personal names Hein, Hin, these from Germanic names beginning with Hagan. Currently, 190 Hejnowskis and 195 Hejnowskas live in Poland. This map suggests the name originated near Gdańsk: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/hejnowski.html

The Germanic etymology of your name does not necessarily mean that your ancestors were Germans. It's possible they were Balts (Old Prussians) or Slavs, first Germanized, then Polonized. You can't deduce your or your ancestors ethnicity from the name alone. Despite its Germanic etymology, the name Hejnowski is Polish, just like the name Pawłoś is Polish, although it comes from Latin name Paulus.

Genealogy / Trying to find a Polish name for family tree (Whydisquof = Władysław) [2]

John = Jan
Whydisquof = Władysław

Language / -ski/-ska, -scy/ski, -wicz - Polish surnames help [185]

Jankowski: first recorded in 1388, toponimic from Jankowo, Jankowice, Jankówki "Johnsville" or more precisely "Littlejohnsville." Jan=John; Janek, Janko=Little John. Currently, 33000 Jankowskis and 35000 Jankowskas live in Poland.

Czymbor: from cząber, cząbr, cąber "aromatic plant Satureja." Currenly, 85 Czymbors live in Poland.

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

There are 3 localities in Poland called Bobolice:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobolice_(disambiguation)
344 Robaszeks live in Poland: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/robaszek.html

Robaszek: from robić "to do, to work" or from Robert "little Robert, son of Robert."

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

Siwiak: from siwy "gray."

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

Kempke: if German origin, from kemp, kamp "warrior; fencer;" if Polish origin, from kępa "group of trees; river or lake island." Currently, one Kempke lives in Poland, in Gliwice, Silesia.

Trudniak: the name looks Polish, but zero Trudniaks live in Poland - possibly misspeling; similar names (Trud, Trudzik, Trudnos, Trudnoś, Trudnowski, etc.) from trud "hard work" or trudny "difficult."

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

Favorskiy: anglicized form of russified Polish name Faworski: from Old Polish fawor from Latin favor "favor, distinction." Currently, 13 Faworskis and 11 Faworskas (females) live in Poland.

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

Jarosz: an ancient and popular Polish name, first recorded in 1289; from names such as Jarogniew, also from jary "springlike, young, strong." In contemporary Polish jarosz means "a vegetarian." Currently, 23797 Jarosz's live all over Poland, but most in the south, in Kraków, very far from Lithuania:

moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/jarosz.html

In the 18th and 19th centuries many Lithuanians were polonized, thought of themselves as both Lithuanian and Polish, spoke usually only Polish and had Polish names. Lithuanian became a popular language in Lithuania at the beginning of the 20th century.

Doliński: from localities called Dolina "valley."
Malinowski: from localities such as Malinów, Malinówka. Root word malina "raspberry."

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

Fitkowski: from fitać in local dialect "to catch;" from fita in local dialect "an instrument for measuring diameter of trees;" from German personal name Fit. Currently, 16 Fitkowskis live in Poland.

Klajbor: from German personal names Kleiber, Kleber, those from Middle High German occupational name Kleiber "the one who plasters walls with clay." Currently, 248 Klajbors live in Poland, most in and around Bydgoszcz: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/klajbor.html

Life / Unique medical treatments/practices/remedies from Poland [21]

Crushed garlic with lemon juice in water. Cures bacterial infections (sinus, sore throat, etc.), especially at the onset. Won't cure viral infections.
Crush 10 bulbs of garlic, add juice from 5 lemons and 1 liter of water. Leave it for 3 days and then filter. The remaining liquid will not spoil for months in room temperature. Drink it diluted with additional water. It's hard on the stomach, so eating farmers cheese is suggested. It also kills good germs in the digestive tract, so taking probiotics is advisable. Unpasteurized sour pickles or sauerkraut or juice are perfect as probiotic.

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

Lychkowski is anglicized: you won't find this name in Poland. Properly spelled, the name could be Lyczkowski or £yczkowski or in the female version Lyczkowska or £yczkowska.

Mieczkowski is correct. Currently, 2393 Mieczkowskis live in Poland.

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

Luczkowski is correct. Only 15 Luczkowskis and 9 Luczkowskas live in Poland. More popular is £uczkowski (with a different first letter "£," often represented in English by "L"). Luczkowski and £uczkowski have different etymologies. Currently, 521 £uczkowskis and 594 £uczkowskas live in Poland.

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

Mentel is a relatively popular surname in Poland: 1890; most popular in Kraków: 111
moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/mentel.html

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

Lis: first recorded in Poland in 1253; from lis "fox;" very common: 30000 people named Lis live in Poland. Liss is a less popular variant of Lis ( 585). Lis and Liss are not Ashkenazic names, but any Ashkenazi person could use any Polish name.

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

Laby: from laba "idleness, resting, truancy;" Laby as an adjective could mean "son of Laba." Currently, 173 Labys live in Poland:
moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/laby.html

Sito: first recorded in 1397, from sito "sieve" or from sitowie "wetland grass-like plant called bullrush." Currently, 893 Sitos live in Poland:
moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/sito.html

Work / What are the chances of getting a part-time job for an Egyptian who's coming to study and live in Poland? [37]


Using GDP per capita based on purchasing-power-parity, a Pole is 50% richer than a Turk and 3 times richer than an Egyptian. IMF data:

imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2014&ey=2014&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=0&c=964%2C922%2C469%2C174%2C186%2C112&s=PPPPC&grp=0&a=&pr.x=57&pr.y=16

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


There are also 1469 Zmudas in Poland (no "Ż"). Same etymology.

Work / What are the chances of getting a part-time job for an Egyptian who's coming to study and live in Poland? [37]


Same is true of Poland and Germany. GDP PPP is the best way to compare wealth of different countries or regions. Cost of living is meaningless - useful only for tourists. Try comparing real wages of people from Poznan and Bursa. But this is very difficult, so we are left with GDP PPP.

Romania is much poorer than Germany, but Bucharest is as rich as Berlin (same GDP PPP per person). Prague is twice as rich as Berlin.

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

Revers: if Polish, then originally Rewers (as Polish has no "v" letter and "w" sounds the same as "v"); from rewers meaning either "a receipt" or "a reverse (of a coin)" or from Polonized German personal name Rövers. Currently, 1353 Rewerses live in Poland. Thus the name is fairly common, and there are many similar names: Rewer, Rewera, Reweś, Rewersiak, Rewerski.

Czachorski is Polish, but only 13 Czachorskis live in Poland: moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/czachorski.html

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


The book says his name was "Wyborcjusz (Wybierek)." This means that his real name was Wybierek, but he also used a Latinized form of his Polish name (likely Viborcius) that was Polonized back to Wyborcjusz. It was a common practice at that time to Latinize Polish names and Polonize Latin (or any foreign) names. The Latinization/Polonization was especially popular among the clergy (Wybierek was a Jesuit). Because there were no official rules on how to write one's name many forms were used. Polish astronomer Kopernik became Copernicus outside Poland through Latinization, but he used to sign his name as he pleased - depending on his mood perhaps - as Koppernigk, Nicolaus Nicolai de Torunia, Copernik, Coppernicus or Copernici. In contemporary Polish, some historical names, usually foreign, are sometimes Latinized/Polonized. For example René Descartes becomes Kartezjusz; Charles Louis de Secondat baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu becomes Karol Ludwik Monteskiusz.

All these names - Wybierek, Wybierski, Wybor, Wybiera, Wybieracki, etc. - come from the verb wybierać meaning in Old Polish primarily "to pull out, to dig up (a vegetable from the ground) or to peel (a vegetable)" rather then "to choose." According to Stankiewicz, the meaning "choose" of the verb wybierać was the basis for name Wybraniec "one chosen for compulsory military duty."