bobik 21 Feb 2007 #1I work with some people who have Polish-sounding names. Why do they ask me to translate their names? They don't get that it's not possible to translate first and last names into Polish or English because it would not be accurate translation? I hope some of them read this forum and will get my message :).
haczyk 21 Feb 2007 #2I'm asked the same question quite often too. Common names are sometimes possible to translate (like "John" - Jan), but other first and last names are not. One time a guy asked me about the meaning of the last name "Kolinski" --- I had no idea how to translate it.
i_love_detroit 1 | 69 22 Feb 2007 #3Well, you can translate my ast name :). In English it means doughnut. :)
cichy 22 Feb 2007 #4I'm a little crazySome of them is false but most of them is goodI've got it in Exel if you wantfrompl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odpowiedniki_imion_w_różnych_językach
Sadie 22 Feb 2007 #5Frances ---> FranciszkaI rather think it would be Francesca that Franciszka would be more alike
Marek 4 | 867 22 Feb 2007 #6Hi, Bobik!Occasionally, some Polish names, full names mind you, can be translated into English e.g. "Jan Kowalski" (John Smith), to give a most basic example.Other times, the names cannot be translated,or if so, only one part of the name. Take my name Marek Pajdo. "Marek" is clearly "Mark", but "Pajdo"????Marek
changingname 7 Mar 2007 #7I'm Jewish and my original last name is Polish. It's already been mutilated and has been used for two generations as a Welsh sounding name, representing who I am even less. I want to translate it for its original form to Hebrew... seems possible, right?but first: what does it mean, exactly?"Paskowitz"
Michal - | 1865 14 Mar 2007 #9You can get very thorough lists of names in the back of good dictionaries to convert from one language o another. It is unusual to translate names from one language to another though. Who would call Alexander Solzenitsin Alex, for example. Juri Gagarin is always Juri NEVER George. Iljich Lenin is always Iljich. How can you change such proper names to another language? John Major would never be Jan Major in Poland!! At least Albert Eistein can get away with his name, though.
jaszczak 28 Dec 2009 #10Does anybody know the meaning of the last name Jaszczak? I found "ak" means son of, but the rest of the name is not very common. Thanks
f stop 24 | 2493 28 Dec 2009 #11Jaszczak sounds bad. I hope I'm wrong, but it might have something to do with pi$$ing.I also think that just about every Polish last name has originated from some recognizable word.Go ahead, hit me up. Give me a POLISH last name and I will translate it for you!
jaszczak 28 Dec 2009 #12one more thing about Jaszczak, the "szcz" is the polish letter "Ш" or "Щ". just in case that changes anything. I hope my name doesnt involve pi$$ing
mira - | 115 28 Dec 2009 #13I had no idea how to translate it.Because, you see...there is something like "untraslability".
ooshak - | 28 28 Dec 2009 #14During my translatology classes at univeristy we had it clearly stated NOT TO translate personal names, surnames, cities in sworn translation. That's the rule. I like it very much, must say. My name is Urszula and I don't like being called Ursule nor Ursula. Just one letter difference makes the whole difference to me. I don't understand why all those people ask you to translate their names... weird...
f stop 24 | 2493 28 Dec 2009 #15one more thing about Jaszczak, the "szcz" is the polish letter "Ш" or "Щ". just in case that changes anything. I hope my name doesnt involve pi$$ingI was joking... sorry.Jaszcz might have been some kind of waggon.Or the beginning of lizard - jaszczurka
cinek 2 | 347 29 Dec 2009 #16Jaszcz might have been some kind of waggon.Or the beginning of lizard - jaszczurkaThere's also a village "Jaszcz" in north-west Poland. I also heard this word to mean 'bushes' (more often 'chaszcze')Cinek
Polonius3 980 | 12276 30 Dec 2009 #17PAJDO: Mark Slice? (as in pajda chleba)PASKOWICZ: Well, in Yiddish the -witz is a patrnymic indicator just as -wicz is in Polish and -вич in Russian etc. The root pask- must therefore be deciphred. Could a leatherworker been called Pasek (belt) and his son was referred to as Paskowitz? Or maybe it was actually Pasch- (Jewish Pejsach, Polish Pascha)?
jonni 16 | 2475 30 Dec 2009 #18John Major would never be Jan Major in Poland!! At least Albert Eistein can get away with his name, though.Though here in PL, people say Michał Anioł, Wolter, Jerzy Waszyngton, Karol Marks and (this one really makes me fume) Szekspir.Though a Pole in UK would probably be just as annoyed if they read Mitskieyvitch or Showpan.
Polonius3 980 | 12276 30 Dec 2009 #19KOLlIŃSKI -toponymic nick from Kolin, a village in the Baltic coastal region.NOTE: Perhaps as many as 90% of all Polish surnames ending in -ski are of toponymic origin, so the first thing to do is to trot out your atlas.JASZCZAK: The archaic Polish word jaszcz once meant a wooden box, chest or other container for butter, powidła, curd cheese, etc. Someone who produced these could haveThe preceding entry somehow got cut off...Someone who produced the wooden food chests known as jaszcz could himself have been nicknamed Jaszcz, and when he fathered a son -- Jaszczak would have been the offspring's patronymic nick.Jazscz is also a regional name for a small trash fish (no eating value) of the perch family known as a jazgarz in standard modern Polish.
polinsky 15 Feb 2010 #20Is it possible for anyone to translate a letter which may be partly in polish and partly in yiddish? It is very old from World War 2 and in handwriting.
Seanus 15 | 19668 15 Feb 2010 #21Some you can translate and some you can't, it depends on their origin.
ZIMMY 6 | 1601 15 Feb 2010 #22I believe Jaszczak way back when was a cabinet maker or a furniture maker.
laur318 19 Aug 2010 #24How about Starkavich? Starkevich? I may not have the exact spelling. Ellis Island changed it to Starkey...
marcin ogrodnik 12 Apr 2012 #25Why to translate in first place...?Your name is your name and you should be recognized by it. I've been living abroad for long, long time and my friends always called me Marcin even if Martin is much easier to remember but they respect it even it takes some time to get used to pronounce it...:-)Let's keep our names our parents have given us and let's be proud of them.Marcin
chiefx - | 8 12 Apr 2012 #27WRONG!!! His name is Marcin OgrodnikMy name is Paul and there are some Polish guys named Pawel. But it isn't a translation, it is a different version of the name!Marcin is right, the name given to you by your parents is your name. If you yourself don't like your name you are free to change it, if not.......
m1ke - | 12 12 Apr 2012 #28even it takes some time to get used to pronounce it...:-)What if it takes too long to get used to pronounce it by an English speaker?I have a mate called Marcin and all the English call him Martin cause non of them is even close to say Marcin correctly. And he wouldn't tolerate someone mispronouncing his name in some awkward way which is fair enough, especially when you can translate it to English that is nice and easy.If you yourself don't like your name you are free to change it, if not.......What if you like your name but you don't like the way that English speakers mispronounce it?
pam 13 Apr 2012 #29WRONG!!! His name is Marcin Ogrodnikin english this translates as martin gardener. sometimes there is a direct translation for names, eg, jacek ( jack ), lukasz ( lucas ), beata ( betty ).other polish names have no translation,eg wieslaw. i think marcin is the equivalent of martin. ogrodnik po angielsku is a gardener.
jon357 73 | 22477 13 Apr 2012 #30jacek ( jack ),beata ( betty )Beata translates better as Beatrice (Ela is closer to Betty) and Jacek, believe it or not, translates as Hyacinth.A few names - especially better known Biblical ones have a clear translation - as do many surnames.