Polish people in the UK using the English version of their name?

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum. I was at a party last week here in Ireland and bumped into this amazing Polish lady. We chatted for a while and seemed to get on very well. Her English is excellent and my Polish is non existent. Unfortunately she is engaged, although I did my best to persuade her to leave him for me LOL.

Anyway, she told name her name was 'Agnus' which I wouldn't rank as a top drawer Irish name (Very old fashioned and dated). I asked her for her real name and it is 'Agnieszka' (hope I spelt that right). Now thats a cracking name IMHO.

Anyway, I'm seperated about two years and have lost all faith in Irish women. I love the way this Polish lady seemed to want the simple things in life & not worry about where the next holiday is coming from (I like holidays but there are more important things in life).

I'm in my forties and have found myself thinking about this Polish lady quite a lot since we met. I think Im ready for a new relationship & the lady I hook up with will have English as her second language and hopefully Polish as her first! If she's called Agnieszka well... then that'll be all the better!

Great forum this by the way!
Polish people should use their real names instead of the english version I think.

Graham

Describe Irish women.

:) I guess she meant "Agnes". English version of "Agnieszka".

Hi BB

I didnt start this thread to have a go at Irish women. They're just not for me. I've had no luck with them & have been unlucky to have married one that only thought about herself and was a bit of a user etc...

Once bitten and all that.....
Lets say she was a bit like the advert that used to be on the TV for Pot Noodle... where the childs tongue is stuck to the swing in the garden and Mummy was too busy eating her Pot Noodle.... the narrative was '' its all me me me me me !'' LOL

ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
I went out with another lady here in Ireland recently and she told me her friends marriage was in trouble. Now, her friend has 7 kids. I asked her did she advise her friend to go to councelling with her husband of 20 years or did she offer to babysit whilst they went away for a night to enjoy each others company and perhaps rekindle the spark. No, she said, ''I just advised her to leave him, sure her happiness is the most important thing!''

Needless to say I broke up with her sharpish!
Hence, Ive given up on Irish women, although Im sure there are lots of nice ones. I'm just not going to risk it! LOL :P

Yeah. Lets practise: Krzysiek, Grzesiek, Janusz, Mateusz, Tadeusz ;)

And Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz.

Probably because many people can't pronounce the Polish names at all.

Polish female names are often easier to pronounce. Probably more similar to Western European names.

Polish is a phonetic language and should be easy to pronounce. It's a question of respect, respect for power. Remember, Man is an animal, like any other. He does what he has to to get the 'bone'.

Yeah Polish women names can be easy compared to men ie. Marta, Aleksandra but when they are REAL polish names ie. Jaroslawa, Lechoslawa it can be quite difficult haha :P

Every Agnieszka in Poland that i know are referred to as Agnus for short.

Beautiful :)

I know various Agas, not anyone who would call themselves Agnus, there was an Aggy in the UK which is so ugly - Agnieszka is a pretty name (just as well considering how many of them are around).

I tell my students that unless they desperately want to be called an English name for personal reasons I'm going to call them by their actual name that most people would use (Kasia is a million times nicer than Kate, which is just as well considering how many of them are around!).

To the OP: please don't judge a nation by one person. There's lots of lovely Polish people, I am sure there are also plenty of ******** who are Polish as well as ones who are Irish: the attitude of your recent girlfriend is the way of the world these days not reason to dump someone (was the husband a decent guy? how can one know a whole story). Just saying this to point out that high expectations are the fastest way to disappointment...

The husband was/is a decent guy, I know him personally. The wife just got bored and was getting a bit of attention from other men and fancied a change. Its a sorry state of affairs when a woman puts herself before the happiness of her children. I think the polish retain the appreciation & requirements of marriage that used to be the situation in Ireland about 20 years ago. Thats all Im saying. I don't like '' the way of the world these days''.

I was married for 12 years and despite having numerous opportunities to stray during that time I did not as I was married. I just want a lady with similar values.

Another name 'Kasia' .... how could anyone change this name to boring 'Kate'. Its a lovely name.

REAL Polish names for REAL POLISH women?

I can just imagine the latest campaign dreamt up by rubbish parties on the Right.

I don't understand why people do that to be honest. I understand that for the English some polish names are hard to repeat. But if you're polish, u weren't born Agnus nor Agnes, but Agnieszka.

My name's Agata, very simple polish name, even for a Briton to repeat, however, I've already heard more than a few different ways of pronouncing it. The funniest thing, however, is when my English boyfriend asked me how many "r" there were in my name.lol

It cracks me up when some of the girls try to use anglicised versions of their names, particularly when in English it is quite an old-fashioned name.

I remember a couple of young girl scouts telling me their names were 'Agnes and Martha'. I told them not to do it because they sounded like a couple of 90 year old maiden aunts.

Agnieszka sounds cute... Agnes sounds old. Agata sounds good... as opposed to Agatha, which makes Miss Marples spring to mind.

Funny thing, tho', my wife's name is Aneta and nobody can get it right... Annette, Anita...

If you heard my laughter after me hearing your pronunciation of the name 'Agnieszka' you'd understand why they shouldn't.

phonetically ''Ag nee esh ka' is that correct?

if you can put it together and say it very quickly as one word... yes.

Thanks Wroclaw. She's certainly had some effect on me. You Polish guys are so lucky to have such beautiful ladies in your country!

i mostly get called Justina cos it's just easier, people sometimes make an effort and try to say YOUstyna or Yousteena, but it sounds weird. my friend Agnieszka gets called Agnes too.

''Just ee sias'' is that right? Nice name! .. better than Justina IMHO.
I was discussing this subject with some friends and they say that there are a lot of Polish people employed in the service industry in the UK & Ireland and it may be required in many places that they use the english version of their name? ... or maybe they applied for the vacancy using the english version.

Racial discrimination surely if they were required to change it?

I had the pleasure of meeting my Lemko cousin Irena earlier this year. I have no problem pronouncing her name properly, but some people do (including my wife who just can't trill her "r"s). I was a bit miffed when she introduced herself to some of my siblings as Irene. I quickly squashed that and taught them how to pronounce her name the way her parents do. On the other hand I knew it was fruitless to try to teach them how to say her father's name (Wladyslaw), so I just let them call him Walter. You gotta pick your battles.

my name is Justyna, not JustysiaS that's a nickname/dimunitive version of it

I never feel comfortable calling a friend of mine Justynka, as it sounds like the English "You stinker"!

Is name Marta oldfashion in english? or is it just its english version Martha (pronuonced like Ma'fa - really awful IMHO) oldfashion?

I'm not sure what you mean, but "Martha" is a very old-sounding name in English. I wouldn't expect anyone under 60 to have it.

Ma'fa? no way. I's pronounced exactly like it's spelled, at least in American English.


This is one of my favorites. Try to say it quickly! Do you know the legend behind this name from WWII?


Not to mention Malgorzata or Anna!

No, not really, but only Catholics would consider using it - I've never met one that wasn't Catholic.

Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz:
...

I don't recall ever having met an English 'Marta' (except, perhaps, one who had Polish/non-British roots). I think to use the name 'Marta' in Britain, is less old-fashioned than 'Martha', because it is 'foreign'.

Mind you, it does sound like 'martyr'.

Has anyone been called '(to)mato'? A friend of mine called Kasia used to get called 'Cashew' (a type of nut).