Poles in America: How do you pronounce your Polish surname?

This question is being directed to Pol-Ams, Pol-Canadians and other Diaspora types who have retained the original spelling of their Polish surname. Do you pronounce it the original Polish way, ie, Zając=zaYUNTS, Wróblewski= vroobLEFFski, Chomiński=

hawMEENski, Jabłoński=yab-WOINski, etc.
or Anglo-mangle it: Zayjack, Roblooski, Chaminski, Jablanski, etc.?
Whichever way, is that how your parents and grandparents pronounced it or have you yourself anglicised the pronunciation? Or maybe revertded to the original Polish pronunciation had been anglicised by a previous geenration?

Nothing annoys me more than the ones who can't even pronounce their last name properly, yet claim to be Polish. Adam "An-gee-eff-ski" was a good example of this!

I find it hilarious when Americans can't even say their last name. "Dźan-COW-skee" sounds ridiculous.

Some Pol-Ams have officially changed the spelling of their Polish surnames name to retain their original pronunciaiton. Common examples:
Hominski (Chomiński)
Dembkowski (Dębkowski)
Yablonski (Jabłoński)
Payonk (Pająk)
Voytkoviak (Wojtkowiak)

I know in my native Flanders the fact that women's surnames change gramatically - "a" on the end in most cases - at times confuses people in the administration.

But what is think is very confusing is that the fact that women after marriage take their husband's surname - be it gramitacally adjusted -.

Honestly I also do no not understand this. In my country up to the 60's wifes added their husbands' surnames to theirs. But not giving up their own.

Most of the women in my family either keep their maiden name after marriage, or hyphenate her surname with his.

Girls in my company systematically take their husbands' names.

I'm of a Polish matriline, so...
But, I know of a 13 letter name, where only 7 letters remain, with a "rze" changed to "rez."
I imagine they probably pronounce it like American-English.

i pronounce mine in polish, others maybe not so much.

Depends on the language I am using, in Norwegian I say it with Norwegian (u) not Polish (u,ó)
While in Polish I say it like Poles do :)
Of course it's origins are German so wth ^^

(I hate it when they write down Grundvall, or Grundtval or something close)

how would you pronounce perkowski name in polish ?

Perkovvskee

Per - Like pear, but faster
Kov - Like cough, but faster and with a V sound at the end. This is the syllable where you place the emphasis of the word

Ski - Like the sport

Your profile does say you know Polish, eh...

I say Skluh-DOW-skee. I don't like it when other ethnic groups insist that I role my R's or pronounce the Kh's of their names. So, I'm courteous enough to Anglify mine.

This is courteous of you. Everyone should abide by the norms of the land where they are rather than trying to inflict their manners/ traditions etc on their hosts or insisting to be accommodated.

How would Vojtal be pronounced in Poland?

Voytal

foytal actually but since v is not a polish letter, if your name is of polish descent then it was spelled with a W which is pronounced like a V

Oops, my mistake. It is spelled with a W.
So would it still be Voytal?

always use this )

Thanks. :)

Hey, what have the Polish against the letter V anyway? Seems a bit discriminatory to me...

and X!!!
i have never understood what have the English against the letters ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż... such handsome letters...
;)

Those aren't letters! Somekinda crazy pagan symbols...

Its sad, but in todays America, there are very few Polish Americans that understand Polish.

Names have been changed to the meaning in American
Bialek >>>>>white
Czarnikowski>>>> Black
Jaskowiak>>>> Johns
Wisniewski>>> Cherry
Krawczyk>>> Taylor

The V and W are transposed as normal. It was written phonetically upon entry and stuck.
Also, the ski-ska thing is long gone.

A last name is one's most precious possession and deserves respect. Only it's owner can say how it should be pronounced. If someone spells his name Smythe and insists it be pronoucned Jones, so be it!

...said the resident nameologist. Lol.

Yeah, but is that pronounced Ivona, or Iwona? :D


orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/raymond.htm

:D

Wait, are you telling me that the Polish alphabet contains no V but yet still has a V sound??
Crazy darn Polish language...

If I ever moved away where no one knew me I'd insist on people pronouncing my name correctly. However, my parents and grandparents never did so it is too much of a pain to try to get people who have known me my whole life to relearn how to say my surname. It makes it a rare treat when I come across someone Polish who naturally says my name correctly, or the odd person who goes out of their way to learn how to pronounce it.

My wife isn't Polish, but I've taught her how to say our name correctly. She even knows her name should end in an "a" instead of an "i".

In America only large intimidating people with Polish surnames, like Larry Csonka, get them pronounced properly.

Ok I used that and it got my name wrong as far as I know. My last name is lukasiewicz and it pronounced it lye-kos-ovich and that is not how my grandparents pronounced it.