20 y/o female (pics & summary) trying to clarify my polish heritage

My name is Nikki. I am a 20 year old college student, born and raised in Florida (my parents moved from upstate new york after they married). and to this day when people ask me what ethnicity i am, i feel that i am not completely sure how to answer. it may sound stupid, but it is something that has been bothering me for a while now. unfortunately, i don't know much about my heritage, but i would really like to know where i came from and who i truly am. if anyone could help guide me or give me some insight into this at all, i would greatly appreciate it!

so... my last name is francz. from what i know my father's mother, esther, is about 'as polish as they come' She has blonde hair, light blue eyes, a round, but prominent face, and she is fluent as well). From what I know, that whole side of the family is polish... I know my great grandfather's name was Boris, his wife, Helen... My father says when he was younger he remembers his grandfather saying/yelling something to his wife like "Cheehaw, Helen" and "Yasuse Coohana?" (I Know this probably sounds ridiculous because the spelling is completely off and i couldn't figure it out on an online translator.) The only reason i know that is because we jokingly say it to each other from time to time. Sadly, thats all I know about my father's side.

My father is about 5'11, thin, but lean, He has fair skin, blond hair, blue eyes, higher cheekbones, and a round but prominent face.

My mother is part french and I believe 1/8 native american. her great or great-great-grandmother was Native Indian. Most of her family comes from areas in Canada and upstate New York, She has dark brown hair and brown eyes, and olive skin, and is around 5'7, with an average/lean frame.

As for me, I figured those 4 pictures were efficient in showing certain feautures and characteristics i possess. I'm around 5'4, smaller frame... I don't know if any of this matters but i figured i'd include it any way. As silly as it might seem to some, it is something have been wanting to get more insight into for a while now.

Thank you to whoever is able to help me figure this out!!

Sincerely, Nikki

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"Cheehaw, Helen" and "Yasuse Coohana"

I am not certain but probably:
Cicho Helen - Be quiet Helen :D
Jestes Kochana - You are lovely (almost positive)

Welcome Nikki,



More likely "Jesus, Kochana"
(please remember, I am in no way totally qualified to make any sort of translation...)

Hahah, that's how I was when I first started learning Polish, writing out everything the way it sounds. I'm sure all the foreigners learning Polish can relate to it.

Nikki, you look like an American sorority college school girl out at UCF, not much Polish, but probably because you were born and raised in Florida.

@nikkifl07

do you get called polish?

not taking the **** or anything as im born n bread english tho i have had fair few polish people at work and random people speak to me in polish. and you do actually look slightly polski as we have plenty roaming around and when you see enough of em you can tell who eng and who polski. as polski lot more good looking thats for sure

good luck finding out :)

Well, I would obviously agree Shawn, but it just doesn't make any sense. It is definietly Jestes Kochana ;)
I assume from what you wrote you are not Polish, how come than you can speak some? ;)

Thread attached on merging:
Sorry if I came off the wrong way? (re: 20 y/o fem) trying this again..

Well, sorry if anyone took those pictures the wrong way. They were in no way meant to be provocative. I guess I do have a tendency to do 'that' w/ my lips sometimes?.. i mean, for the most part, that's pretty much how i smile with my mouth closed.. regardless, those were the only pictures i had at the time as far as close ups of my facial structure go. I know that just facial structure doesn't tell everything, but I figured maybe someone more knowledgeable, who's of a stronger polish heritage or actually lives in poland, might be able to give me some insight to what i've been trying to figure out.

as for trying to "get attention," it is obvious that this forum is not to sell/put yourself out there in any way. i have no problems meeting people, and if i was that desperate to i would put myself on an actual dating site (no offense to anyone who is)

And like i said before, from what i understand, my father's side appears to be mostly polish.. his mother (my only grandmother who is still alive) is fluent in polish. (She also had rhinoplasty performed in her mid twenties to, what she says, "fix her polish nose") my mother is not polish. she comes from a french/native-american background. Genetically, I inherited half of both my parents' genes, so I suppose have some features of my mother. However, she has dark hair, brown eyes, olive complexion, and a more narrow face and nose. My father has a more round but prominent face, fair skin, blue eyes, blonde hair, and what we call a "polish" nose. I ended up with blonde hair, green eyes, fair/medium skin.. but you can see that for yourselves. obviously, i'm american. i've lived in florida all my life.. and i really don't like it, at all.

I would prefer to go out of the country to graduate school after i finish my bachelors degree here in the US. Maybe I'm naive and I don't appreciate the "freedoms and opportunity" we have in the US, but personally i am quite sick of the rude, greedy, prejudiced society i live in. Nothing is simple anymore and no one is ever happy with what they have. Maybe i see so much of this because i live in florida of all states. I haven't traveled anywhere in Europe yet, mainly because I wanted to wait till I was a little older so I would appreciate it more. I am looking into making a trip within the next year. I just know there has to be more than all of what I'm living in now.

I'm posting a few more pictures - not to "get attention," if i wanted attention i could find that elsewhere - just in case anyone can give me an answer that doesn't involve making fun of me or completely negating the reason i'm writing all of this. the last picture is of my father. it's not a great picture, but it's all i have at the moment.

I am a very kind and friendly person, and being mean/rude does not offend me for the fact that I don't know you and you don't know me. BUT any inference, (preferably respectful) would be very much appreciated :) thank you

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See? Much better without the guido kissing. I would say if you were walking down the street here you would not be taken for a foreigner. Polish girls have a real self consciousness issue about the nose...some are bigger than normal but rarely does it look odd...in fact the ones I hear complain the most about their noses have lovely ones.


This is the same everywhere...Europe is not Utopia and you haven't seen rude until you live in some places in this part of the world. Just don't expect it to be 'better'...it's not....just 'different'.

I would say your father is a respectable looking guy but then the weenies here looking for ammo would say I am just trying to 'backtrack'...he doesn't look particularly Polish to me however.

you do have a Polish face, especially the smile. i like your hair lol!

You are very similar to my sister. Eyes nose and hair.

Now you feel dirty for thinking a girl that looks like your sister is hot ;)

Your father looks very polish.You have polish cheeks and eyes but the mouth and the nose do not seem polish.

Young lady. You do look like you could be Polish.. That i am not sure of. But there is no mistaking your Father.. He is POLISH.

Pssst! Where do you live in Florida> I am just south of Sarasota

I don't see it...it may be that I am used to the mixed looks in the USA but after a few years here I notice a distinct Polish male look and he doesnt have it in my view.

lol.. isn't she a bit too young for you, ol' timer?

LOL. That is not my intent. She could be my granddaughter .. But unlike GTD,a little friendliness is called for after the reception that she received.

I agree with this


I agree with this.

Nikki, family opinion, in this house, is that you look Polish.

I have a feeling that some of that Native American is showing through.

Your father is obvious Polish.


Genes have a strange way of showing themselves. One child can look like mum, the other like dad. A third child may not look much like either parent.

polish or american your a stunner! got pretty feature's.

Yes you look Slavic around the eye's they are slightly up turned to the corners(that's a Slavic trait as opposed to the Germanic's that are straight)

a rounded skull is also a Slavic trait and wide'ish prominent cheek bones you have all the hall marks of a Slavic/Baltic person

its one of those things i find on this forum that most people dont know how to(i didnt know until told on an anthropology forum) take proper photo's for a "what do i look like etc picture"

the picture you have side(profile) on its great the 45degree is ok but your not looking straight ahead and the face on picture should be mouth closed and teeth together in all pictures(im not trying to pick on you its just an observation)

still you could fit in to any of the North western Slavic places

Cheers Steve

There are 2 poeple in Poland named Francz, but more than 5,000 using the Franczak surname. We cannot rule out that the Franczak, also spelt Frańczak, surname got shortened by one syllable in America.

Franczak/Frańczak means Frank's son, Frankie's boy, Frank's kid...

How did you find this out?

herby.com.pl

Thank you guys for all of your feedback! I really appreciate it.

Frankek: I'm originally from St Pete Beach area, but I moved to Orlando for college.

Polonius: I called my my grandmother and asked about our last name and she did say when her husband's family moved to America it was shortened it from Franczak to Francz. Very interesting! I never knew that :)

you dont look 20 but the up side is when ur like 30 people will probly still think ur in ur 20s! need to do that lip scrunch thing everybody does it in pictures and the pictures never turn out good,oh yeah i guess you look slavic this is really random but ur nose kinda looks like mine but urs tiny bit more cury and this other girl i know im gussing shes czech because of her last name & she has the same nose as you so i guess its a slavic trait maybe?

I live in Poland. You look quite Polish in fact, especially your hair.

Peter

How about trying to go about this "scientifically" and methodically?

Start with what resources you have immediately available to you, your grandmother and also whatever documentation she may have, birth records, etc. Once you have found a piece of paper stating that (lets say) your grandmother was from Poland then that's the base for researching your Polish ancestry..........if you really want to do this. Enough of the face, nose and eyes stuff.

Assuming that the surname "Francz" has not been changed then you can start looking around on ancestry.com.

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