THE MEANING OF YOUR POLISH LAST NAME?

SarahxjThreads: - Posts: 3 Joined: Aug 20, 09 ♀	Aug 21, 09, 12:32 #361
Thanks. Could Pirsztuk maybe be a village in Belarus?

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,547 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Aug 21, 09, 13:02 #362
There is a village called Pirsztuki in the Homel/Gomel district of Belarus. In 1744 it was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Wilno.

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Edited by: Moderator Aug 21, 09, 18:03 #363

kamy girl:

I'm looking for info on the last names: Kamykowski and Kukulka

My Grt Grandfather (Kamykowski) was born in Tuchowska, Tarnów in 1882. His father was a blacksmith and supposedly president (?) of a village, Piotkowice, in Tarnów. His grandparents were land owners & had servants. He came to the US in 1901 at the age of 19 because of the war.

My Grt Grandmother (Kukulka) was born in 1881 also in Tuchowska. Her father was a blacksmith too. She came to the US probably around the turn of the century as well but I don't have any dates to back that.

Info I have on both of them states them being born in Jadelwik, Tuchowska, however I have not been able to find any info on the name of that village so I'm assuming I'm spelling it wrong.
TIA for any help or info!

KAMYKOWSKI: toponymic nick from the village of Kamyk (Pebbleton)
KUKUŁKA: little cuckoo, either nick based on some characeristic or toponym from Kukułów or Kukułowo (Cuckooville)

Kamy girl	Aug 22, 09, 06:15 #364
Thank you Polonius3 for that info. Nice to know that I officially have a little "cuckoo" in me! LOL Is Kamyk still the current name of the village? What did you mean by Pebbleton?

SoftsongThreads: 6 Posts: 587 Joined: Sep 2, 07 ♀	Aug 22, 09, 08:30 #365
Kamy girl...Polonius3 often translates what the village name would mean if it were rendered in English. Pebbleton (pebble town), is the closest English meaning for the name Kamyk.

SarahxjThreads: - Posts: 3 Joined: Aug 20, 09 ♀	Aug 22, 09, 11:29 #366
Polonius3 where did you get the information from? I cant find Pirsztuki on a map? Is it a small place?

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Edited by: Polonius3 Aug 22, 09, 11:40 #367

Upon closer inspection all I could find were people in Belarus with the Pirsztuk (Пирштук) surname. Пирштуки сeло (Pirsztuki village) produced nothing. However, I did find Pirsztuki under the heading Homel/Gomel - back in the 18th century it was in the Wilno Archdiocese. That suggests that the name may have disappeared or even the village itself may have vanished over generations of wars, insurrections, revolutions, natural calamities, etc. But it must have existed at least up till the birth of your ancestor.

zavishaThreads: - Posts: 1 Joined: Aug 22, 09 ♂	Aug 22, 09, 16:18 #368
Zavisha, Zawisca. My ancestors were from Poland, I'd like to find out what that name means. I know about history of Zavisha, but I want to know how can I translate the word itself, and after what word name Zavisha comes. Thanks Sergey Zavisha

PiorunThreads: - Posts: 741 Joined: Nov 11, 07 ♂	Aug 22, 09, 17:17 #369
The name is Zawisza, as far as I know Zawisza is the first name so it would be a patronymic name formed from the name of the father and I think it means ambitious one, although it could be confused with Polish word zawistny. With a name like that no Pole would associate you with being Russian. With a Noble last name like that what's up with Sergey?

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,547 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Aug 22, 09, 17:18 #370
Zawisza appears to be a variant of the name Zawisław whose basic roots were zawiść (envy) and sława (glory). It might have originally meant envious of glory, but by the time of the hero of the Battle of Grunwald, the knight Zawisza, it was already probably only a name.

Melanie_MThreads: - Posts: 11 Joined: Aug 15, 09 ♀	Aug 23, 09, 02:06 #371
What is witold? They changed it to white when they arrived here... i was told anything with witz, vitz or icz was jewish... is that correct?

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Aug 23, 09, 12:12 #372

Witold is the Polish version of the Lithuanian name Vytautas.
Someone with a Wit-starting name in Ameircan could have changed it to anything he wanted: Whtie, Smith, Schultz, Fabiano, Gomez...it's a free coiuntry.
In the US Jews with -wicz ending names often changed it to -vitz.
Now I've got a question: how are Jewish -wicz ending names respelt in other countries? The name of the late Soviet dictator Khrushchev (Polish: Chruszczow) was spelt some 30 different ways in different countries - the fate of all Cyrillic-written names.

regionpolskiThreads: 36 Posts: 164 Joined: Mar 13, 07 ♂	Aug 23, 09, 17:52 #373
Polonius, would have any insights on the name Balitewicz? Any insights into a place called either Schipliski or Lyepisaki, both in turn of the 19th century Russia? Thanks in advance.

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,547 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Aug 23, 09, 22:40 #374
No-one in Poland uses Balitewicz and its source is also obscure. There does exist the localtiy of Szypliski in NE Poland's Suwałki area near the Lithuanian border. Perhaps Lybiškiai is the toerh place you were lookign for. It is in today's Lithuania.

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Aug 24, 09, 00:59 #375

Polonius3:

No-one in Poland uses Balitewicz and its source is also obscure. There does exist the localtiy of Szypliski in NE Poland's Suwałki area near the Lithuanian border. Perhaps
Lybiškiai is the toerh place you were lookign for. It is in today's Lithuania.

Both places make sense. My great-grandfather's origins are obscure, and his wife was from Zielona Gora (Green Hills). His brothers emigrated after he did, and the two cities you researched were listed as their places of origin on immigration documents. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate my great-grandparents' documents (arrived in Baltimore in 1903 with an infant). What confuses the issue, for me at least, are what their daughter (traveled with them as an infant in 1903) lists on some of her documents. She lists both of her parents as Galician on a census. She also lists her place of birth as Hrys, Poland on her husband's naturalization form (She married a man from Sanok). I can't find Hrys anywhere. I suspect it's Hzran, or something close. Basically, it looks like my great-grandfather really moved around. He was probably born in or near present day Lithuania, traveled to Gaicia, married a woman (maiden name Domicella Marcela Prugar) and eventually they traveled to.....Hamburg(?) and then to the US via Baltimore.
Polonius, thank yopu for your insights. They are much appreciated.

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Aug 24, 09, 08:05 #376

Thanks about your answer..I've been trying to tell my mom that I am pretty sure my grandfather was probably Polish/Lithuanian-Jew.. but been told with the name more towards the Lithuanian-Jew side and here u say it too. She thinks i am crazy, like I am begging to me Lithuania-Jewish..ya, that was my dream when I was born..Just finding out after almost 35 yrs about this jewish and what not is kinda shocking.
For your answer, the Vitz, Wicz and the Witz is all that i know of...But for instance, my name is Minnich, which is American form that is suppose to be German, which I been told came from 3 different Jewish names ages ago and I believe a Romanian one too. I don't know if this is any help.

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,547 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Aug 24, 09, 14:37 #377
There are 9 people in Poland named Minnich at present, and all live in or around the SE city of Tarnów, up till 1918 part of Austrian-ruled Galicja. There are about 800 Minnichs in today's Germany. The etymology seems obscure -- could it have been a pet form of the Jewish first name Menachem? With what little you have to go on, probably only a professional genealogist could help you.

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Aug 25, 09, 08:27 #378

Yes ,Menachem is one of the names, that is correct and there are 3 more, i don't quite remember. Yes, my family is pretty complicated isn't it.. i don't know what i am. Polish, Polish-Jew, German, German-Jew. 800 Minnichs, quite interesting. and 9 in Poland, even more. G-ma keeps telling me my g-pa was more of Russian than Polish, but i tell her he couldn't have been, not with that last name. HE came from Poland too. But like u said, it is Lithuanian based. They all mixed back then though. Even with the Germans.

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Aug 25, 09, 14:42 #379

Does anyone know if this surname means anything 'Skwara'?
Doesn't seem like a Polish name to me, especially when people ask me where that name comes from, and when I ask them to have a guess, they just say that they have no idea lol.

As far as I know, I come from a long line of relatives born in Poland, I happen to be the only one born outside of it's borders (Australia). The knowledge I have of my family tree is actually little to non. Everything I know I've pretty much already mentioned.

yehudiThreads: 1 Posts: 816 Joined: Jul 27, 08 ♂	Aug 26, 09, 11:33 #380
Kaizerski: Does anyone know if this surname means anything 'Skwara'? There is a town in Ukraine called Skwyra, which is pronounced "Skver" in Yiddish. Maybe your family was from there. It was the seat of a well-known hassidic dynasty, the Twersky family. They relocated to New York State after the war and established a town called New Square. Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skvyra

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,547 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Edited by: Moderator Aug 26, 09, 22:52 #381
SKWARA - archaic Polish fem. noun skwara once meant scorching heat; in modern Polish it is skwar. The diminutive of skwara is skwarka and means a crunchy pork crackling. Not all Polish surnames end in -ski, -wicz or -ak! konetski: konetski KONECKI – Typonymic nick from the village of Koneck. Konetski is an attempt at a German or English phonetic respelling.

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,547 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Aug 27, 09, 13:16 #382
There are other synomyms such as upał, żar, etc. but we are dealing with a given surname, not the concept of heat, and Skwara is etymologically not related to Gorąc.

yehudiThreads: 1 Posts: 816 Joined: Jul 27, 08 ♂	Aug 27, 09, 19:25 #383
Polonius3: The diminutive of skwara is skwarka and means a crunchy pork crackling. So Kaizerski is either a scion of the hassidic Twerskys or he is eating crunchy pork. Hmmm...

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,547 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Aug 27, 09, 20:45 #384
The original Kajzerski (Polish spelling) might have been called that because he was in the employ of the German imerial court (even as a gardener or stable hand) or because he hailed from some locality such as Kaiserhof, Kaiserdorf, Kaiserfeld, etc. Or maybe he was a baker who produced the best kajzerki (kaiser rolls) in his shtetel?

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Edited by: Moderator Aug 28, 09, 15:11 #385

dsuszko:

My grandparents came to the United States in the early 1900's. Their surnames were Suszko and Milek. I believe my father's family (Suszko) came from an area near Bialystok, and my mother's family came from an area near Krakow. Can anyone provide me with any insight as to the background of my families heritage and what the names may mean in Polish?

SUSZKO - from such~susz root meaning aridity, dryness. Probably a toponymic nick for someone from such places as Suszki or Suszewo (Dryton, Aridville).

MIŁEK - probably derived from a pet form of the old first name Miłosław. The mił- root itsellf suggests someone nice, kind, pleasant and appears in such words as miłość (love) and miłosierdzie (mercy, literally: kind heartedness).

HankaThreads: - Posts: 4 Joined: Aug 30, 09 ♀	Aug 30, 09, 19:52 #386
Would anyone know the meaning for the surnames: Moronczyk, Kroczak, Konderowicz, Filipowicz, Lodzinski, Jankiaza, Demianowicz. Although the little that I know of the area, my father was born in Lwow and my mother was born within the Sonok County. I am trying to do the connecting dots with all these names. Thanks

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Aug 31, 09, 16:51 #387

Morończyk - toponymic nick for some from Moroń

Kroczak - patronymic nick for son of Krocz (inhabitant of Kroczów)
Konderowicz - possibly a variant from of Kondratowicz (son of Kondrat); Konderatek was once a hypocoristic form of Kondrat

Filipowicz - patronymic nick meaning "son of Philip"

Łodziński - toponymic nick from Łodzina

Jankiaza - ??? (some exotic derivative of Jan) ???

Demianowicz - patronymic nick for the son of Demian (Ukrainian equiv. of Damian).

StanleyThreads: - Posts: 1 Joined: Aug 31, 09 ♀	Aug 31, 09, 17:14 #388
Hello, my name is Annetta. My maiden name is KOLODZIEJCZAK. Can anyone tell me what the meaning is for this name? And what is the best site for looking up polish genealogy? thanks,

Polonius3Threads: 963 Posts: 4,547 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Aug 31, 09, 22:39 #389
KOŁODZIEJCZAK - patronymic nick meaning "the wheelwright's son"

jpscesniakThreads: - Posts: 1 Joined: Sep 5, 09 ♂	Sep 5, 09, 01:16 #390
what about "scesniak" or "szczezniak" (as i believe it was spelled before my ancestors came to america.)??? thanks!

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