Von Straski, Polish surname?

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Edited by: jpfmtka Aug 12, 10, 21:10 #1

In just a brief review, I've already learned so much. One of my great-grandmothers, Helen, was born in 1861 in Danzig. Before she immigrated in 1880, she had married a "noble". Now deceased family members remembered their name as Von Straski (?) or some variation. From what I've learned, the VON and the ski are "add-ons" that denote some type of status. Can anyone help in my search to identify granny? Thanks to any and all!

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Aug 13, 10, 18:15 #2

STRAWSKI: neither the von Straski or Straski name exists in Poland at present. The Strawski namedoes but it is none-too-common. It is anyone's guess how this name came into being. In many cases the von (from) and even more so von und zu (from and to) were indicators of noble status in German. Was there someone named Straß (Strass -- road, street) who wanted to give a Slavonic touch to his name and added -ki? Or was the Strawski surname somehow shortened to Straski and a von got addded to make it sound more high-faluntin. Perhaps a good genealogical researcher could sort this out.

jpfmtkaThreads: 1 Posts: 2 Joined: Aug 12, 10 ♀	Aug 14, 10, 15:16 #3
Thank you so very much... it's a good start.

SeanusThreads: 22 Posts: 30,158 Joined: Dec 25, 07 ♂	Aug 14, 10, 16:56 #4
It's certainly more Polish than Von Rompuy ;) It sounds like an old noble name but I've never seen it here.

jedenThreads: - Posts: 297 Joined: Nov 30, 09 ♂	Aug 14, 10, 19:14 #5
Strawski or straski may be a polish name . "Von" could say us that Straski confirm his noblness in Prussia.

Bratwurst BoyThreads: 11 Posts: 14,563 Joined: Apr 2, 07 ♂	Aug 14, 10, 19:48 #6
I can't find anything about the Name "Straski" in german sources. Make sure you have the name correct.... But the "von" is definitely indicating something german!

jedenThreads: - Posts: 297 Joined: Nov 30, 09 ♂	Edited by: jeden Aug 14, 10, 20:02 #7
But the "von" is definitely indicating something german! NO BB. It used to be. But there are plenty of Polish nobles families wchich got confirmation of their nobleness from prussian king ... My friend is an example so i know what i`m talking ;)

MediaWatchThreads: 31 Posts: 1,305 Joined: Aug 30, 08 ♂	Aug 14, 10, 20:35 #8
Bratwurst Boy: I can't find anything about the Name "Straski" in german sources. Make sure you have the name correct.... But the "von" is definitely indicating something german! What kind of name is Von Ski? Or Germanski?

Bratwurst BoyThreads: 11 Posts: 14,563 Joined: Apr 2, 07 ♂	Aug 14, 10, 20:51 #9
jeden: NO BB. It used to be. But there are plenty of Polish nobles families wchich got confirmation of their nobleness from prussian king ... Really? Poles with a "von" in their names??? I didn't knew that...thanks!

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Edited by: jeden Aug 14, 10, 21:25 #10

Von is like ski in the end in polish names, and like de or de la in french.
It was sign of noblness. In 1795 Prussia took some polish lands, and some families wanted the confirmation of their noblness. In the view of prussian germanization politics ;) there were created some strange names like von straski etc.

The secend theory is that polish man " straski" wanted to be noblman, but he didn`t have the proof ( the "ski" is not enough) so he buy the title of baron or other.

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Edited by: Nathan Aug 14, 10, 21:33 #11

Polonius3:

STRAWSKI: neither the von Straski or Straski name exists in Poland at present. The Strawski namedoes but it is none-too-common. It is anyone's guess how this name came into being. In many cases the von (from) and even more so von und zu (from and to) were indicators of noble status in German. Was there someone named Straß (Strass -- road, street) who wanted to give a Slavonic touch to his name and added -ki? Or was the Strawski surname somehow shortened to Straski and a von got addded to make it sound more high-faluntin. Perhaps a good genealogical researcher could sort this out.

Or it could have been from "Strach" - means "fear", which when "-ski" is added changes to "s".

ShawnHThreads: 9 Posts: 3,056 Joined: Jul 2, 09 ♂	Aug 14, 10, 21:40 #12
Maybe it was Von Starski?

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Edited by: skysoulmate Aug 14, 10, 22:01 #13

jeden:

Von is like ski in the end in polish names, and like de or de la in french.
It was sign of nobleness...

I don't think that's correct. Yes, in the middle ages in the Germanic areas Von in a person's name indicated nobleness. Van was the Dutch and Af the Scandinavian versions and they too were reserved for the nobles.

Ski in a Polish name however was never reserved for the noble bloodlines. It could mean that but often it didn't. Probably a myth created by those who's names end with a -ski. :)

"...Adjectival names very often end in the suffixes -ski, -cki and -dzki (feminine -ska, -cka and -dzka), and are considered to be either typically Polish or typical for the Polish nobility. However, this is not exactly true, exactly as in France or Germany where not all people with a de or von in their names were formally nobles: the adjectival suffix -ski, -skii or -sky is found in many other Slavic languages, and in Poland, the adjectival form of a name was not reserved to the szlachta..."

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_name

Could the original name have been Von Strauss that's been slavisized for whatever reasons?

Bratwurst BoyThreads: 11 Posts: 14,563 Joined: Apr 2, 07 ♂	Aug 14, 10, 22:18 #14
The name "Strask" exists though...

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Edited by: jeden Aug 14, 10, 22:36 #15

skysoulmate

I didn`t say that ski is/was reserved.

However, this is not exactly true indeed not exactly but mainly. There are people without ski etc. with noble roots, and also there are people with ski but they have nothing common with szlachta... But mainly ...;)

It could mean that but often it didn't. Probably a myth created by those who's names end with a -ski. :)

you are wrong, ski, icz is the end wchich show from where the family is, ( what village/ or town they posses)

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Edited by: skysoulmate Aug 15, 10, 03:02 #16

jeden:

skysoulmate

I didn`t say that ski is/was reserved.

However, this is not exactly true indeed not exactly but mainly. There are people without ski etc. with noble roots, and also there are people with ski but they have nothing common with szlachta...

But mainly ...;)

Well, fair enough but if your assumption is correct then Poland must have had the highest percentage of nobles in the entire world. :)

jeden:

you are wrong, ski, icz is the end wchich show from where the family is, ( what village/ or town they posses)

Agree 100%

The Swedish Malmberg, Holmberg, Nykvist, Svensson, Sjögren, etc. all imply someone who came from a specific place or relation to someone. However, only the af specifically signifies a noble name. Magnus af Trystorp would be one example. Many, in fact the majority of other noble names were "regular" names where the person just happened to be a noble. In the Polish language -ski would be the equivalent. From what I understand there are no specifically noble names in Polish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swedish_noble_families

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Edited by: jeden Aug 15, 10, 09:56 #17

Well, fair enough but if your assumption is correct then Poland must have had the highest percentage of nobles in the entire world. :)

Indeed Poland had the highest percentage of nobles in the entire world.;)

When in all Europe the common percentage of nobles in society was about 2% in Poland it was more than 10%. Therefore for foreigner nobles the aristocracy term is more apprpriate.
Polska szlachta was different than europeans aristocracy. when in france the king pay them and treated like slaves, in Poland rather we were talking that everzbody can be a king, so he is equel to us.

skysoulmateThreads: 41 Posts: 3,039 Joined: Jan 10, 10 ♂	Aug 15, 10, 10:03 #18
jeden: Indeed Poland had the highest percentage of nobles in the entire world.;) Pretend nobles. :)

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Edited by: jeden Aug 15, 10, 10:09 #19

you don˛t understand the term, sometimes polish poor or normal nobles was richest than western aristocrat.

in polish language

noble + man who can prove his noblness + some papers and acts from kigs dukes etc.

aristocrat+ noblman who have lands like small european country like belgium, andorra, or netherlands, very rich

this 10% were rightful nobles equel to radziwils, potocki, aristocrats who had lands as big as England

jpfmtkaThreads: 1 Posts: 2 Joined: Aug 12, 10 ♀	Aug 17, 10, 22:18 #20
Hey, I just found reference to Straski hrib in Slovinia near Lubljana (it was Yugoslavian territory when I visited in 1970). Any connections, anyone?

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,833 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Aug 19, 10, 09:28 #21
For what it's worth, there are some 130 Starskis in Poland. Letters often got turned round over generations of manual recopying.

andy bThreads: 7 Posts: 195 Joined: Nov 26, 07 ♂	Aug 19, 10, 11:29 #22
here is a good search site for finding surnames in Poland: http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/

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