Last Name: DOWGIALLO

I am trying to find out more information about the last name of my great-grandfather: "Dowgiallo". Great-grandfather came to the USA in 1910s from a part of Poland that is now in Lithuania.

Any information you can share about the origin or the meaning of this name (or about the family) is welcome here. Thank you!

doesn't sound polish. the spelling isn't polish either. as written.

I know. It almost looks Italian, doesn't it? But Great-grandfather was definitely from Poland.

Looking online I found that a former Polish Ambassador to Israel is called "Jan Dowgiallo".

italian or spanish but with two ŁŁ instead of Ls it's Lithuanian.

Thanks, loco polaco! In its original form, the name probably did have the "ŁŁ", but I imagine immigration officials changed it to "LL" on Great-Grandfather's arrived to the USA. As suggested in my original post, I suspected it was Lithuanian, since that is the part of the country (then-Poland) he came from.

In any event, do you - or anyone else reading this - know what the name means, or do you have any other information about its origin or about the family? If so, please post it here. Thank you!

polishroots.org has a page on Polish surnames. It is by William (Fred) Hoffman who seems to be an authority on the subject.

Thanks, Wroclaw. I checked the polishroots.org surname database, but couldn't find the name "Dowgiallo". Elsewhere on the site, there was an isolated reference to a Karol Dowgiallo in Krakow, but no name origin, meaning, or any other information was available.

Again, any information about the last name Dowgiallo is welcome here.

Hello everyone

I'm looking for information about BRONISLAW DOWGIALLO WARKOWSKA, born in Kurki, Poland, around 1918. He married KATALINA HEMKE. Both moved to Venezuela around 1942. I'm trying to help their daughter about their roots and family.

Thanks

Francisco

The original Lithuanian form of this name was probably Daugela.

Thanks, Polonius3.

While looking online, I found a few references on genealogy sites where some people are claiming descent from a 13th Century bearer of the Dowgiallo name. Like the Ambassador mentioned earlier, this historical figure is also called "Jan Dowgiallo". Apart from those few family research sites, I haven't been able to find anything else about a Jan Dowgiallo in the 1400s, but original entries portray him as an aristocratic, political leader of the day.

Does anyone have any further information about the 13th Century leader, Jan Dowgiallo?

Thanks!

(P.S: Of course, any further discussion about the Dowgiallo name, its origin or about the family in general is welcome here, as well.)

Eva, Dowgiallo is an ancient Lithuanian noble clan. The last name is pretty popular here in Russia and in Lithuania.
UPD: I can provide you with some history of the last name but it's all in Russian.

JewishGen has:

Dovgiallo... in Suwalki. Suwalki has been in both Poland and Lithuania.

For info on this read about 'the Pale'

Dovgyallo... Vilnius. There are a few families with this spelling.

It would help, if you gave us some first names. Can you supply your Great-Grandfather's first name ?

Anyone who claims roots to a 13th century surname is talking rubbish. Most ordinary people didn't have a surname until the 16th century. This is mentioned on the website link I provided earlier.

Have you checked Ship's Records for the arrival of your G-Grandfather. The ships manifest will show his original place of residence ?

Thank you, Sasha. My Russian is not great, but I would like to try it with the information you have. Please post it here or in "Private Message". Thanks!




Thanks, Wroclaw. I've searched for Ship manifest records, but haven't come up with anything yet. The town of origin is in or around "Uoginai", but I believe there were relatives also in Siuliai and Kaunaus/Kovno.

I have no idea what Uoginai is like now (city/town, etc.), but from family stories, I think it is rural.

I understand that the JewishGen site has records for Jewish and non-Jewish families, but could it be that Dowgiallo is a Jewish name, or might there be a Jewish branch of the Dowgiallo family? (Any Jewish Dowgiallos out there?)

It seems that (some) Jewish people had this name or a variation of it... is the best answer I can give you.
This is the reason I asked for a Christian/first name.

The Ship's Manifest sometimes shows next of kin. This might have the original spelling of the name. Remember, the ship's manifest was written at port of departure and may be slightly different to arrival records. It all depends on the language spoken by those filling in the documents and the language spoken by the person giving the information.

If the name has been changed it is easy to assume that it happened at Ellis Island. But this is not always the case.

The Social Security Death Index might show his place of birth. (you don't have to pay for this info)

Naturalization Records can show quite a bit of information.

If G-Grandfather served in the US military at any time you may find that these records show something.

Thanks, Wroclaw. My Great Grandfather's name was Czeslaw. Not a Jewish name, I know, but there have always been subtle hints from family stories, so it would be nice to learn the truth about the Jewish connection if at all possible.

Any further information is welcome!

check alternative spellings.

I found CHeslaw Dowgiallo: 1910-1967 Michigan.

Thanks, Wroclaw. My Great Grandfather did live in Michigan at one time, but that one is not him. He was born in the 1800s and was already an adult and father by 1910. I know a good deal about his life here in the USA, but very little about the family members left behind in Poland (now Lithuania. Oops! My irredentism is showing! :-D ) - or about the family name in general.

In the wake of the recent Russian submarine accident that killed 20 people onboard, a spokesman for the Russian Navy gave details to the press. The spokesman's name was Captain Igor Dyagalo . Could "Dyagalo" be a Russified version of the surname "Dowgiallo"?

http://www.rulex.ru/01050533.htm

Довгялло - is Russian spelling of your name. The info is very brief.. so here it is (in my translation).
Dowgiallo is a lithuanian noble clan. In XVI century it was splitted up into several branches, adopted following crests Abdank (Абданк), Zadora (Задора), Dzyalosha (Дзялоша), Plomenchik (Пломенчик). One of the branches is spellt Mingaylo-Dowgyallo (Мингайло-Довгялло), another were initially named Dowgyallo-Zavisha (Довгялло-Завиша) and then just "Zavisha". URL
Clan Dowgyallo included in VI and I parts of genealogic books of Vilensk, Vitebsk, Kovensk, Minsk and Saratov's guberniyas.

What you might have been interested in are the genealogic books mentioned in the last sentence but I'm afraid there's no way to find them online. But I think this can shed a light on the origins.



His name is spellt Дыгало in Russian. It's a Ukranian last name. Doesn't really have anything to do with your last name.

Sorry I didn't notice your post earlier.