MARSZAL~EK

To: Todd Szymankiewicz <tszymankiewicz@yahoo.com>

> I was wondering if you could help me out with the surname Marszalek.

Marszalek in Polish is written with a slash through the L, which I indicate online as L~ (because you can't see the Polish character without reconfiguring your system and browser to use the Central European character set, which is usually more toruble than it's worth). The L~ sounds like our W, so Marszal~ek sounds like "mar-SHAH-weck." It comes from the noun marszal~ek, "marshal, medieval administrator of the royal court; also a military rank." So the surname started out indicating an ancestor was a marshal, or had some close connection to one.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the _Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych_, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 13,584 Polish citizens by this name MARSZAL~EK, living in large numbers all over the country. A family by this name could come from practically anywhere in Poland.

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PIJARSKI

To: S. Pijarski <stefaski@hotmail.com>

> It [Pijarski] seems to be a famous name but not much history on it.

In Polish this name is pronounced roughly "pee-YAR-skee." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 141 Polish citizens named Pijarski. The largest number, 91, lived in the southeastern province of Radom; the rest were scattered in much smaller numbers all over the country. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But this information does suggest the Radom area is where one is most likely to find this name.

None of my sources discuss the origin of this name, but I think it pretty clearly comes from the Polish adjective pijarski, which means "of the Piarists," referring to a Catholic religious order that founded and maintained schools in Europe. I don't think they're much heard of in America, though apparently they have at least one school in Kentucky (http://www.geocities.com/piarist/). In Polish the surname Pijarski surely meant something like "[kin] of the Piarist" or perhaps "[student] of the Piarists," referring to one who studied at a Piarist school. In other words, it refers to some association of an ancestor with the Piarists, either with an individual or an institution connected with the order. Only detailed research into the history of the individual family might uncover more information on the exact nature of the connection.

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PISARSKI

To: Terressa Decker <TIDecker@msn.com>

> If you have any information on the Pisarski family name then you can e-mail the information to me. My great-grandfather was born in Poland and I would love to know where the name comes from.

In Polish Pisarski is pronounced roughly "pee-SAR-skee," with the second syllable rhyming more or less with "car." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 4,310 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it's simply an adjective from the noun pisarz, "scribe, clerk," and thus would mean literally "of the scribe." It can mean "kin of the scribe, kin of the clerk." It can also refer to family origins in any of a number of places with names beginning Pisar-, which would mean "[place] of the scribe." In other words, it could mean "one from Pisary" or "one from Pisarki" and so on.

So it indicates a connection of the family with either a scribe or clerk or a place named for a connection with a scribe or clerk. Only detailed genealogical research into the background of a specific family might clarify which meaning applies in their particular case, and indicate w

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POLAKOWSKI

To: Deirde Polakowski <luvmy4skis@hotmail.com>

> I've been researching my husband's family line - Polakowski and am having a very hard time finding anything on the original ancestor to immigrate to America and the link back to Poland. I saw a little on the site about this surname but not much, could you elaborate for me?

Usually there is very little about surnames, whether English or Polish, that offers useful leads in tracing individual families. People often write to me hoping I'll be able to say, "Oh, your surname proves your family was noble and owned the estate at X located 10 km. south of Warsaw, and your ancestor was 5 foot 6 inches and red-haired, and had seven kids and three dogs." All most Polish surnames tell us is "Your ancestors came from somewhere in Poland -- or maybe Belarus or Lithuania or Ukraine, or some other area where lots of Poles lived at some point."

Polakowski, pronounced roughly "po-lah-KOFF-skee," is a good example. The root of the name is Polak, which means "Pole." In terms of structure Polakowski means literally "of the Pole's _," where the blank is filled in with something so obvious it didn't need to be spelled out -- usually either "kin" or "place." So Polakowski could just mean "of the kin of the Pole."

More often names in the form X-owski refer to places with names beginning with the X part, places where the family lived or with which they were connected at some point centuries ago. So Polakowski most likely started out meaning "one from the place of the Pole," referring to some specific village or settlement with a name beginning Polak-. Unfortunately, there are a number of places in Poland with names that fit, and the surname gives us no clue which one it refers to in a given family's case. Your Polakowskis might have come from Polaki in the province of Siedlce, or Polakowo in Koszalin province, or Polakowice in Wroclaw province, etc. The only way to find out which one applies in a given family's case is through detailed and successful genealogical research.

In other words, I can't tell you what you want to know. You're far more likely to determine where your Polakowskis came from than I am.

Once in a while a name will turn out to be concentrated in a specific area to the point that that concentration provides a useful clue. But I'd estimate that happens in fewer than 5% of all cases. And to be honest, we wouldn't expect a name meaning "kin of the Pole" or "one from the place of the Pole" to be restricted to any one part of Poland.

And that's what the data shows. As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 3,133 Polish citizens named Polakowski. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one area. A Polakowski family could come from anywhere.

So the bottom line is, I answer questions about name meanings and origins primarily to satisfy people's understandable curiosity. Once in a while I'm able to dig up some bit of info that actually helps trace a given family. But that's pretty rare, and I'm afraid it didn't happen in this case.

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PYZIK

To: Janet Stout <jstout@wi.rr.com>

Pyzik is pronounced roughly "PIZH-eek," with the vowel in the first syllable as in "ship" or "fizz." Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from the noun pyza, "chubby-faced person." So Pyza would have started as a nickname for one with a chubby face, and Pyzik would have developed as a way of referring to his kin; in most cases we'd interpret it as "son of the guy with the chubby face."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,149 Polish citizens with this name, with the largest numbers in the following provinces: Katowice 221, Krakow 318, Lublin 298, and Tarnow 372. So the name is found all over Poland, but tends to be particularly common in the area from southcentral to southeastern Poland.

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RYBAK

To: Robbie Niegowski <rsski@barnwellsc.com>

> I would very much appreciate knowing the meaning and origin,of the name Rybak, and the province that Rybak is most likely from.

I'm afraid there's no way to say what province Rybak comes from, because the name simply means "fisherman," and is found all over Poland. As of 1990 there were 14,194 Polish citizens named Rybak (pronounced roughly "RIB-ock"), living all over the country, with no particular concentration in any one area. So a family by that name could come from anywhere in Poland; and the name simply indicates that about the time surnames were becoming established, an ancestor was a fisherman.

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SMOLIN~SKI

To: Lindsay MacNab-TVC <lindsay.macnab.01@bbc.co.uk>

> Thank you so much ! This is amazingly helpful. I'm sorry to trouble you again, but another name has come up: Smolinski. I'd be ever so grateful to find out anything about this name.

Smolinski in Polish is spelled with an acute accent over the N. Online I use the tilde ~ to indicate the diacritical marks in Polish characters because to see the characters properly you must reconfigure your browser to use the Central European character set (or enable Unicode), which is generally more trouble than it's worth unless you're going to use it all the time. So online I write this name as Smolin~ski, but you replace the N~ with accented N. It is pronounced roughly "smo-LEEN-skee."

This name comes from ultimately from the noun smol~a (the l~ is meant to indicate that it is not plain l, but rather the Polish hard l with a slash or crossbar through it). That noun means "tar, pitch," and Smolin~ski is adjectival and could be interpreted as meaning "of the one of tar." The same noun in virtually the same form exists in other Slavic languages such as Russian, so we cannot be absolutely certain the name is of Polish origin. This spelling, however, would generally be associated with Poles; Russians, for instance, would be more likely to show up as Smolinsky.

Usually names ending in -in~ski or -yn~ski turn out to refer to place names ending in -in or -ino or -no or -na. So while this name could mean nothing more than "kin of the tar fellow" -- perhaps referring to an ancestor who worked or dealt with tar professionally, or looked as if he did (i. e., was quite dirty) -- in most cases we would expect this name to mean "one from Smolino" or "one from Smolna" or any of a number of places in Poland and the nearby countries with names beginning Smol-. They in turn would have gotten those names due to some association with tar. So Smolin~ski would in most cases mean "one from Smolino/Smolna etc." = "one from the place of tar."

Given the variability of vowels, it's even conceivable the name could refer to a family connection with Smolensk, Russia. The names Smolen~ski and Smolin~ski would often be used interchangeably, even though in theory they should be distinct and refer to a different set of places with distinguishable, albeit similar, names. But if you search Eastern Europe you will see there are many, many places with names that qualify, Smolen- or Smolin- or Smoln- in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, etc. Go, for instance, to this Website:

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm

Specify a search for SMOL in all the countries of Eastern Europe, and specify "Search using All Towns using this Precise Spelling." Click on "Start the search." Shortly you will have a list of places in Central and Eastern Europe with names beginning Smol-. They aren't all places that could produce the name Smolin~ski, but many of them are.

In such instances, the only way to determine for sure which place the surname refers to in a given family's case is through detailed research into that family's history. These Smolin~skis might have come from here, those from there, and so on. Only detailed research might uncover facts that would make clear which particular place the name refers to in that family's case. Without such details, all we can say for sure is that the name refers to some connection with tar, and most likely to a place with a name formed from that root, a name beginning Smolen- or Smolin- or Smoln-.

As of 1990 there were 13,483 Polish citizens named Smolin~ski, living all over the country. So it's a moderately common surname among Poles.

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SOWIZ*DRZAL~ - SOWIZDZ*AL~ - SOWIZ*RAL~

To: Pat Heck <wheck@charter.net>

>My name is Pat Heck and I live in Roscoe Illinois. I have been looking for my Grandfathers parents names with no success at all!  This is the spelling that I was given by my Uncle. Sowizdzal  I would appreciate any information you could provide.

This is a name that appears in Polish in a bewildering variety of spellings, including Sowiz*ral~, Sowiz~ral~, Sowizdrzal~, Sowizdz*al~ and Sowiz*dz*al~ and so on-- but I need to explain the ~ and *. Polish has a number of letters we can't reproduce easily on computers not configured for Eastern European displays; so I use the tilde and asterisk to note diacritical marks that must be added to the basic letters. Z* stands for a Z with a dot over it, pronounced like "zh" in "Zhivago" or "s" in "measure"; Z~ represents a Z with an accent over it, pronounced much the same but somewhat softer and more hissing; and L~ stands for the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced much like English "w." So Sowiz*ral~ is pronounced roughly "so-VEEZH-raw," and Sowiz*dz*al~ sounds like "so-VEEZH-jaw."

They all come from the noun sowiz*ral~ or sowiz~ral~, which is a variant form of the noun more often seen as sowizdrzal~ ("so-VEEZ-jaw"), which means "scamp, scatterbrain, frivolous-minded trouble-maker"; this probably reflects regional pronunciation tendencies, that is, in some areas they pronounced it one way, in others another way. I know the meaning of the name is not very complimentary, but believe me, by Polish standards it's almost flattering! Many Polish names are downright insulting. I can see this originating as a nickname used almost affectionately, as a mother might call her mischievous son a "scamp" or a "scoundrel." It's not nearly so harsh as some names that can only be translated with four-letter words!

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 254 Poles who spelled the name Sowizdrzal~; it's a bit more common in the provinces of Kalisz (58) and Sieradz (63), farther north and west from Tarnow.

There were 174 Polish citizens named Sowiz~ral~, with an accent over the Z. The largest number by far, 124, lived in the southeastern province of Tarnow, i. e., the same area your grandfather came from. The rest were scattered in small numbers in various provinces, mostly in southern Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, what I've given here is all I have.

The spelling Sowiz*ral~ was less common, borne by 61 Poles, with no concentration in any one province. The difference between Z* and Z~ is so subtle and often ignored that one can regard these as two slightly different forms of the same name.

There were also 28 Poles who spelled it Sowizdz*al~ and 38 who spelled it Sowiz*dz*al~. They were scattered all over, with no particular concentration in any one area.

Names were often spelled phonetically in old records, so you basically have to have your eyes open for any and all of these spellings. The same person might appear in one record as Sowizdz*al~, and as Sowiz~ral~ in the next. This happens all the time. That's why I mentioned all those different forms -- any of them might show up in your research. And if you haven't had any luck finding one form, it may help to have these others to look for.

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SZYMANKIEWICZ

To: Todd Szymankiewicz <tszymankiewicz@yahoo.com>

>  I was wondering if you could help me out with the surname, Szymankiewicz.

Szymankiewicz is pronounced roughly "shim-onk-YEAH-veech." The -ewicz part means "son of," and the Szymank- part is from Szymanek or Szymanko, both of which mean "little Simon" or "son of Simon." So this surname means literally either "son of little Simon" or "son of Simon's son." That sounds a little odd to us, but once a name such as Szymanek or Szymanko existed, Poles wouldn't find it odd to add an -ewicz to it, even if that "son of the son of" bit seems a bit redundant. Besides, as I said, Szymanek or Szymanko could have been a nickname, kind of like "little Simon" or "good old Si."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 2,004 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 281, Ciechanow 160, Kalisz 206, Leszno 135, and Poznan 388. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

This data indicates the name is found all over the Poland, with some concentration in the west central area, and another in the area just northeast of the center of the country. I'm afraid that's about as much as I can say from the available data.

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TOKARSKI

To: Marek Tokarski <marek141@hotmail.com>

>  I have just been on your web page and i would like to request some information on the name Tokarski.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 11,175 Polish citizens by this name. They lived all over the country, with no significant concentration in any one region.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes ultimately from the noun tokarz, "operator of a lathe." It could have developed as meaning simply "kin of the lathe operator," or it could indicate family origin in a place named Tokary or something similar, which in turn surely got its name from some association with lathe operators.

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BUCHKOWSKI - BUCZKOWSKI

To: Carol Buchkowski <BUCHKOW@aol.com>

> Do you have any information on either of the name Buchkowski?

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there was no one in Poland named Buchkowski, and that name, while theoretically possible, doesn't look or sound right. I strongly suspect it's been modified under English phonetic influence. In Polish they use cz to write the sound we spell as ch, and I suspect the original spelling was Buczkowski, pronounced roughly "booch-KOFF-skee," and the spelling was modified to make it easier for Americans to pronounce. As of 1990 there were 6,819 Polish citizens named Buczkowski, living all over the country.

This surname refers to the name of a place the family came from, a place named Buczek or Buczki or Buczkow or Buczkowo. There are quite a few places by those names, and with this surname, too, there's no way to know which one it refers to in a given family's case without researching their background in detail.

The good news is, if you have any luck with your research, you may find the specific region in Poland your ancestors came from. At that point you can look for a nearby place with a name beginning Buczk-. If you find one, chances are decent that's the place the surname referred to originally. You might even find records that spell it out and make it clear. But that's the only way to determine for sure which particular places these surnames originally referred to.

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BUJEWICZ

To: Alexey Buevich <matcc@aviacom.ru>

> Can you please enlighten me on the origin of my surname Buewicz.

The suffix -ewicz means "son of," and appears not only in Polish but also in Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Serbo-Croatian, etc. Of course in those other languages it is spelled differently, but it is the same Slavic ending meaning "son of." So the obvious answer is that this name means "son of Bu." 

However, I can find no Slavic name Bu. Names exist beginning Bud-, Buj- Bug-, Buk-, etc., but no Bu.

But since Russian may be involved here, let me suggest one possibility. In Russian, of course, this name would be spelled in the Cyrillic alphabet, in which the letter E usually begins with the sound Poles spell as J. In other words, a Polish name Bujewicz would be written in Russian with the Cyrillic letters that look like 6YEB- (I'm using 6 to approximate the 2nd letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, sounding like English B).

Thus I wonder if the name in question would be spelled BUJEWICZ in Polish, but its Russian form might be mistakenly rendered in the Roman alphabet as BUEWICZ, ignoring the J sound? The root Buj- appears in names often, meaning "rapidly growing, full of energy and strength," often with the added sense of "violent, turbulent, wild." 

If my analysis is correct, the name you're asking about probably began as a reference to the son of one who was large and strong, or received a name beginning Buj- in hopes he would be large and strong. Vladimir Dahl's Dictionary of the Great Russian Language mentions a term we'd spell buyevo in the Roman alphabet (more like 6YEBO in Cyrillic) that means "violently, wildly, with great energy." In this instance the Russian and Polish meanings of the root are very similar -- both refer to one bursting with great energy and strength, and often using that energy to cause an uproar.

That appears to me the most likely explanation of the name: that it meant "son of the brawler, son of the wildly energetic one." Perhaps you can determine whether it makes sense or not.

In case the data is any help to you, as of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 84 Polish citizens named Bujewicz. They were scattered all over Poland, with no significant concentration in any one area.

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BUJEWSKI

To: Rosemaria Bujewski-Schultz [e-mail address inadvertently deleted]

> we are seeking information about our family name Bujewski. The Bujewski family originates in Pozen, as far as we know.They have been farmers in Bnin and Lodzia, Pozen. We found the first entries in 1808/9 ( Stanislaus Bujewski). On the other hand we found the Bujewski name in the Ucraine (Taras Bujewski, still alive a welknown composer). Although we do not take an information we got from different Polish nationals very serious, we wonder  whether there is some truth in it. We as well as American family members were told that Bujewski is a name of royalty. Can that be true? We would appreciate any information about the origin and  meaning of our name.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 145 Polish citizens named Bujewski. The majority, 102, lived in the province of Bydgoszcz, in northwestern Poland. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it derives ultimately from the root buj-, as seen in the verb bujec~, "to grow quickly," the adjective bujny, "strong, growing thick and strong," and the noun bujak, "bull, brawler" (i. e., a powerful man who was prone to use his strength in fights." Thus Bujewski could have started as a name meaning something like "of the kin of the strong one."

Very often, however, names in the form X-ewski refer to the name of a place where the family lived at some point centuries ago. Bujewski could mean "one from Buje or Bujew or Bujewo." I can't find any places by those names on modern maps, but that's not unusual. The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may now be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. It's also quite possible the place name or surname, or both, have changed somewhat over the centuries. I'm afraid only genealogical research might uncover facts that would clear up exactly what place the surname originally referred to.

It is not unusual to find the same name among Poles and Ukrainians. The languages are similar, and similar names can develop in both. Also, a great many Polish noble families settled on estates in the Ukraine, and thus we often find a particular name appears among descendants in both Poland and Ukraine. Thus it tells us nothing to know that a Ukrainian was named Bujewski. He might or might not have been related to your family; only genealogical research can establish or refute this.

I can find no information on a royal or noble family named Bujewski. My sources do not, however, concentrate on Polish nobility, so it is quite possible there was such a family and I simply don't know about it.

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BURKAT

To: David Burkat <jdb3283@bellatlantic.net>

> we are trying to trace our roots. my grandfather came to america in
> 1907. according to ship manifests, ethnicity was austria, galicy,polish.
> place of residence was dolnawicz, galicy. his full name was wojciech
> Burkat age 37 at that time.

I'm afraid someone may have misled you. The information to which I have access is seldom much use in tracing individual persons or families. But here's what I can tell you.

Burkat is pronounced roughly "BOOR-cot," that Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions it in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles], saying it appears in records as early as 1431 and is a Polish variation of the German name Burghart, from roots meaning "defend" and "mighty, bold," so that it originally meant something like "bold defender."

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 506 Polish citizens named Burkat. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Katowice 53, Krakow 277, and Nowy Sacz 39. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. Krakow and Nowy Sacz were in Galicia; I don't believe Katowice ever was. (Galicia was the part of Poland seized by the Austrian Empire during the partitions in the late 18th century; it consisted of what are now southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. There's no guarantee the place you're looking for was in the territory now ruled by Poland; it could be in what is now Ukraine.)

I looked in the Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia and found no place named Dolnawicz; I can't be sure, but I suspect the name is wrong. There was a Dolna Wies (literally "lower village") near Myslenice, south of Krakow. At one time it was a separate village, but now it's part of the town of Myslenice, and is called Dolne Przedmiescie ("lower suburb"). This might be worth a look, since in Poland the name Burkat is most common in the Krakow area. So "Dolnawicz" may turn out to be Dolna Wies; I don't know, but I think it's worth a look.

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BURKOT - IGNASZAK

To: Jeff Riel <jariel@acsu.buffalo.edu>

In Polish Burkot would be pronounced roughly "BURR-kott." As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 384 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Warsaw 88, Katowice 53, Nowy Sacz 58, and Tarnow 82. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data tells us the name is found all over Poland but is most common in the southcentral to southeastern part of the country.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it comes from one of many forms of the German name Burghard that Poles adapted to their linguistic preferences and used as first names and surnames. Burghard is an old Germanic personal name from the roots burg, "fortress, stronghold," and -hard or -hart, "brave, strong." It would have meant something like "[may he be like] a mighty fortress."

Over the centuries many Germans resettled all over in Poland, and it's not rare to see names of Germanic origin used by Poles. In this case Burghard came to be used by Poles in forms such as Burgart, Burkart, Burkat, and Burkot. As time went on these forms came to be used also as surnames, meaning more or less "kin of Burghard."

Ignaszak would be pronounced roughly "eeg-NOSH-ock." As of 1990 there were 1,353 Polish citizens by this name. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Bydgoszcz 110, Kalisz 295, Konin 161, and Poznan 357. So this name is found all over the country but is most common in west central Poland.

This surname also comes from a first name, Ignacy (= English and Latin Ignatius). Ignaszak would mean "kin of Ignatius, son of Ignatius." So all it really tells us is that at some point an ancestor was named Ignacy.

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BURZYN~SKI

To: Corey Burzynski <c_burzynski@hotmail.com>

> I am working on a project for my high school english class and am looking for any information available on my family name Burzynski. Any information you can supply, I would appreciate greatly. Thank you very much!

In Polish this name is spelled with an accent over the N (which I indicate online as N~) and is pronounced roughly "boo-ZHIN-skee" (where "zh" is the sound heard in "Zhivago" or "rouge"). As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 9,583 Polish citizens named Burzyn~ski. They lived in large numbers all over the country; there was no one area with which the name was associated to the point that we can say "There's where a Burzyn~ski family came from" without doing detailed genealogical research.

The basic root of this name is seen in the noun burza, "storm, brawl, disturbance," of which Burzyn~ski is an adjectival form. So in some cases the name probably started out meaning "kin of Burza," referring to one who was called that because he was always causing a disturbance or looking for a fight. But in many cases it probably refers to the name of a place, which in turn got its name from an owner or founder named Burza. Thus the name can mean "one from Burzyn." There are at least two places by that name, one in the general area of Lomza in northeastern Poland, another not far from Tarnow in southeastern Poland.

The thing is, Polish surnames developed centuries ago, and often came from the name of a field or hill or little settlement, names used only by locals, that would be unlikely to appear on any map or in any gazetteer. So the place this name refers to may be quite obscure, or may even have disappeared or renamed or absorbed into another community centuries ago. The surname may refer to either of the two Burzyns on modern maps, but it may refer to some other place that no longer shows up on maps because it was renamed or it disappeared long ago.

To summarize, this is a moderately common name found all over Poland, and it comes ultimately from some connection with the root burz- meaning "brawl, disturbance, storm." It could have begun as a name for the kin of one with a stormy temperament, but it also could have started as a reference to a place the family came from, which in turn took its name from that root (probably by way of a fellow who owned or founded it who was called Burza). Only successful genealogical research might enable one to establish the exact social, historical, and linguistic context in which the name came to be associated with a given family. But in general it's fair to say it usually means "kin of the stormy guy" or "one from the stormy guy's place."

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BYCIO

To: Margaret Bicio <mbicio@accessline.com>

> Bicio is my current last name. Bycio was the original spelling in Poland.
> If you have time, I am interested in hearing anything about my name.
> Supposedly I am 100% Polish.

In Polish Bycio would be pronounced roughly "BITCH-oh" (I don't mean to be insulting, but "bitch" is the English word that comes closest to the sound of the first syllable of the Polish name). As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 8 Polish citizens named Bycio. They lived in the following provinces: Jelenia Gora 7, Legnica 1.

Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. But I can say that in the July 2000 issue of the _Polish-American Journal_, the PAJ Answerman suggested one can find individuals or families "by contacting the one office in Poland that has on file the addresses of all people currently living in Poland: Centralne Biuro Adresowe, ul. Kazimierzowska 60, 02-543 Warsaw, POLAND." I have no idea whether this works or not, I've never tried it. But I thought it worth passing on, in case it might help you find some relatives.

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it derives from the noun byk, "bull." Thus Bycio would be kind of a nickname, perhaps something like "Bull" in English. Presumably an ancestor was a strong man, perhaps rather bull-headed; that would seem the most likely reason for the development of a name of this sort.

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CEGL~A

To: Hilsen Sidsel Cegla <sidsel.cegla@levanger.kommune.no>

> Can you give me some information about the name Cegla. Someone told me that my name is polish and that the name Cegla means brick in Polish?

It's possible this name could develop in other languages besides Polish -- I can't say no. But Cegla definitely is a name used by Poles. In Polish it is spelled with a slash through the L, which I represent online as L~ because the actual letter cannot be shown without changing character sets, which is more trouble than most people want to take. The Polish letter I represent as L~ is pronounced like English W, so by English phonetic values the name Cegl~a would be pronounced roughly "TSEGG-wah."

Polish name expert Prof. Kazimierz Rymut mentions this name in his book Nazwiska Polakow [The Surnames of Poles]. He says it appears in records as far back as 1369, and does indeed come from the Polish noun cegl~a, "brick." That noun came into Polish from German Ziegel, which in turn came from the Latin noun _tegula. Presumably it began as a nickname for an ancestor who made bricks, or sold them, or worked with them, or was somehow associated by others with bricks. Eventually people began calling the kin of this ancestor by the name, and it developed into a surname.

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 849 Polish citizens named Cegl~a. The largest numbers lived in the following provinces: Kalisz 346, Katowice 96, Kielce 89, Poznan 44, Radom 59, and Wroclaw, 49. Unfortunately I don't have access to further details such as first names or addresses, so I can't tell you how to find that info. This data indicates the name is most common in the area southeast to southwest of the center of the country.

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CHAL~UPCZAK - CHAL~UPCZOK

To: Chris Haluptzok <Zok17@aol.com>

> I had found your email on the Polishroots website and was wondering if you could give me some insight to my last name. I have been researching my family tree and traced it back to Szczedrzyk Poland, to my 5th grandfather born around 1808. The way he signed his name on his naturalization paper spelt Halupczok,i have also found it spelt Chalupczok. Any info or direction would be of much help.

In Polish the H and CH are pronounced the same, kind of like the guttural German "ch" in "Bach," except not quite so harsh. Thus it is quite normal to see names spelled H or CH, and the variation in spelling in your ancestor's name is not unusual. The standard form would be Chal~upczok, using L~ to stand for the Polish L with a slash through it, pronounced like our W. The surname is pronounced roughly "hah-WOOP-chock." The spelling you use now makes sense as an Anglicized or Germanized form of the original Polish name -- which is quite normal, eastern European names have often been extensively Anglicized, sometimes past all recognition. Yours is still, at least, recognizable.

The suffix -czok is a Silesian variation of the standard Polish suffix -czak, and if I'm not mistaken, Szczedrzyk is near Opole, and thus in the region of Silesia. So it is reasonable to assume Chal~upczok is the Silesian version of the name that appears in standard Polish as Chal~upczak. It means literally "son of the hut," but obviously was meant more along the lines of "son of the one who lived in a hut."

That is the probable meaning of the name, referring to one who dwelt in a chal~upa, a rather modest (not to say "ramshackle") cabin or hut. There is also a noun in Polish, chal~upnik, that we see quite often, it referred to a fairly poor individual who didn't own any land, just a small hut and -- if he was lucky -- maybe also a garden. I would think in most cases the surname Chal~upczak probably referred to the kin of someone in that category, although it certainly might also be used for someone who built huts, was shaped like a hut, etc. The most we can say for sure is that, at the time the name developed, there was some association perceived between an individual or family and huts that made this name seem appropriate to those who knew him/them. All these centuries later it is difficult to say exactly what the association was, but there must have been one and it must have made sense to the people at the time, so we can venture some plausible guesses as to the probable nature of the association. (Usually the obvious answer is correct).

As of 1990, according to the best data available (the Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych, "Directory of Surnames in Current Use in Poland," which covers about 94% of the population of Poland), there were 431 Polish citizens named Chal~upczak, living all over Poland but especially in southcentral and southeastern Poland. There were only 5 named Chal~upczok, with an O, however, all living in the province of Katowice (in Silesia). I should explain that as literacy became practically universal among Poles, there also arose a tendency to standardize and normalize names, so that dialect forms and variant spellings are gradually disappearing, as people say "Oh, only hicks use that name," and thus change the name to the version recognized as normal among Poles. So it's quite possible some of those people now going by Chal~upczak used to be called Chal~upczok -- if they lived in Silesia -- but have since standardized the name.

So in summary, the form of the name is distinctively Silesian -- and it sounds as if you've traced it to its native region -- and means something like "kin of the cottager, kin of the one who lived in a hut, kin of the hut guy." That's about as precise as we can get without the kind of really detailed info genealogical research might eventually produce on the context in which the name first developed.