Now it is quite natural that from the moment of birth each person has his own personal name and surname, which he inherits as the successor of the family. And by this surname you can understand who the father, grandfather or great-grandfather of this person is.
Surnames can be very common or rare, sonorous or a little ridiculous, and sometimes even funny, but each of them has its own history, origin and meaning, which explain why their family began to be called this way and not otherwise.
Copernicus, Dzerzynski, Mickiewicz, Kosciuszko, Chopin, Wojtyla, Walesa, Brylska, Zanussi, Kowalczyk and Kwasniewski - all these famous people are representatives of the Polish nation, who were born and raised in Poland. But it is very difficult to recognize a Polish surname by its sound, since the difficult history of the country is closely intertwined with the history of neighboring states, and this has left its mark on the history of surnames, which in Poland arose several centuries later than in the rest of Europe. Now on the territory of Poland you can count more than one thousand different surnames. But until the 15th century, the country successfully managed with the help of nicknames, which were very often assigned to a certain person and even passed on to his children. And this made it possible to identify people and even register them in church books. For example, Chłop – peasant, Tłusty – fat, Kosy – oblique, Niedźwiedź – bear.
The history of the appearance of Polish surnames
Starting from the 15th century, the first official surnames began to appear in Poland, and this fashion for the “family name” came with Western Europe. Of course, the first owners of surnames, and in Polish it sounds like “nazwisko”, were representatives of the Polish nobility - the gentry. Each representative of this class owned a certain land plot, and to protect their possessions they united into military units. Therefore, Polish surnames had two components. The first came from the name of the area, which was the property of a nobleman - the owner of the village of Polubniki became known as Polubinski, the owner of the lands across the Waka River became Zawatski or Zavadski, the nobleman from Leszno was called Leszczynski. The second part of the surname was the name of the military clan or coat of arms. At first it sounded like this: Jakub Osmołowski, coat of arms of Boncz, or Jan Zamoyski, coat of arms of Elita. Moreover, families that were not related by blood were united under one coat of arms. This is how the concept of “coat of arms” appeared. Then the name of the area and the coat of arms began to be written with a hyphen, which is why they became common in Poland double surnames: Elita-Zamoyski, Korbut-Vishnevetskiy, Bonch-Osmolovskiy.
Since the 17th century, surnames in Poland began to spread en masse. At first they took root among the urban population, and then peasants began to use them. Origin of surnames ordinary people associated with their personal names, advantages, nicknames, external characteristics or the name of the crafts that were practiced in their family: Krawczyk, Kovalchik, Zatsepka, Cherry, Mazur, Konopka, Tlusty, Madej.
It is common for Polish surnames to place emphasis on the penultimate syllable.
Morphological features of the formation of Polish surnames
Most Polish surnames were formed by adding suffixes.
The most common Polish surnames with the suffixes -skiy, -tskiy. They can be called noble, because they were most often found among representatives of the gentry and indicated the location of their family estates. Now almost half of the Poles have the following surnames: Vishnevetsky, Chodecki, Opolsky, Zbarazhsky. These surnames have female version: Zbarazhskaya, Khodetskaya, Vishnevetskaya.
Surnames formed with the help of the suffixes -ovich, -evich were considered bourgeois. They came from the name of the father - Pavlovich, Yanovich, Aleksandrovich, Zinkevich, and then became established as the name of the family. In the 15th-17th centuries, surnames of this type became very popular among the urban population, and in modern Poland they number about 10%. For men and women they sound the same - Andrzej Pavlovich and Jadwiga Pavlovich, but they lean only in the male version - Andrzej Pavlovich and Jadwiga Pavlovich. The most known speakers similar surnames among Poles are Adam Mickiewicz and Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Surnames with the suffixes -ik, -nik, -ak, -uk, -chuk, -ko are very common. They came from nicknames and were popular in the south and east of the country: Novak, Copernicus, Rachko, Bubak, Kovalik, Orzeszko. For women, such surnames will not be modified - Katarzyna Kowalik, Barbara Orzeszko. These surnames can only be declined in the male version: Wojciech Kowalik, Wojciech Kowalik, and the female version will sound like this: Barbara Orzeszko, Barbara Orzeszko.
Features of Polish female surnames
As in many Slavic countries, in Poland surnames are passed down by male line. According to a long-standing tradition, after marriage a girl necessarily took her husband’s surname. In modern Poland, the law allows that after marriage a woman can keep her last name or combine both, that is, have a double last name.
Not long ago in Poland, especially in rural areas, women's surnames changed depending on the woman's status - she was married or a girl of marriageable age. For example, if a man has the surname Novak, then his wife will be called Novakova, and his daughter Novakuvna; in the family of a man with the surname Zaremba, the wife will be called Zarembina, and the daughter will be Zarembyanka.
The most common surnames in modern Poland
As in any other country, there are very common surnames in Poland. In the USA and Great Britain, the most popular surname is Smith, in Russia there are most Smirnovs, in Spain - Garcia, in Ukraine - Kovalenko.
Polish statisticians conducted a study, and it turned out that the country has the largest number of Novaks. The surname Nowak, which comes from the word “new,” is borne by more than 200 thousand Poles. Second place belongs to the Kowalskis; there are more than 135 thousand of them in the country. The third place is occupied by the surname Wisniewski; there are more than 100 thousand of them throughout Poland.
Also in the top ten are such names as Kovalchuk, Wujcik, Kaminski, Lewandowski, Zelenski, Szymanski and Wozniak.
1.1. General remarks.
In Russian onomastics of surnames of Polish origin
significantly less than Ukrainian or Belarusian, and they underwent assimilation to a much lesser extent. This is due to several reasons. Firstly, Polish territory was included in Russian Empire relatively...
late - in 1795, and was within its borders for a little more than a century - until the revolution of 1917. Secondly, a highly developed culture, a strong national identity and the other, Roman Catholic, church created serious obstacles to assimilation. And finally, the Latin alphabet of the Polish language greatly complicated the Russification of Polish surnames compared to Ukrainian and Belarusian ones, which were written in Cyrillic. It is known, however, that a significant number of Polish landowners lived on the territory of Ukraine and Belarus and their surnames could have entered Russian onomastics in more recent times. early period. Some of them were Ukrainized even before the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. But much more often, Ukrainian and Belarusian surnames were subjected to Polonization due to the fact that familiarization with Polish culture during the period of Polish rule in Ukraine and Belarus was considered prestigious. Between the Polish, Ukrainian and Belarusian ethnic groups there was a constant exchange of surnames, so that now it is sometimes difficult and even impossible to clearly distinguish between their origins, especially when we encounter surnames on -sky and on -ovich.
1.2. Typical suffixes.
There are two typical suffixes in surnames of Polish origin: -sky/-tsky And -ovich/evich.
Suffix -sky/-tsky- The most common. Its Polish non-Russified form is -ski/-cki. Initially, surnames with these suffixes belonged to the nobility and were formed from the name of the property. This origin gave surnames -skl/-cki social prestige, as a result of which this suffix spread to the lower social layers, eventually establishing itself as a predominantly Polish onomastic suffix. This explains his popularity among others. ethnic groups living in Poland - Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews. It should be noted that Ukrainian, Belarusian and Jewish surnames on -sky/-tsky The Polish accent is characteristic of the penultimate syllable. The same trend can be noted among Russian surnames, because, as mentioned above, very few of the old Russian aristocratic surnames retain the stress not on the penultimate syllable, for example, Vyazemsky And Trubetskoy.
Another typical suffix for Polish surnames is -ovich/-evich, in Polish spelling -owicz/-ewicz. It is interesting to note that he is not of Polish, but of Ukrainian-White Russian origin. The original Polish form of this suffix was -owic/ -ewic. If the names are on -ski/-cki were considered mainly as nobles, then the social sound of surnames on -owic/-ewic was rated lower.
In Ukraine and Belarus, on the contrary, the corresponding surnames are -ovich/-evich(in Ukrainian pronounced as [-ovych/-evych]) were considered noble. When, after the Union of Lublin in 1569, the privileges of the Polish nobility also extended to Ukrainian and Belarusian feudal lords, the suffix -owicz/-ewicz, along with the suffix -ski/-cki, began to indicate noble origin and quickly replaced the Polish suffix -owic/-ewic. The latter discredited himself socially by the fact that in many Polish dialects he pronounced With[ts] instead cz[h], adopted in the literary language, and in comparison with the suffix -owicz/-ewicz suffix -owic/-ewic began to be assessed as dialectal, “common” and, therefore, socially low. Began in the 16th century. suffix spread -owicz/-ewicz led to the fact that in 1574. in a Polish noble surname the suffix -owic was last recorded.
Thus, Polish surnames are -owicz/-ewicz are divided into three groups:
a) Assimilated Ukrainian surnames type Doroszewicz, Juchnowicz, Klimowicz, Stepowicz.
b) Assimilated Belarusian surnames like Fedorowicz, Mickiewicz, Sienkiewicz, Stankiewicz.
c) Originally Polish surnames like Antoniewicz, Bartoszewicz, Grzegorzewicz, Jedrzejewicz, Szczesnowicz, Wasowicz.
But in many cases it is impossible to establish where such surnames actually come from. -owicz/-ewicz, such as:
Bobrowicz(bobr "beaver") Pawlowicz(Pawel);
Janowicz(Jan) Tomaszewicz(Tomasz);
All these surnames, naturally, have the usual Polish stress on the penultimate syllable. Despite the non-Polish origin of the suffix -ovich/-evich, the Polish influence on surnames with this suffix was so strong that now in all native Ukrainian and Belarusian surnames without exception, -ovich/-evich Polish accent is represented.
1.3. Distinctive features of Polish surnames.
Despite the strong interconnectedness of Polish, Ukrainian and Belarusian surnames, a number of phonetic features indicate an undeniably Polish origin. The surnames below are given in the usual Russified form and in Russian spelling, the corresponding Polish form is given in parentheses. The latter often comes from the name of the locality (not given here), for which the original etymology is given.
Distinctive Polish phonetic features are as follows:
A) Before e, i and in some other positions r as a result of palatalization it produces a sound, which in Polish is conveyed by the combination rz. This sound, depending on the preceding consonant, is pronounced as [z] or as [s]. Polish spelling rz in Russified surnames it is rendered as LOL, less often rsh or w(after a voiceless consonant, usually To or P). This contrasts with etymologically related native Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian surnames, which show a simple R. Examples:
Wierzbicki Wierzbicki(wierzba "willow"); Ukrainian and white Verbitsky;
Zakrzewski Zakrzewski(za "for" + other Polish kierz, gen. krza "bush") there is also a later Russified form Zakrevsky;
Zwierzchowski Zwierzchowski(zwierzch "from above"); Russian, Ukrainian, Bel. top;
Komisarzewski < komisarz "комиссар"); ср. русскую фамилию Komisarov;
Korzhenevsky(Korzeriiewski< korzen "корень"); русск., укр., бел. root;
Orzhekhovsky(Orzechowski< orzech "орех"); русск. nut, Ukrainian opix, white areh;
Pestrzhetsky(Piestrzecki< pstry "пестрый"); вставное e after R could be the result of Russification: Russian. Motley;
Petrzak, Petrzyk(Pietrzak, Pietrzyk, decrease from Piotr "Peter");
Pogorzhelsky(Pogorzelski< pogorzec "погореть"); укр. и бел. Pogorelsky,Russian Burnt;
Zgorzhelski(Zgorzelski< zgorzec "сгореть"); Skrzypkowski(Skrzypkowski< собир. skrzypki "скрипки"); русск. violin, Ukrainian violin;
Tkhorzhevsky(Tchorzewski< tchorz "хорь"); др.-русск. thor, Art.-Russian ferret;
Tokarzevic(Tokarzewicz< tokarz "токарь"); русск. turner;
All surnames starting with Przy- (equivalent to Russian At-), of Polish origin, such as:
Przybylsky(Przybylski) ;
Przybylovsky(Przybylowski) Przybytek(Przybytek);
In the surname Dzerzhinsky(Dzierzyfiski) is not palatalized R, and the combination R + and(in Polish spelling rz). The root is the same as in Russian to hold. This surname may be of both Polish and Belarusian origin.
In rare cases, Polish rz not transmitted LOL, A rsh or simply w. Examples:
Krzywicki(Krzywicki< krzywy "кривой"); чаще эта фамилия в русской форме передается как Krzywicki; Ukrainian, white Krivitsky;
Krzemeniecki(Krzemieniecki< Krzemiemec, название местности); укр. Kremenetsky;
Kshesinsky(Krzesinski, related to the root krzes- “to strike fire”; there is also a form Krzesinski); Russian Cross;
Przybyszewski(Przybyszewski< przybysz "прибывший"); известна также форма Przhibyshevsky.
b) Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian oro, olo And here between consonants are parallel to Polish ro, to And rze(< re):
Grodzinsky(Grodzinski< grod "город"); русск., укр., бел. city;
Nawrocki(Nawrocki< nawrocic "возвратиться"); русск., укр., бел. эквивалент этого корня — gate-.
Sometimes ro becomes ro(phonetically ru), such as:
Brzezicki, Brzezinski(Brzezicki, Brzezinski< brzez-/brzoz- "береза"); русск. birch, Ukrainian birch, white yardza;
Vrubel, Vrublevsky(Wrobel, Wroblewski< wrobel "воробей"); русск. эквива лент имеет другой суффикс: sparrow;
Glowacki, Glowinski(Glowacki, Glowinski< glowa "голова"); русск. head;
Drzhevetsky(Drzewiecki< drzewo "дерево"); русск., укр., бел. Tree;
Zablotsky(Zablocki< za "за" + bloto "болото"); русск., укр., бел. Zabolotsky;
Klossovsky(Ktossowski< ktos "колос"); русск. ear; about double cc see below;
Mlodzeevsky(Mlodziejewski< mlody "молодой") ; русск. young;
Numerous surnames Pře- (Russian equivalent Pere- “through, over”):
Przhebylsky(Przebylski) Przhevalsky(Przewalski, surname Ukrainian origin, which underwent polonization in the 16th century, according to family legend) Przezdziecki(Przezdziecki);
Initial syllable Prze- often transmitted as Pshe-, which is closer to the Polish pronunciation:
Przebielski(Przebielski);
Przezhecki(Przerzecki< przez + rzeka "река") ; русск. river. The bearer of this surname obviously tried to preserve the original Polish pronunciation.
Przemionski(Przemienski);
Psheradsky(Przeradzki).
Under certain conditions rze may also act as rzo:
Brzozdvsky(Brzozowski< brzoza "береза"); русск. birch;
Vrzos, Wrzosek(Wrzos, Wrzosek< wrzos "вереск"); русск. heather
V) In some cases, Polish - ar- corresponds to Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian - er/-or and Polish - lu- Russian - ol-, Ukrainian - oh- (pronounced - OU-) and Belarusian - OU-. Examples:
Dluzhevsky, Dlugoborsky, Dlugolenetsky(Dhizewski, Diugoborski, Dlugolecki< dlugi "долгий"); русск. long, Ukrainian dovgy, white Dawgs;
Tvardovsky(Twardowski< twardy "твердый"); русск. solid, Ukrainian hard, white tsverdy;
Tlustovsky(Tlustowski< tlusty "толстый"); русск. thick, Ukrainian tosts;
Charniecki(Czarnecki< czarny "черный") ; русск. black, Ukrainian black, white Chorny;
Czartoryski, Czartoryski(Czartoryski< Czartorysk, топоним); русский эквивалент первой части -Crap-
G) Russian and Ukrainian T And d in Polish, as a result of palatalization, they appear respectively as With And dz. Since the same palatalization also occurs in Belarusian, it is difficult to determine the origin of surnames containing this feature. The following surnames can be identified as both Polish and Belarusian:
Grudzinski(Polish Grudzinski, white Grudzinski< польск. gruda, бел. pile"pile");
Kvetsinsky(Polish Kwiecinski, white Kwiatsinski Polish kwiat-/kwiet-, white kvet"flower"); Russian color;
Martsinkovsky(Polish Marcinkowski, white Marcikowski< Martin"Martin");
Maciejowski(Polish Maciejewski, white Maceeuski< польск. Maciej, white Maciej"Matvey"); Russian Matvey;
Radzinsky(Polish Radzinski, white Radzinski< польск. radzic"advise"); Ukrainian for the sake of;
Jagodzinski(Polish Jagodzinski, white Jagadzinski Polish jagoda, white yagada"berry");
It is necessary to find additional, clearly Polish features to prove Polish origin With or dz in surnames such as:
Niedzwiedzki, Niedzwiecki(Polish Niedzwiedzki< niedzwiedz "медведь"). В белоусском медведь — myadzvedz and the corresponding surname will be Miadzwiedzki, Russified in Medzwiedzki and further in Medvedsky(Russian bear);
Tsemnolonsky(Polish Ciemnolaski< ciemny "темный"+ "laka" "луг"). Белорусский эквивалент не содержит носового звука и будет выглядеть как Tsemnalutski or Cemnaluski;
d) Polish retains the old nasal vowels O And e, transmitted in writing as A And e. In Russified surnames, nasal vowels are usually conveyed by a combination of a middle vowel ( a, oh, e) and nasal consonant ( n or m).
Etymologically related Russian, Ukrainian or Belarusian surnames in place of Polish nasal vowels are shown at or I/a. Examples:
Gensersky(Gesiorski< gesior "гусак") русск. goose;
Zayonchkdvsky, Zayanchkovsky, Zayunchkdvsky(Zajaczkowski< zajac "заяц") русск. hare;
Zaremba(zare.ba "notch") Russian. Nick;
Kendziorsky(Kedzierski< kedzior "кудри") русск. curls;
Menzhinsky(Menzynski, prod. from maz, gender meza "husband" Russian. husband;
Piontkovsky(Piatkowski< piatka "пятерка" или piatek "пятница") ;укр., бел. русифицированный эквивалент — Pyatkovsky;
e) In some positions the original e in Polish it gave O(in writing io or O). This development was not characteristic of the West Slavic languages, which retained in the same positions e. In Russified Polish surnames it usually appears io/o. Russian writing and about, representing two vowels - And And O- distorts the original Polish pronunciation, according to which i V io was not pronounced, but served solely to indicate the softness of the preceding consonant. Examples:
Kliondvsky(Ktonowski< kton "клен"; после i Polish spelling only allows O, but not io. Therefore, writing Kliondvsky- a curious hybrid of Russification and hyper-Polonization).
Miodushevsky(Mioduszewski< miod "мед"); русск. honey;
Piorkovsky(Piorkowski< pioro, piorko"feather") ; Russian feather;
Piotrovich, Piotrovsky(Piotrowicz, Piotrowski< Piotr "Петр") ; русск. Peter;
Piotuh, Piotukhovich(Piotuch, Piotuchowicz). This is an interesting example of a surname built on an artificially Polonized Russian word rooster. The Polish word for rooster is kogut; Ukrainian - piven; white Russian - peven. Also, if this word existed in Polish, it would be written as piatuch, but not piotuch.
Tsiolkovsky(Ciotkowski< ciotek "теленок"); русск. upskirt;
and) In some cases Polish O(pronounced as u) corresponds to Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian O, such as:
Gursky, Nagursky, Podgursky(Gorski, Nagorski, Podgorski< gora "гора"); русск. mountain, Ukrainian mountain, white gara;
And) Prestige of the aristocratic noble families in Poland caused not only a massive desire among representatives of the lower classes to adopt suffixes -ski/-cki And -owicz/-ewicz. Another curious technique was to double the consonant in order to give an ordinary surname an unusual shape and sound. Consonants were usually doubled s, L, p And t. In most cases, this phenomenon is observed in Polonized Ukrainian and Belarusian surnames. Examples:
Klossovsky(Klossowski< klos "колос") ; русск., укр. ear, white colas;
Kossinsky, Kossovich, Kossovsky(Kosinski, Kossowicz, Kossowski< kosy "косой"); Krassovsky(Krassowski< krasa "краса, красота"); Ossovsky(Ossowski< топоним Osowiec); Ussakovsky(Ussakowski< укр. ус); Cosell(Koziell< koziel "козел"); Конечно, русифицированные фамилии, в которых прослеживаются характерные польские фонетические особенности, — это не только фамилии польского происхождения. В русской ономастике встречаются также многие другие фамилии, которые по лексическим или историческим признакам должны считаться польскими. Можно привести некоторые хорошо известные примеры: Vinyarsky(Winiarski< winiarz "винодел"); Dragomirov: This is a completely Russified surname, which was probably formed in the 18th century. from Polish Dragomirecki, may not be originally Polish in origin;
Leshchinsky(Leszczynski< leszczyna "ореховое дерево") Polonsky(Potonski, apparently comes from the Latin adjective polo-nus "Polish")
Yablonsky, Yablonovsky(Jablonski, Jablonowski< jabfon "яблоня").
(kirillius.blogspot.ru)
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We ask you to love and favor: the Kowalskis, Novaks, Mickiewicz and Lewandowskis. We will tell you why these particular surnames are considered truly Polish.
Each name and each surname has its own history. But the Polish anthroponymic system also has its own past, its own rules and characteristics, which reflect the complexity of social, ethnic and cultural relations. For starters, most Polish surnames fall into one of three categories (although, as you'll soon see, it's not that simple):
Surnames formed from nouns and adjectives- most often they come from nicknames associated with a person’s profession, appearance or character. For example, Kowalski (from kowal- “blacksmith”), Glovac (from glowa- “head”) or Bystron (from bystry- “smart”).
Surnames derived from toponyms- they are based on the geographical names of the place of residence, birth or historical homeland of the bearers of the surname. For example, Brzezinski.
Last names- they are usually formed from a personal name with the help of a suffix indicating a relationship of kinship. For example: Petrovich. And yet, a surname is not so simple. Take, for example, the most popular suffix in Polish surnames: -sky.
Surnames in Chinese: the subject of dreams Poles
Although these surnames are not particularly ancient, they have become the most recognizable Polish surnames in the world. In Poland they are indeed the most common: surnames in -Sky (and also -tsky And -dzki) make up approximately 35% of the 1000 most popular Polish surnames.
What is their story?
Initially, they designated the specific area where the owner of the surname was from, or his possession. Among the oldest surnames in -sky, which spread to Poland in the 13th century, for example, Tarnowski (from Tarnow), Chomentowski (from Chomentow), Brzezinski (from Brzezina), etc. At first, such surnames were found only among the Polish nobility. The gentry owned the land and had every right use your holdings - and their name - as distinctive feature(after all, that’s what surnames are for, isn’t it?). As a result of the surname on -sky began to be considered gentry: they testified to noble origin and high social status families. In class-based Polish society, only 10 percent of which were gentry, surnames on -sky were the object of desire of the Poles. Around the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, surnames in -sky spread among the bourgeoisie and peasants, and this can be considered the beginning of the “-sky epidemic.” The suffix lost its original meaning and became the most productive Polish suffix. It was added to traditional Polish surnames derived from nouns. Thus, Skowron (“lark”) became Skowronski, Kaczmarek (“tavern owner”) became Kaczmarski, and Kowal (“blacksmith”) became Kowalski.
Are all last names in Chinese? - Polish?
Surnames that contain a suffix -sky, are known to most Slavic languages. However, it was their popularity in Poland that led to their spread, first in Eastern Europe and then throughout the world. Today the names on -sky with a high degree of probability indicate the Polish origin of their owners. It is known for certain that some famous Russians, for example, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Vaslav Nijinsky and, alas, Felix Dzerzhinsky, have Polish roots.
Surnames formed from nouns
If Polish surnames are -sky By their origin are usually associated with the highest strata of Polish society, then surnames formed from ordinary nouns are certainly more democratic. Considering that the majority of Poles come from peasant backgrounds, these names should be considered the main candidates for the title of “most Polish”. They are often derived from nicknames associated with the type of activity, features of appearance or character of their bearers. For example: Novak (“new”, newcomer), Bystron (“smart”), Byala (“white”), Glowac (“with a big head”).
Kovalsky means Kuznetsov: surnames derived from professions
Surnames derived from the name of a profession probably exist in every culture. There are a great many of them in Poland, largely due to the productivity of various suffixes: -sky, -chick, -ik, -ak etc. For example, from the Polish word kowal(“blacksmith”) comes from such surnames as Kovalchik, Kovalik, Kovalsky, Kovalevsky and, of course, Koval - this surname is still very common, just like the Russian “Kuznetsov” or the English “Kuznetsov” Smith". Such surnames say a lot about the former importance of certain professions in Poland: Wozniak (watchman), Krawczyk (tailor), Szewczyk (shoemaker), Kaczmarek (shinmaker), Czeszlyak (carpenter), Kolodziejski (wheelwright), Bednazh (cooper, cooper) ), Kukharsky (cook)... And that's not all.
Peter, Pietrzak, Petrovsky- surnames derived from Christian names
Thanks to the same productive Slavic suffixes, the Polish name system has an incredible number of surnames formed from proper names. It's about first of all about Christian names, which in the 16th century almost completely replaced the original Slavic ones (their revival came only in the 19th century). One name could result in up to several dozen surnames. For example, from the name Peter the surnames Petrash, Petrashak, Petrashek, Petrushko, Petrukha, Petron, Pietrzak, Pietrzyk, Petrovyak, Peter, Peterek, Petrichek, Petras, Petras, Petri, Petrino are formed. Using the classic patronymic suffix -vich(patronymic suffix) formed: Petrulevich, Petrashkevich, Petrkevich, Petrovich, Petrusevich. Suffixes of adjectives are also not far behind: Petrovsky, Petrashevsky, Petrazhitsky, Petratsky, Petrushinsky, Petrikovsky, Petrytsky, Petrzykowski and many, many others. The amazing productivity of suffixes affected the unprecedented popularity of such surnames. Statistics confirm this. Surnames like Petrowski, Szymanski (from Szymon), Jankowski (from Jan), Wojciechowski (from Wojciech), Michalski (from Michal), Pavlovski (from Pavel), Jakubowski (from Jakub) today account for up to 25 percent of all Polish surnames (from the point from the meaning of the root). As for class affiliation, most of these surnames were previously considered peasant or bourgeois. Today, when class differences are long gone, it may seem strange that traditional Polish society valued some surnames more highly than others. According to the observations of the ethnographer Jan Stanislav Bystron, the first place in the hierarchy was occupied by the surname Michałowski, followed by Michalski, then Michalowicz; surnames like Michalik, Michalek, Mikhniak or Michnik lagged behind noticeably and were considered common. However, they all come from the name Michal.
Polish middle names
Perhaps patronyms are one of the most ancient and universal ways of distinguishing people. Let us remember the Arabic ibn/bin; Hebrew ben, bat; Scottish Poppy; English and Scandinavian -dream. All these formants were used to indicate that someone was the son of someone... Polish patronyms could be formed using suffixes -hic, -chick, -ak, -chuck, -chuck(Stakh, Stashek, Stachura, Stashchik, Stachowiak, Stasiak - all of them are the sons of Stanislav), however, the most important and most recognizable patronymic suffix is the suffix -vich, as in Russian. By the way, the Polish suffix -vich just of East Slavic origin (more ancient Polish forms ended with -vits, which is reflected in the names of Polish poets of the 16th-17th centuries: Szymonowitz, Klenowitz). In the eastern lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth patronymic on -vich used for many centuries by the local nobility, and in ethnic Poland such surnames were associated primarily with the bourgeoisie.
Mickiewicz- a typical Polish-Belarusian surname
Among the patronyms on -vich a group of patronymics should be separately distinguished for -kevich. This suffix can be considered Belarusian, and similar surnames tell a lot about cultural history Polish-Lithuanian union state. Homeland of surnames -kevich(for example, the names of famous Poles Mickiewicz, Mackiewicz, Sienkiewicz, Iwaszkiewicz or Wankowicz) should be considered the eastern lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine). In fact, all these patronyms come from proper names, or rather, from their East Slavic variants. - Mickiewicz< сын Митьки (уменьшительная форма имени Дмитрий) - Мацкевич < сын Матьки (уменьшительная форма имени Матвей) - Сенкевич < сын Сеньки (уменьшительная форма имени Семен, польск. Шимон) - Ивашкевич < сын Ивашки (уменьшительная форма имени Иван, польск. Ян) - Ванькович < сын Ваньки (уменьшительная форма имени Иван, польск. Ян) Этимология этих патронимических имен может служить доказательством того, что многие семьи с восточных окраин Речи Посполитой имели восточнославянское происхождение, а поляками стали в процессе культурной полонизации этих земель, который продолжался не одно столетие. Это особенно заметно в случае таких фамилий, как Ивашкевич или Ванькович: обе они образованы от имени Иван, которое не известно в этнической Польше. Фамилия великого польского поэта Адама Мицкевича образована от имени Дмитрий (white Zmitser, Dzmitry), which is not in the Polish Christian calendar and Polish national history.
Other surnames
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a multicultural and multi-ethnic state, which affected the system of Polish surnames. Many foreign surnames have become so ingrained in the language that they are no longer perceived as foreign.
Armenian: Oganovich (John), Agopsovich (Jacob), Kirkorovich (Grigory), Abgarovich, Aksentovich, Avakovich, Sefarovich, Aivazovsky, Torosovich.
Tatar: Abdulevich, Akhmatovich, Arslanovich, Bogatyrevich (from Bogadar), Safarevich, Shabanevsky, Khalembek, Kotlubay (bey), Melikbashits, Kadyshevich (kadi), Tokhtomyshevich.
Lithuanian Zemaitis, Staniskis, Pekus, Pekos, Gedroits, Dovgird, Dovkont.
Belarusian Radziwill, Jagiello, Sapieha, Mickiewicz, Sienkiewicz, Pashkevich, Washkevich, Kosciuszko, Moniuszko.
Ukrainian Gorodysky, Golovinsky, Tretyak, Mechanyuv, Yatsyshyn, Ometyuk, Smetanyuk, Gavrilyuk, Fedoruk.
Surnames of Polish Jews before 1795
Jews were the last in Poland to receive hereditary surnames. This process coincided with the loss of Poland's statehood at the end XVIII century. As a result, the issue of assigning surnames to Jews began to be dealt with almost exclusively by Prussian, Russian and Austrian authorities. True, this does not mean that Polish Jews did not have surnames before. At first, there were no strict rules for the formation of Jewish patronyms. According to Jan Bystron, Moses son of Jacob could be addressed by Moises ben Jakub, Moises Jakubowicz or Moises Jakuba, as well as Moszko Kuby, Moszko Kuby, etc. (the last three patronyms are formed by adding the father's name in the genitive case). Toponymic surnames could also be formed in different ways, depending on the language. On the one hand, Wulf Bochensky, Aron Drohobytsky, Israel Zlochowski (in the Polish manner), on the other hand, Shmul Kalisher or Mechele Raver. As Jan Bystron explains, the same person could have several different name options depending on whether he was talking to Jews or Poles: “A Jew from Poznań would call himself Posner in Yiddish, but in Polish he would call himself Poznansky (the same applies to the pair Warshawer/Warshavsky, Krakover/Krakowsky, Lobzover/Lobzovsky, Patsanover/Patsanovsky).” Surnames derived from the names of cities (not only Polish) are considered typical surnames Polish Jews - at least until the period when the authorities of the countries that divided Poland began to assign surnames to Jews.
Surnames of Jews after the partitions of Poland
Beginning with late XVIII century, Polish Jews officially received hereditary surnames. First of all, this happened in the territories that came under the rule of Austria and Prussia, where special commissions were convened for this purpose to ensure that surnames were not repeated. This gave rise to a surge of bureaucratic ingenuity to which most Jewish surnames in Poland owe their appearance. Wealthy Jews paid officials for euphonious surnames. Preference was given to compound surnames with the elements Diamant-, Pearl-, Gold-, Zilber-, Rosen-, Blumen- and -berg, -tal, -baum, -band, -stein. At the same time, some surnames were invented to ridicule Jews: Goldberg, Rosencrantz, Gottlieb. The most offensive names were coined by Austrian officials in Galicia: Wolgeruch (“incense”), Temperaturwechsel (“temperature change”), Ochzenschwanz (“oxtail”), Kanalgeruch (“ditch stench”). Among them there were also frankly indecent ones: Jungfernmilch (“virgin’s milk”), Afterduft (“anus aroma”). Such antics were unusual for the Polish administration, but similar surnames appeared in the 19th century: Inventarz (“inventory”), Alphabet (“alphabet”), Kopyto, Kalamazh (“inkwell”) and even Wychodek (“toilet”). Some composites are essentially tracings from German: Ruzhanykvyat (Rozenblat), Dobrashklyanka (Gutglas), Ksenzhkadomodlenya (Betenbukh). Russian authorities chose a completely different strategy. In the territories subordinate to the Russian Empire, Slavic suffixes were added to the most common Jewish surnames: -ovich, -evich, -sky, -uk, -in, -ov, -ev, etc. Most of them are sostapatronyms: Abramovich, Berkovich, Davidovich, Dvorkovich, Dynovich, Gutovich, Joselevich, Yakubovsky. It is noteworthy that on the territory of the Russian Empire, Jewish matronymic surnames, that is, surnames formed on behalf of the mother, became widespread: Rivsky, Rivin, etc.
Female surnames
Today in Polish, as in Russian, adjectival surnames have a masculine and a feminine form. For example, Kovalsky - Kovalskaya. However, earlier the system of forming female surnames was more complex: by suffixes it was possible to determine whether a woman was married or not.
Unmarried girl: A girl who was never married bore her father's surname with the suffix -uvna or -anka/-yanka, depending on the final sound male version surnames (-uvna for surnames ending in a consonant, -anka for a vowel). For example, Kordziak (father) - Kordziakuvna (daughter), Morava (father) - Moravian woman (daughter).
Wife: A married woman or widow received her husband's surname with the addition of the suffix -ova or -nya/-yna: Novak - Novakova, Koba - Kobina, Puhala - Puhalina. This tradition began to gradually fade away in the twentieth century. Today it persists only in the speech of older people.
And he wins... So which Polish surnames are considered the most popular today? Here is a list of 10 leading names:
- Novak - 277,000
- Kovalsky - 178,000
- Vishnevsky - 139,000
- Wujcik - 126,500
- Kovalchik - 124,000
- Kaminsky - 120 500
- Lewandowski - 118 400
- Dombrovsky - 117,500
- Zelinsky – 116 370
- Shimansky - 114,000
What does the list say? From the point of view of linguistic structure, this list is surprisingly monotonous: only surnames with Slavic roots. This demonstrates the homogeneous nature of Polish society after World War II. It’s funny that the most common surname in Poland turned out to be Nowak, which was once a “label” for a newcomer to the region - probably a foreigner or a visitor from another area. The list contains three surnames derived from professions (Kowalsky, Vuychik, Kovalchik), and five surnames of toponymic origin (Vishnevsky, Kaminsky, Levandovsky, Dombrovsky, Zelinsky). Shimansky is the only surname on the list formed from a personal name. 7 out of 10 presented surnames end in -skiy. It turns out that they are truly the most Polish.
