Polish women's surnames list in Russian. Polish surnames for men and women

List of princely families Russian Empire. The list includes: the names of the so-called “natural” Russian princes who descended from the former ruling dynasties of Rus' (Rurikovich) and Lithuania (Gediminovich) and some others; surnames, ... ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Prince (meanings). The request for "Princess" is redirected here; see also other meanings... Wikipedia

Coordinates: 58° N. w. 70° E. d. / 58° n. w. 70° E. d. ... Wikipedia

The Rurikovichs are a princely, later also royal (in Moscow) and royal (in the Galicia-Volyn land) family of descendants of Rurik, which over time fragmented into many branches. The last rulers of the ruling Rurik dynasty in Rus' were... ... Wikipedia

Germanic nation lat. Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Germanicæ German. Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation Empire ... Wikipedia

Description of the coat of arms: Excerpt from the General Armorial Book of Shchi ... Wikipedia

Territory of the Holy Roman Empire in 962 1806 Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (Latin: Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Teutonicae, German: Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation) public education, which existed since 962 ... Wikipedia

Territory of the Holy Roman Empire in 962-1806. The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (Latin Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Teutonicae, German Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation) a state entity that existed since 962 ... Wikipedia

There comes a period in the history of any country when economic development and technological progress lead to such population growth that the number of people bearing the same names becomes huge, and there is a need to somehow distinguish between them. Poland was no exception here.

Over the long history of the country, its residents added to their own name the name of the area where they were born, and a designation of belonging to various professions, the names of illustrious ancestors, and often invented nicknames.

As a result, Polish surnames acquired their own very specific features. And the study of this topic was and remains especially important for everyone who wants to preserve the connecting threads with their relatives and pass on this connection to future generations, as well as to those who are not indifferent to the history of their fatherland.

A little history

The word “surname” itself came to us from Latin language. IN Ancient Rome it denoted those who dined at the same table: the family, relatives and servants of this house, and later the slaves belonging to this family. Later, in European cities, around the 10th-11th centuries, people began to use the name or nickname of an illustrious ancestor as a surname in order to attribute themselves to the family of this person. It was then passed down to the children as family glory.

Today, Polish archives contain names whose origins date back to approximately the 15th century. At that time, only the emerging class of noble nobility - the gentry - could possess it. Simple people then they made do with only the name received at baptism.

Initially, gentry called representatives of a special social class- military. Later they received land ownership, had the same rights among themselves, and differed in greater or lesser material wealth. After the entry into force of the statute of Boleslav Wrymouth, which led to feudal fragmentation and the disappearance of the regular army as a concept, landowners-gentry had to provide the king with independently armed units for the duration of the war.

To preserve their possessions in this turbulent time, the gentry living in the neighborhood tried to unite into communities. Soon these communities acquired their own names and coats of arms. Each member of them had the name of the coat of arms added to their surname. Because these the names of coats of arms and communities were added to the surnames of various Polish families, the term “arms of arms” arose. And the full name of the nobleman received one more component and now included the following parts:

name received at baptism;
family surname;
name of the area;
coat of arms name.

It looked like this: Jakub Lewandowski from Sobienia, Boich coat of arms. After some time, the name of the area disappeared from the full name, and it began to look like this: Pavel Allan-Orekhovsky. That is, first the name, then the family name or the name of the coat of arms, and after a hyphen - Polish noble surname. List of the most common ones:

Among them there were many who compose the armorial of titled Russian families. Alphabetical list:

Sobolevskys.
Mstislavsky.
Vishnevetsky.
Czartorynski.
Shuisky.
Zaslavsky.
Mosalskie.

Most of their bearers were the ancestors of Rurik, the first prince and founder of Ancient Rus'.

The appearance of surnames of the lower strata

Ordinary residents who did not have noble origins great fortune and education and those who were not part of the aristocratic class, acquired their surnames closer to the 17th century, and city dwellers earlier than rural residents. Full name city dweller of that time included:

given name;
name of profession;
place of residence.

Thus, the form Kowalski (Kowalski) tells that its bearer was a blacksmith, and Wileński (Wilenski) tells about his birth in the area of Vilna.

Closer to the 19th-20th centuries, people began to add nicknames to their surnames, adding them at the end with a hyphen - Jan Boy-Żeleński (Jan Boy-Zeleński). Although today most of them consist of only one word, like double surnames are not uncommon.

What suffixes are used to form

National Polish forms are formed using the suffixes -skiy/-tskiy ( female uniform-skaya/-tskaya) and suffixes -ovich/-evich. The first suffix, in Polish language looking like -cki/-ski, originally belonged to the upper class and indicated the name of the domain, and to have a similar surname is to be a respected person. Later, the addition of this suffix became very common, and today it is the main ending of the surname of the average Pole.

The suffixes -owicz/-evich, in Polish are designated as -owicz/-ewicz, and come from Belarusian as well as Ukrainian dialects. The Polish native forms were -owic/-ewic and were considered to be of lower status. At the same time, the suffix -ovich/-evich at the end in Belarusian and Ukrainian languages indicated belonging to noble family. Therefore, after the Union of Lublin and the extension of the privileges of the szlachta to the nobility from Belarus and Ukraine, the Polish form -owic/-ewic disappeared. Because it was considered common and indicated the low status of the bearer in society.

Since in Polish the letter cz (ch) is often pronounced as “s” or “ts”, such a surname merges with high-born nobles. Last time the surname with the suffix -owic was recorded in the second half of the 16th century, during the period when the form spread to -owicz/-ewicz.

Difference between male and female forms

The difference in the forms of surnames lies not only in suffixes, but also in endings. Surnames with masculine at the end there is a combination of -ski/-сki and feminine with -skа/-ckа at the end of words.

Besides, the ending changes with different genders. That is, it varies depending on whether the name is masculine or feminine. Or from the model of the unit, provided that it refers to an adjective. One example is Śmigły (Smigly), which in the masculine ending in “u”, and in the feminine ending in “a”, where it is read as Śmigła. The same thing is observed in Slovak surnames. If the designated linguistic unit is a noun, the end of the word does not change in both genders. For example, Kowalski.

In ordinary speech, surnames are nouns that are formed by changing marital status women or men. For example, an unmarried girl has a variant in the masculine gender with consonants at the end, adding to the ending in this case “owna” or “(i)anka”. The sample Novak, with her unmarried status, sounds like Novakuvna. In the status of married or for widows, half of the spouse is added to the wife’s name, which ends in a consonant or vowel - “owa” or “ina/уна”. Novakov's version is proof of this.

What changes happen when you get married?

When getting married, a girl, according to custom, changes maiden name. In Poland, there is an option to replace the ordinary form with a double form by adding part of the spouse’s surname to it. For example, the famous Polish physicist Maria Skladowska, after her marriage to the scientist Pierre Curie, took the surname Skladowska-Curie. This replacement is also possible for a man. However When children are born in a family, they inherit their father’s data.

One of the reasons for changing a surname is the personal desire of a citizen of the country. For example, if a citizen thinks that she is ugly, he does not have Polish roots or for any other reason. In this case, the law cannot refuse the citizen.

Common Polish surnames: alphabetical list

According to statistics released in 2016, the most common surnames are Novak. Almost two hundred thousand residents of Poland are its carriers. Next in the ranking is Kowalski, its owners are about one hundred and forty thousand residents of the country. Approximately one hundred and ten thousand Poles have the surname Wisniewski. This list also includes:

Dombrovsky.
Kaminsky.
Levadovsky.
Zelinsky.
Wuychik.
Shimansky.
Wozniak.
Kovalchuk.

The Jews who inhabited Poland got their names from the names of various things. Most of them were formed on behalf of mother and father, place of residence. Such formations are characterized by the combination ski or ivik at the end. Among this ethnic group, the Grzhibovsky form was widespread.

Several appeals have been provided for this nation in the past. For example, Posner was used when communicating with Jews, and Poznansky was used by Poles. The forms formed using the place of residence were the same, they were used mainly by Jews born in the Polish state. Below is an example list of the most common additions combined with names. For example, Varshavski (Warsaw), Krakovski (Krakovsky), Lobzovski (Lobzovsky), Pajcanovski (Patsanovsky).

After the division of the country, the authorities of Austria and Prussia began to give Jews unique surnames. Often they were offensive and unflattering. For example, Volgeruh (Volgeruh) is “incense”, Оhjcenshvah (Okhtsenshvants) is “ox tail”. The heads of Poland at that time did not stoop to this level, but in the 19th century such variations appeared as Inventаsz (Inventory) - “inventory” or Vihodek (Vychodek) - “toilet”. There were no people willing to bear such names.

Pronunciation Features

Let's get acquainted with the nuances of pronunciation. Among them are graduations from education with Russian addition. You need to be especially careful with such forms as Mrs. Kovaleva, Mrs. Kovalevna. In the Russian language, such a pronunciation as Panna Koval has been approved, in literary language- Mrs. Kovaleva.

Surnames in the form of adjectives have -ski/-сki/-dzki at the end, in the feminine gender they have -skа/-ckа/-dzka at the end, in Russian they are pronounced as -skiy (aya)/-tskiy (aya), -dskiy (aya)/-dzsky (aya). If they end in -ński/-ńskа, then a soft sign is used when pronouncing, for example, Oginskiy. But when mentioned in a conversation or in a literary source, without soft sign- Oginsky.

Options with the ending -ów/-iów sound in translation as -yв/-ув, in literary sources-ov/-ev or -ev. For example, Kowalów (Kovalyov). Formed from the name of the adjective Śmigły (Smigly) is pronounced with -ы/-u, -a/-я at the end and is not declined. In literature, it has an addition with the ending -й/-й in both genders.

Attention, TODAY only!

The first places among Polish female names are also occupied by Zuzanna, Julia, Maja, Zofia, Hanna, Aleksandra, Amelia. And the boys were often called - Kacper, Antoni, Filip, Jan, Szymon, Franciszek, Michał.
The Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs analyzed statistics from 2014, as well as the last 10 years in all voivodeships of the country. And they came to the conclusion that last decade little has changed. The only change concerned the name Lena: it became a leader, displacing the name Yulia in 2013. But Yakub has been a favorite among male names since 2004.
The popularity of names differs depending on the province. Thus, the most girls with the name Lena were born in 2014 in the voivodeships of Kuyavia-Pomerania, Lubusz, Lodz, Mazowieckie, Opole, Podkarpackie, Silesia, Świętokrzyski, Warmia-Masuria, and Wielkopolskie. And girls with the name Zuzanna are in the voivodeships of Lublin, Lesser Poland, and Pomerania. In Lower Silesia and West Pomeranian Voivodeship, parents most often named their daughters Hanna.
With boys the situation is more homogeneous: Yakub is in the lead almost everywhere. The only exception is the Mazowieckie Voivodeship, where Janow was registered the most in 2014.
But children were least often called by Old Polish names - such as Bogusława, Mirosława, Lubomir, Jurand.

Popular Polish surnames

To the very popular names include Nowak, Kowalski and Wiśniewski. Currently, 277 thousand Nowaks, 178 thousand Kowalskis, 139 thousand Wisniewskis are registered in Poland.
Also in the top ten most common Polish surnames are Wujcik, Kowalczyk, Kaminski, Lewandowski, Dąbrowski, Zielinski, Szymanski. (Wójcik, Kowalczyk, Kamiński, Lewandowski, Dąbrowski, Zieliński, Szymański).

In Poland it will now be possible to call children by foreign names

From March 1, 2015, children will be able to give names foreign origin. Previously, there was a regulation according to which all names had to be “as Polish as possible”: Jan, not John or Johann, Katarzyna, not Catherine, etc.
However, it will still be possible to give a child no more than two names. In addition, parents should choose names that are not offensive or degrading.
In this case, the final decision on whether the chosen name meets all the requirements is made by the civil registry officer.

The Polish surname (nazwisko) first appeared and took root in the circles of the wealthy Polish nobility - the gentry. The origin of Polish surnames dates back to the period of the 15th-17th centuries, which marked the heyday of this noble military class.

To understand the reasons for the emergence of such distinctive feature As a surname in Poland, it is important to know the peculiarities of the way of life of the Polish people of that time. Poland of that era did not have its own army, but the need to protect its property existed. In order to implement it, the nobility themselves came up with the idea of organizing the gentry - a special military stratum designed to represent the interests of the rich in power disputes and conflicts.

A distinctive feature of the gentry was an honest and noble attitude towards each other, regardless of the degree of wealth - equality. The structure of the Polish gentry was formed as follows: a titled noble representative of the nobles was elected in a certain territorial area. Required condition he had land. The gentry had a statute, its own laws and privileges, approved by the royal court.

The first Polish surnames of the gentry were determined by two branches: by the name assigned to the military clan, and by the name of the area where the land of the noble representative was located. For example, Vasily Zbarazhsky of the coat of arms of Korbut, Prince Stanislav Alexandrovich of the coat of arms of Witold, etc.

Depending on the names of the coats of arms, a dictionary of Polish surnames of that time was formed.

Family forms could contain such names as Elita, Zlotovonzh, Abdank, Bellina, Boncha, Bozhezlarzh, Brokhvich, Kholeva, Doliva, Drohomir, Yanina, Yasenchik, Grif, Drzhevica, Godzemba, Geralt. Later, the two parts of the letter began to be hyphenated: Korbut-Zbarazhsky, Vitold-Alexandrovich, Brodzits-Bunin, and later one part was discarded: Zbarazhsky, Alexandrovich.

Distinctive features of Polish surnames

Since the 17th century, surnames became widespread first among townspeople, and by end of the 19th century centuries and rural population Poland. Of course, the simple unpretentious Polish people did not get noble Polish surnames like Vishnevetsky, Woitsekhovsky, Boguslavsky. For peasants and hard workers, simpler family forms were chosen, as with other Slavic peoples. These were derivatives either from the name or from the profession, less often from the place of residence or the names of objects and living creatures: Mazur, Konopka, Plow, Zatsepka, Kovalchik, Krawchik, Zinkevich, Zareba, Cherry.

But the creative spirit did not allow Poles with such simple surnames to sleep peacefully, and in the 19th century there was a short period of time when especially creative representatives of the people began to add nicknames to their surnames. This is how they were formed unusual surnames: Bur-Kowalsky, Bonch-Bruevich, Rydz-Smigly, Yungvald-Khilkevich.

Traditionally, surnames in Poland are passed down through the line of men who continue the family line. Each letter of the alphabet can be the first in a Polish surname, starting from Avinsky, ending with Yakubovsky.

Polish surnames, like most Slavic ones, have two forms: feminine (-skaya, -tskaya) and masculine (-skiy, -tskiy). Brylska - Brylsky, Vygovska - Vygovsky, Stanishevskaya - Stanishevsky, Donovska - Donovsky. Such surnames have the meaning of adjectives; they are declined and inflected in the same way as adjectives.

Surnames that coincide in forms based on their clan characteristics are also quite often used: Ozheshko, Gurevich, Voytek, Tadeusz, Khilkevich, Nemirovich. These family forms change only in the male version; for women they are unchanged.

The linguistic dictionary of Polish surnames notes differences in their transmission between the official style and the literary one artistic style. Thus, adjective surnames in the first case are fixed using a soft sign (Kaminsky, Zaremsky), and in literary genre possible omission of the soft sign (Kaminsky, Zaremsky). Besides, male surnames with the form in –ov, -ev they are transmitted in two ways: Koval - Kovalev - Kovalyuv.

It was customary for rural residents to modify some surnames for women (based on whether they were a married lady or a single girl of marriageable age). For example, if a man’s last name is Koval, then his wife may be Kovaleva, and his daughter may be Kovalevna. More examples: Plow - Pluzhina (deputy) - Pluzhanka; Madey - Madeeva (deputy) - Madeyuvna.

Below is a list of ten Polish surnames, the most common in the statistics of surnames of Polish origin:

Novak - more than 200 thousand bearers of the surname.
Kovalsky - about 135 thousand happy owners.
Wuycik - about 100 thousand people.
Vishnevsky - about the same, 100 thousand people.
Kovalchuk - just over 95 thousand Polish inhabitants.
Levandovsky - about 91 thousand owners.
Zelinsky - about 90 thousand Poles.
Kaminsky - about 90 thousand people.
Shimansky - approximately 85 thousand population.
Wozniak - almost 80 thousand citizens.

The data is taken from 2004 statistics, so slight discrepancies may occur.
Common Polish surnames are slightly behind: Kozlowski, Grabowski, Dąbrowski, Kaczmarek, Petrovski, Jankowski.

Foreign roots of Polish surnames

The history of the Polish Principality is closely intertwined with the histories of neighboring and other powers: Ukraine, Hungary, Lithuania, Russia, Germany. Over the centuries, there has been coexistence of peoples, sometimes peaceful, sometimes warlike, thanks to which more than one culture has changed and improved.

Each nation borrowed some pieces of traditions, cultures, and language from others, giving their own in return, and the formation of surnames also underwent changes under the influence of foreign cultures.

Here are some of them:

Shervinsky - from German: Shirvindt (a town in Prussia);
Kochovsky - from Czech: Kochna (name);
Sudovsky - from Old Russian: “court” (dishes);
Berezovsky - from Russian: birch;
Grzhibovsky - from Hebrew: “grib” (mushroom);
Zholondzevsky - from Hebrew: “zholondz” (acorn).

Taken from Ukrainian everyday life:

Bachinsky - “bachiti” (to see);
Dovgalevsky - “dovgy” (long);
Poplavsky - “float” (flooded meadow);
Vishnevsky - “cherry”;
Remigovsky - “remiga” (cautious);
Shvidkovsky - “shvidky” (fast);
Kotlyarsky - “kotlyar” (boiler manufacturer).

There are surnames borrowed from the Lithuanian foreign language. They came into use without any morphological changes: Vaganas (“hawk”), Korsak (“steppe fox”), Ruksha (“smoky”), Bryl (“hat”), Miksha (“sleepy”), etc.

The history of the formation of Polish surnames must be considered in the context of the histories of the surnames of all Slavic peoples generally. Only in this version will it be correctly interpreted and conveyed to descendants.

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 their possessions - and their name - as a 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 has 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, 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 in origin are usually associated with upper strata 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, Mikhnyak 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, Stakhura, 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 precisely of East Slavic origin (the more ancient Polish forms ended in -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 Wańkowicz) should be considered eastern lands former Speech Pospolita (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 names 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 Bystroń explains, one and the same person could have several different options name depending on who he was talking with - Jews or Poles: “A Jew from Poznan would talk about himself as Pozner in Yiddish, and in Polish he would call himself Poznansky (the same applies to the pair Warsaw/Warsaw, Krakow/Krakow , 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, Kalamaž (“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, the most common Jewish surnames Slavic suffixes were added: -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: Married woman or the 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.