The origin of the surname ending in Sky. Polish surnames - a list of beautiful ones. Origin of Polish names and surnames. Polish male surnames
30/07/03, DribbleRheh... what's wrong with endings like that? By the way, there are plenty of such surnames in Belarus... but in Russia we have a lot famous people... for example Boyarsky, Borshchevsky, Konchalosky, Mayakovsky.... and many others. other
30/07/03, Polan Dudsky
A perfect ending for a last name. My two best friends have exactly the same last name. These are very smart, advanced and nice people. And they do not strive for any pocket, but make a living with their intelligence and ingenuity. Yes, I’m like that myself. There would be more such people. However, I have nothing against other endings if they belong to the same nice people who don’t attack their neighbor just because they don’t like the last four letters of his last name.
For example, my heroes had names such as Wycliffe, Radcliffe, Sedgwick, Allen, Pembroke, Warwick, Routledge and Agar. All of these names were correct British names. My reading of surnames from nineteenth-century Britain seemed to justify that the most common names in the country were indeed two-syllable. Let's look at the suffixes first, because in my opinion they're just so veddy, veddy British.
We'll start with those names that end in ley - a nice transition of two syllables: Berkeley, Audley, Rowley, Worsley, Stanley, Wrottsley and Bexley. Another common suffix in British surnames is ton - many of these also appear in two-syllable names.
14/12/06, funster
I envy with white envy those whose last names end in -sky and -skaya! They are so cute :) Well, at least Bobrovskaya is worth it :))) And associations with Poland immediately arise - such endings are just typical for Polish surnames.
30/03/07, Antiromantic
Normal surnames with a very productive suffix. Moreover, these are adjectives, well, at least partly. I like this suffix, accordingly... And in particular, many of the artists I love have such surnames - Shklyarsky, Laertsky, Bogushevskaya. You say adjectives - but isn't that so? Substantial part Slavic surnames(not only with this suffix) agrees with the personal name according to the principle of adjectives.
You'll find Repington, Wilmington, Saffington, Huntington, Leamington, Livingston, Barington, Ridlington, Kensington, Worthington and Haddington. A frequently used suffix in English is surname - bury. Some examples are: Shrewsbury, Tilbury, Salisbury, Ramsbury, Queensbury and Amesbury.
Note the common suffixes here. We showed a ton, but it can all be found in many British names. For Ban there is Bannerman, Bangor, Bantry and Banfield. Names beginning with bar include Barham, Barrow, Barlow, Baring and Barnwall. With Beau were Beaumont, Beauchamp and Beauveal. Not really a prefix, last names starting with St. Distributed in Great Britain.
05/04/07, Such as there is
I can’t help but love such surnames, because my own surname ends exactly like that - with “skaya”. I somehow got used to it.
27/02/11, Warrior Of En4anted Lands
This surname is my dream. In my opinion, they even sound somehow special... nobler, or something. Or even more interesting. Ordinary ones (on “ov” there, on “in”), they rarely sound interesting. And in "Sky" - yes. The only exception is one surname starting with “Skaya”, I don’t want to write it here, but that’s all because of the unpleasant associations with it and with the period of time when I crossed paths with its owner. But this is an exception. Usually I like surnames with "sky" and "skaya". There is also “tsky” (“tskaya”), this is generally beautiful, aristocratic (do not confuse it with the meaning, or rather, the pseudo-meaning that everyone knows perfectly well who puts into this word). Difficult, but not to the point of being cumbersome, in my opinion.
There were many names that became associated with the places: St. Paul, Bristol, Boston, Brisbane, Scarsdale, Portsmouth, Southampton and the aforementioned Wilmington. Others are the names of our common nouns and adjectives, such as Wood, Young, Cook, Hunter, Butler and Cotton.
Howard blood can be found in most of the noble families of England. However, the name Howard remains with the Dukes of Norfolk, whose family seat is Arundel Castle in the south, and with the Earls of Carlisle, whose family seat - during the Regency - was in the north at the magnificent Castle Howard. Another of the powerful families is the Cecil family. One branch of the Cecils lives at Hatfield House and is headed by the Marquess of Salisbury, and the other is led by the Marquess of Exeter, who made his home at the tent-house of Burghley.
31/05/11, Gangsterito
Excellent endings for surnames, “sky” and “skaya” are the endings of some Belarusian surnames, I himself by Belarusian origin, and My last name ends in "sky".
23/06/11, Jenya999
Most of them sound beautiful. And there are very few such surnames. My English teacher’s surname has this ending. Her surname is Borovskaya. I like her surname, it sounds very beautiful!
Kovalsky means Kuznetsov: surnames derived from professions
Faith and Height are familiar surnames. Hebrew word. "Comrade, friend." Ajit is also a minor birth name. Amrit from Hindi. "Immortal". Unusually, Amrit is similar to the usual one - with the surnames Aurit, Arbit. From Old Germanic, Old English words. "Brave, strong boar."
Latin element. "Blessed are you." Rare name For boys, Benoit is most often used as a surname. Average English language. "Birch Coast" Not in popularity. Derived Latin element. "From Britain or Britain." Cross-gender use. Compare surnames Corby, Corbin.
27/02/12, Caramel with Vanilla
Beautiful Polish surnames. I have a great-grandmother with this last name and it sounds very gentle and noble. I like it, although I don’t want to change my Russian surname to it. I don’t think in any book where I met “sky” or “skaya” I saw ugly surnames, such as Kakashov or Urodov.
Based on Irish, Gaelic. "Free man". Not as popular as a baby name. From Danish, ancient Germanic elements. "Ruler of the Spear" Gerrit is rare male name. Gerrit is common as a children's name among variations of Garrett. Derivatives of Old French and German elements. "Little hever."
Surnames
Sikh language. "Victory of God." Not at the top. Old English. "Head with Walnut Trees." Quite unusual as a baby name. It's simple strange feature countries. We collected five unusual facts. Iceland does not use the usual surname system of Western countries, but parents are named here. Practical example of the German national team: Mats Hummels will be the Icelandic mat Hermannsson. By the way, Iceland has an official list of legal names.
26/08/12, DCdent
Jewish Poles, Polish Jews. I don’t think that a surname should be a reason to turn one’s nose up, but the ending “-sky” has never been perceived by me as a sign of belonging to some noble family. Simply, IMHO, it can transform any surname, starting with Ivanov. True, possessive adjectives turn out to be so ugly that it is better not to use them, especially since such surnames are probably formed in this way. Also surnames starting with -ovich/-evich (also cool) with patronymics... But despite this, I’m definitely for sky/zky.
New nominations must be approved by the Nominating Committee. For building permits in Iceland, it is always necessary to check whether cultural assets have been damaged. These include, for example, rocks that are popularly called “inhabited by elves.” This is the case, for example, when there are fairy tales or traditional stories about these places. In such cases, external consultants will advise on planning permission.
Beer was banned here for 74 years
Every March, “Beer Day”. Iceland is one of the few countries in the world where there is no McDonald's. Unlike beer, there is no legal but economic background. The cost of importing many products was too high and sales were too low.
02/07/13, AnnaMaria Loud
Usually it's very beautiful surnames! More beautiful surnames with “-skikh”! For many famous people surnames starting with "-sky".
10/08/14, karamelka1986
Initially, surnames with the suffixes -sky/-tsky belonged to representatives of the boyars and nobility, who received such surnames from the names of their estates, hereditary possessions, principalities and appanages. Hereditary surnames were passed down, as a symbol of territorial power, from father to son. The Thousand Book of 1550 lists 93 princely names, of which 40 end in -skiy. Article "Surnames in -sky or the History of the origin of noble families" http://semfamily.ru
Information on Swedish titles
In various global assessments such as the Global Peace Index or the Health Risk Map, Iceland is regularly ranked as one of the safest and most peaceful countries. They happen so often that almost every apartment building has at least one roommate who carries one of these surnames.
Top 100 most common Swedish surnames
Find out how often your first and last name appears in Sweden. Do you want to know how often your first or last name in Sweden?More information about Sweden and Swedish culture, now! Last names from nicknames are used when assigning a first name relationship to another person. Often these are patronymics or even metrononyms. The latter can be found especially when the mother has higher status or higher brand recognition. Examples are today's names such as Albrecht, Dietrich, Conrad, etc. But also modifications, for example. From these various forms of names that can arise from a nickname, most of this group today arises.
10/08/15, Black Prince
Not only for their beautiful sound, but also for the fact that people with such surnames as Dostoevsky, Tsiolkovsky, Paustovsky, Pozharsky, Vorotynsky, Lisyansky, Zhukovsky, Ostrovsky, Levitsky, Kiprensky and many others have significantly enriched Russian history and culture. So, for example, famous artist Ivan Aivazovsky, whose painting was purchased by Pope Gregory XVI himself for his gallery in the Vatican.
What does the list say?
It was originally widely used in many languages. The paternal form was especially pronounced in Scandinavia and northern Germany. Much less common are names received from the mother, for example, Tilgner from Otlilia, Triene Trina or Merkens from Merken. Over the centuries, it disappeared outside of northern Germany; it was only the first name as a surname. Most common German surnames are Hartmann, Werner, Herrmann, Walter, Friedrich and Günther.
Beautiful Polish surnames
Examples of paternal names that are formed with the Latin genitive pave are Pauli, Jacobi or Caspari. Names are a matter of fashion, and the essence of fashion is arbitrary. In Silesia, preference was given to the ancients biblical names. In order to build modern nation-states, authorities insisted that their compatriots give their names so that they could be taxed, enlisted in the army, and enrolled in the education system. Until this time, the names of the countries changed with each generation by Moishe ben Mendel, and then by Yosl ben Moishe, and so on.
03/04/16, Mark Ratboy
I knew two of them. In the army, a guy with the last name Bezrukikh served in the same company with me, and at work there was an employee of Priezhikh. I think that the second one gives the answer to the origin of such surnames. Whose will you be?
22/01/17, Field
And my last name is even more interesting. According to the same model, only the last letter is replaced by X, and in female version the last two letters start with –IH. As a plural in the genitive case, it does not change by gender. Such surnames are very rare. Simpler adjectives like White, Smooth are found a little more often, but like ours, we no longer have them in our house. I read that these surnames came from somewhere in Siberia, but one way or another they were Russian, which is good. Otherwise maiden name was non-Russian, despite the fact that we are Russian. At the same time, I am an example of Russian appearance, like my husband. In general, according to the subject - and not just the last name. This is a decoration of all Slavic languages, and is found more often in Russian than in many others, including (attention!) in Polish. I also love the names of cities like Salsk, Rybinsk. I myself am from such a city - Chelyabinsk. Stations, streets - everything is here. It sounds very beautiful for a country with any Slavic language except Ukromova, because it turns decoration into a mockery.
So the son of Mendel took the name Mendelssohn, the son of Abraham became Abramson or Avromovich, the son of Menashe became Manischewitz and the son of Isaac Hiskowitz. Place Names: The second most popular source of Jewish surnames is the places they came from. The people of the country used the place where they were, the region in which they live, or the place where their predecessors originate from the name. This is why the Germanic origin of Yiddish is noted in his name. Since Asch is an acronym with Eisenstadt or Auerbach, Bacharach and Berger is a small town.
On the other hand, Bergman is from someone who lived in the mountains, Berliner is, of course, from Berlin, and Ginsberg and Gordon come from Grodno in Lithuania. Animals. In all cultures, it is very common to take surnames of the animal kingdom. Baer, Berman, Beerman, Berkowitz and Beronson mean bear. Adler - eagle, unicorn Einhorn, deer antlers Hirschhorn, Strauss - ostrich and Queen Kalba.
Illustration: Pavel Yonca
We ask you to love and favor: 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.
Polish male surnames
Surnames in Hebrew: Many compatriots grabbed the names of the Bible and Talmud. The most common are Cohen and Levy. Others include Aaron Aaronson, Aronoff, Asher, Benjamin, Davis David, Mendel Emanuel, Isaac or Isaacson of Isaac, Rubin de Ruben and Jacobs, Jacobson, Jacobi and Yaakov.
Šmansi came up with fancy surnames: when the Jews of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were asked for surnames, many chose the most beautiful ones that came to mind and likely cost them dearly to their country's government. Yes, trees were fashionable. An essential note for anyone interested in Jewish genealogy.
To begin with, most Polish surnames fall into one of three categories (although, as you will soon see, it is 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 gł owa- “head”) or Bystron (from bystry- “smart”).
The Azkenazim Jews placed their children's names on deceased descendants. It is associated with the belief in the reincarnation of souls and with honor and remembrance of the dead. Sephardic Jews place their children after their grandparents, who are usually living. So, in the Sepharadian family tree you will find the same name between one generation.
If you read the history of Spain, you don't know who died and who is still alive. Will it be a grandfather or a grandson? At another time they find a son with the same name as the father, but this is a Christian custom found among Sephardic Jews after they left Spain after the Inquisition.
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.
There are tens of thousands of Jewish surnames using a combination of colors, natural elements, professions, cities and physical characteristics. A little exercise is to ask yourself. How many Hebrew names can we recognize from the roots of the following words? Metals: precious stones and substances: Gold, Silver, Kupffer, Eisen, Diamond, Ruby, Pearl, Glass, Vane.
The ending indicates what language was spoken in the country of origin of the surname. The Persa surname is popular, often written Perez, with a Spanish idiomatic ending. But it is not a surname of Spanish origin, but a Hebrew word denoted by chapters in which the Torah is divided into weekly readings to complete the Torah readings for the year.
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?
Many spanish surnames acquired the Azkenazi pronunciation in Poland, for example, Kastelanski, Luski. Or they took the surname Spanier, Fremder or Auslander. In Italy, the Inquisition was created after Spain, so there were also Italian Jews who emigrated to Poland.
A large number of Jewish surnames come from biblical names or from European cities in Asia Minor. This often causes them to take with them traces of the place where it originated. Let's take the name "Abraham's root" as an example. The son of Abraham speaks differently in each language. Abramson, Abrahams, Abramczyk or Abramescu in German or Dutch. Abramovich, Abramescu in Romanian. Abramsky, Abramovsky in Slavic languages. Abramino in Spanish, Abramelo in Italian. Abrahamyan in Armenian, Abrami, Ben Abram in Hebrew.
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 to use their holdings - 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 noble: they testified to the noble origin and high social status of the family. 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
Illustration: Pavel YoncaIf 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
Illustration by Pavel Jontsa 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 XVI 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-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 such surnames tell a lot about the cultural history of the 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 more precisely, from their East Slavic variants.
- Mickiewicz
- Matskevich
- Senkevich
- Ivashkevich
- Vankovich
The etymology of these patronymic names can serve as evidence that many families from the eastern outskirts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were of East Slavic origin, and became Poles in the process of cultural polonization of these lands, which lasted for centuries.
This is especially noticeable in the case of surnames such as Iwaszkiewicz or Wańkowicz: both of them are derived from the name Ivan, which is not known in ethnic Poland. The surname of the great Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz was formed from the name Dmitry ( white Zmicer, Dzmithree), 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 of the 18th 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 ones) are considered typical surnames of Polish Jews - at least until the period when the authorities of the countries that divided Poland began assigning 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”). There were also frankly indecent ones among them: 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).
The Russian authorities have chosen a completely different strategy. In territories subordinate Russian Empire, to 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 education system female surnames was more complex: by suffixes it was possible to determine whether a woman was married or not.
Unmarried girl:
The girl, who had never been married, bore her father's surname with the suffix -uvna or -anka/-yanka, depending on the final sound of the male version of the surname (-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...
Nowak is the most common modern Polish surname. Illustration: Pavel YoncaSo which Polish surnames are considered the most popular today? Here is a list of 10 leading names (2014 data):
1. Novak - 277,000
2. Kovalsky - 178,000
3. Vishnevsky - 139,000
4. Wuychik - 126,500
5. Kovalchik - 124,000
6. Kaminsky - 120,500
7. Lewandowski - 118,400
8. Dombrovsky - 117,500
9. Zelinsky – 116 370
10. 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 were included there. 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.
* Onomastic and linguistic material used in the article is taken from the classic work of Jan Stanislaw Bystron « Polish surnames"("Nazwiska polskie").
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
