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. 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 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 Polish origin 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 on -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. We are talking primarily 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, Petritsky, 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 a thing of the past, 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, 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 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 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< 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 in late XVII I century. As a result, the issue of assigning surnames to Jews began to be dealt with almost exclusively by the 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 to 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 Pozner 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 ones) are considered typical surnames of Polish Jews - according to 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

Starting from 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). The Russian authorities have chosen 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 at Polish language, as in Russian, surnames-adjectives have a masculine and 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.

Single girl: A girl who was never 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... So which Polish surnames are considered the most popular today? Here is a list of 10 leading names:

1. Novak - 277,000
2. Kovalsky - 178,000
3. Vishnevsky - 139,000
4. Wujcik - 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.

The origin and formation of surnames in Poland is identical to how this process occurred in other European and Slavic peoples. However, the Poles, like every nation, have their own national characteristics and characteristic features of the formation of surnames.

Let's look at how Polish surnames appeared and what their structure is, what is the difference between male and female surnames, what surnames are given upon marriage, what are the rules for changing surnames and what Polish surnames are most common and how they are pronounced.
Origin of the surname Poland
Initially, the Latin word “familia” meant a certain community of people, a family, which, in addition to the owners of the family, also included their slaves and vassals. In general, the surname is family name, that is, the name of the ancestor (name, nickname or name of the estate), transmitted by inheritance and added to the person’s personal name. Historians claim that the origin of surnames began in X-XI centuries in economically developed countries of Europe.
In Poland, surnames came into use only in the 15th century among the Polish nobles - the gentry (szlachta - from the Old High German word slahta - clan).
Poland surname structure
The structure of Polish surnames was influenced by the peculiarities of the formation of the gentry, as originally a military class. The nobles were equal to each other in rights and differed only in the volume of their possessions and level of prosperity.
Even from the beginning of the entry into force of the statute of Boleslav Wrymouth (since 1138), the regular princely army ceased to exist in Poland and, having begun to own the land, the gentry were obliged during wars to assemble their clan militia (pospolite ruszenie) and place it under the command of the king. At the same time, the gentry of one locality united into unique military clans with their own name and coat of arms of the same name. Since the coat of arms belonged to all members of this clan, the name of the coat of arms was included as a component in the surname of each nobleman and all people of the clan were called gentry of the same coat of arms (klejnotni, herbowni, współherbowni). As a result, the same coat of arms was included in the surnames of dozens and sometimes hundreds of clans. And the concept of “coat of arms” began to be used in the lexicon of the gentry.
Thus, the full name of a nobleman consisted of several components: the nobleman’s name itself, his personal surname (family name), the name of the area of ​​the estate, plus the name of the coat of arms. For example, Piotr Lunak-Kmita from Sobieniach of the Szreniawa coat of arms.
Over the next three centuries, almost all gentry full names were reduced to the classic three-part form: personal name, then the name of the clan or coat of arms, and a hyphenated surname. For example, Jan Jelita-Zamoyski (Jan Elita-Zamoyski).

Structure of surnames of common people
Poor and uneducated Poles, who were not part of the gentry class, received surnames much later than the Polish aristocracy. Starting from the 17th century, townspeople, and then villagers, began to have surnames. Their surnames were formed from personal names and nicknames, professions, as well as the names of the cities where they came from. For example, Jankowski (Yankovsky), Żukowski (Zhukovsky), Przybyszewski (Przybyszewski) from the concept przybysz - arrived, Kowalski (Kowalski) from the profession of blacksmith, Wileński (Vilno) from the city of Vilno.
Already in XIX-XX centuries Nicknames and pseudonyms began to be added to surnames through a hyphen, transforming surnames into similar ones to those of the gentry. For example, Burze-Komorowski (Bur-Komarovsky), Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński (Tadeusz Boy-Zhelenski).
Today, the majority of Poles have a surname consisting of only one word. However, the old Polish traditions of having a two-part surname in Poland are still alive and officially legalized.
Typical Polish surname endings
Currently, the most common Polish surnames are those with the suffix “-ski/-cki” (“-ski/-tski”). Initially, this suffix was used in the surnames of the gentry, indicating their family estate. Due to the social prestige of this “noble” suffix, it gradually migrated to the surnames of lower social strata and, as a result, is now rooted in about 35.2% of surnames.
The second most popular suffix is ​​“-ak”, found in 11.6% of Polish surnames. For example, Nowak (Novak). Also, the suffixes “-yk” and “-ik” (in 7.3% of surnames) and the suffix “-ka” (in 3.2% of surnames) are widely used.
The second “noble” suffix of the Polish surname “-owicz/-ewicz” (“-owicz/-evich”) is now used little, only in 2.3% of Polish surnames. He is no longer of Polish, but of Ukrainian-Belarusian origin. Its native Polish form is “-owic/-ewic” (“-owic/-ewicz”). However, after the Union of Lublin adopted in 1569, when the privileges of the nobility of Poland were given to Ukrainian and Belarusian feudal lords, this suffix quickly spread to these territories, acquired the sound “-ovich/-evich”, which was more familiar to the people of these areas, and passed into the literary language . And the Polish “-owic/-ewic” as a result began to be called dialectal, common, and therefore socially lower and was gradually forced out of new surnames. The last time the suffix “-owic/-ewic” was recorded in a noble surname was in 1574.

Male and female forms of the Polish surname
Polish surnames have both forms - masculine and feminine. They differ in suffixes and endings.
Thus, the most common surnames formed from adjectives have “-ski/-cki” at the end in the masculine gender, and “-ska/-cka” in the feminine gender.
They also change the ending depending on the gender of the surname - adjectives of other models. For example, surnames in the masculine gender “Śmigły” and “Brylski” (Smigly and Brylski) in the feminine gender already sound like “Śmigła” and “Brylska”, that is, they change the ending from “-y/-i” to “-a”.
In Polish surnames, which are nouns, the masculine and feminine forms are the same and female uniform doesn't bow. For example, Nowak, Kowal, Kowalczyk, Sienkiewicz, Mazur (Nowak, Kowal, Kowalski, Sienkiewicz, Mazur).
IN colloquial speech feminine forms of surnames-nouns are built depending on marriage. Thus, for unmarried women, the ending “-ówna” or “-(i)anka” is added to the surname in the masculine form ending in a consonant or vowel, respectively. For example, Nowak - Nowakówna (Nowak - Nowakuvna), Konopka - Konopczanka (Konopka - Konopchanka). If a woman is married or widowed, then her surname is pronounced with the addition of the endings “-owa” or “-ina/-yna” to her husband’s surname ending in a consonant or vowel, respectively. For example, Nowakowa (Nowakova) and Konopczyna (Konopczyna).
Polish married surnames
According to Polish tradition, upon marriage a girl takes her husband's surname. It is also allowed for a girl to replace one of the two parts of her maiden name (nazwisko panieńskie) with one of the parts of her husband’s last name. However, it happens that the husband also adds one of the two parts of his wife’s maiden name to his own (replaces one of the two parts of his last name). Children from this marriage, as a rule, take their father's surname.

Poland surname change
Poles have the right to change their last name if it has a dissonant character, is not Polish, coincides with the name, or is unusual for a wide circle of previously acquired acquaintances and admirers (for example, in the case of working for a long time under a pseudonym).
The most common surnames in Poland
According to research from 10 years ago, the most common surname in Poland is Nowak. About 200 thousand Poles wear it. The second most popular name is the surname Kowalski (Kowalsky) with the number of carriers about 140 thousand people. Third in the ranking is the surname Wiśniewski (Wisniewski) - about 110 thousand people. The range of speakers from 85 to 100 people includes the following surnames (in descending order): Wójcik (Wujcik), Kowalczyk (Kowalchik), Kamiński (Kamiński), Lewandowski (Lewandowski), Zieliński (Zielinski), Szymański (Szymański), Woźniak (Wozniak) and Dąbrowski (Dąbrowski).
Peculiarities of pronunciation of the Polish surname in Russian
There are peculiarities in the pronunciation of Polish surnames in Russian, for example, in endings, which are often supplemented to the usual Russified forms.
Thus, surnames-adjectives ending in “-ski/-cki/-dzki” or in the feminine form in “-ska/-cka/-dzka” are pronounced as “–ski/-tski/-dskiy (-dzskiy)” or "-th".
If the surname ends in “-ński/-ńska”, then in official cases it is pronounced with a soft sign, and in everyday speech and literature – without soft sign. For example, Oginsky and Oginsky.
Surnames ending in “-ów/-iów” in official speech are rendered as “-uv/-yuv”, and in literature as “-ov/-ev or –ev (if the stress on the last syllable is customary).” For example, Kowalów and Kovalev.
Surnames-adjectives, such as “Śmigły - Śmigła”, in official cases are pronounced briefly “-ы/-и”, “-а/-я” and are not declined (Smigly - Smigla), but in fiction are supplemented with the ending “-y/-y” or (feminine form) “-aya/-yaya” (Smigly - Smiglaya).
Special forms of female surnames (pani Kowalowa, panna Kowalówna) in an official setting are pronounced with the restoration of the masculine form - pani, panna Kowal, and in literature - pani Kowalova or panna Kovalevna.

Polish surnames have a very long origin. During their existence, they acquired unique features characteristic of Polish culture. And in order not to lose contact with our ancestors, we must know and remember the history of the surname of Poland, as well as restore, preserve and pass on the history of our family surname to our children.

Stanislaw- St. Stanislav), etc.

Names of Lithuanian origin

Adam Mickiewicz

In addition, a number of names of Lithuanian origin are quite common in Poland: Olgierd (Polish. Olgierd- lit. Algirdas), Witold (Polish. Witold- lit. Vytautas) or Grazyna (Polish. Grażyna- lit. Gražina).

It is interesting to note that if the first two names are native Lithuanian, and their use by the Poles is probably a consequence of the long Polish-Lithuanian union, then with the name “Grazyna” the situation is somewhat more complicated. Having a Lithuanian basis (lit. gražus - “beautiful, wonderful”), the name “Gražina” was coined by Adam Mickiewicz for main character poem of the same name. Thus, this name, Lithuanian in form, initially began to be used in Poland, and only then in Lithuania.

Name and Christian tradition

Usually the name is given to the child during the baptism ceremony. Along with the names accepted in the Catholic tradition, pre-Christian Slavic names can also be used, but in this case the priest may ask the parents to choose an additional Christian name for the child. In the past, at baptism, a child was given two names, so he had two patron saints. Nowadays it’s more of a tribute to tradition: the middle name is rarely used in everyday life, using it in everyday life looks quite pretentious. At confirmation, a Catholic usually receives another (second or third) Christian name, but it is almost never used outside the church.

In Poland, as in many other Catholic countries, the practice of celebrating name days (Polish. imieniny) - the day of its patron saint, although in Poland it is more customary to celebrate a birthday. In Eastern Poland, birthday celebrations are a family, private celebration, since often only family and closest friends know a person’s date of birth. In contrast, name days are often celebrated on wide circle acquaintances, work colleagues, etc. Information about what day certain name days fall on is published in many Polish calendars, on the Internet, etc.

Legal restrictions

According to Polish law, a personal name must clearly reflect the gender of its bearer. Almost all female names in Poland (like Russian female names) have the ending -A. However, there are also a number of male names based on -A: for example, Polish. Barnaba- Barnabas. Unlike Russian traditions, the name “Maria” (Polish. Maria) in Poland can be worn by both women and men; however, the use of this name as a masculine name is extremely rare and applies almost exclusively to second names.

Name and fashion

The use of a particular name largely depends on fashion. Many parents name their children after national heroes of Poland, famous personalities, characters from books, films, etc. Despite this, most of the names used in modern Poland have been used since the Middle Ages. According to statistics, in 2003 the most popular Polish female names were: Anna(Anna), Maria(Maria) and Katarzyna(Katarzyna); male - Piotr(Peter), Jan(Ian) and Andrzej(Andrzej).

Diminutive names

In everyday life, diminutive forms of names are very popular, which are most often used when addressing children or in the family, but sometimes also come into official use (like Leszek at full Lech- Wed Lech Walesa and Leszek Baltserovich). Like other Slavic languages, Polish has the widest possibilities for creating a variety of diminutive names. Most of them are based on the use of suffixes, often with truncation of the stem of the name ( Bolesław → Bolek) or with its distortion, sometimes beyond recognition ( Karol → Karolek → Lolek).

The most typical diminutive suffixes -ek and more affected - (u)ś (corresponding female names end in -ka/-cia And - (u)sia): Piotr → Piotrek, Piotrś; Ewa → Ewka, Ewcia, Ewusia. Sometimes both suffixes are placed simultaneously: Jan → Janusiek. Other extensions are also used for female names: - (u)nia, -dzia (Jadwiga → Jadwinia, Jadzia).

It should be noted that some Polish male names initially end in -ek(For example, Marek, Franciszek- Mark, Francis); in this case, this form is not a diminutive name, but is only similar in sound to it.

Nicknames

As in many world cultures, nicknames are often used in Poland (Polish. przezwisko, ksywa) - as an addition or alternative to a personal name, which, however, are not official names, but are used among family, friends or colleagues.

Surname

Polish surnames, as in most European traditions, are usually passed down through the male line: that is, the surname of the created family becomes the husband's surname, and this is what the children born in this marriage bear.

A married woman in Poland usually takes her husband's surname. However, according to Polish law, this is not mandatory. A woman can keep her maiden name(Polish nazwisko panieńskie) or add your husband's surname to your maiden name, thus creating a double surname (Polish. nazwisko złożone). Modern Polish legislation, however, stipulates that a surname cannot consist of more than two parts; Thus, if a woman already had a double surname before marriage and wants to add her husband's surname to it, she will have to give up one part of her maiden name. In turn, a man can also take his wife’s surname or add it to his own.

Citizens of Poland have the right to change their surname if:

Male and female forms of surnames

Basic patterns of Polish surnames (reduced to masculine form)

Model	Share
-ski	30,3%	35,6%
-cki	4,9%
-dzki	0,4%
-ak	11,6%
-yk	4,2%	7,3%
-ik	3,1%
-ka	3,2%
-ewicz	1,4%	2,3%
-owicz	0,9%
other	31,4%

Polish surnames have masculine and feminine forms, differing from each other in endings and/or suffixes. It is also not uncommon for surnames to have the same male and female forms. This system, similar to that existing in other Slavic languages, as a rule, does not require special explanation to people who speak Russian.

• Last names on -ski/-cki/-dzki And -ska/-cka/-dzka(For example, Kowalski, m.r. - Kowalska, and. r.), which are adjectives in form and declension.

• Surnames-adjectives with other endings (for example, Śmigły, m.r. - Śmigła, and. r.). Unlike the Russian language, in Polish, male borrowed and foreign surnames are also declined as adjectives. -i/-y/-ie: im. p. Kennedy, genus. p. Kennedyego, date p. Kennedyemu... etc. It should be noted that in the Polish language male names ending with -i/-y/-ie: im. p. Freddie, genus. p. Freddiego etc.

• Last names on -ów/-owa, -in/-ina etc. (for example, Romanow, m.r. - Romanowa, and. p.), formed as short possessive adjectives and inflected accordingly. The Polish language itself does not have short adjectives, so such surnames are in most cases of foreign origin; however, they are clearly identified by Poles as Slavic. The feminine form for such surnames is formed in the same way as in Russian. In the suffix of a male surname, according to the general rule of Polish phonetics, in the nominative case the sound [o] turns into [u] (graphically - ó ), and in women's it always remains unchanged.

• Other Polish surnames (for example, Kowal, Kowalewicz or Kowalczyk) are grammatically nouns and have the same masculine and feminine forms, and the feminine form, as in Russian, is not declined (except for most surnames-nouns in -a, inclined equally in both genders: im. p. Wątroba, genus. p. Wątroby, date p. Wątrobie etc.; surnames are not inclined to -a after vowels, except in case -ia). Unlike the Russian language, in Polish male surnames are inclined to -o: im. p. Orzeszko, genus. p. Orzeszki, date p. Orzeszkowi...; surnames on -i/-y inflected like adjectives (see above).

• In archaic or colloquial speech (the latter is especially typical for rural residents) from male surnames-nouns of this type ( etc.) special female forms are built, for example: pan Kowal - pani Kowalova(his wife) - panna Kowalówna(his daughter). Below is a table of the formation of female forms from such surnames.

The ending of the surname of the father, husband		Last name is not married woman		Last name of a married woman, widow
consonant (except g)		-owna		-owa
Nowak	Novak	Nowakówna	Nowakówna	Nowakowa	Novakova
Madej	Madey	Madejówna	Madeevna	Madejowa	Madeeva
vowel or g		-(i)anka¹		-ina, -yna¹
Zaraba	Zaremba	Zarębianka	Zarembyanka	Zarębina	Zarembina
Konopka	Konopka	Konopczanka	Konopchanka	Konopczyna	Konopchina
Pług	Plow	Płużanka	Pluzhanka	Płużyna	Pluzhina

¹ The last consonant before these suffixes softens or turns into a sibilant.

The emergence of surnames

The first use of “family names” in Poland was recorded around the 15th century, and exclusively among the Polish nobility - the gentry (Polish. szlachta). It should, however, be borne in mind that initially the Polish gentry in its structure differed significantly from the Western European nobility: formally, the representatives of the gentry were equal to each other; the differences were associated only with the degree of prosperity. The peculiarities of the Polish system of nobility also left their mark on the development of the system of Polish surnames.

Coat of arms "Elite"

In essence, the Polish gentry was a privileged military class. Owning land, the gentry were obliged to take part in the militia during wars, since since the death of Prince Boleslav Wrymouth in 1138, there had been no regular princely army in Poland. In wartime, each Polish region collected its own militia (Polish. pospolite ruszenie), which was brought under the command of the king.

The gentry united into military “clans”, somewhat reminiscent of the Celtic ones, but not on the principles of kinship, but on a territorial basis. Each such association had its own name and coat of arms of the same name, belonging to all members of the “clan”. The same name was part of the compound surname of each of the members of the association. People belonging to the same “clan” were called szlachta of the same coat of arms (Polish. herbowni, klejnotni, współherbowni ). The other part of the Polish gentry surname reflected the name of the area (usually a village or hamlet), the owner of which was the given gentry. Full name was built according to the following model: name, personal surname and name of the coat of arms - for example: Jan Zamoyski coat of arms Elita (Polish. Jan Zamoyski herbu Jelita).

General Tadeusz Bur-Komorowski

During the XV-XVII centuries, Polish gentry names were brought to the classical scheme of “three names” adopted by the Roman patricians: personal name (lat. praenomen), clan name (lat. nomen gentile) and surname (lat. cognomen). For example: Jan Elita Zamoyski (Polish. Jan Jelita Zamoyski). Later, the “coat of arms” and personal surnames began to be connected in writing with a hyphen.

After the First and Second World Wars, many particularly active combatants added their military nicknames to their surnames. This tradition became another reason for the existence of a significant number of double surnames in Poland. Examples of such surnames include Rydz-Smigly (Polish. Rydz-Śmigły), Nowak-Jezioranski (Polish. Nowak-Jezioranski), Bur-Komorowski (Polish. Bor-Komorowski). Some artists, such as Tadeusz Boy-Zeleński (Polish. Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński), also added their stage names to their main surname.

There is an idea that all Polish surnames ending in -th. Indeed, many surnames of the Polish gentry have such an ending, associated either with the name of the family estate or coat of arms (for example, Vishnevetsky - Polish. Wiśniowiecki- family estate Vishnevets; Kazanovsky - Polish. Kazanowski, Skłodowski - Polish. Skłodowski, Chodecki - Polish. Chodecki). However, similar endings also have later surnames of common people, formed from personal names, nicknames and names of professions (Woitsekhovsky - Polish. Wojciechowski, Kwiatkowski - Polish. Kwiatkowski, Kozlovsky - Polish. Kozłowski, Kowalski - Polish. Kowalski etc.), as well as the names of Polish Jews (Vilensky - Polish. Wilenski, Belotserkovsky - Polish. Białocerkiewski etc.).

The use of surnames gradually spread to other socio-ethnic groups: to townspeople (at the end of the 17th century), then to peasants and, in the middle of the 19th century, to Jews.

Most common surnames

As of December 2004, the list of the 20 most common Polish surnames was as follows (male and female variants were considered one surname):

№ p/p	Surname		Number of media
	writing in Polish	transcription (official / artistic lit.)	2004	2002
1	Nowak	Novak	199 008	203 506
2	Kowalski	Kovalsky	136 937	139 719
3	Wiśniewski	Wisniewski Vishnevsky	108 072	109 855
4	Wojcik	Wojcik	97 995	99 509
5	Kowalczyk	Kovalchik	96 435	97 796
6	Kaminski	Kaminsky Kaminsky	92 831	94 499
7	Lewandowski	Levandovsky	90 935	92 449
8	Zieliński	Zielinski Zelinsky	89 118	91 043
9	Szymański	Szymanski Shimansky	87 570	89 091
10	Woźniak	Wozniak	87 155	88 039
11	Dąbrowski	Dombrovsky	84 497	86 132
12	Kozłowski	Kozlovsky	74 790	75 962
13	Jankowski	Yankovsky	67 243	68 514
14	Mazur	Mazur	66 034	66 773
15	Wojciechowski	Voitsekhovsky	65 239	66 361
16	Kwiatkowski	Kvyatkovsky	64 963	66 017
17	Krawczyk	Krawchik	62 832	64 048
18	Kaczmarek	Kaczmarek	60 713	61 816
19	Piotrowski	Petrovsky Petrovsky	60 255	61 380
20	Grabowski	Grabovsky	57 426	58 393

Features of Russian transcription of Polish names and surnames

Names

• Many Polish names are not transcribed according to general rules, but are transmitted traditionally: Augustyn→ Augustine (not “Augustyn”), Eugenia→ Evgeniya (not “Eugenya”), etc.
• After consonants there is a final -i/-y Polish male names (mostly of classical origin) are rendered as -iy, and not through -i/-s: Anthony→ Anthony, Ignacy→ Ignatius (or, according to traditional transmission, Ignatius), Walenty→ Valentiy et al.
• At all y after consonants in names is usually transmitted through And, and not through s, as it would be according to the general rules: Benedykt→ Benedict, Henryk→ Henrik (according to traditional transmission - Heinrich), Ryzard→ Richard, Kristyna→ Christina et al.
• In female names the final -ja after consonants it is transcribed as -iya: Felicja→ Felicia.
• When restoring the spelling of the names of classical characters from Polish, the final -(i)usz most often corresponds to the Russian form in -(i)y, and the final -asz/-iasz/-jasz- Russian form in -(i)ya, -a: Klaudiusz→ Claudius, Amadeusz→ Amadeus, Jeremiasz→ Jeremiah... But if a Pole bears such a name, the final w preserved: Klaudiush, Amadeusz, Jeremiasz...
• Final in Polish -ek in given names and surnames it is declined with the loss of a vowel e, but this cannot be done in transcribed form (i.e. in this case, the school rule about distinguishing between the suffixes -ik and -ek is not applicable): Jacek - Jaceka - Jaceku..., although in the original Jacek - Jacka - Jackowi...; surname: Gerek - Gereka - Gereku... ( Gierek - Gierka - Gierkowi...).

Surnames

• In surnames-adjectives the final -ski/-cki/-dzki (-ska/-cka/-dzka) is transmitted through -sky/-tsky/-dsky(or -dzskiy), in the feminine gender - according to -th (Kovalsky - Kovalskaya). Polish surnames -ński/-ńska in Russian they are traditionally conveyed in two ways: in the official precise style - with a soft sign ( Oginski, Oginskaya), but in fiction and in general in the case when we are talking about a long and widely known person - without one ( Oginsky, Oginskaya).
• Surnames-adjectives of other models (like Śmigły - Śmigła) during official transmission in Russian they retain short ending -s/-s in men's and -a/-z in the feminine gender and are usually not declined in Russian. In fiction, however, there is the addition of endings to -th/-th, -th/-th, especially with transparent etymology ( Bujny→ Violent, Bujna→ Violent).
• Masculine form of surnames of the species Romanow - Romanowa transmitted in two ways: an official, accurate transcription from -uv/-juv, and Russified (usually in fiction) -ov/-ev (-ev only in monosyllabic surnames - since otherwise the stress would be on the penultimate syllable - and when restoring the Russian form of recognizable surnames, like Kowalow→ Kovalev); for female surnames in both situations -ova/-eva.
• Surnames of the species Kowal, Kilian, Zaręba, Wiśnia, Nowak, Sienkiewicz etc. are transcribed according to general rules, without any special features. The inclination of the result is determined by the general rules of the Russian language.
• Special female forms of surnames ( pani Kowalowa, panna Kowalowa), formed from the basic form ( pan Kowal), are officially transcribed with the restoration of the male form (

There comes a period in the history of any country when the development of the economy and technical progress lead to such an increase in population 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 inhabitants 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: family, relatives and servants of that house, and later slaves belonging to that 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. Ordinary people then they made do with only the name received at baptism.

Initially, gentry called representatives of a special social class - the 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 - the Polish noble surname. List of the most common ones:

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

• Sobolevskys.
• Mstislavsky.
• Vishnevetskys.
• 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 a noble origin, great wealth or education and were not part of the aristocratic class, acquired their surnames closer to the 17th century, and city dwellers earlier than rural residents. The full name of a citizen 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 ​​Vilno.

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, such double surnames are not uncommon.

What suffixes are used to form

National Polish forms are formed using the suffixes -skiy/-tskiy (feminine form -skaya/-tskaya) and suffixes -owicz/-evich. The first suffix, which in Polish looks like -cki/-ski, originally belonged to the upper class and indicated the name of the possession, 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 the Belarusian and Ukrainian languages ​​indicated belonging to a 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 “c”, 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 the masculine combination -ski/-сki at the end and the feminine с -skа/-ckа at the end of words are widespread.

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 when the marital status of a woman or man changes. 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’s name 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, it is customary for a girl to change her 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 the endings of formations that have a 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 is approved, in the literary language - Pani 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 a 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 little has changed over the past decade. 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 surnames 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.