Only 5-6 centuries ago, Polish surnames appeared. A lot of people around the world have beautiful and sonorous data in their passports. The origin of surnames stretched over many years. It remains to understand how they arose. Onomastics is the study of these facts.
Polish names and surnames
The roots of Polish names and surnames date back to the 15th-17th centuries, when people received names - mostly from the names of estates and lands. The very first consisted of the name of the military coat of arms, the property of a person and the name of his possession. From this came the common variations that can be heard now. Basically they are written with a hyphen. For example, Bonch-Osmolovsky, Korbut-Zbarazhsky, Vishnevsky.
Over time, for many heirs, these data were modified, changed, and something was completely lost. So, the same variations, previously characteristic of the gentry (noble) families, began to appear among other peoples. However, the loss of roots, family estates, coats of arms is not the reason for the disappearance of memory. To this day, Polish features exist, becoming more common.
Men's
All Polish male surnames differ from female ones in that they have different endings and suffixes. The rule is that the stresses are placed on the penultimate syllable, which is unique to Poland. A common ending is -sky-, -sky-. These endings belonged to a noble family, they sound aristocratic and beautiful. The famous suffixes -ovich-, -evich- are very common. A number of surnames familiar to all that are heard on every corner:
- Mitskevich;
- Pavlovich;
- Ivashkevich;
- Globolevich.
Women's
Often, Polish female surnames sound no less beautiful. They differ from male ones only in endings - because of the form of the genus. Previously, this was not the case, since it was necessary to distinguish data solely by suffixes. Only in this way it was possible to understand whether the girl was married or not. So, for example, those who have never been married had -anka/-yanka-, -uvna- in the endings, could mean their position. Married ladies could be identified by these endings: -ova-, -nya / -yna-.
Gradually, the history of traditions began to fade away; it is extremely rare to meet such features. Here are the most common female data - a list of Polish surnames:
- Kovalskaya;
- Novak;
- Moravian;
- Shimanskaya.
Polish Jews - surnames
Many local Jews also had similar Polish surnames, where the endings and suffixes remained the same. Many of them were formed from the name of a Pole father or mother, from the names of common cities in Poland and from populated regions. There are also special Polish words from which these meanings could be formed. Here are the most common and most common endings: -sky- and -ivic-. For example, there are still Polish Jews - surnames such as Krivich, Kovsky, Leskivych, Kovalevsky.
Beautiful Polish surnames
Beautiful noble Polish surnames are diverse and aesthetic, which are easy to find. The name of a Pole is a man, a woman has a pleasant sound, historical origin. Often they are ideal for each patronymic and surname. The list of the most beautiful European ones in alphabetical order is small, but very colorful:
- Brylska;
- Kinsky;
- Raksa;
- Mantsevich;
- Meltsazh;
- Gaios;
- Delong;
- Damentsky.
The first lines among Polish female names are also occupied by Zuzanna, Julia, Maya, Zofia, Hanna, Alexandra, Amelia (Zuzanna, Julia, Maja, Zofia, Hanna, Aleksandra, Amelia). And the boys were often called - Kacper, Antony, Philip, Jan, Shimon, Franciszek, Michal (Kacper, Antoni, Filip, Jan, Szymon, Franciszek, Michał).
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Poland analyzed the statistics of 2014, as well as the last 10 years in all provinces of the country. And they came to the conclusion that little has changed over the past decade. The only change affected the name of Lena: it took the lead, displacing the name Yulia since 2013. But Yakub has been a favorite among male names since 2004.
The popularity of names differs depending on the provinces. So, most girls with the name Lena were born in 2014 in the voivodeships of Kuyavia-Pomerania, Lubusz, Lodz, Mazowiecki, Opole, Podkarpackie, Silesia, Swietokrzyski, Warmia-Mazury, Wielkopolska. And girls with the name Zuzanna - in the provinces of Lublin, Lesser Poland, Pomerania. In Lower Silesia and in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, parents most often called their daughters Hanna.
With boys, the situation is more homogeneous: almost everywhere Yakub is in the lead. With the exception of only the Mazowieckie Voivodeship, where Janov was the most registered in 2014.
But the least often children were called old Polish names - such as Boguslav, Miroslava, Lubomir, Jurand (Bogusława, Mirosława, Lubomir, Jurand).
Popular Polish surnames
The most popular surnames include Nowak, Kowalski and Wisniewski (Nowak, Kowalski, Wiśniewski). Now 277,000 Novaks, 178,000 Kowalskis, and 139,000 Wisniewskis are registered in Poland.
Also in the top ten most common Polish surnames are Wujcik, Kowalczyk, Kaminsky, Lewandowski, Dombrovsky, Zelinsky, Shimansky. (Wójcik, Kowalczyk, Kamiński, Lewandowski, Dąbrowski, Zieliński, Szymański).
In Poland, it will now be possible to call children foreign names
From March 1, 2015, children can be given names of foreign origin. Previously, there was a prescription 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 to the person.
In this case, the final decision whether the chosen name meets all the requirements is made by the civil registry officer.
Origin of Polish surnames begins in the XV-XVII centuries, when the Polish gentry began to take hereditary names for themselves. The first Polish surnames consisted of the name of the military clan (coat of arms) and the name of the land, the property of the gentry. Later, these names began to be written with a hyphen and double surnames arose - Elita-Zamoisky, Bonch-Osmolovsky, Korbut-Zbarazhsky. Over time, surnames began to appear among representatives of other segments of the population. In Russia, few Polish surnames underwent assimilation and retained their national characteristics.
Features of the meaning of Polish surnames
Polish surnames are distinguished by some linguistic features that make them recognizable. The stress in Polish surnames is always placed on the penultimate syllable. Dictionary of Polish surnames shows a large number of surnames in -sky, -sky. They were considered noble and came from the name of family estates. Such surnames have a female version - Vishnevetsky-Vishnevetskaya, Zbarazhsky-Zbarazhskaya. In Russian, they change by cases in both genders. Now almost half of the Poles have these "aristocratic" surnames.
Surnames with the suffix -ovich, -evich were formed from personal male names and were mainly common among the bourgeoisie. These surnames do not have a family affiliation, they are the same for men and women - Adam Mickiewicz-Barbara Mickiewicz, Andrzej Pavlovich-Jadwiga Pavlovich. declination such Polish surnames only available for men. According to morphological features, surnames with suffixes -ik, -nick, -ak, -uk, -chuk, -ko can be added here. Meaning these Polish surnames associated with nicknames. They belong to both men and women, and change in cases only in the masculine gender - Novak, Copernicus, Rachko, Kovalik.
How Polish female surnames are being transformed
Meaning majority Polish surnames does not cause difficulties, it is largely common to all Slavic surnames. As usual, such surnames are transmitted through the male line, and after marriage, a woman takes her husband's surname. In modern Poland, the law allows for the retention of a maiden name or the adoption of a double surname. However, quite recently in the countryside there was an interesting custom - the female surname changed depending on the status of the woman. For example, if a husband had the surname Novak, then his wife was called Navakovna, and his daughter was Novakuvna. Or Zaremba - Zarembina - Zarembyanka.
List of Polish surnames alphabetically helps to appreciate their richness and diversity. A top Polish last names shows which surnames are most common.
List of popular Polish surnames
Novak
Kowalski
Vishnevsky
Wuychik
Kowalczyk
Kaminsky
Lewandowski
Zelinsky
Shimansky
Wozniak
Dombrovsky
Kozlovsky
Yankovsky
Masuria
Voitsekhovsky
Kwiatkovsky
Kravchik
Kaczmarek
Petrovsky
Grabovsky
Zaremba
Ozheshko
Schenkevich
The European Championship will be held in Poland. "Spartak" plays with "Legia". The main goalkeeper of Arsenal is a Pole. The best right-back in the Bundesliga (according to some estimates) is also a Pole. Sports journalists and commentators often have to deal with Polish surnames or even the names of Polish teams, which they pronounce and spell incorrectly.
Smart people told me to make this memo and stop grumbling on Facebook. I hasten to follow their precepts.
So, a few rules-principles:
1. Polish has nasal vowels - ę And ą. They are read mainly as “e(e)n” and “he”, except before b and p (then “e(e)m” and “om” - for example, the name of a Polish football club Zagłębie - "Zaglebie" or "pipe" in Polish - "trą ba", thrombus); beforeć, dź - “e (e) n” and “he”. Sometimes after soft ale ą is read as "yon (m)" - for example, the name of the Polish club participating in the Europa LeagueŚląsk - "Shlensk" (Silesia, in Polish). It is important to check how accurately the name of a particular athlete is written in Polish. Squiggles cannot be skipped, reading and writing changes fundamentally. For example, the surname of Jacek Bonk (Bąk) in Russia was read as "Bak" for a long time, the surname of Krzysztof Longiewka (L ą giewka) was read as "Lagiyevka". The surname of the Arsenal goalkeeper (Szczęsny) is thus read and spelled as "Schęsny" and not as "Ščesny".
2. Hissing. The combination sz is read as "sh", the combination cz - as "h". A great example is the name and surname of the Borussia right-back: Łukasz Piszczek = Lukasz Piszczek. Combinationrz reads like "w". At the beginning of the 2000s, a defender played in the Polish national team, whose last name is (Rzą sa) Russian journalists wrote and read as "Rzhasa", while correctly - "Jons". As "zh" is also read ż, as "zh" - ź. Consonant "c" before "i” is read as “h”. For example, the name of the football player "Vidzeva" of the 90s -Citko- reads like "Chitko", not like "Citko".
3. The letter "el". There are two in Polish. Just "l" is "el" soft, "le". But “ł” is read as a cross between “y” and “v”, and in Russian it is enough to read it as “el” solid, i.e. "l".
4. The letter ń is read as "n". For example, the surname of Arsenal's second goalkeeper (Fabiański) should be pronounced and spelled as "Fabianski(y)".
5. No need to stretch combinations ie or ia. If it says L ą giewka- read "Longevka", that is, "e", not "ie". If you need to read "ee", the combination will look like "ije”, for example Żmijewski - Żmievski (th). In the case of "ia" - see the example of Fabiansky, although "Fabiansky" or the name "Adrian" would certainly not be some serious mistake. The consonant softens (“b”), “a” turns into “I”. The combination "iu” is “yu”, not “iu”. The combination "io" is "o (yo)", not "io".
6. Combinationch read as "x". And nothing else.
7. For some reason not entirely clear to me, the namesWojciech AndMaciej in Rus' it is customary to read and write as "Wojciech" and "Matsej", while it is correct - "Wojciech" and "Machey". Same with the nameMarcin - we like to write and read "Marcin", but you need - "Marcin". But this has already been discussed above.
8. The Polish "y" is, of course, "s", not "and". But in Russian there is no, for example, a hard "h". Therefore, the name of the late Polish president (Kaczyński), for example, we read and write as "Kaczyński" and not "Kaczyński". In names like Justyna or Patryk, spelling and reading as "and" is also acceptable: Justina, Patrick.
9. An enchanting combination for a Russian person " śc" can be read and written as "st" (for example, Tadeusz Kosciuszko -Tadeusz Kosciuszko). Or "sc". But right - "shch". For example, if Laurent Koscielny from Arsenal lived in the homeland of his ancestors, he would be Koshchelny. Church, that is.
10. It is advisable to incline Polish male surnames into -i, -s, following the model of Russian surnames, into -i, -i. At the same time, it is possible to design them in the nominative case on the model of Russian surnames. So, Wojciech Kovalevsky - and Wojciech Kovalevsky. Robert Lewandowski - and Robert Lewandowski.
11. Polish female surnames in -a tend to follow the pattern of Russian surnames in -aya, and in the nominative case they can be arranged in the same way. Practice with Barbara Brylska.
This, in general, is enough for the correct reading and spelling of Polish surnames. But to further facilitate the work, I will give two extensive examples.
1. Players called by the coach of the Polish national team Franciszek Smuda (Franciszek Smuda) for friendly games with Germany and Mexico: goalkeepers - Wojciech Szczęsny, Grzegorz Sandomierski, Przemysław Tytoń, stress on the first syllable ); defenders - Jakub Wawrzyniak (Jakub Wawrzyniak, emphasis in the name on the first syllable, in the surname on the second), Arkadiusz Głowacki (Arkadiusz Głowacki), Hubert Wołąkiewicz, Tomasz Jodłowiec (Tomasz Jodłowiec, stress in the surname on the second syllable), Kamil Glick (Kamil Glik); midfielders - Dariusz Dudka (Dariusz Dudka), Adam Matushchik (Adam Matuszczyk, accent in the name on the first syllable), Eugen Polanski (Eugen Polanski), Ludovic Obraniak (Ludovic Obraniak, accent in the name on the second syllable), Rafał Murawski (Rafał Murawski) , Szymon Pavlovsky (Szymon Pawłowski), Jakub Błaszczykowski (Jakub Błaszczykowski), Sławomir Peshko (Sławomir Peszko, emphasis in the surname on the first syllable), Adrian (Adrian) Mezheevsky (Adrian Mierzejewski), Maciej Rybus (Maciej Rybus); forwards - Paweł Brożek, Robert Lewandowski (
We ask you to love and favor: Kowalski, Nowak, Mickiewicz and Lewandowski. We will tell you why exactly these 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 peculiarities, 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 the profession, features of the appearance or character of a person. For example, Kowalski (from kowal- "blacksmith"), Glovach (from glowa- "head") or Fast (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.
Surnames-patronyms- they are usually formed from a personal name with the help of a suffix indicating kinship relations. For example: Petrovich. And yet, a surname is not so simple a thing. Take at least the most popular suffix in Polish surnames: -sky.
Surnames in -sky: the object of dreams Poles
Although these surnames are not that ancient, they have become the most recognizable Polish surnames in the world. In Poland, they are really the most common: surnames in -sky (and also -tsky And -dzky) make up approximately 35% of the 1000 most popular Polish surnames.
What is their history?
Initially, they denoted a specific area where the owner of the surname came from, or his possessions. Among the oldest surnames on -sky, which spread in 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 possessions - and their name - as a distinguishing feature (after all, this is what surnames are for, right?). As a result, surnames -sky began to be considered gentry: they testified to the noble origin and high social status of the family. In the classy Polish society, only 10 percent of which was the 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 formed from nouns. So, Skovron ("lark") became Skovronsky, Kachmarek ("owner of the tavern") - Kachmarsky, and Koval ("blacksmith") - Kovalsky.
Are all surnames ending in -sky - Polish?
Surnames containing 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's surnames -sky with a high degree of probability testify to 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 on -sky are usually associated with the upper strata of Polish society in origin, then surnames formed from ordinary nouns are certainly more democratic. Considering that the majority of Poles come from peasant families, it is these surnames that should be considered the main candidate for the title of “most Polish”. Often they are formed from nicknames associated with the type of activity, features of the appearance or character of their carriers. For example: Novak (“new”, newcomer), Bystron (“smart”), Byala (“white”), Glovach (“with a big head”).
Kovalsky means Kuznetsov: surnames formed from professions
Occupational surnames exist in probably every culture. In Poland, there are a great many of them, largely due to the productivity of various suffixes: -sky, -chik, -ik, -ak etc. For example, from the Polish word kowal(“blacksmith”) originate 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 “ Smith". Such surnames say a lot about the former importance of certain professions in Poland: Wozniak (watchman), Kravchik (tailor), Shevchik (shoemaker), Kaczmarek (shrinkman), Cheshlyak (carpenter), Kolodzeisky (wheel master), Bednazh (cooper, cooper ), Kukharsky (cook) ... And that's not all.
Peter, Petshak, Petrovsky- surnames derived from Christian names
Thanks to the same productive Slavic suffixes, the Polish nominal system has an incredible number of surnames formed from proper names. First of all, we are talking about Christian names, which in the 16th century almost completely replaced the original Slavic ones (their revival came only in the 19th century). From one name, up to several dozen surnames could turn out. For example, on behalf of Peter, the surnames Petrash, Petrashak, Petrashek, Petrushko, Petruha, Petron, Petshak, Petshik, Petrovyak, Peter, Peterek, Petrichek, Petras, Petras, Petri, Petrino are formed. With the classic patronymic suffix -vich(patronymic suffix) are formed: Petrulevich, Petrashkevich, Petrkevich, Petrovich, Petrusevich. Adjective suffixes are also not far behind: Petrovsky, Petrashevsky, Petrazhitsky, Petratsky, Petrushinsky, Petrikovsky, Petritsky, Petshikovsky and many, many others. The amazing productivity of suffixes affected the unprecedented popularity of such surnames. The statistics confirm this. Surnames like Petrovsky, Szymanski (from Szymon), Jankowski (from Jan), Wojciechowski (from Wojciech), Michalski (from Michal), Pavlovsky (from Pavel), Yakubowski (from Jakub) today account for up to 25 percent of all Polish surnames (from the point view of the meaning of the root). As for class affiliation, most of these surnames used to be considered peasant or bourgeois. Today, when class distinctions are long gone, it may seem strange that traditional Polish society valued some surnames more than others. According to the observations of the ethnographer Jan Stanislav Bystron, the first place in the hierarchy was occupied by the surname Mikhalovsky, followed by Mikhalsky, then Mikhalovich; surnames like Michalik, Michalek, Mikhnyak or Michnik lagged noticeably behind and were considered common people. However, they all come from the name Michal.
Polish patronymics
Perhaps, patronymics are one of the most ancient and universal ways to distinguish people. Let's remember the Arabic ibn/bin; Hebrew ben, baht; Scottish poppy; English and Scandinavian -dream. All these formants were used to indicate that someone is someone's son ... Polish patronymics could be formed using suffixes -ik, -chik, -ak, -schak, -chuck(Stakh, Staszek, Stakhura, Staszczyk, Stakhovyak, Stasiak are all sons of Stanisław), however the most important and most recognizable patronymic suffix is the suffix -vich like in Russian. By the way, the Polish suffix -vich just of East Slavic origin (more ancient Polish forms ended in -vic, which was reflected in the names of Polish poets of the 16th-17th centuries: Szymonowitz, Klenowitz). In the eastern lands of the Commonwealth, patronyms 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 patronymics -vich a group of patronyms should be singled out separately 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, Matskevich, Sienkiewicz, Ivashkevich or Vankovich) should be considered the eastern lands of the former Commonwealth (Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine). In fact, all these patronymics 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 Zmicer, Dzmitry), which does not appear in the Polish Christian calendar and Polish national history.
Other surnames
The Commonwealth was a multicultural and multiethnic state, which affected the system of Polish surnames. Many foreign surnames are so rooted in the language that they are no longer perceived as alien.
Armenian: Oganovich (John), Agopsovich (Jacob), Kirkorovich (Grigory), Abgarovich, Aksentovich, Avakovich, Sefarovich, Aivazovsky, Torosovich.
Tatar: Abdulevich, Akhmatovich, Arslanovich, Bogatyrevich (from Bogadar), Safarevich, Shabanevsky, Khalembek, Kotlubai (bey), Melikbashits, Kadyshevich (kadi), Tokhtomyshevich.
Lithuanian Zemaitis, Stanishkis, Pekus, Pekos, Gedroits, Dovgird, Dovkont.
Belarusian Radziwill, Jagello, Sapieha, Mitskevich, Senkevich, Pashkevich, Vashkevich, Kosciuszko, Moniuszko.
Ukrainian Gorodiysky, Golovinsky, Tretyak, Mekhanyuv, Yatsishin, 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 statehood by Poland at the end of the 18th century. As a result, the Prussian, Russian and Austrian authorities began to deal almost exclusively with the issue of giving surnames to Jews. 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 patronymics. According to Jan Bystron, Moisesh ben Yakub, Moizesh Yakubovich or Moizesh Yakub, as well as Moshek Kuba, Moshko Kuba, etc. could address Moses the son of Jacob. (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 Bohensky, Aron Drogobytsky, Israel Zlochovsky (in the Polish manner), on the other hand - Shmul Kalisher or Mekhele Raver. As Jan Bysron explains, one and the same person could have several different variants of the name, depending on whether he was talking to Jews or Poles: himself Poznansky (the same applies to the pair Warsawer / Warsaw, Krakover / Krakowski, Lobzover / Lobzovsky, Patsanover / Patsanovsky). Surnames formed 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 took up the assignment of surnames to Jews.
Surnames of Jews after the Partitions of Poland
Starting from the end of the 18th century, Polish Jews officially received hereditary surnames. First of all, this happened in the territories that fell under the rule of Austria and Prussia, where special commissions were convened for this purpose, which ensured that surnames were not repeated. This gave rise to a surge of bureaucratic ingenuity, to which most of the Jewish surnames in Poland owe their appearance. Wealthy Jews paid officials for euphonious surnames. Preference was given to compound surnames with elements of Diamond-, Pearl-, Gold-, Zilber-, Rosen-, Blumen- and -berg, -tal, -baum, -band, -shtein. At the same time, some surnames were invented with the aim of ridiculing the Jews: Goldberg, Rosenkranz, Gottlieb. The most offensive names were coined by Austrian officials in Galicia: Wolgeruch ("incense"), Temperaturewechsel ("change in temperature"), Ochzenschwantz ("oxtail"), Kanalgeruch ("ditch stink"). Among them were frankly indecent: Jungfernmilch ("virgin's milk"), Afterduft ("aroma of the anus"). Such antics were unusual for the Polish administration, but similar surnames appeared in the 19th century: Inventazh (“inventory”), Alfavit (“alphabet”), Kopyto, Kalamazh (“ink”) and even Wyodek (“toilet”). Some composites are essentially tracing papers from German: Ruzhanykvyat (Rosenblat), Dobrashklyanka (Gutglas), Ksenzhkadomodelenya (Betenbuch). The Russian authorities have chosen a completely different strategy. In the territories subordinate to the Russian Empire, Slavic suffixes were added to the most common Jewish surnames: -ovich, -evich, -sky, -uk, -in, -ov, -ev, etc. Most of them are patronymics: Abramovich, Berkovich, Davidovich, Dvorkovich, Dynovich, Gutovich, Yozelevich, Yakubovsky. It is noteworthy that Jewish matronymic surnames, that is, surnames formed on behalf of the mother, became widespread on the territory of the Russian Empire: Rivsky, Rivin, etc.
Women's surnames
Today in Polish, as in Russian, surnames-adjectives have a masculine and feminine form. For example, Kovalsky - Kovalskaya. However, earlier the system for the formation of female surnames was more complex: it was possible to determine by suffixes whether a woman was married or not.
Unmarried girl: A girl who never married had her father's surname with the suffix -uvna or -anka/-yanka, depending on the final sound of the masculine version of the surname (-uvna for surnames ending in a consonant, -anka for a vowel). For example, Kordziak (father) - Kordziakuvna (daughter), Morava (father) - Moravianka (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, Pukhala - Pukhalina. This tradition in the twentieth century began to gradually fade away. Today, it is preserved only in the speech of older people.
And wins... So what are the most popular Polish surnames today? Here is a list of 10 leading families:
- Novak - 277,000
- Kovalsky - 178,000
- Vishnevsky - 139,000
- Vuychik - 126 500
- Kovalchik - 124 000
- Kaminsky - 120 500
- Levandovsky - 118 400
- Dombrovsky - 117 500
- Zelinsky - 116 370
- Shimansky - 114,000
What does the list say? From the point of view of the linguistic structure, this list is surprisingly monotonous: only surnames with Slavic roots got there. This testifies to the homogeneous nature of Polish society after the Second World War. It's funny that the most common surname in Poland was Nowak, which was once a "label" for a newcomer to the region - probably a foreigner or a visitor from another locality. The list contains three surnames formed 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 surnames presented end in -sky. It turns out that they are really the most Polish.
