Polish name

A Polish personal name, like names in most European cultures, consists of two main elements: imię, the first name, or the given name; followed by nazwisko, the last name, surname, or the family name. The usage of personal names in Poland is generally governed (in addition to personal taste or family custom) by three major factors: civil law, Church law, and tradition.

It is required by law for a given name (imię) to indicate the person's gender. Almost all Polish female names end in the vowel -a, while most male names end in a consonant or a vowel other than a. There are, however, a few male names (which are very old and uncommon), such as Barnaba, Bonawentura, Boryna, Jarema, Kosma, Kuba (a diminutive of Jakub) and Saba, which end in -a. Maria is an exceptional name as it is a female name which, however, can be also used as a middle (second) name for males (never as a first name for males).

Traditionally Polish-sounding surnames which end with the masculine morpheme -ski suffix (this includes -cki and -dzki) and corresponding feminine suffix -ska/-cka/-dzka were since the High Middle Ages borne by, and associated with, the nobility (Polish szlachta) who in the early years preserved such suffix distinction to themselves.[1] They are widely popular today. Minor regional spelling differences also exist depending on whether the surname is derived or used in Poland or in other languages such as Czech and Slovak (e.g. -sky/-ský).

Imię (given name)

A child in Poland is usually given one or two names, Polish registry offices do not register more than two. Among Catholics, who form the vast majority of the population, it is customary to adopt the name of a saint as an informal third given name at confirmation, however, this does not have any legal effect. (This is reminiscent of the pre-Christian rite of the "first haircut" (postrzyżyny), which also involved giving the child a new name.)

Parents normally choose a name or names for their child from a long list of traditional names which may be:[2]

The names of Slavic saints, such as Wojciech (St Adalbert), Stanisław (St Stanislaus), or Kazimierz (St Casimir), belong to both these groups. Slavic names used by historical Polish monarchs, e.g. Bolesław, Lech, Mieszko, Władysław, are common as well. Additionally, a few names of Lithuanian origin, such as Olgierd (Algirdas), Witold (Vytautas) or Danuta, are also quite popular in Poland.

Traditionally, the names are given at a child's baptism. Non-Christian but traditional Slavic names are usually accepted, but the priest may encourage the parents to pick at least one Christian name. In the past two Christian names were given to a child so that he or she had two patron saints instead of just one. At confirmation people usually adopt yet another (second or third) Christian name; however, it is never used outside Church documents.

In Eastern Poland, as in many other Catholic countries, people celebrate name days (imieniny) on the day of their patron saint. On the other hand, in Western Poland birthdays are more popular. Today, in Eastern Poland birthdays remain relatively intimate celebrations, as often only relatives and close friends know a person's date of birth. Name days, on the other hand, are often celebrated together with co-workers, etc. Information about whose name day it is today can be found in most Polish calendars, web portals, etc.

The choice of a given name is largely influenced by fashion. Many parents name their child after a national hero or heroine, some otherwise famous person, or a character from a book, film, or TV show. In spite of this, a great number of names used in today's Poland have been in use since the Middle Ages.

Diminutives are very popular in everyday usage, and are by no means reserved for children. The Polish language allows for a great deal of creativity in this field. Most diminutives are formed by adding a suffix. For male names it may be -ek or the more affectionate -uś; for female names it may be -ka, or -nia / -dzia / -sia / cia respectively. Maria, a name whose standard form was once reserved to refer to Virgin Mary, has a particularly great number of possible diminutives, which include: Marysia, Maryśka, Marysieńka, Marychna, Mania, Mańka, Maniusia, Maryna, Marianna, some of which (indicated by underlining) have eventually become treated as standard names of their own (probably having their own derivatives), while others (such as those in italics), are shared diminutives and are less popular (largely regarded as foreign).

Also, as in many other cultures, a person may informally use a nickname (pseudonim, ksywa) in addition to or instead of a given name.

As of 2009, the most popular female names in Poland are Anna, Maria, and Katarzyna (Katherine). The most popular male names are Piotr (Peter), Krzysztof (Christopher), and Andrzej (Andrew).[3]

Nazwisko (surname)

Polish surnames, like those in most of Europe, are hereditary and generally patrilineal, i.e., passed from the father on to his children.

A Polish marriage certificate lists three fields, the surnames for the husband, wife, and children. The partners may choose to retain their surnames, or both adopt the surname before marriage of either partner, or a combination of both; the children must receive either the joint surname or the surname of one of the partners, if they are different. However, a married woman usually adopts her husband's name and the children usually bear the surname of the father. The wife may keep her maiden name (nazwisko panieńskie) or add her husband's surname to hers, thus creating a double-barrelled name (nazwisko złożone). However, if she already has a double-barrelled name, she must leave one of the parts out—it is illegal to use a triple- or more-barrelled name. It is also possible, though rare, for the husband to adopt his wife's surname or to add his wife's surname to his family name (an example is businessman Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, who did both, taking his wife's name on his first marriage, and later appending his second wife's name to it).

A person may also legally change his or her surname if:

The most widespread Polish surnames are Nowak, Kowalski, Wiśniewski and Wójcik.[3]

Suffix -ski/-ska

"Ski" (also "Sky" in other regions) is the formative adjective, continuation of Proto-Slavic language "ьskъ", which defined affiliation to something, and was also used with names of territories and settlements to denote possession or place of origin.[4][5] Surnames of the Polish nobility bearing the morpheme -ski (feminine: -ska) suffix, were since the High Middle Ages in eastern Europe and some parts of central Europe a characteristic borne only by the nobility.[1] It was the equivalent to nobiliary particles appearing in the names of foreign nobility, such as in the Germanic von or zu. Almost all surnames borne by the nobility with the -ski (or -sky) suffix are preceded by a territorial place name (toponymic) or other territorial designation derived from their main court, holdings, castle, manor or estate. For example, the Polish nobleman Jan of Tarnów whose name in Polish is "Jan z Tarnowa" was equally known by the name "Jan Tarnowski", this distinguished nobility where the preposition of "z" alone could be construed as a regular prepositional particle.

In the 19th-century, a wave of seemingly noble sounding surnames began to also appear among the common population, where a significant number of the bourgeoisie class and later even peasantry began to adopt or bear the distinguished "noble" -ski suffix, giving their names a noble flavour.[6] The -ski suffix was thus attached to other surnames derived for example from a person's occupation, characteristics or to patronymic surnames, as well as toponymic surnames derived for example from a person's place of residence, birth or family origin.[6] This caused a blur between the -ski bearing territorial toponymic surnames once a characteristic only borne by the nobility. As such, and contrary to a popular modern-day misconception, a person simply bearing the -ski suffix in their family surname or merely sharing the same toponymic surname as members of Poland's nobility, does not in itself denote that person too is a member of the nobility, of noble origin, or indeed connected to that particular family.[6]

When referring to two or more members of the same family and surname, the suffix -ski is replaced with the plural -skich, -scy or -ccy (plural masculine or both masculine and feminine) as well as -skie or -ckie (plural feminine).[7]

History, heraldry, and clan names

Family names, as such, first appeared in Poland ca. 13th century and were only used by the upper social classes of society. Originally the Polish nobility belonged to heraldic clans (Polish ród herbowy) whose names survived in their shared coats of arms. Eventually, members of one clan would split into separate families with different surnames, usually derived from the name of the holdings or estate they owned or subsequently acquired. Sometimes the family name and the clan name (associated with the arms) would be used together and form a double-barrelled name.

The most striking concept of the Polish heraldic system is that a coat of arms may originate from a single family but it may be carried by several non-related families of the Polish szlachta (nobility). A number of families, often unrelated by blood, but by formal adoption upon ennoblement (see heraldic adoption), usually with a number of different family surnames, may use the same coat of arms even though each coat of arms has its own unique name, usually derived from the name of the first or original coat-of-arms bearer or group of bearers. Thus the total number of coats of arms in this system was relatively low — ca. 200 in the late Middle Ages.

One side-effect of this unique arrangement was that it became customary to refer to noblemen by both their family name and their coat of arms/clan name. For example: Jan Zamoyski herbu Jelita means Jan Zamoyski of the clan Jelita.

From the 15th to 17th centuries, the formula seems to copy the ancient Roman naming convention with the classic tria nomina used by the Patricians: praenomen (or given name), nomen gentile (or gens/Clan name) and cognomen (surname), following the Renaissance fashion, thus: Jan Jelita Zamoyski, forming a double-barrelled name (nazwisko złożone). Later, the double-barrelled name would be joined with a hyphen: Jan Jelita-Zamoyski.

Gradually the use of family names spread to other social groups: the townsfolk (burghers) by the end of the 17th century, then the peasantry, and finally the Jews. The process finally ended only in the mid-19th century.

After the First and Second World Wars some resistance fighters added their wartime noms de guerre to their original family names. This was yet another reason for creating double-barrelled names. Examples include Edward Rydz-Śmigły, Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, and Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski. Some artists, such as Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, also added their noms de plume to their surnames.

Poles in diasporas

When Poles emigrate to countries with different languages and cultures, the often-difficult spelling and pronunciation of Polish names commonly cause them to be misspelled or changed;[8] sometimes indirectly by transliteration into, e.g., Cyrillic.

For example, in English often changes w to v and sz to sh. Similar changes sometimes occur in French, as well as the addition to Polish aristocratic family names with the nobiliary particles of de (la particule) or von/zu, when for instance the ski/cki/dzki surnames reportedly already contain the preposition of de/von/zu used in other languages when distinguishing names of the nobility. Changes in Spanish may be even more extreme. A Spiczyński may become simply Spika, for example while the proper translation would be de Spiczyn.

Another typical change is the loss of the gender distinction in adjectival surnames, especially visible for those ending in -ski (fem.: -ska), -cki (fem.: -cka) and -dzki (fem.: -dzka) - see section "Feminine forms". Western languages do not know the distinction of male and female surnames, even if they know the grammatical gender of adjectives (like in German, French or Spanish). As the surname is in most cases inherited from the father (or accepted from the husband), the Western (i.e. non-Slavic) registries of birth and marriage in almost all cases ascribe the masculine form (the one ending in -i) to the female members of the family, who otherwise, in the Slavic countries, would use the feminine form of the surname (the one ending in -a). So the form Anna Kowalski would never be met within Poland, whereas it is commonly met within the USA, Germany or Argentina.

Yet another change may be changing the final vowel -i of the endings -ski, -cki and -dzki into -y. In fact, the surnames ending in -sky etc. are common in Czech, Slovak and Ukrainian languages, but they never occur in Polish.

Classification

Based on grammatical features, Polish surnames may be divided into:

Adjectival names very often end in the suffixes -ski, -cki and -dzki (feminine -ska, -cka and -dzka), and are considered to be either typically Polish or typical for the Polish nobility. In case of '-ski' it is true to the extent that a surname contains a name of a city, a town, a village or another geographical location . In countries where not all people with de or von in their names were formally nobles however the adjectival suffix -ski, -ski or -sky is found in many other Slavic languages, and in Poland, the adjectival form of a name was not reserved to the szlachta (nobility).

Based on origin, Polish family names may be generally divided into three groups: cognominal, toponymic and patronymic.

Cognominal

A cognominal surname (nazwisko przezwiskowe) derives from a person's nickname, usually based on his profession, occupation, a physical description, or character trait.

Examples of cognominal surnames:

Toponymic

Toponymic surnames (nazwisko odmiejscowe) usually derives from the name of a village or town, or the name of a topographic feature. These names are almost always of the adjectival form. Originally they referred to the village owner (lord), in the 19th century however they were mostly formed for people (dwellers) who were lacking surnames by then, from the name of the town inhabited.[6]

Examples of toponymic surnames:

Patronymic

A patronymic surname (nazwisko odimienne) derives from a given name of a person and usually ends in a suffix suggesting a family relation.

Examples of patronymic surnames:

Other

Feminine forms

Adjectival surnames, like all Polish adjectives, have masculine and feminine forms. If a masculine surname ends in -i or -y; its feminine equivalent ends in -a.

Surnames ending with consonants usually have no additional feminine form. In the past, when the masculine form ending in consonant, the feminine surname could have been derived by adding an extra siffix -owa indicating ownership: e.g., Cezaria Baudouin de Courtenay after marrying (third time) to Janusz Jędrzejewicz was named Cezaria Baudouin de Courtenay Ehrenkreutz Jędrzejewiczowa. In modern times, Jędrzejewicz may be both a masculine and a feminine surname.

The feminine form is not just a common usage form, it is also the form of the surname that appears in all official records, birth, death and marriage certificates, identity cards, passports etc.

Neutral form

The neutral form ("rodzaj nijaki") may be used for neuter gender, e.g. when talking about a child of the neighbours one may say "To małe Kowalskie jest bardzo spokojnym dzieckiem" ("That Kowalski little one is a very quiet child"), or in plural: "Wasilewskie wyjechały do babci" ("The Wasilewskis children went away to see their grandma"). Unlike the feminine form, this form is never used in official documents, it is an informal form used mostly in spoken language, not so often even in written prose.

Examples of feminine and neutral forms

Masculine Feminine Neutral Entire family (Mr. & Mrs.) - plural Children only (of unspecified sex) - plural
Malinowski Malinowska Malinowskie Malinowscy Malinowskie
Zawadzki Zawadzka Zawadzkie Zawadzcy Zawadzkie
Podgórny Podgórna Podgórne Podgórni Podgórne
Biały Biała Białe Biali Białe

Nominal surnames may or may not change with gender. Like other Slavic languages, Polish has special feminine suffixes which were added to a woman's surname. A woman who was never married used her father's surname with the suffix -ówna or -'anka. A married woman or a widow used her husband's surname with the suffix -owa or -'ina / -'yna (the apostrophe means that the last consonant in the base form of the surname is softened). Although these suffixes are still used by some people, mostly the elderly and in rural areas, they are now becoming outdated and there is a tendency to use the same form of a nominal surname for both a man and a woman. However, the forms in "-anka" and "-ina/-yna" tend to disappear and are being replaced by the forms in "-ówna" and "-owa" respectively.

Father / husband Unmarried woman Married woman or widow
ending in a consonant (except g) -ówna -owa
ending in a vowel or in -g -'anka -'ina or -'yna

Examples of old feminine forms:

Father / husband Unmarried woman Married woman or widow
Nowak Nowakówna Nowakowa
Madej Madejówna Madejowa
Konopka Konopczanka, new: Konopkówna Konopczyna, new: Konopkowa
Zaręba Zarębianka, new: Zarębówna Zarębina, new: Zarębowa
Pług Płużanka, new: Pługówna Płużyna, new: Pługowa

Plural forms

Plural forms of the surnames follow the pattern of the masculine and feminine forms respectively, if such exist. For the married couple or the whole family (bi-gender situation: mixture of males and females), the masculine plural is used. Plural forms of the names quite rarely follow the patterns of regular declension, even if the name is identical with a common name. Uneducated people often use plural of the common names for plural of surnames, and the feminine plural form of the adjectival surnames (felt as a neutral one, in fact non-existent) in bi-gender situation.

Surname masculine Plural masculine or both masculine and feminine Surname feminine Plural feminine Plural of the common name (for comparison)
Kowalski Kowalscy Kowalska Kowalskie ---
Wilk (translating to 'wolf') Wilkowie --- (Wilkówna, Wilkowa) --- (Wilkówne, Wilkowe) wilki, wilcy
Zięba (translating to 'finch') Ziębowie --- (Ziębianka, Ziębina, new: Ziębówna, Ziębowa) --- (Ziębianki, Ziębiny, new: Ziębówny, Ziębowe) zięby

Declension of adjectival surnames

The table below shows the full declension of adjectival surnames ending in -ki (-ski, -cki), on example of the surname "Kowalski".

Number: Singular Plural Mixed
(masculine and feminine)
Case Masculine
"męskie"		 Feminine
"żeńskie"		 Neutral
"nijakie"		 Masculine Feminine Neutral
Nominative ("Mianownik") Kowalski Kowalska Kowalskie Kowalscy Kowalskie Kowalscy
Genitive ("Dopełniacz") Kowalskiego Kowalskiej Kowalskiego Kowalskich Kowalskich
Dative ("Celownik") Kowalskiemu Kowalskiemu Kowalskim Kowalskim
Accusative ("Biernik") Kowalskiego Kowalską Kowalskie Kowalskich Kowalskie Kowalskich
Instrumental ("Narzędnik") Kowalskim Kowalskim Kowalskimi Kowalskimi
Locative ("Miejscownik") Kowalskiej Kowalskich Kowalskich
Vocative ("Wołacz") Kowalski Kowalska Kowalskie Kowalscy Kowalskie Kowalscy

Formal and informal use

Poles pay great attention to the correct way of referring to or addressing other people depending on the level of social distance, familiarity and politeness. The differences between formal and informal language include:

Formal language

Pan / Pani / Państwo

Pan and Pani are the basic honorific styles used in Polish to refer to a man or woman, respectively. In the past, these styles were reserved to hereditary nobles and played more or less the same roles as "Lord" or "Sir" and "Lady" or "Madame" in English. Since the 19th century, they have come to be used in all strata of society and may be considered equivalent to the English "Mr." and "Ms." or the Japanese "san" suffix while the nobles would be addressed "Jego/Jej Miłość Pan/Pani" (His/Her Grace Lord/Lady). There used to be a separate style, Panna ("Miss"), applied to an unmarried woman, but this is now outdated and mostly replaced by Pani.

"Państwo" is widely used when referred to a married couple (instead of using separately Pan and Pani) or even the whole family.

Examples:

Titles

When addressing people, scientific and other titles are always used together with "Pan" and "Pani" and the name itself is dropped. However, when a person is spoken of but not addressed directly, then both the title and the name are used and the words "Pan"/"Pani" are often omitted.

Examples:

but:

Given name / surname order

The given name(s) normally comes before the surname. However, in a list of people sorted alphabetically by surname, the surname usually comes first. Hence some people may also use this order in spoken language (e.g. introducing themselves as Kowalski Jan instead of Jan Kowalski), but this is generally considered incorrect or a throwback to the Communist era when this order was sometimes heard in official situations. In many formal situations the given name is omitted altogether.

Examples:

On the other hand, it is not common to refer to public figures, while not addressing them, with "Pan" or "Pani". It is rarely done with politicians, e.g.

and never with artists, athletes, sportsmen or sportswomen:

In such circumstances, preceding a name with "Pan" or "Pani" would usually be felt as being ironical.

Semi-formal levels of address

In situations of frequent contact, e.g. at work, people who do not decide to change their status from formal into friendly, may remain for years at semi-formal level, using the formal "Pan" / "Pani" form followed by the given name. This way of calling people is used not only when addressing them but also when referring to them while talking to a third person with whom one remains at the same level of semi-formal contacts.

The common situation is that of reciprocity (in case both people have equal, or close to equal, status). However, an asymmetric situation is also quite common, when a subordinate person is addressed by his or her given name by their superior, but the subordinate never uses the given name of the superior, using his or her title instead:

This style is to a certain degree similar to the Vietnamese, Japanese or Icelandic usage.

NB. If the superior wants to behave more politely or show his or her friendly attitude towards the subordinate etc., the diminutive of the given name of the subordinate may be used (like in the semi-informal way of addressing among co-workers or neighbours, see below): "Panie Włodku!", "Pani Jadziu!". This, however, is usually not practised when the subordinate is much older than the superior, as it may be felt by the subordinate as being overly patronised by his/her superior.

It is rude to call a person by his/hers surname in the presence of unknown people. In a random crowd, a person calling another person should use a form of "Proszę Pana / Pani" ("I'm asking you, Sir / Madam") or to use semi-formal form with first name, like "Panie Włodzimierzu" ("Mr. Włodzimierz"). This rule comes from a general rule that one has right to be anonymous among crowd of unknown people. This rule is observed in most countries of western culture. To disclose one's given name does not fall under this rule, as many people can be named Włodzimierz for instance.

Semi-informal and informal language

Informal forms of address are normally used only by relatives, close friends and co-workers. In such situations diminutives are generally preferred to the standard forms of given names. At an intermediate level of familiarity (e.g. among co-workers) a diminutive given name may be preceded by formal Pan or Pani (semi-informal form of address).

Examples:

Using the honorific style with a surname only, if used to refer to a given person directly, is generally perceived as rude (giving impression of patronising or irony; e.g., "Panie Idioto"). In such a case it is more polite to avoid this form and when referring to the person use just the form "Pan", without given or family name.

It is very rude to address someone whom one does not know well with the omission of "Pan" or "Pani" (and with the second person singular instead of the polite third person singular pronouns and verb forms). Traditionally, the act of moving from this form to a friendly "you" must be acknowledged by both parties and it is usually a mark of a close friendly relationship between the two people. The change can only be proposed by the older or more respected person; a similar suggestion initiated by the younger or less respected person will usually be perceived as presumptuous and arrogant.

There is a clear distinction between "friends" and "colleagues". For example, co-workers will be very rarely referred to as friends but often as colleagues. In many cases people will be called "colleagues" after the titling was mutually agreed to be changed from "Pan/Pani" to "you" but it isn't a rule; being a colleague in Polish means that people share their time or aims to some extent. To be considered a "friend" they have to feel closer relation and there must be mutual understanding of each other (usually, indicating that they believe they can share each other secrets without fearing that they will be revealed to others, and, more generally, when one can depend on another even in the most difficult situations). Thus "przyjaciel" ("friend") in Polish has a narrower meaning than its counterpart in English.

There is yet another type of relation: "znajomy" which means "acquaintance" or "a person known to another person" distinct from "kolega" (a colleague). Acquainted can be a person having a small talk on a daily basis or seen from time to time on various occasions; nonetheless it is common to call "znajomi" (plural) people one knows on private level, therefore it is an equivalent of English "friend", but in official relationships, however, it can mean a person one knows on lesser level than "kolega".

It is not uncommon to use a half-informal title, with the name omitted. This is, however, usually found only in the vocative case: "Panie Kolego!" (much less common: "Pani Koleżanko!") which literally means "Mr. Mate!".

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Zenon Klemensiewicz, Historia języka polskiego (History of Polish), PWN, Warsaw 1985, ISBN 83-01-06443-9. (in Polish)
  2. ↑ "The most Common Baby names in Poland - History, Trends". http://culture.polishsite.us/. External link in |work= (help)
  3. 1 2 "20 most common given names in Poland", Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration (PDF file, direct download) (Polish)
  4. ↑ Zarębski, Rafał (2013). Studia Ceranea; Possessive Adjectives Formed from Personal Names in Polish Translations of the New Testament 3. Łódź: Journal of the Waldemar Ceran Research Centre for the History and Culture of the Mediterranean Area and South-East Europe. pp. 187–196.
  5. ↑ Stanisław Rospond, Gramatyka historyczna języka polskiego z ćwiczeniami (Polish historical grammar..), Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warsaw 2009, p. 114, ISBN 978-83-01-13992-6. (in Polish)
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Akta instytucji powołanych do badania szlachectwa (XIX w. deputacje szlacheckie i Heroldia Królestwa Polskiego): Literatura" [Official documents for the heraldry searches]. Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych (The Head Office of the State Archives Poland) (in Polish). Warsaw: Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Państwowych (The Head Office of the State Archives Poland) www.archiwa.gov.pl. Retrieved 19 May 2014. ... Wymienienie czyjegoś nazwiska w herbarzu nie oznacza, że współcześnie żyjąca osoba pochodzi od rodziny w herbarzu tym występującej. Wiele pozornie szlacheckich nazwisk z końcówką "-ski" należy do osób pochodzenia chłopskiego lub mieszczańskiego, które nazwisko otrzymały od nazwiska właściciela majątku, w którym mieszkały lub na fali panującej w XIX w. mody na dodawanie do nazwiska właśnie tej końcówki. ...'
  7. ↑ ROCIC International Names, Special Report, Law Enforcement Guide to International Names. ROCIC Publications, Angela Adams, USA, 2010, p. 11.
  8. ↑ A Translation Guide to 19th-Century Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents: Birth, Marriage and Death Records, Northbrook, Illinois, Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, 1989 (second edition); ISBN 0-9613512-1-7
  9. ↑ "Polskie nazwiska." Zgapa.pl (Polish)
  10. ↑ "Nowak." MoiKrewni.pl (Polish)

References

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