A Polish personal name, like names in most European cultures, consists of two main elements: imię, or the given name, followed by nazwisko, 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. World map showing the location of Europe. ... Look up Appendix:Most popular given names by country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Anthroponym. ... Civil law or continental law is the predominant system of law in the world. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Roman Catholic Church...

Imię (given name)

A child in Poland is usually given one or two given names and it is illegal to officially use more than two given names. But it is customary to have 3 the last after postrzyżyny or confirmation. Parents normally choose a name or names for their child from a long list of traditional names which may be: See Reform Judaism article about its Confirmation ceremony. ...

• a Slavic name of pre-Christian origin. Usually with addition 'from' - z, ż, iz a placename as Zbyszko z Bogdańca or Jurij iz Slavonie; similar to Icelandic corssed z or Teutonic von. to the name may be added also parental and maternal references or lists of properties eg : Pan Miri, o'Iriol Dalmveci...

• a Christian name, i.e., a Biblical name or a saint's name, or

Note that names of Slavic saints, such as Wojciech (St Adalbert), Stanisław (St Stanislaus), or Kazimierz (St Casimir), belong to both groups. Additionally, a few names of Lithuanian origin, such as Olgierd (Algirdas), Witold (Vytautas) or Grażyna are also quite popular in Poland. Christian name is a term more or less synonymous with forename or given name. It can be seen as an archaism due to the increasing secularisation of what were once compulsorily Christian societies, but it continues to be very widely used, and not just by practising Christians. ... This is a list of names from the Bible, mainly taken from the 19th century public domain resource: Hitchcocks New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible by Roswell D. Hitchcock, New York: A. J. Johnson, 1874, c1869. ... A saint’s name is the name of a saint given to individuals at their baptism within the Catholic Church. ... Adalbert (Czech: VojtÄ›ch â–¶(?), Polish: Wojciech, Germanic equivalent Adalbert - the joy of warrior) (c. ... Stanisław Szczepanowski (Stanislaus of Szczepanów; b. ... Saint Casimir Jagiełło, prince of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania was born in 1458 at the royal palace in Kraków. ...

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. Nowadays, this is more because of tradition, and the second given name is rarely used in everyday situations, the use of a middle name being considered pretentious. At confirmation people usually adopt yet another (second or third) Christian name; however, it is never used outside Church documents. Baptism in early Christian art. ... Saint Quentin is the patron saint of locksmiths and is also invoked against coughs and sneezes. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Confirmation is a rite used in many Christian Churches. ...

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, can be found in most Polish calendars, web portals, etc. A calendar page from 1712 with namesdays Namesdays or name days are a tradition, found in various Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries, of attaching personal names to each day of the year, and celebrating the association of particular days with those for whom that day is named. ... A childs first birthday party. ...

It is required by law for a given name to clearly indicate the person's sex. 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, such as Barnaba and Bonawentura, which end in -a. Maria is an exceptional name as it can be used both as a female and as a male name; the latter usage, however, is very uncommon and practically restricted to the second (middle) name.

The choice of a given name is largely influenced by fashion. Many parents may 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. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

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 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, Maja, Majka, Marusia, Maryla, Maryna, Marianna, Mariola, Marzena, Marlena, Marietta, Marita, Marika, Marisa. Some of those have eventually become treated as standard names of their own. A diminutive is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment. ... Polish (jÄ™zyk polski, polszczyzna) is the official language of Poland. ... The term Virgin Mary has several different meanings: Mary, the mother of Jesus, the historical and multi-denominational concept of Mary Blessed Virgin Mary, the Roman Catholic theological and doctrinal concept of Mary Marian apparitions shrines to the Virgin Mary Virgin Mary in Islam, the Islamic theological and doctrinal concept...

Also, as in many other cultures, a person may informally use a nickname (przezwisko, ksywa) in addition to or instead of a given name. // A nickname is a name of a person or thing other than its proper name. ...

As of 2003, the most popular female names in Poland are Anna, Maria, and Katarzyna. The most popular male names are Piotr, Jan, and Andrzej. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January events January 1 Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ...

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. Patrilineality (a. ...

A married woman usually adopts her husband's name. However, other combinations are legally possible. 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. To meet Wikipedias quality standards and appeal to a wider international audience, this article may require cleanup. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

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

• it is offensive or funny;
• it is of foreign origin;
• it is identical with a given name;
• that person has effectively used a different surname for a long time.

The most widespread Polish surnames are Nowak, Kowalski, and Wiśniewski. Lisa Marie Nowak (born May 10, 1963 in Washington, D.C.) is an American astronaut. ... Kowalski (feminine: Kowalska, plural Kowalscy) is the second most common surname in Poland (139,719). ... WiÅ›niewski (feminine: WiÅ›niewska, plural WiÅ›niewscy) is the third most common surname in Poland (109,855 people). ...

History

Family names first appeared in Poland ca. 15th century and were only used by the nobility (szlachta). Originally the nobles belonged to warrior clans whose names survived in the names of their coats of arms. Eventually, members of one clan would split into separate families with different surnames, usually derived from the name of the village they owned. Sometimes the family name and the clan name (associated with the arms) would be used together and form a double-barrelled name. The history of Polish heraldry is an integral part of the history of the Szlachta, the Polish nobility. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (848x938, 551 KB) Coat of Arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Made by Halibutt in GIMP and blender, out of Image:Pogon. ... Over the past millennium, the territory ruled by Poland has shifted and varied greatly. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... Stanisław Antoni Szczuka, a Polish nobleman Szlachta ( ) was the noble class in Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the two countries that later jointly formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ... A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ... A modern coat of arms is derived from the medi val practice of painting designs onto the shield and outer clothing of knights to enable them to be identified in battle, and later in tournaments. ...

The most striking peculiarity of the Polish heraldic system is that a coat of arms does not belong to a single family. A number of unrelated families (sometimes hundreds of them), usually with a number of different family names, may use a coat of arms, and each coat of arms has its own name. 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 Jelita coat of arms (though it is often translated as ...of the clan Jelita). Noble Family Zamoyski Coat of Arms Jelita Parents Stanisław Zamoyski Anna Herburt Consorts Anna Ossolińska Krystyna Radziwiłł Gryzelda Batory Barbara Tarnowska Children with Barbara Tarnowska Tomasz Zamoyski Date of Birth March 19, 1542 Place of Birth Skokówka, Poland Date of Death June 3... Jelita - is a Polish Coat of Arms. ...

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. ... This article is about the social and political class in ancient Rome. ... GENS is an open source emulator for the Sega Genesis (Sega Megadrive). ... The cognomen (name known by in English) was originally the third name of a Roman in the Roman naming convention. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The use of family names gradually spread to other social groups: the townsfolk by the end of the 17th century, then the peasantry, and finally the Jews. The process finally ended only in the mid-19th century. Bourgeoisie (RP [], GA []) in modern use refers to the wealthy or propertied social class in a capitalist society. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Categories: 1911 Britannica | Historical stubs | Feudalism ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country through either the use of physical force, or nonviolence. ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... Edward Rydz-ÅšmigÅ‚y (March 11, 1886 - December 2, 1941); nom de guerre ÅšmigÅ‚y, TarÅ‚owski, Adam Zawisza) was a Polish politician, an officer of the Polish Army, painter and poet. ... Jan Nowak-JezioraÅ„ski Jan Nowak-JezioraÅ„ski (October 3, 1914 – January 20, 2005) was a Polish journalist, writer, politician, social worker and patriot. ... General Count Tadeusz Komorowski (June 1, 1895 - August 24, 1966), better known by the name Bór-Komorowski (after one of his wartime code-names: Bór) was a Polish military leader. ... Tadeusz Å»eleÅ„ski (better known under his pseudonym Tadeusz Boy-Å»eleÅ„ski; 1874-1941) was a Polish gynaecologist, writer, poet, art critic, translator of French literary classics and journalist. ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ...

Polonia

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; sometimes indirectly by transliteration into, e.g., Cyrillic. The Cyrillic alphabet (pronounced also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is actually a family of alphabets, subsets of which are used by a wide variety of Slavic languages—Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian—as well as many other languages of the...

For example, in German, ski and cki are often replaced by sky and tzky, sz by sch, and so on; English often changes w to v and sz to sh. Similar changes sometimes occur in French, as well as the addition to aristocratic names of de (la particule[1]). The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Changes in Spanish may be even more extreme. A Spiczynski may become simply Spika, for example. Hyphenated double-barrelled names are often rearranged: Erasmus Bogorya-Skotnicki becomes Erasmo Bogorya de Skotnicki or Erasmo Skotnicki de Bogorya.

Classification

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

• nominal, derived from and declined as a noun
• adjectival, derived from and declined as an adjective.

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. However, this is not exactly true: the adjectival suffix -ski, -skii or -sky is found in many other Slavic languages, and in Poland, the adjectival form of a name was not reserved to the szlachta. In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns and adjectives to indicate such features as number (typically singular vs. ... In English, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ... talea harris and sophie king are sluts In grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a noun or pronoun (called the adjectives subject, giving more information about what the noun or pronoun refers to. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup...

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 occupation, or a physical or character trait.

Examples:

• Kowal, Kowalski, Kowalczyk, Kowalewski — from kowal, or "blacksmith";
• Młynarz, Młynarski, Młynarczyk — from młynarz, or "miller";
• Nowak, Nowakowski, Nowicki — from nowy, or "new one";
• Lis, Lisiewicz, Lisowski — from lis, or "fox".

Toponymic

A toponymic surname (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.

Examples:

• Tarnowski — from Tarnów;
• Zaleski — from across the forest (za lasem);
• Górski — from the mountains (góry).

Tarnów is a city in south-eastern Poland with 121,500 inhabitants (1995). ...

Patronymic

A patronymic surname (nazwisko odimienne) derives from a given name of a person and usually ends in a suffix suggesting a family relation. Look up patronymic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Examples:

• Jan, Jachowicz, Janicki, Jankowski, Janowski — derived from Jan (John);
• Adamczewski, Adamczyk, Adamowski, Adamski — derived from Adam;
• Łukasiński, Łukaszewicz — derived from Łukasz (Luke).

Feminine forms

Adjectival surnames, like all Polish adjectives, have masculine and feminine forms. While a masculine surname usually ends in -i or -y, its feminine equivalent ends in -a. Examples: In linguistics, grammatical gender is a morphological category associated with the expression of gender through inflection or agreement. ...

Nominal surnames may or may not change with gender. Like other Slavic languages, Polish used to have 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 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.

Examples:

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:

• using surnames vs. given names;
• using vs. not using honorific titles such as Pan / Pani;
• using the third person singular forms vs. second person singular.

Formal language

Pan / Pani

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 members of the szlachta 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." There used to be a separate style, Panna ("Miss"), applied to an unmarried woman, but this is outdated and replaced by Pani.

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. In many formal situations the given name is omitted altogether.

Examples:

• Pan Włodzimierz Malinowski
• Pani Jadwiga Kwiatkowska

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 Pan or Pani.

Examples:

• Pan Włodek
• Pani Jadzia

Most common surnames in Poland

See also

• Name of Poland
• Polish clans
• Polish heraldry
• T-V distinction