Appendix:Polish surnames

Main category: Polish surnames

Polish surnames are known from the Middle Ages, but only 200 years ago did the inherited surnames become compulsory. The most common Polish names Nowak, Nowakowski, Nowacki, and Nowicki are all variants meaning new, and Przybyszewski and Przybylski mean he who has arrived. There are many names coming from a profession, e.g Kowalski and Kowalczyk come from kowal (=smith), Woźniak means driver. There are surnames derived from first names, such as Piotrowski from Piotr (=Peter), Jankowski from Jan (=John). Other names come from trees: Wiśniewski, Wiszniewski, Wiśniowski and Wiśniowiecki from wiśnia (cherry); Dąbrowski from dąbrowa (=oak forest). A large number of surnames with -ski and -cki suffixes come from a place name, usually place of origin, for example Poznański means from Poznań.

Top 15 most common surnames in Poland^[1]:

1. Nowak : 203,506 (from nowy "new")
2. Kowalski : 139,719 (from kowal "blacksmith")
3. Wiśniewski : 109,855 (from wiśnie "cherries")
4. Wójcik : 99,509 (from wójt, a noun describing chief officer of a group of a villages)
5. Kowalczyk : 97,796 (from kowal "blacksmith")
6. Kamiński : 94,499 (from kamień "stone")
7. Lewandowski : 92,449 (from the town of Lewandów, the name of which derives from “lavender tree”)
8. Zieliński : 91,043 (from zielony "green")
9. Szymański : 89,091 (from Szymon, equivalent to Simon)
10. Woźniak : 88,039 (from woźny, "apparitor")
11. Dąbrowski : 86,132 (from dąbrowa "oak forest")
12. Kozłowski : 75,962 (from Kozłów or Kozłowo, i.e a town named after the “goat” - “kozioł” in Polish)
13. Jankowski : 68,514 (from Janek, equivalent to John)
14. Mazur : 66,773 (from Mazury, the region in Poland)
15. Wojciechowski : 66,361 (from the first name Wojciech, or Adalbert)