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ArchivesRe: What does my last name mean?
in reply to a message by R Switkes
You say that your husband's family doesn't know the origin of their surname -- does that mean that they don't know where their family came from before they immigrated to America?
Is there any possibility that they may be Polish? The name could be a contracted form of "Swiatkowski" -- but I'm only guessing.
-- Nanaea
Is there any possibility that they may be Polish? The name could be a contracted form of "Swiatkowski" -- but I'm only guessing.
-- Nanaea
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Replies
If I had to guess, I'd say Nan's pretty close to the source, at least greographically. The -ke ending on a surname is often indicative of an East Prussian/Pomeranian (northern Poland, not a hyperactive laprat) origin, just as "von" preceding the surname often indicates the upper crust of the same area.
As to the -s final consonant, could this be adding a touch of next-door Lithuanian influence? Just maybe.
Ya know, what might help is if you told us what some of the earliest Switkes FIRST names the family recalls. That might enable us collective geniuses to pin the origin down a bit.
- Da.
As to the -s final consonant, could this be adding a touch of next-door Lithuanian influence? Just maybe.
Ya know, what might help is if you told us what some of the earliest Switkes FIRST names the family recalls. That might enable us collective geniuses to pin the origin down a bit.
- Da.
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Looking for the meaning and origin of the surname PLEGER. Three siblings of that name left the area of Danzig, West Prussia (now G'dansk Poland) in the early 1880's for America.
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I did a Social Security Death Index search on the name, Daividh, and only turned up 19 records. So, presumably, all of the Switkes in the U.S. today are probably descended from the original Switke immigrant(s).
There were a lot of first names used by the early Switkes that have also been commonly used by immigrant Jews: Julius, Leon, Leonard, Morris, Salomon, Selma. So I wonder if the husband's family of our inquirer may be of Jewish descent?
We won't know, unless she comes back to give tell us.
-- Nanaea
There were a lot of first names used by the early Switkes that have also been commonly used by immigrant Jews: Julius, Leon, Leonard, Morris, Salomon, Selma. So I wonder if the husband's family of our inquirer may be of Jewish descent?
We won't know, unless she comes back to give tell us.
-- Nanaea
1