Stankavich
I have been researching the surname Stankavich for some time now. It is rather confusing because there are so many variations to the name. Such as:
· Stankaitis
· Stankaitus
· Stankavicz
· Stankeowicus
· Stankevicius
· Stankevicius
· Stankevicius
· Stankewicz
· Stankitus
· Stankus
· Stankus
· Stankunas
· Stankus
· Stankus
· Stankwych
Now, the ending of "wicz" and "vich" are from 2 different origins (lithuanian and Russian) I notice both mean "son of" (son of Stan) but, should we assume that the name we have now is the original name - or that it has possibly changed over time when our ancestors migrated and that some of the above are all in the same? It makes it very difficult to trace back our roots. Should we stick with the original name of Stankavich when researching? Whats your opinion?
Thanks!
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Replies

Do you know anything about your ancestors? My guess is they come from the former Eastern European Block.
As far as I know -wicz is a Polish ending. -vich can be Russian, but it is more commonly used in Serbia and the other republics in former Yugoslavia (Croatia, Macedonia, etc.)
Also, Stan is not an Eastern European name. Stankavich sounds more like "son of Stanko" (Stanko is short from Stanimir, Stanislav or any other Slavic name that starts with "stan" - to become).
Finally, I would think the original name is either Stankovich or Stankevich, but that's just an educated guess :). I would suggest swapping the "avich" for "evich" or "ovich" when researching. Also, you might consider spelling the name as Stancavich/Stancovich, but that's a long shot.
Hope that helps a bit :o)
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Estimado Amigo:estoy consultando sobre familiares de mi abuelo materno oriundo de la antigua Yugoslavia, emigro hacia argentina despues de la segunda guerra mundial, su nombre era DUSAN STANCOVICH, el nombre de su madre era ANA RACHILOVICH.; cualquier novedad sobre sus parientes por favor reenviar a mi correo, sailestancovich@yahoo.com.ar
Muchas GraciasElias Julio Vargas Stancovich
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We don't know a whole lot at all about his ancestors. That is why we have been researching, to find out more. I am actually Bernard's fiance - and we are both researching togather. Bernard's grandfather's father and mothers name was George Stankavich and Anna Ilgunas. (I have found nothing on the name Ilgunas - if you have any ideas on this name - that would be a big help also) His great Great -Grandpa was born March 10, 1913. in Cantrall, IL . He had a brother named William, and two sisters, Anna Valukes of Surling, Wis. and Helen Gurgens. His Grandfathers name is the same as his, Bernard. We also have 2 old photo graphs we are researching on, one is believe to be his great great uncle from around 1812 or so, he is in a olive WW1 Army uniform and looks to be 15 or 16. Bernard believes his middle name was named after him, Joseph. Bernard has no known living relatives anymore. We are hoping to discover a living relative or 2 through this research as well. Your comments pose some new avenues we may take in researching. We had noticed that some simular Stankavich names had migrated from Lithuania - Dominic Stankavich I believe - landing in Pennsylvania. We were able to contact some of those decendants and found no common links at all. What is such an eye opener since researching is the fact that my fiance had thought his name was so rare, and now we find so many others and so many variations. I will try your suggestions and let you know how it works out. Thank you for your advice. Anyone else with any information please post a message and let us know!! We would love to hear from you! = ) Thank you very much!
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My father Danielius Ilgunas was born in Scotland in 1910. His father Joseph Ilgunas had brothers and sisters some of whom sttled in the USA. I remember him telling me that he thought one of his aunts had married a man called Stankavich somewhere in the upper midwest states, possilby my great aunt?
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To second Daividh - Ilgunas does look like a Lithuanian name. I still think that Stankavich is Slavic, though. Is it possible that a Stankavich moved to Lithuania from another ex-Soviet republic (back in the haydays when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were a part of the USSR)? That's about as much as I can think of right now =(
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I know nothing about the meaning of Ilgunas, except that it definitely looks to be a Lithuanian surname. But you probably already knew that...Da.
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I have traced a Stankavich grandfather to Klaipeda (Memel) around 1871, so it seems that might be a good lead to follow.
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