PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Is there a naming pattern for Polish first names?

Elzbieta Porteneuve — Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:22 am

Author: Elzbieta Porteneuve

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:22 am

Shellie wrote:

I don't know if more modern names are now used, but here is a link to an article titled: Why and how Poles celebrate namedays
by Robert Strybel, Polish/Polonian Affairs Writer (I cut/pasted the names below):
http://www.polartcenter.com/articles.asp?id=197

This will be fun to see how many of my ancestors match with these name days:
Polish nameday listing ...

Shellie,

You are right: one of method of giving a name to a baby in Poland was calendar!

Yesterday I browsed "Kalendarz ilustrowany Kuriera Litewskiego na rok 1909":
http://www.kpbc.ukw.edu.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=53636

The above is 440 pages, it is a compedium of all handy knowledge, and includes coloured pages of adds.
The calendar with names starts on 73/440, the index of content is on page 375/440.

That kind of calendar was published by various newspapers, I recall my Mom keeping it, and my Aunts too.

The 1909 calendar has 3 columns: old calendar style, new calendar style, and Slavic names. I have no idea what is "new calendar style", but my family usages fit the old calendar style. Not all given names, but many.

Best,
Elzbieta

Re: Is there a naming pattern for Polish first names?

Shellie — Sun Jan 10, 2016 8:45 pm

Author: Shellie

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 8:45 pm

I don't know if more modern names are now used, but here is a link to an article titled: Why and how Poles celebrate namedays
by Robert Strybel, Polish/Polonian Affairs Writer (I cut/pasted the names below):
http://www.polartcenter.com/articles.asp?id=197

This will be fun to see how many of my ancestors match with these name days:
Polish nameday listing

Compiled by Rob Strybel, Polish/Polonian Affairs Writer
If you, a relative or friend is expecting a blessed event and wondering what name to give the child, why not look through the following list. Presented below is a fairly extensive alphabetical listing of most of Poland’s first names and the days their owners celebrate their namedays.

Adam - Dec. 24
Agata - Feb. 2
Albina - Dec. 16
Albina - Mar. 1
Alicja - June 21
Alina - June 17
Alfons - Aug. 1
Alojzy - June 21
Ambrozy - Dec. 12
Anatol - July 3
Andrzej - Feb. 4, May 16, July 13, Nov. 30
Aniela - Jan. 4, Jan. 27
Anna July 26
Antoni - Jan. 17, June 13, Oct. 24
Antonina - Mar. 1
Arkdadiusz - Jan. 12
Artur - Oct. 6
Aurelia - Dec. 2
Balbina - Dec. 21
Baltazar - Jan 6 (one of the Three Kings)
Balbina - Mar. 31
Bartlomiej - Aug. 24
Bartosz - Apr. 21, Aug. 24
Barbara - Dec. 4
Beata - Mar. 8, Sept. 6
Benedykt - Mar. 21, July 11, July 13
Benon - June 16
Benigna - June 20
Bernard - Mar. 12, Aug. 20
Bernadeta - April 16
Blanka - Dec. 1
Blazej -Feb. 3
Bohdan - Aug. 31
Bogna - June 20
Bogdan - July 17
Bogumil - June 6
Bogumila - Jan 13
Bogusz - Feb. 24
Boguslaw - Mar. 22, Sept. 23, Dec. 18
Boguslawa - May 29
Boleslaw - Aug. 19
Boleslawa - July 22
Bozena - Mar. 13
Bronislaw - Aug. 18
Bronislawa - Sept. 1
Brunon - Oct. 6, Oct. 11
Brygida - Feb. 1
Cecylia - Nov. 22
Celestyna - April 6
Celina Oct. 21
Cezary - Feb. 25, Aug. 27, Dec. 28
Cyprian - Sept. 16
Cyryl - Feb. 2, March 18, June 27, Sept. 16
Czeslaw - July 20
Czeslawa - Jan. 12
Damian - Feb. 23
Daniel - Oct. 10
Danuta - Jan. 3, June 24
Dariusz - Dec. 19
Dobroslaw - Jan. 10
Dobroslawa - Apr. 9
Dominik - Aug. 8
Donat - Feb. 25, Apr. 30, Oct. 22
Dorota - Feb. 6, June 25
Edmund - Nov. 11
Edward - March 18, Oct. 13
Edyta - Sept. 16
Eleonora - Feb. 21
Elwira - Jan. 25, June 14
Elzbieta - May 11, July 4, Nov. 17
Eryk - May 18
Eryka - Feb. 9
Eugeniusz - Jan. 4, July 8
Eustachy - Sept. 9
Ewa - Dec. 24
Ewelina - May 26
Fabian - Jan. 1
Felicja - Apr. 24, Sept. 30
Felicjan - Oct. 29
Feliks - Jan. 14, May 18, June 11, Aug. 30, Nov. 20
Ferdynand - May 30
Filemon - Mar. 21
Filip - April 11, May 26, Oct. 22
Florian - May 4
Flora - Nov. 24
Franciszek - Jan. 24, April 2, June 4, Oct. 4 (of Assisi), Oct. 10, Dec. 3
Franciszka - Mar. 9
Fryderyk - July 18
Fryderyka - Mar. 5
Gabriel - Feb. 27, Mar. 24, Sept. 29
Gabriela - Dec. 19
Gawel - Oct. 16
Genowefa - Jan. 3
Gertruda - Mar. 17, Nov. 16
Gerwazy - June 19
Grazyna - April 1
Grzegorz - Jan. 2, May 25, Sept. 3
Gustaw - Aug. 2
Halina - July 1
Halka - Oct. 22
Halszka - Mar. 2
Hanna - Jan. 1, July 26
Helena - Mar. 2, May 22, Aug. 18
Henryk - Jan. 19, July 13
Henryka - Mar. 2. Mar. 16
Hieronim - Feb. 8, Sept. 30
Hilary - Mar. 16, May 5
Honorata - Jan. 11
Hubert - Nov. 3
Hugo - Apr. 1
Hugon - Apr. 1
Idzi - Sept. 1
Ignacy - Oct. 17, July 31
Igor - Oct. 5
Ilona - Aug. 18
Ireneusz - Mar. 25, June 28
Irena - Apr. 1, Apr. 5, Oct. 20
Irma - Sept. 18
Izabela - Feb 23, Mar. 16, Sept. 3
Izydor - Apr. 4, May 10, May 19
Iwona - May 19
Jacek - Aug. 17, Sept. 11
Jacenty - Feb. 10
Jadwiga - July 17, Oct. 16
Jakub - May 6, July 25, Oct. 21
Jan - Jan. 31, Feb. 8, Mar. 8, Mar. 30, Apr. 7, Apr. 9, May 18, May 21, May 30, June 12, June 24 (the Baptist), July 12, Aug. 4, Aug. 19, Sept. 13, Oct. 3 (of Dukla), Oct. 10 (Kanty), Oct. 23, Nov. 13, Dec. 4, Dec. 27 (the Apostle)
Janina - June 12
Janusz - Nov. 21
Jaromir - May 28
Jaroslaw - Jan. 21, Apr. 25
Jaroslawa - Jan. 21
Jerzy - April 24
Joanna - Feb 2, May 30, Dec. 12
Jolanta - June 15
Jozef - Mar. 19 (Jesus’ guardian), May 1 (the Worker), June 23, Aug. 25
Jozafat Nov. 11
Julian - Jan. 9, Feb. 13, Sept. 2, Oct. 18
Julianna - Feb. 16, Aug. Aug. 17
Julia - May 22, July 27, Dec. 10
Julita - July 30
Juliusz - Apr. 12
Jurand - May 6
Justyn - July 1
Justyna - June 16, Sept. 17. Dec. 20
Kacper - Jan. 6 (one of the Three Kings)
Kajetan - Aug. 7
Kamil - July 14
Karol - Nov. 4
Karolina - July 5
Katarzyna - Mar. 9, Apr. 29, Nov. 25
Kazimierz Mar. 4
Kazimiera - Aug. 21
Kinga - July 24
Klaudia - Mar. 30
Klaudisuz - Apr. 26
Klara - Aug. 11
Klemens - Mar. 3, Nov. 23
Klementyna - Sept. 8
Konrad - Feb. 19, Apr. 21, Nov. 26
Konstanty - Nov. 30
Kornel - Sept. 16
Krystyna - Mar. 13, July 24, Nov. 13
Krzysztof - July 25
Ksawery - Dec. 3
Ksenia - Apr. 16
Kunegunda - Mar. 3
Larysa - Mar. 23
Laura - June 17
Lech - Aug. 12
Lechoslaw - Nov. 26
Leon - Feb. 20, Apr. 19, June 12, Nov. 10
Leonard - Nov. 6
Leokadia - Dec. 9
Leslaw - Nov. 28
Leslawa - Nov. 28
Leszek - June 3
Lidia - Mar. 27, Aug. 3
Lubomir - July 31, Nov. 10
Lucjan - Jan. 7
Lucyna - June 30
Ludwik - Apr. 28, Aug. 25
Ludwika - Aug. 25
Ladsyslaw - Sept. 25
Lukasz - Oct. 18
Lucja - Dec. 13
Maciej - Jan. 30, May 14
Magdalena - May 25, July 22
Maja - Apr. 9
Maksymilian (Maria Kolbe) - Aug. 14
Malwina - Dec. 4
Malgorzata - Jan. 18, Feb. 22, Oct. 16, Nov. 16
Marcel -Jan. 16, Mar. 10
Marceli - Jan. 16
Marcelina - Apr. 26
Marcin - Apr. 13, Nov. 3, Nov. 11 (of Tours)
Marcelina - Apr. 26, June 2
Mariola - Mar. 25
Mariusz - Jan. 19
Marek - Apr. 25
Maria - Jan. 1, Feb. 2 (Candlemas), Feb. 11. Mar. 25, Apr. 9, May 3 (Queen of Poland),
May 24, May 31, July 5, July 16, July 22, Aug. 15, Aug. 22, Aug. 26
(of Czestochowa), Sept. 8, Sept. 15, Oct. 7, Nov. 16, Nov. 21, Dec. 8
Marian - Apr. 30
Marlena - June 16, Oct. 23
Marta - July 29
Martyna - Jan. 30
Marzanna - June 2
Marzena - Apr. 26
Mateusz - Sept. 21 (Apostle), Nov. 13
Matylda - Mar. 14
Maurycy - Sept. 22
Melchior - Jan. 6 (one of the Three Kings)
Metody - Feb. 14
Michal - Apr. 10, Sept. 29 (Archangel),
Mieczyslaw, Mieszko - Jan. 1
Mikolaj - Dec. 6
Miroslaw, Miroslawa - Feb. 26
Monika - Aug. 27
Narcyz - Mar. 18
Natalia - July 27, Dec. 1
Nela - Nov. 10
Nikodem - Sept. 15
Nina - Dec. 15
Nora - Feb. 12
Norbert - June 6
Olgierd - Feb. 11
Olga - July 11
Onufry - June 12
Otto - July 1
Otylia - Dec. 13
Patryk - Mar. 17
Paula - Jan. 26
Paulina - Dec. 12
Pawel, Jan. 15, Jan. 25 (Apostle), Feb. 6, Mar. 2, June 26, June 29
(Feast of SS Peter & Paul), Oct. 19
Pelagia - Mar. 23, June 9, Oct. 8
Piotr - Jan. 28, Feb. 21, Feb. 22, Apr. 28, Apr. 29, May 19, June 29
(Feast of SS Peter & Paul)
July 30, Sept. 9, Dec. 21
Prokop - July 8
Przemyslaw - Apr. 13
Rafal - Sept. 29
Rajmund - Jan. 7, Aug. 31
Regina - Sept. 7
Renata - Nov. 12
Remigiusz - Oct. 1
Robert - Apr. 17, June 7, Sept. 17
Roch - Aug. 16
Roman - Feb. 28, Aug. 9, Nov. 18
Romuald - June 19
Rozalia - Sept. 4
Roza - Mar. 6, Aug. 23
Ryszard -- Feb. 7. Apr. 3, Aug. 9
Ryszarda - Sept. 7
Rudolf - Oct. 12
Sabina - Oct. 27
Sandra - May 18, Aug. 26
Sebastian - Jan. 20
Seweryn - Jan. 8, Feb. 1, June 8, Oct. 23, Nov. 8
Slawomir - May 17
Stanislaw - May 8 (Bishop & Martyr), Sept. 18 (Kostka)
Stanislawa - Aug. 5
Stefan - Aug. 16
Stefania - Sept. 18
Sylwester - Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve)
Sylwia - Nov. 3
Szczepan - Dec. 26
Szczesny - Aug. 30
Szymon - July 18, Oct. 28
Tadeusz (Juda) - Oct. 28
Teodor - Feb. 7, Apr. 20. Sept. 19, Nov. 9
Teodora - Apr. 1
Teofil - Apr. 27, Oct. 2
Teofilia - Dec. 28
Teresa - July 6, Oct. 1, Oct. 15
Tomes - Jan. 28, June 22, July 3 (Apostle), Sept. 22, Dec. 29
Tymoteusz - Jan. 26
Tytus - Jan. 4, Jan. 26
Urban - July 2, Oct. 31. Dec. 19
Urszula - Oct. 21
Waclaw - Sept. 28
Waclawa - Apr. 15
Waldemar - May 5, Dec. 11
Walenty - Feb. 14
Walery - Jan. 29, June 14
Waldemar - Jan. 16
Wanda - June 23
Wawrzyniec - July 21, Aug. 10. Sept. 5
Weronika - Jan 13, July 9
Wiktor - Feb. 25, May 21, July 28, Oct. 17
Wiktoria - Dec. 23
Wincenty - Jan. 22, Apr. 5, Sept. 27, Oct. 9
Wieslaw - May 22, June 7
Wieslawa - May 22
Wirgiliusz - Nov. 27
Wirginia - Dec. 8
Wit - June 15
Witold - Nov. 21
Wladyslaw - June 25, Sept. 25
Wlodzimierz - Jan. 16. July 15
Wojciech - Apr. 23
Zdzislaw - Nov. 28
Zdzislawa - Dec. 12
Zenon - Apr. 12, July 9, Dec. 22
Zofia - May 15
Zuzanna - May 24. Aug. 11
Zygmunt - May 2
Zyta - Apr. 27
Zaneta - Dec. 27
Zytomir - Nov.

Re: Is there a naming pattern for Polish first names?

kamcglynn — Fri Jan 08, 2016 6:06 pm

Author: kamcglynn

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 6:06 pm

Cheri, that is something I have found too - in my family they did not name their children after the parents either! Or grandparents for that matter. I thought that a little bit odd but it is true in my Polish family for sure. In my great grandmother's family, the 3 girls who came to the USA each named their daughters Genewefa (Jennie), and Sophie. I have tried to find some significance to those names but can't find any. Kate

Re: Is there a naming pattern for Polish first names?

Cheri Vanden Berg — Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:33 am

Author: Cheri Vanden Berg

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 11:33 am

Kate, I have read about naming after a saint, and have found that true in some cases in my family. I think I know most of the names of my grandmother's nieces and nephews, and of course I know the names of her 10 children. My grandmother, and her siblings, did NOT name any of their children after their parents. Nor did any of them name any children after their paternal grandmother (paternal grandfather's name not known). There were children named after their maternal grandparents, Józef and Anna, but those are also very popular names. My grandmother, and some of her siblings did NOT have a child named Józef or Anna, so there doesn't appear to be a naming pattern in this family tree (though my known branches are still sparse at this point!) Further up in my tree, I have a 5th great grandfather, Augustyn who named a son Augustyn , and I've seen other records were parents seemed to have name children after parents, or maybe it was just because that child was born near the Feast Day of that saint's name. I have also seen people name children after siblings. I don't name if that was sentiment, or because of a Feast Day, or because it was just a popular name. I don't think that would have anything to do with a naming pattern though.

I remember sitting in a Family History Center looking at microfilm for my dad's side of the family (who was not Polish, and unfortunately neither of my mom's parents villages were filmed). A man of Polish descent announced out loud that he will never name a child John [Jan] because he was having trouble sorting through all the Jans that shared the surname he was looking for. I know that there is more than one Feast Day for the different Saints Jan, but I also wonder if it was/is just a really popular name.

Is there a naming pattern for Polish first names?

kamcglynn — Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:42 pm

Author: kamcglynn

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 6:42 pm

I know there's a forum thread for surnames but don't know about one for first names! I wanted to ask - was there a Polish naming pattern for first names? For example, the Irish followed a pretty strict naming pattern for first names - the first son was named after the father's father, the first daughter after the father's mother, etc.... there was a whole sequence for what you named your children. (makes it a little hard to distinguish the generations when doing research sometimes, but also is very helpful in figuring out if you have found the correct family when doing research.) Or did the Poles tend to name after the saint upon whose feastday the child was born (this is the case a lot in my great grandmother's generation), or was it totally random like most people do nowadays, and they just chose a name they liked? I would appreciate any thoughts on this! thank you so much! Kate