PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Osobnica

dmreyher — Wed Jul 31, 2024 1:36 pm

Author: dmreyher

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2024 1:36 pm

I am descended from Polish ancestors and have a number of "Rolek" ancestors in my tree in the 1880s (also Kulpinski, Pienta, Jodlowski). Huge numbers of Osobnica residents emigrated to America in the late 1800s. There is a great group on fb called Descendants of Osobnica where you can find tons of information.

Re: Rollek

dnowicki — Sun Dec 18, 2016 10:18 pm

Author: dnowicki

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 10:18 pm

Magroski49 wrote:

tommyrollek wrote:

Hello everyone,
I've been searching for some time as to any insight as to a name change when our family migrated from Poland in the late 1800s. Our name in the United States is Rollek, however the only form we have found is Rolek. I have met many people who who have migrated from Poland in their lifetime and they have never seen our last name. Is it possible this is Swedish? Thank you for your time and God bless.

Tommy

Nazwisko Ogólna liczba Rozmieszczenie
Rollek 5
Kr:3, Rz:2

Rolek 603
Wa:80, Ch:2, Ci:1, Cz:3, El:3, Gd:5, Go:1, JG:5, Ka:41, Ki:6, Kr:5, Ks:51, Lu:1, NS:1, Ol:3, Op:13, Os:52, Pl:2, Po:6, Pr:5, Ra:3, Rz:47, Sd:30, Sł:4, Su:1, Sz:6, Tb:187, Ta:6, To:16, Wb:3, Wr:11, ZG:3

www.herby.com.pl

Gilberto

Tommy,

As Gilberto posted, the spelling Rollek is not common in Poland. There are only 5 persons/families who use that spelling as opposed to 603 who use the spelling Rolek. Many peasants who emigrated in the late 1800s were illiterate so the way surnames were entered in records both in Poland and in the USA depended on what the person recording the information heard and how that person spelled what he or she heard. It just so happens that this past summer I helped a grammar school schoolmate with her genealogy. Her surname was Rolek and her family was from Osobnica, which in the 19th Century was in Galicia aka Austrian Poland. The records she had were all from the same parish and went back to the late 1700s. The "simple" surname, Rolek, appeared in those records with three spelling variations---Rolek, Rollek, and Lolek. Evidently the surname was entered as Lolek (and there were quite a few birth/baptism entries from the 1840s with that spelling) either because the father (who would have provided the info) did nor enunciate clearly or because the priest may have been a bit hard of hearing. I believe that when you look for records from Poland it would be helpful to be flexible and open-minded about spelling variations.

Wishing you success in your research,

Dave

Re: Rollek

Anonymous — Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:27 am

Author: Anonymous

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 9:27 am

tommyrollek wrote:

Rollek

tommyrollek — Sun Dec 18, 2016 3:21 am

Author: tommyrollek

Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2016 3:21 am

Hello everyone,
I've been searching for some time as to any insight as to a name change when our family migrated from Poland in the late 1800s. Our name in the United States is Rollek, however the only form we have found is Rolek. I have met many people who who have migrated from Poland in their lifetime and they have never seen our last name. Is it possible this is Swedish? Thank you for your time and God bless.

Tommy