Ciechanowski

Zenon — Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:27 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:27 am

Charles Chase, author of a few very interesting articles in Our Gen Stories section: http://polishorigins.com/document/our_stories asked me by e-mail about his forefathers' surname Ciechanowski. Below is quotation of his e-mail cited by Charles permission:

Quote:

I have wondered for a long time about what might be the origin of the surname Ciechanowski. When I was in Poland a few years ago, I mentioned this surname to our Polish guide and she said it meant nobility. I have never found any connection of this family name to nobilty.

I know there is a town by the name Ciechanow and thought this is probably the connection because early relatives of mine were from the area of Ciechanow and hence the name Ciechanowski.

My gr-grandfather, as per your "Our Gen Stories", was Ambrose Ciechanowski who was born 08 Dec 1833, in Sliwice, Gross Schliewitz, Tuchola District, Bydgoszcz, POL. His father was Tomasz (Thomas) Ciechanowski, but I have not been able to find any records concerning him. I assume that any nobility connection would have occurred one or two centuries earlier.

It seems Ciechanowski is a fairly common name. During World War-II, Jan Ciechanowski was the Polish Ambassador to the United States. I have not been able to find any connection to Jan.

Whatever insight you can provide about the surname Ciechanowski is most appreciated......thank you very much........Charles Ciechanowski-Chinoski-Chase

Below there is some information about the surname I found in my sources.

Yes Charles, you are right, Ciechanowski comes from the name of town Ciechanów, formely Ciechonów. First mention in written sources about Ciechanowski surname appeared in 1486 and about Ciechonowski in 1436. Ciechanów city is located about 50 miles north from Warsaw (google map: http://tinyurl.com/acuskw )

It can also derive from Ciech-; from old Polish word ciech - joy.

Indeed, it is a quite common name. In 2002 there were 1396 people by the surname Ciechanowski. Detailed maps of your Ciechanowski surname deployment on present-day Poland territory can be found on the website here https://nazwiska-polskie.pl/Ciechanowski .

In Spis Szlachty Polskiej (Register of Polish Nobility) there is one nobleman mentioned in 1648 Nur province (Nur on the map: http://tinyurl.com/bnpqmp )

Sources:
- Nazwiska Polaków (Surnames of Poles) by proffesor Kazimierz Rymut, Krakow 1992.

- Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings by William F. Hoffman, Chicago, 1998.

- Spis Szlachty Polskiej (Register of Polish Nobility) compiled by Jerzy Sewer count Dunin-Borkowski and published in 1887 in Lwow.

- Database of surnames used in Poland compiled in 2002 by prof. K.Rymut - Dictionary of Surnames in Current Use in Poland.

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Ciechanowski