PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Raykiewicz family history

ErieAtalntic7597 — Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:30 am

Author: ErieAtalntic7597

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:30 am

Zenon,

Thanks so much for the translation. Very interesting, to say the least.
And, now I realize that my name is connected with at least two different family crests from old Poland.

Thanks again,

Bruce F. Raykiewicz

Re: Rajkiewicz/\Raykiewicz

Zenon — Tue Feb 03, 2009 1:09 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 1:09 am

Hi Bruce,

WJm - 'Wielmożny Jegomość' what can be translated from old Polish 'Sir Nobleman'

Rotmistrz - Capitain of Horse

Rajkiewicz h. Slepowron - Rajkiewicz herbu Ślepowron (Rajkiewicz coat of arms Ślepowron).

You can learn more about this coat of arms here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Alepowron_coat_of_arms .

Some time ago I wrote a little about herby and nobility, click here: http://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?t=64 . Some information you can also find in the article How Surnames Came Into Being in Poland

Raykiewicz/Rajkiewicz name

ErieAtalntic7597 — Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:47 pm

Author: ErieAtalntic7597

Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:47 pm

Friends,

Inspried by all of you here, I did some very amateurish name searching. Here is what I found from the 1660s from the history of Novogrodeck.

One name is as follows,

WJm Pan Stanislaw Raykiewicz Rotmistrz.

The other name is as follows.

Rajkiewicz h. Slepowron ( the "j" in my last name here is how my great grandfather signed our last name.

I have no idea what the capitalized letters ahead of the first name mean or the partial word after the name. The second, with the "h" and the word behind the name, is a complete mystery to me. Any help with translation would be appreciated.

Sincerely,

Bruce Francis Raykiewicz

Raykiewicz/Rajkiewicz name

ErieAtalntic7597 — Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:55 pm

Author: ErieAtalntic7597

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:55 pm

Zenon,

This all comes as quite a surprise! I spent so much time with my wonderful Polish grandfather until he passed away when I was twenty three years of age in 1966. Yet, I had NEVER heard anything about my family in the "old country". And the information that you discovered, is a "real" surprise to me.

I am elated and confused at the same time at the information that you discovered. I wonder why my grandfather never mentioned any of this to me. Or perhaps, his father and mother, my great grand parents, for some reason, did'nt want him to know of their history in Prussian controled Poland. Perhaps we will never know!

Thanks for putting some light on the history of my family name. I am American, through and through, but rest assured, some part of my very being is there in Poland. Land of my grandfather's birth and home land of my great grandfather and his fathers before him.

B.F. Raykiewicz/Rajkiewicz

Re: Rajkiewicz/\Raykiewicz

Zenon — Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:06 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:06 am

Update I looked again to Register of Polish Nobility to look for Raykiewicz (with "y" instead of "j") and I found one noble family

Here is what it states in this old book from 1887:

Raykiewicz noble family living in Nowogródek province (today's Belarus). Information from 1764.

Your friends were right .

Name or Rajkiewicz

ErieAtalntic7597 — Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:14 am

Author: ErieAtalntic7597

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:14 am

Kruse, Zenon,

Thank you both for your very insightful response. The information that I do have is quite limited. And it has taken me quite a few years to even find this out. Being an older man, and not from the computer age, my search is somewhat limited by computer inexpierience.

My comment about the history of my family name is strictly hearsay from friends who are Poles. Your findings are much more substantial. And I thank you both for the work needed to find these facts.

Sincerely,

Bruce F. Raykiewicz

Re: Rajkiewicz/\Raykiewicz

Zenon — Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:45 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 4:45 am

Thank you kruse for providing the address of Fred Hoffman's website. His outstanding book is one of the sources I use while compiling information about your surnames.

Bruce

You already have good knowledge about your surname. Look below what Mr Hoffman and other experts say about your name.

Raj-; Rajkiewicz from Polish raj, "paradise", Garden of Eden, or raić, "to advise, procure".

In 2002 there were 429 people by the surname Rajkiewicz living in Poland and the most lived in Warszawa ( 32 ), Lipno ( 27 ), Zagan ( 27 ), Milicz ( 27 ) areas. Detailed map of your surname deployment can be find on the website:
https://nazwiska-polskie.pl/Rajkiewicz

The surname Rajkiewicz is not mentioned neither in Spis Szlachty Polskiej (Register of Polish Nobility) nor in "Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i Innych Krajów Słowiańskich" ("Geographical Dictionary of Polish Kingdom and Other Slavic Countries") .

Sources:
- Nazwiska Polaków (Surnames of Poles) by proffesor Kazimierz Rymut, Krakow 2001.

- 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.

-"Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i Innych Krajów Słowiańskich" ("Geographical Dictionary of Polish Kingdom and Other Slavic Countries") published in 1880 in Warsaw.

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

Re: Rajkiewicz/\Raykiewicz

kruse — Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:56 am

Author: kruse

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 12:56 am

Bruce

If you are interested in the meaning of polish names a good resource is a man called Fred Hoffman, (see his web site)
http://www.fredhoff.com/
I have written to him several times on the meaning of names and he is only too pleased to help.
He is the author of a book called , Polish Surnames: Origins & Meanings among other things he does.

Rajkiewicz/\Raykiewicz

ErieAtalntic7597 — Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:42 pm

Author: ErieAtalntic7597

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:42 pm

I've been told, by native Poles that are personal friends, this name is very eastern Polish. It even shows up in a Belarus nobility/aristocricy listing. By what I can find out, my grandfather was born in a place called Gurino, Poland. I believe it was under Prussian control at the time. 1886. Gurino shows up in Belarus today.

Ive also been told that the beginning of my last name means something like paradise or heaven. Is this so? And how could a family name be so?

Thank you for your help,

Bruce Raykiewicz