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ossnhughie
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Joined: 19 Sep 2010
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Location: Massachusetts, USA
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Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:27 pm Post subject: First name question: Constantine/Christopher

Hi all,

I couldn't find a forum topic that addressed first name related questions, so i figured I'd ask it here.
Here's the deal: I found out my grandfather had a baby brother who only lived about a year when his brother died I am guessing by some sickness that was rampant about 1927 in Hartford, CT because his sister died as well within days of each other ( She was only 2 months old). Getting back to the point of the post as you will see the Son is listed in the Archdiocese records as Constantius Michalkiewicz, however the Catholic cemetery records have him as Christopher Michalkiewicz.

Now I know Constantius is latin for Constantine, and according to to the death record of Adolf Szymkiewicz (Constantine's Maternal Grandfather) his fathers name is listed as Konste Szymkiewicz (This record is in Bridgewater, MA Death records).

My question is, is Christopher most likely an Americanization of his Actual birth Name Constantine (It would seem like he was named after his Grandfather ?) or does anyone have similar experiences? Is Konste even close to a Polish version of Constantine?

Any ideas or perspectives would be appreciated.

Dziekuje,

Hugh W.

Elzbieta Porteneuve
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Joined: 09 Nov 2012
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Location: Paris, France
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 5:20 am Post subject: Re: First name question: Constantine/Christopher

ossnhughie wrote:

Is Konste even close to a Polish version of Constantine?

Any ideas or perspectives would be appreciated.

Dziekuje,

Hugh W.

Hugh,

Wiki people put together a table with first names in various languages, it may help you.
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odpowiedniki_imion_w_r%C3%B3%C5%BCnych_j%C4%99zykach

Constantine is Konstanty in Polish
Christopher is Krzysztof in Polish

As far as I get it, in English everyone makes his first name as short as possible, Philip - Phil, Joseph - Joe, Christopher - Chris, etc. Elisabeth - Lise (I recall someone calling me Lise, I was very astonished, in France we never do it).
In Polish (as in Russian and other Slavic languages) we use plenty of diminutives. Henryk will be Henio, Jozef - Jozek, Przemyslaw - Przemek, Roman - Romek, Konstanty - Kostek, Krzysztof - Krzys or Krzysiek, etc. Elzbieta - Ela, Anna - Ania, Maria - Marysia, Malgorzata - Malgosia.

Maybe Kostke (Kostek) is a diminutive?

Best,
Elzbieta

rsowa
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Joined: 09 Nov 2013
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Location: Dundee, Michigan, USA
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:20 am Post subject:

Hugh...according to what I have found, Christopher and Constantine are NOT the same name, either in Polish or Americanized versions. However, like most of my ancestors, it's possible that yours had the name misinterpreted by either the priest or maybe the funeral parlor. One of my ancestors was named Szymon. But his name shows up in various documents as "Sam", "Simon", and "Samuel". Sometimes you just never know what you will find.

Here's a link to a pdf file that is the most complete list of given names I have found, in several languages. I have downloaded a copy and keep it on my computer for reference often. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~atpc/genealogy/surnames/cref-given-names.pdf

Elzbieta Porteneuve
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Location: Paris, France
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Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:13 am Post subject:

RSowa,

What a micmac that liste of given names! Elzbieta is not recorded ... Edmond (French version of Edmund) is not recorded ...

That being said, it's quite difficult. On Slavic languages side you have a lot of diminutives, which are not (were not) official given names, and were not used on ID documents.

In Poland we had centuries of birth records with names written in Latin, which is only possible (if at all) when you use only official list of given names. I think Poland has been considereing recently to change that, but until now, your ID must have an official version of a given name.

In France you do not have diminutives, which has a side effect that every given name is a separate, different one.

Thank you for your list.

Best,
Elzbieta

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