Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 10:14 pm
Post subject: surname meaning: Skrzatek
Hi there.
I am trying to understand the surname origins or meaning of my grandpa's surname, Skrzatek. In the limited resources I have on the internet, it is demonstrated in the Vampire Book of the Slavs as a mythological creature that steals children or in Slavik spelling- Skritik. I also found it in Polish folklore that Skrzatek (from Polish Skrzat) is a winged creature that supplies corn, and, when flying around in the vicinity of houses, steals children. I find this interesting. Of course surnames can be derived from many places and things, people and occupations and it is hard to determine what specifically may have been the real motivation behind it. Could it have just been "son of Skrzat" in Skrzatek?
Anyway, it is not a great legend and if there is ANY truth behind this origins, what would be the reason of a person "inheriting" such an odd (not nice) surname?
Has anyone experienced this type of assignment with their surname? Any ideas are appreciated.
Thanks!
Last edited by Bugatti99 on Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
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sirdanPO Top Contributor
Joined: 07 Mar 2012
Replies: 304
Location: ** Southeast Pole**Back to top |
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 1:12 pm
Post subject:
There is nothing to worry about. I never heard of story that Skrzat could fly around and steal children. In fact children could be threatened by talking about this in order to silent them, but there were other names for such horrible creatures i think. Skrzat mostly has positive meaning, it was mythical/folklor, short, human-like living, that lived in forest. Mostly helpful for people, sometimes doing japes. Other name for Skrzat is Krasnoludek. Best representative english word for it is Gnome.
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Agnieszka PawlusPolishOrigins Team
Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: PolandBack to top |
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:37 am
Post subject:
Thank you Sirdan and Aga Pawlus for your replies. I appreciate the feedback. So there really aren't a lot of Skrzatek surnames found in Poland. Maybe this suggests a 19th century genesis of the name? Just thinking... I have found another and very detailed description in a book:
Mythology of All Races Volume III: Celtic Slavic Copyright, 1918 By Marshall Jones Company
Celtic Mythology: John Arnott MacCulloch, Jan Machal, Louis Herbert Gray
So if this is more of an elf or a gnome type of origins then maybe it is specific to the legend of the geographical location. My great grandpa coming from Stara Zbelutka (Sadkow) however the origins may be closer to the more populated areas on the map Aga provided in the post. I understand from other research surnames geographical, occupational, paternal and even mythological etc... this surname is just odd to me. I have seen surnames in my Italy research like Lancelotti (Lancelot) or Ercole (Hercules), however these are well known mythological names and folklore... The name Skrzat I assume is maybe a more well known myth in the Polish Sadkow area? Could I assume some sort of characteristic of my ancestor stood out to be called this name? Skrzat is not a first name I assume. Sorry for all of the questions. Thanks again for all of the feedback.
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Elzbieta PorteneuvePO Top Contributor
Joined: 09 Nov 2012
Replies: 3098
Location: Paris, FranceBack to top |
Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 11:41 am
Post subject:
| Bugatti99 wrote: | | Could I assume some sort of characteristic of my ancestor stood out to be called this name? Skrzat is not a first name I assume. |
Bugatti,
As far as I recall my childhood, the word "skrzat" had always a nice meaning.
Two explanations in Polish given here fit exactly:
http://polish.enacademic.com/56666/skrzat
1. «w dawnych wierzeniach, bajkach: duszek domowy, przychylny człowiekowi; krasnoludek»
2. «żartobliwie o małym dziecku» Trzyletni skrzat.
1 "in the old beliefs, fairy tales: house's spirit, sympathetic man; imp »
2 «playfully about a small child» my three-years old skrzat
If I had to imagine why your ancestor was named Skrzat, I would say a short man, with good mood, smiling, joking.
You are correct, Skrzat is not a first name.
Best,
Elzbieta
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 2:12 pm
Post subject:
Elzbieta,
Thank you as well for the information. Yes, I am finding a lot more information using the goblin or imp type of search and seeing now how it applies to other counties and their version of the same type of surname. Thank you.
When I put in the name Skrzat in the "Mapa nazwisk" it gives me the population of Skrzat surname as well. Interesting enough Skrzatek and Skrzat are both really heavily concentrated in the same area (as opposed to this being a more common country wide surname origin). So the surnames coming from the Kielce region (and vicinity) seems more likely. Again I am assuming Skrzatek is a newer 19th century surname only based on the concentration of these maps, which I know is not all I should base a surname origin on, but it is a good start. So there was a basic reason for this imp name being used in this area, or at least for the person we are trying to describe here... Again the concentration of the name would mean maybe this "imp" or belief had more traction in this part of Poland. Would anyone know if this region in Poland had a collective difference in beliefs? Culture? Maybe influences from the Russian or nearby borders?
Thank you again for the feedback.
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Posted: Sat May 20, 2017 1:27 am
Post subject:
http://www.namewizard.net/s/skrzat seems much more popular(many in US) than Skrzatek which is mostly exclusive found in Poland.
I think Skrzatek originated from Świętokrzyskie.
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