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Matt

Joined: 17 Oct 2024
Replies: 6
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2024 2:12 pm Post subject: Hańczaryk

Hello. I've just signed up and immediately searched for my last name, but there were no results. While I've gone by Hanczaryk my whole life, all of my family's graves that I've found in Poland spell it Hańczaryk. All I know about it is how it's pronounced, but I don't know what it means, or if it means anything at all. Before discovering the original spelling, I assumed it translated to child of a potter, but I wonder if the diacritical mark over the ń better defines how it might be translated into English. If it helps, my family is from the village of Średnia Wieś on the San river, in the far southeast of Poland. The family rumor is that we were originally Ukrainian. Attached is a photo of my great grandfather Szymon's gravestone, located in the municipal cemetery in Mielęcin. I appreciate any insight!

szymon_dymitr_katarzyna.jpg

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Sophia
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Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1533

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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2024 9:46 am Post subject: Re: Hańczaryk

Matt wrote:

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the forum!

If you look at this website, which shows the distribution of surnames used in Poland, you will see that both spellings of your family name are used. Both versions are quite rare.

Here is Hańczaryk, 52 people:
https://nazwiska-polskie.pl/Ha%C5%84czaryk

And here is Hanczaryk, only 17 people:
https://nazwiska-polskie.pl/Hanczaryk

You will notice that these are all quite distant from southeast Poland, likely a result of displacement/migration after the second world war. Since your great-grandfather's grave stone uses the Hańczaryk spelling, I would go with that as the accurate form for your family but I would not dismiss records that use the spelling Hanczaryk.
Geneteka does list some records here (when you click on this link you will see "urodzenia" which is birth records; go ahead and click on "malzenstwa" for marriages and "zgony" for deaths)

https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=gt&lang=pol&bdm=B&w=09pk&rid=B&search_lastname=Ha%C5%84czaryk&search_name=&search_lastname2=&search_name2=&from_date=&to_date=

Note that these are from a very small slice of time for the Greek Catholic parish in Berezka which served the village of Średnia Wieś.

I see you have also posted an image on another thread here, with a photo of your family. These kind of photos are such a treasure! Any idea what your great-grandmother is holding, in the photo?

Best of luck in your search,
Sophia

P.S. I see that Google Maps shows two places named Średnia Wieś. The one that is near Przemysl is the one which is close to Berezka. There is a second one, up by Lublin.

Sophia
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Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1533

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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2024 5:46 am Post subject:

Hi again Matt,

You were asking about the meaning of the name Hańczaryk. There is a MikeP who posts on this forum sometimes. He has access to William Hoffman's book, which may be able to explain the root of your surname. I am including here a link to one of his posts; you can use it to send him a private message (you see the PM icon at the end of every post on the forum) if you wish to do so. My guess is that the name may come from the Ukrainian language rather than the Polish language, but Hoffman is the expert in that field.

https://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?p=67149&highlight=#67149

Best regards,
Sophia

Matt

Joined: 17 Oct 2024
Replies: 6
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2024 9:39 am Post subject:

Good morning, Sophia, and thank you so much for these resources! I would've never found nazwiska-polskie.pl or Geneteka independently. If I'm ever able to identify my great-grandfather Szymeon's parents, perhaps I'll be able to tie them into those Berezka parish results. That would be incredible. And yes, the Średnia Wieś that my family is from is the one near Berezka, on the San river.

Regarding displacement/migration, nearly all of my family who stayed in Poland are in the Walcz area now. I'm working on finding out why. I do know that Szymeon's remains were relocated there, but I don't know where his original resting spot was. Presumably somewhere in the region of Średnia Wieś. My grandfather said he had no interest in revisiting Średnia Wieś because "everything changed." I assumed at the time that he meant because of the war, but I didn't want to pry. Whenever I brought up the war he'd stop talking. From doing some reading, it looks like that region of Poland was hit hard and early.

I wish I knew what my great-grandmother is holding in that photo! I'm hoping that someone here might recognize the labeling.

I really appreciate your help Sophia. Thank you again. I'm about to send MikeP a message.

Trish
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Joined: 23 Sep 2020
Replies: 547

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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2024 10:12 am Post subject: Re: Hańczaryk

Matt wrote:

Hi Matt and Sophia,

Matt, do you know your great-grandfather's birth date? I don't mean to duplicate your work, but on ancestry.com it lists his birth date as:

Szymon Hanczaryk
Date of Birth: 1 Styczeń 1866 ( 1 January 1866).

This is the only thing I found on him.

Regards from another Philly native,
Trish

Sophia
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Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Replies: 1533

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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2024 10:23 am Post subject:

Matt wrote:

Hi Matt,

You're welcome! Regarding the relocation of your family to the Walcz area, you might find this website to be interesting:

http://www.halgal.com/pur_home.html

I am linking you directly to their page about repatriation and resettlement, where I recommend you click on the map along with reading the explanation. Take a look also at the other resources on that website.

Regarding your family photo, this type of picture was very often taken to be sent to family members abroad. As an "unnecessary" expense, it would not be done often. Many families did this after the second world war, but given your estimation of when it was taken, it is in the interwar period. My best guess is that your great-grandparents had received a package from someone who had emigrated (one of their children, perhaps?), and your great-grandmother holds an item from it in her hands. To me, it looks like a book. This is quite unusual to see in these pictures, so that's just me going out on a limb with my imagination. The clothing they are wearing could be clothing they borrowed from others in order to look their Sunday best, or it could even be clothing that had been passed along to them in my imaginary package. I do love the way people in that era used such dignified expressions rather than mindless smiling.

Best of luck in your search,
Sophia

MikeP

Joined: 27 Apr 2020
Replies: 29
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2024 10:26 pm Post subject: Hańczaryk

Hi Matt,

I consulted with William Hoffman's "Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings" 3rd edition. I was unable to find the surnames Hańczaryk and Hanczaryk. However, on Page 235 of Volume II the closest match to the root of the surname is Hanc-. The root Hanc- is from the German personal name Hanz, Hans from Johann, Johannes. Hoffman's text lists the surnames Hanczarek and Hanczaruk as associated with that root.

Best of luck with your research.

Mike

Matt

Joined: 17 Oct 2024
Replies: 6
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 9:22 am Post subject: Re: Hańczaryk

Trish wrote:

Matt, do you know your great-grandfather's birth date? I don't mean to duplicate your work, but on ancestry.com it lists his birth date as:

Szymon Hanczaryk
Date of Birth: 1 Styczeń 1866 ( 1 January 1866).

This is the only thing I found on him.

Regards from another Philly native,
Trish

Hey neighbor! Thanks for looking that up. What you've found about my great-grandfather is the entirety of what I know, other than the location of his grave. His wife's name was Katarczyna Segien, but searching for that name hasn't led me anywhere meaningful, and I don't know her birth date or death date to try to drill it down. I'm very close to paying for Ancestry to see if anything comes of it.

Matt

Joined: 17 Oct 2024
Replies: 6
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 9:28 am Post subject:

Sophia wrote:

You're welcome! Regarding the relocation of your family to the Walcz area, you might find this website to be interesting:

http://www.halgal.com/pur_home.html

I am linking you directly to their page about repatriation and resettlement, where I recommend you click on the map along with reading the explanation. Take a look also at the other resources on that website.

Oh, this is good. Another resource I likely would've never found independently. Thank you. I've recently come into contact with a cousin of mine from my remaining family in Walcz. I'm going to send this to her and we'll see if there are any dots to connect.

And thank you for your assessment of the family photo as well. I wish I could travel back in time and ask! I guess that's why I signed up here. I appreciate all of your guiding info, Sophia. Cheers.

Matt

Joined: 17 Oct 2024
Replies: 6
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2024 9:36 am Post subject: Re: Hańczaryk

MikeP wrote:

Thank you for looking Mike. It's coincidental, but my grandfather's name in America was John, and his German wife always called him "Hanz." On the ship log when he came over, he's listed as "Iwan." I wonder if his family named him Ivan and it just eventually became John. Anyway, appreciate your time. I wonder how a German root ended up in a historically Polish/Ukrainian surname.

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