18th Century PA German Name Spelling Idiosyncrasies
Alternate Jewish Surnames in Russian Poland
Anthroponymic Workshop of the Polish Language Institute
(Polish scholars specializing in name origins)
Instytut Jezyka Polskiego PAN
Pracownia Antroponimiczna
Al. Mickiewicza 31
31-120 Krakow
POLAND
Website: Instytut Jezyka Polskiego PAN
Email them to check their fees for researching a surname.
Behind The Name
The Etymology and History of First Names
Beth Hatefutsoth Database of Jewish family names
Information about the origin of Jewish family names
Bosnia Surname Helper
Catholic Saints and Angels
Christian Name Translator
English-Polish-German translations.
Common Hungarian First Names
Common Polish & Ukrainian First Names
Common Polish First Names
Czechoslovakian Surnames
A Dictionary of Period Russian Names
Eastern European Names
English Conversions of Various Foreign Names
English - Czech - German - Hungarian - Polish - Slovakian name conversions.
First Name Basis: Unusual First Names
Other topics also listed.
FIRST NAME MEANINGS  12/05 
Foreign Names Cross-Reference by US GenWeb
English given first names to their Czechoslovakian, German, Hungarian, Polish or Slovakian equivalents
German 15th-Century Women's Names
German Given Names 1200-1250
German Names in America
German Naming Systems
Greek First Name Translator
Greek Naming Traditions
Greek Surname Studies
Hungarian Personal Names of the 16th Century
Information on Native Polish Names
Jewish Given Name Database
Jewish Name Meanings and Language Info
Kashub Surnames
Lithuanian First Names
Lithuanian Surnames
Lithuanian Surnames
Lithuanian Surnames
Locative Bynames in Medieval Russia
Medieval German Given Names from Silesia
The Most Frequent Hungarian Surnames
Names By Country
Male and female names. Click on the country you are interested in.
Naming Customs found in Poland
Polish Naming Customs
Ukrainian Naming Customs
German Naming Customs
Jewish Naming Customs
Notes on Selected Polish Surnames
By Fred Hoffman author of "Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings" These are names that are rarer or have added information since the printing of his book. If you write Mr. Hoffman direct, you can expect a 4 to 6 week wait for a reply because of the amount of requests he receives. We have a few members on our mail list that have his book(s) that will do simplified lookups for you. Mr. Hoffman has years of research in his background.
Reprinted with permission from William F. “Fred” Hoffman. This article was posted in the March 1, 2001 issue of Gen Dobry.
* * * * * * * * * * G E N D O B R Y ! * * * * * * * * * *
Volume 2, No. 2. 28 February 2001. Copyright (c) 2001, PolishRoots(tm), Inc.
Editor: William F. "Fred" Hoffman, E-mail: WFHoffman@PolishRoots.org
*** GEN RESEARCH: AN ANTIDOTE TO DUMBTH? ***
by William F. "Fred" Hoffman WFHoffman@PolishRoots.org
When I first started out helping genealogical researchers with translations, I did so mainly because it was a productive way to use my knowledge of languages. When I started working in desktop publishing on genealogical societies' newsletters, again, I saw it as a way to put my computer skills to good use. In both cases, I didn't have any particular regard for genealogy per se. In fact, I have virtually no interest in my own family tree, and have taken only the most elementary steps to investigate it.
But as time went on, I began to realize I liked being involved in this kind of work - I felt helping genealogical researchers was doing something worthwhile.
I wondered why? Genealogical research - or "doing gen," as some of us call it - is just another hobby, isn't it? At first I thought so, but came to be dissatisfied with that reasoning. I felt there was a little more to this than just a hobby.
One day I put my finger on it. I really felt gen research might be an antidote to dumbth!
* WHAT IS DUMBTH? *
If you're not familiar with that word, the late comedian and entertainer Steve Allen coined it for the title of his book _Dumbth: The Lost Art of Thinking With 101 Ways to Reason Better & Improve Your Mind_. He used it to characterize the growth of ignorance and uncritical thinking in our culture. It's typified by idiocies such as sticking a microphone in the face of some out-of-breath football player to catch every nuance of his insights on his last interception, and how he couldn't have done it without God's help. Or letting movie stars who play farmers in movies testify before Congress on the plight of real farmers. Or about a trillion other phenomena - fill in the top items on your own list (I'm sure you have one, so I'll spare you more quotes from mine).
Now Steve Allen could get a bit pompous, and there's always a sour whiff of elitism present whenever a self-styled genius pontificates on the failings of the millions who aren't as smart as he is (or thinks he is). If there were a way to quantify such things, I personally believe we'd find there are more first-class minds at work today than at any other point in history (if only because of larger populations). In addition, because of their environment, they can accomplish more. Imagine Leonardo da Vinci, a man capable of grasping the workings of the helicopter, stuck living centuries before the materials existed from which one could be constructed! These days a really bright boy or girl has a decent chance of being recognized and given a chance to do his/her thing. I don't think as many of us have immigrated into the Land of Duh as Steve Allen thought.
And yet ... I can't deny it: we're up to our armpits in dumbth, and it stinks. It stinks when a first lady consults an astrologer; when TV runs specials on how the moon landings were faked; when about 45 trillion books expound mutually exclusive theories on how President Kennedy was killed (I'm still waiting to see a photo of Elvis on the grassy knoll). Our culture's collective good sense seems to have sprung a major leak. This is somewhat worrisome in a world where getting through the day is requiring more and more mechanical, technical, and ethical sophistication.
* HOW IS GEN AN ANTIDOTE? *
I imagine some folks would say the federal government needs to mount a major war on dumbth -- which is a symptom of how extensive the problem is. (Do we need another "war on _" as effective as, say, the war on drugs or the war on poverty?). My feeling is that the answer to this problem, like many others, is personal responsibility. Let's have no task forces or coalitions bleating on TV. Instead, why not encourage individuals to do something that helps them stretch their intellects?
That's why I don't just like gen researchers, I admire them. They have taken on something that involves real, honest-to-God research, and that's no picnic. But it is soooo rewarding when you achieve a breakthrough.
Scientists and academics have to deal with research; it's their job. They see firsthand just how hard it can be to establish "the facts." Most people who've never done real research go through life fat, dumb, and happy, sure they know the truth. I think every one of us could benefit from a little experience with just how hard it can be to determine what truth is; if nothing else, we'd learn to care more about it. We might also be just a touch more tolerant with others whose version of truth is different.
Rare is the researcher who hasn't run into documents that contradict each other. Your great-great-grandfather may have been called Jan or Jakub; he may have been born in 1870 or 1873; he may or may not have died at birth (which makes his siring children all the more impressive); and so on. Sort of destroys any naive belief you might have had in the reliability of official records, doesn't it?
Some folks fall apart under the mental pressure of trying to deal with all this. Immature minds can bear no contradictions; they grow frantic if the universe isn't shown to be neat and orderly (and, of course, centered upon them). Those who persist in their research face the reality that they may never establish the truth with certainty. All they can do is gather information and reconcile it as best they can. This is a real step toward intellectual maturity.
In other words, I think F. Scott Fitzgerald was right when he said "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." But few of us are born with that ability; we develop it. I think doing gen is one way of developing it.
* CONCLUSION *
Now that I've boldly dared to face my readers and tell them they're brilliant and the hope of the human race (is there no end to my courage?), I suppose I should backtrack just a bit. If civilization is to be saved, it's not necessarily going to owe its preservation to genealogists. Actually, I've met a few researchers whom I wanted to ask, "Instead of wallowing in your family's past glories, why don't YOU try doing something memorable?"
Still, it's hard not to say good things about a hobby that satisfies personal curiosity through activity that broadens and strengthens the mind. Doing gen forces you not only to search for truth, but also to recognize how hard it can be to find it. Yet gen is not some dreary, joyless version of adult homework; it's more like play for the mature mind. (No one ever promised play wouldn't occasionally get frustrating!).
Or to put it another way: when the flood of dumbth on television nauseates me past all bearing, I often find relief in getting online and reading what genfolk have to say. You don't have to be a genius to know that's a good sign!
For other articles of interest please visit Polish Roots for back issues and future issues at Gen Dobry! Back Issue Index
* * * * * * * * * * G E N D O B R Y ! * * * * * * * * * *
Online Calendar of Saints Days
The Origins of Family Names
Ancient Names
The Beginnings of Surnames
Classes of Family Names
Family Names in the United States
The Origin of Slovenian Surnames
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Polish First Names
Polish Surnames
Slovene Surnames
Slovenian Surnames
SURNAMES - What's in a Name?
What does my surname mean?
Explanation of how Polish names were formed.
Copyright © 1999-2003 by Tina Ellis
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