Regarding Polish Surname
It so happens that my last name is Andrzejczak, a Polish surname which I believe has its origins in what is now western Poland/eastern Germany. I was wondering if anyone here could possibly help me dig up the etymology of this name. Being as "Andrzej" is the Polish form of the name "Andrew", I was thinking that it was probably similar in meaning to the English cognate "Anderson", but I want confirmation.
vote up1vote down

Replies

[...Suffixes with a -k- generally began as diminutives. In other words, Jan is the Polish form of "John," and Janek or Janko is much like "Johnny." English, however, typically has only a couple of diminutive suffixes, -y or -ie. Polish (and the other Slavic languages) have tons of them. Most have a -k- in there somewhere, or the-k- has been modified by the addition of further suffixes (e. g., -czak, -czyk). As a rule, in surnames a suffix with -k- means something like "little" or "son of."...]from the following site:
http://www.polishroots.org/surnames/surnames_endings.htmAndrzejczak thus means "little Andrew".
vote up1vote down