Meaning of Surname Pestotnik
Yugoslavian name Pestotnik - changed to Pistotnik when entering through Ellis Island. While visiting Yugoslavia all natives insisted the name was with an "e".I have now forgotten the meaning of the surname and would like to have it for a genealogy document.
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I have two guesses ...a little too lazy to do much research ...The Italian word "pesto" means "to crush" so it likely has some similar meaning in Latin. Many Southern Slavic words/names have their roots (like so many European languages) in Latin, Greek or Hebrew (all due to religion)...I'm guessing that this is a Southern Slavic name (Balkan peninsula).Also, there is a Russian name Peshek, which means “foot” …I would guess that the roots may be related to whatever Slavic name yours comes from.However, as is so often the case, it still looks a bit like one of those pesky little "Peter" names that ultimately means "rock". The -nik part is definitely a diminutive denoting "little" or often "son of", "descendant of", etc. ...
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I have two guesses ...a little too lazy to do much research ...The Italian word "pesto" means "to crush" so it likely has some similar meaning in Latin. Many Southern Slavic words/names have their roots (like so many European languages) in Latin, Greek or Hebrew (all due to religion)...I'm guessing that this is a Southern Slavic name (Balkan peninsula).Also, there is a Russian name Peshek, which means “foot” …I would guess that the roots may be related to whatever Slavic name yours comes from.However, as is so often the case, it still looks a bit like one of those pesky little "Peter" names that ultimately means "rock". The -nik part is definitely a diminutive denoting "little" or often "son of", "descendant of", etc. ...
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Not only are there surnames Pestotnik and Pistotnik, but also Pastotnik and Postotnik. The question is, how many of these are versions of the same name, and which was the original?
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hi from slovenia
the original surname was pestotnik, but it hed change when someone get married or when children were born
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