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ArchivesIn Polish Bućko, In Cyrillic бучко?
I am Polish on both sides and Bućko is my surname and the surname of my father.
For a long time I have been certain that the name is "buk" "beech tree" corrupted and with a "-ko" ending (which is how I created my english pen name).
But now, I may have second thoughts. What has caused the hard consonant at the end of "buk" to transform into the soft "ć"? It has never happened in "Bukowski", what I believed to be the Polish form of the name.
That and it is actually a Russian or Russified name, because of the "-ko".
I did some research and found that in Russian, it is also "бук" with the same hard ending. I know next to nothing of Russian grammar, and giving a brief look to Russian noun declension has not told me of any kind of softening of the consonant.
I hope it does not mean something other than "beech", because that would mean I'd have to change my pen name.
What do you all think?
For a long time I have been certain that the name is "buk" "beech tree" corrupted and with a "-ko" ending (which is how I created my english pen name).
But now, I may have second thoughts. What has caused the hard consonant at the end of "buk" to transform into the soft "ć"? It has never happened in "Bukowski", what I believed to be the Polish form of the name.
That and it is actually a Russian or Russified name, because of the "-ko".
I did some research and found that in Russian, it is also "бук" with the same hard ending. I know next to nothing of Russian grammar, and giving a brief look to Russian noun declension has not told me of any kind of softening of the consonant.
I hope it does not mean something other than "beech", because that would mean I'd have to change my pen name.
What do you all think?
1
Replies
According to Hoffman's Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings, Bućko can come from either buk 'beech tree' or buczeć 'to hum, drone, buzz'. He gives the cognate forms Buc, Buca, Bucki, Bucoń and Buczacki but doesn't explain the origin of the palatalized . On this basis, you can probably legitimately keep your pen name but you could also change it to Bee if you prefer.
1