WinsininskiPolish (Anglicized) Winsininski is an anglicized version of the name "Wisniewski", which is from multiple places in Poland called Wisniewo, Wisniew, and Wisniewa. These names all have "wisna" which means cherry, or cherry tree.... [more]
WitekPolish, English (Rare) From the personal name Wit, a short form of Witold, a derivative of Lithuanian Vytautas, a compound of vyti 'to guide' + tauta 'the people'... [more]
WodzińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from Wodzin in Piotrków voivodeship, named with Polish woda meaning "water".
WójcickiPolish Habitational name for a person originally from a place called Wójcice.
WójcińskiPolish Habitational name for someone from any of the many places called Wójcin, or from Wójcina in Tarnów voivodeship, named with wójt meaning "village headman".
WójtMedieval Polish Occupational name and title from Medieval Polish meaning Lord Protector or Governor. Derived from Latin advocatus. German variant Vogt, Swedish variant Fogde... [more]
WojtczakPolish Polish: patronymic from Wojtek, a pet form of the personal name Wojciech ( see Voytek ).
WojtyłaPolish Derived from a diminutive of the given name Wojciech. It was the surname of Karol Józef Wojtyła (1920-2005), the pope John Paul II.
YefimovichRussian Grigori Yefimovich who is best known as "Rasputin" was a Russian peasant, mystic and private adviser to the Romanovs (Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Tsarina Alexandra in the early 20th century).
YezhovmRussian Derived from Russian word "ёж (yozh)" meaning hedgehog. Yezhov was the last name of Nikolay Yezhov, the leader of the Soviet NKVD from 1936-38 who is known for Yezhovshchina.
YurovskiymRussian, Polish (Russified) Alternate transcription of Yurovsky. This was the last name of Yakov Yurovskiy, a notable Bolshevik. He led the execution of the Romanovs.
YushchenkoUkrainian Means "child of Yukhym". Viktor Yushchenko was the Ukrainian president from 2005 to 2010, and a major figure in the Orange Revolution.
ZabrzyskimPolish Possibly a habitational name from Polish za "beyond" and Czech brzy "early, soon"
ZáčekCzech Žáček means "small school boy" in Czech. A famous bearer is Chicagoan writer Dennis Začek.
ZacharJewish, Hungarian, Russian, Slovak, Belarusian Derived from the Hebrew word זָכַר (zakhar) meaning "to remember". As a surname it can also derive from the given name Zakhar (Zechariah) that shares this etymology.
ZagurskiPolish Derived from the Polish places Zagórz and Zagórze. Also given to those who lived on the side of a hill opposite a main settlement - za means "beyond" and góra means "hill".
ZajączkowskiPolish A habitational name that was given to someone from any of the various places named Zajączki, Zajączkowo, or Zajączków (which were named for 'zajączek', a diminutive of the Polish word 'zając', meaning ‘hare’.)
ŻakPolish A nickname given to youthful or studious people. Comes from the Polish żak, meaning "student" or "schoolboy". It originally meant "novice" or "candidate for the priesthood", and so in some cases it is perhaps a nickname for someone who had been destined for holy orders.
ZakhaevRussian Russian surname, likely a derivative of the given name Zakhey combined with the Russian suffix "-ev" ("of"), therefore meaning "of Zakhey."... [more]
ZakowskiPolish a Polish surname which is most frequent in the cities of Warszawa, Płońsk and Bydgoszcz in central Poland and is also to be found as Zakowski among the Polish diaspora.
ZaleEnglish (American), Polish (Anglicized) Possibly a habitational name derived from the Polish toponym Żale meaning "on the other side of the wood", from za "beyond" and las "forest".