Holocaust Remembrance Day — 70th Anniversary

Today is the 70th Anniversary of the Anniversary when the survivors were freed from Nazi extermination camps around Europe. It is also the 27th Holocaust Remembrance day too [they coincide intentionally].

With the IS genocide and other crimes against humanity being performed by them and other terrorist organizations around the globe, it makes today more solemn, more imbued with God’s grace  than usual. Remember WWII ‘s horrors and strive to prevent these terrors ever again to honor that sacrifice of innocents from WWII.

 

— Stanczyk [for my wife & family]

---

 

Gotta Go — #JimHarbaughCalling — #Meme #Monday

Zach Gentry

I read something said by the 6’7″ Quarterback from New Mexico and UM commitment (flipped from Texas), Zach Gentry who was so psyched when he received a very special phone call.

 

“When Harbaugh is calling, you’re excited”, was what the QB Gentry said that is going around sports writers laptops these days.

 

So Stanczyk, immediately thought, “There’s a meme here!” SO … what I want my friends to do is when you end an email or a Facebook or Twitter or even a blog post, write …  ‘Gotta Go #JimHarbaughCalling’ — even if you are writing/emailing President Obama!!!

 

——- Gotta Go #JimHarbaughCalling  📱 ][v][   #GoBlue ——-

 

Resources For Albanians in Southern Italy #Genealogy — #Albania

Calabria Region

In my wife’s family tree we have two branches of Albano-Italians (Arbëresh):

Augustine = D’Agostino (in Italy and early ship manifests)

They come from, Carsoli, in Aquila (Province), Abruzzo (region) of Italy  [eastwards from Rome]

The Di Lazzaro, Todaro branches going backwards from my wife’s great-grandmother are from:

Castroregio (commune), subdivision of Castrovillari, in Cosenza (Province), Calabria (region) of Southern Italy

Castroregio =  Kastërnexhi (Albanian)

Both branches appear to be Albanians (Arbëresh) and were founding families from 15th century migration from Albania to the remote Italian states of the Southern of Italy and even a few in Sicily too. These were from the Princes of Albania and their retinue and warriors.

Resources:

Castroregio is online in FamilySearch.org –

Italy, Cosenza, Castrovil…on (Tribunale), 1866-1910-> Cosenza-> Castroregio

Its State Archive (in Castrolvillari branch office of Cosenza) – Contact / Research Info —

http://www.archiviodistatocosenza.beniculturali.it/index.php?en/130/sezione-di-castrovillari

This had no online record images as other Italian State Archives did .

Carsoli – In Antenati –

http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/v/Archivio+di+Stato+di+LAquila/Stato+civile+italiano/Carsoli/

Inventory of State (Italy) Archives Online –

http://www.archivi-sias.it/consulta_inventari.asp?ResetFilter=Y&OnLine=1

Twenty-Six State Archives in Antenati with > 26 Million images Online –

http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/?q=gallery

---

Is There Any Such Thing as a Half-Cousin?

Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter had an interesting blog recently …

The premise, “Are There 1/2 Cousins?”, intrigued Stanczyk.

One of my pet peeves is a term that I see online over and over: someone claiming to be a “half first cousin” or a “half second cousin once removed” or something similar. Sorry folks, but there is no such thing as a “half first cousin” according to legal dictionaries. However, the term is used…

http://blog.eogn.com/2015/01/21/is-there-any-such-thing-as-a-half-cousin/

Maria Giuseppe Di Lazzaro Augustine — #Genealogy of Albano-Italians

page 1 of Birth Record 13

This week Stanczyk ventured far afield to … Castroregio. Where?

Exactly, I did not know where. My wife’s Great Grandmother, Mary Augustine was a Muslim !!! An Albanian Muslim. But when I started trying to find “Castorregio” [sic] from an USA record, I kept being shuttled off to Castroregio … Italy???

It turns out that the commune/settlement of Castroregio a part of Castrovillari in the Costenza Province in the region of Calabria, Italy. It is southern Italy up the pennisula north of the heel of the boot. It is also across the Adriatic Sea from Albania.

Ok, I accepted that fact. Now did FamilySearch.org have any online records/images of it? Yes. Their title:

Italy, Cosenza, Castroville. (Tribunale), 1866-1910 – URL:

Birth Record #13 — Maria Giuseppe Di Lazzaro di Diomede

I knew her father’s name was Diomede and that her birth date should be: 13 Jun 1871. These were from US records.

I had Mary Dellazarro for  name. The birth record said in the margin: Maria Giuseppe Di Lazzaro di Diomede

OK, so Mary was Maria and Maria’s middle name was Giuseppe. I was in the Civil Records for Castroregio in 1871. The final di Diomede was who her father was (his first name). Ok that was very good too. Diomede was not a common name. But how could I possibly know this was my Mary Dellalazzaro Augustine? The baby’s birth date was 13 Jun 1871 .  OK I was now certain I had the birth record of my wife’s maternal Great-Grandmother. The birth date was an exact match from US records! This happens so seldom among my immigrant ancestors. It is usually a few days one way or another.

So now I had my wife’s maternal Great-Grandmother, Mary’s birth record from Italy. It was in the civil records and the religion was listed as unknown/none-followed (not Muslim, but I could accept that might not be a popular label). But these were Italians or so I thought. After all these were records from Calabria, Italy. Perhaps they had migrated from Albania at some point, but when?

I also had my wife’s 2x great-grandparent’s names: Diomede Di Lazzaro of course. But I also had Mary Todaro too. I’ll save the suspense for another time. I found Diomede & Mary ‘s marriage record too. So I had another generation’s names (3x great grandparents on both Di Lazzaro & Todaro sides). The marriage record also gave me the full birth date of both newlyweds too! Bonus. I like Italian records – more info than my usual Russian-Poland records.

How was I able to read the records? It was not quite the same as Latin (which I knew well enough from Poland). I also was a bit let down by my Hoffman & Shea book, “Following The Paper Trail“. The book did not have a sample of Italian paragraph form. Thankfully, I can read old handwriting pretty well and Google’s translator worked well too and I was reading Italian. The form was very similar to the Napoleon Codex form I was used to from the Russian-Poland records I routinely deal with.

Finally, Google found me several web sites that described the Albanian migration to Italy which was actually a reward to the Albanian hero-king, Skanderbeg! These people were Albanians and they still communicated in their language and even today you may see signs in two languages (Albanian & Italian) for the place names in this region. I also found a Lazzaro in Berat, Albania. It turns out that the TODARO family was in the retinue of the original Albanian Soldiers of Skanderbeg. They were one of forty families that had migrated from Albania about  400 years earlier! Many of these families were Christians too. It turns out they were Eastern Rite Catholics (Orthodox Catholics) due to their connection  Byzantium and Constantinople. Skanderbeg was Orthodox Catholic, then Muslim then converted back to Orthodox Catholic again – so  being Muslim or Catholic was not a problem for these Albanians. They were ALBANIAN (Arbëresh) and that and their connection to Skanderbeg was what mattered to them!

King Abdullah Has Passed — Crown Prince Salman Is King !

Crown Prince Salman is now King of Saudi Arabia!

King Abdullah died 22-January-2015 was born 1924 and had been the reigning monarch since 2005 when he replaced King Fahd.

King Salman takes over at a critical juncture; May God Bless his efforts.

Genealogy & Stamps ; Miscellanea In The Records — #Genealogy

 

1870 Stamp in Civil Records

Stanczyk loves genealogy (hence this blog). But this jester also loves creative artwork in ephemera or like postage stamps. What I love best is when I see these things in church books while doing genealogy research.

I suppose this was the way to collect fees for church services or civil services. My first stamp is a recent find from the Kingdom of Italy, Calabria Province, Cosenza, village of Castroregio from 1870. I recently found 4 of my wife’s 3x great grandparents (only 28 more to go) in this village and its civil registration books. On the top of every facing pages (a two page set) on the right hand page at the top is this stamp. I only had a few years online in FamilySearch,org, so I do not know if the stamp changes over time. The man commemorated is King Victor Emmanuel II .

 

Poland 1949

These two 5 zloty stamps are from Poland, post World War II. They were found on a 1949 Birth Extract of an 1887 birth of Wiktoria Heliasz born in Biechow.

 

 

Russian-Poland Stamps

Take a look at these two stamps. Your eyes are not fuzzy, the writing is Cyrillic characters and in the Russian language. These were from an 1880 Alegata Church Record. Notice the cancellation mark on the left stamp isan ‘X’ with the dual date:

17/29 August 1880

The dual dates are because Russia was on Julian Calendar, while Poland was on Gregorian Calendar and these were twelve days apart in 1880. It is nice that these online records were in color so you could see exactly how the stamps looked.

 

Austrian-Poland Stamps

The above five stamps are from  Austrian-Poland partition. They were on an 1880 Baptismal Certificate. I love the Austrian Empire’s elaborate detail (hard to see in these stamps).

This next stamp is also from Austrian-Poland. It was on a 1904 Birth Extract with a stamp from 1898  – very nice color and detail shown.

 

 

 

 

 

An Alegata for citizens of two Empires

The above two stamps are from the year 1886. It was taken from an 1886 Alegata where the groom was from Krosno in Galicia (Austrian Empire) and the Bride was from  Russian-Poland (Russian Empire). The testimony of baptism was used as proof that the couple could be married in the church. The 50 krone [left stamp] is the Austrian stamp and the 60 kopec [right stamp] was the Russian stamp. I guess each church collected a fee for this marriage to be documented. Latin & Cyrillic all mashed-up.

Because Stanczyk’s ancestors were on one side of the Vistula/Wisla River (Russian-Poland side) and the in-laws were south of the Vistula/Wisla River (Austrian-Poland side) these kind of marriages were somewhat common.  Just cross the bridge at Szczucin. I guess this kind of emigration was allowed by the two empires. The bride was most likely the immigrant (the groom had military duties to fulfill or taxes to pay or work to perform for some royal business).

 

Do not forget to examine the stamps they have a story to tell too.

Have you seen any interesting postage stamps in your research? Then drop me an email.

---

 

MLK Monday — Selected Kielce Deaconates

Stanczyk wanted to provide a view of my history via the church and its parishes. A diocese or an archdiocese is made up of  deaconates / deaneries. Each Deaconate is made up of many parishes and of course parish is usually made up of multiple towns/villages.

Here’s a few maps for the areas Stanczyk frequently writes about. There is also a link to a web site that lists all parishes by Wojewodztwo (Voivoide / Province). In SwietoKrzyskie there at present 405 parishes. The link for parishes by Wojewodztwo (drop down menu near the upper left) – http://colaska.pl/index/region/wojid/13 if you click on a church icon to get its church name.

Maps

Jakob Eliasz, The First Pacanow Eliasz ? — #Genealogy #Polish

Jacob Eliasz married Susanna Parszenska on 4-October-1797 in Swiniary

Stanczyk’s direct paternal lineage goes through Pacanow, SwietoKrzyskie, Poland [powiat Buski, gmina Pacanow]. Today there numbers about 1275 people [source: mapa.szukaj.pl ]. Its parish, located in Pacanow is Sw. Marcin. The church has been honored as a basilica, by the Vatican. This region has been part of a few wojewodztwa, In the LDS Microfilm its located under Kielce wojewodztwo/gubernia with its records 1875-1905 written in Russian that means it was last in the Russian partition of Poland. Its records from the AP can be found online at GenBaza:

http://metryki.genbaza.pl/genbaza,list,52754,1

So  we have: C. Michael Eliasz-Solomon->Chester S. Eliasz->Joseph Eliasz->Jozef Elijasz->Marcin Eliasz (b. about 1819). So this blogger’s great-great-grandfather is Marcin Eliasz (aka Elijasz) born about 1819, as deduced from his death record in 1879 Pacanow [Akt #60]. So 1819 (or probably a bit earlier than that) is the oldest known direct ancestor from Pacanow. There are a few other lines that go back that far but they are not my direct line, nor even properly connected to our branch.

But recently while going through Swiniary parish, nearby to Pacanow, I found a marriage record from 1797 !  The groom was Jakob Eliasz age 40, from Pacanow (and House #1 too). Jakob was a widower. His age of 40 implies a birth year of about 1757. The birthplace is unknown for certain but it could have been Pacanow. His bride was Zuzanna Paszenska age 23, a maiden (her 1st marriage) and she lived in Oblekon village in Swiniary parish. The two witnesses were Franciszek Zyglicki [an affiliated family name] and the Economa of Huta Oblekon, Grzegorz Ciescelski. Ok, I cannot say with certainty that Jakob was in Pacanow from 1757, but DEFINITELY he lived in house #1 of  Pacanow in 1797 as a widower.

1797 Context

During these days (Jakub & Zuzanna), the history of Pacanow, it was after the third partition of Poland in January 1796. From every pulpit announced these areas were a part of the Austrian Emperor, Franz II ‘s empire. In this way Pacanow became part of the district of Stopnica [source:  http://pacanow.pl/page.php?kat=2&main=2&id=2 ].

Later, Pacanow was a part of the Duchy of Warsaw during Napoleon’s era until June 1815. Afterwards, the Congress of Vienna ceded the area to become part of the Polish Kingdom (aka Congress Poland) and part of the Russian Empire.

Earliest History

Pacanów was first mentioned in a church document from 1110 – 1117,  issued by the  Bishop of Kraków Maur, in which construction of St. Martin church was confirmed. At that time, the village probably belonged to a man named Siemian, who was also mentioned in the document. The existence of the parish church was confirmed on August 1219 by Bishop of Kraków Iwo Odrowąż .

In 1265, the village was granted Magdeburg rights by Prince Bolesław V, the Chaste. In the same period, a number of other local villages were also granted town charters (Połaniec, Nowy Korczyn, Koprzywnica and Opatowiec). The original charter of Pacanów has not been preserved, but in a document issued on February 26, 1603, King Zygmunt III Waza stated that Pacanow had been incorporated as a town in 1265.

Jakub & Zuzanna Eliasz

Past experience has shown that house #1 is usually the nearest to the church and sometimes denotes a person of some means. So perhaps 40 years  old Jakob was a “catch” for the 23 year old Zuzanna. Perhaps my direct lineage run through Jakob and Zuzanna. But, what is certain is they are earliest documented ELIASZ [Eliaszow] in Pacanow. Now can I find some distant cousin who is descended from Jakob & Zuzanna?

RAOGK is Back — #Genealogy #Volunteer #Collaborate

RAOGK (Random Acts Of Genealogical Kindness) is back. Their website raogk.org is trying to rebuild the database of volunteers. The RAOGK pages on Facebook appear to be unconnected but were created to fill the void when RAOGK.org disappeared a few years ago.

Welcome back back RAOGK!  If any of you are Polonia in the USA or are from Poland, then email me and I’ll note it here in the blog. In my day, I too was a RAOGK volunteer.

Now you can provide raogk via Facebook groups (and yes even through the old Yahoo Groups that pre-dated Facebook), volunteer to do indexing through a local society or through FamilySearch.org, (or other Indexing projects, like Ancestry’s World Archives Project). I have been a part of many of those too as well hanging out in Rootsweb/Ancestry forums.

Genealogy is collaborative. If you can go back 30+ generations (less if you are Polish like this blogger), then you are related to me and you  are helping family. At least that is how I think about it. Also many have paid me this kindness, how can I not pay it forward too?

Collaborate … Volunteer its good for you and for all.

---

Marriott & The Internet … Just Wrong — #STEM #FCC #Internet #1stAmendment

The FCC fined Marriott $600,000 for jamming their customer’s personal hotspots or tethered access to the Internet [that these customers have already paid for] and then forcing the Marriott customer to have to pay HIGH prices for Marriott Wifi/Broadband for a 2nd access to the Internet.

The Story …

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/marriott-wifi-blocking-fcc-charge_n_5928678.html [HuffPost]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/10/03/fcc_fines_marriott_for_blocking_personal_wifi_connections_then_charging.html [Slate];

You can also find this story covered by CNN and other media (TV, NewsPaper, Radio, Internet).

Marriott then Tried to Justify its Illegal Practice – http://www.successfulmeetings.com/News/Meetings-Technology/Marriott-on-FCC-Petition–We–Encourage–Open-Internet-Access/

The Opposing View

Microsoft and Google are against this Marriott practice and so am I. Here are my reasoned legal arguments:

1. It is a 1st Amendment Free Speech Issue – I should not have to pay for my speech [a 2nd time]. I am a blogger, but even a person on social media who comments on politics or civil issues (local, state, federal, etc.) is exercising their free speech rights (and possibly their right to peaceably assemble too).
2. It is a Net Neutrality Issue and the FCC is setting the rules on this (not Marriott). Marriott is blocking a service that its customers / guests have already paid for in order to substitute an expensive Marriott access. How is this not equivalent to adding “toll roads” to the air-waves that are owned by all Americans. The Internet frequencies are owned by all citizens and no citizen should be allowed to block free/low-cost/private access routes and force people onto HIGH toll access routes. This appears to me to be akin to Highway Robbery. At the very  least the Marriott company is acting as a TROLL to limit access to their bridge (by destroying all other local bridges) by forcing the paying of extortionate rates.
3. Why should any business be allowed to block or jam personal access to the Internet? Doesn’t that set a precedent that private companies can take away 1st Amendment rights at public venues? Do we now have to pay for our access to the Bill of Rights? Only the military or police should be allowed to do this and only in specific rules of engagement for security or safety issues or government or courts as punishments to criminals using the public airwaves (i.e. the Internet) to spread hate-speech, incite violence, and other harmful intent actions etc. Things that are NOT covered by Free Speech  could/should be “jammed”.
4. Businesses can still use their own networks and give/deny access to their computer resources or ” private clouds” and maintain security. But a personal hotspot or tethering is NOT a security issue as this is a customer / guest’s private network and does not access or connect to the Marriott network. Marriott would still be allowed to deny access to their networks or private clouds by anyone else’s networks.
5. I also think local building codes need to be updated that using materials that block the Internet access in public venues (concert halls, conference centers, etc.) not be allowed. We already have IP (Intellectual Property) laws to protect copyright materials, like shows, concerts, etc. So jamming  important communications (security personnel, doctor’s phones/emails, etc.) could have catastrophic consequences .  Jamming is akin to stopping people by police without due cause. They have not committed a crime so you cannot take away their rights/privilege to access the Internet,  just because some bootlegger may (or may not) try to steal some IP. Casinos deny access to card counters why not have IP venues deny access to convicted IP thieves rather than jam free communication. Jamming also inhibits “fair-use” or other legal uses (checking on your home’s safety while attending a concert,  reporting on an event by a reporter or journalist, etc.).
6. This private jamming will limit new technologies too. Are we going to have the Internet Of Things or are we going to have Trolls with extortionate paid access paths interfering with technologies, some of which may be vital to someone’s safety/health. Do we want a robust economy for new innovations or do we want companies to be able to limit innovation/disruption by using public airwaves in a monopolistic fashion? What happens when health processes include medical devices that connect via Internet are jammed?
7. When a company or government organization forces a customer to use their cloud/network, what happens when an employee of this organization forcing the use of their network,  uses the organization’s internet access to stalk, harass, threaten,  “shed a false light” or for other illegal actions? Why would an organization willingly compel the use of their network/cloud(s) where disgruntled employees can wreak havoc upon their customers?

This is much bigger issue than Marriott is portraying and Marriott’s petition should be denied and the $600,000 fine enforced.  The FCC needs to look into Gaylord Opryland too since this is being used by Marriott as an argument to justify its own unethical practices. Marriott should be allowed to charge for providing access to the Internet if it wants — even though most hotels/motels provide FREE access to the Internet. Let the free market determine what the customers want.

This is also why Net Neutrality is a very nuanced issue and not a one-size fits all ruling (unless it is many pages long detailing all the possibilities that people can dream up right now and allow for future remediation due to new technologies).

Need to catch up on Net Neutrality, try the FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s C|Net Interview:  here .

–Stanczyk

---

Philadelphia — Genealogy Roadshow #Genealogy

January 27th 2015 • Philadelphia

PBS has brought Genealogy Roadshow back ; As the image shows, they filmed in Philadelphia, October 25 & 26th in 2014.  Now the show airs again; its premier is Tuesday, January 13th. This season Philadelphia gets the treatment.

Philadelphia – Franklin Institute (January 27th at 8:00 p.m.). At Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, a team of genealogists uncovers fascinating family histories. A man learns that the event that drove his family to the City of Brotherly Love changed the course of history; a man may be a Viking descendant; another’s family could have part of one of history’s biggest scams; a young man hopes to confirm his relation to a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and two sisters learn their ancestors were part of the great Irish migration.

Now I know they were at the Historical Society of PA (HSP). So I hope that survives the edit process too. At any rate, I’ll be watching the 27th of January at 8:00 pm ET.

---

2014 In Review — #InternetMuse #Stanczyk

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys [Ed: provided by said monkeys]  prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

 

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed over 27,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 10 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

---

 

Dimunitive Dionizy — #Polish #Genealogy

Yesterday, Stanczyk wrote about Polish Name Days. The article got a bit longish. So  I left out an example, but I wanted to write briefly about names some more. So here is my diminutive example.

Dionizy – Whose derivation undoubtedly comes from the Greek Name: Dionysus. When I found Dionizy’s birth record (29-MARCH-1852 in Strozyska, Swietokrzyskie [old Kielce Gubernia], Poland, in Strozyska parish, 1852 Births, Akt #28) it was written as DYONIZY Stanislaw.

Using link #4 from yesterday (http://diminutive-names.com/) we see:

Dionizy
Danek, Dioncio, Dionek, Dionizulcio, Dionizulek, Dionizuszek, Dionizuś, Dionuś, Dyziek, Dyzio, Dyziu

Dionizy Stanislaw Slawinski.  Now Stanislaw, the middle name in America that acquired the diminutive form of STOSH. Stosh seemed to  acquire Kleenix or Xerox status in that it was used as a way to refer to any Polish male (whether or not his name was actually  Stanislaw/Stanislaus/Stanley or not). I noticed Stosh is not listed as a diminutive.

Let this jester do one more name near and dear to his heart. ELIASZ is the Polish name derived from the Hebrew Prophet Elijah in the Old Testament of the Bible. This name is used as a first name and a last name. It is also a Christian name and a Jewish name (and certainly used in the Muslim world too). So much confusion occurs tracing the ELIASZ surname.  Here are the diminutive forms:

Eliasz

Eja, Elek, Eli, Eliasio, Eliaszek, Elijah, Eliotto, Elis, Eliś, Eljot, Elliot, Elsio, Eluniek, Eluś, Laszek

Let me finish with a final thought on Polish names. Many Polish surnames wind up getting ‘Americanized’. What I mean by that  can be best demonstrated by my own research examples.

I have ELIASZ (in St. Louis MO, related to WWI War Hero) change to ELLIS [currently not connected to this jester]. More directly, in my family is the use of the Name Change. Our own surname was changed to ELIASZ-SOLOMON (thus insuring confusion for future genealogists). Still very ethnic. How about Sobieszczanski becoming Sobb? We also see Leszczynski become Lester and Laskey or Lescinski. This last-name evolution needs someone to write long-read blog article upon. We should also build a dictionary of Polish Name Evolution in America. This would require the help of MANY genealogists to get a large enough coverage to be a useful tool. Otherwise this will be a problem akin to that of women who marry and take their husband’s name. A genealogic lost trail that requires a critical document to pick up the trail again.

Something to Muse upon.

---

What Is In A Name ? — Polish Name Days #Polish #Genealogy

Stanczyk wants to start the year with this blog.  So in Polish genealogy there is the concept of a name day. This day is celebrated as often as a person’s actual birthdate. Well it turns out that a name if often given from the Polish Name Day. So in actuality then the birthday and the name day are the same day in MANY cases.

Perhaps you have been looking through the family parish books for births (urodziny). Many times you will see a string of several Pawels (or any name) born in a row. This is an indication that name days has a strong influence in your village. Now if you look closely you will see that not all of those Pawels were born on the same day so technically not all were named on their name day. But you can expect the name is close by (+/- 1-2 days).

How does a name day work?

First let me introduce you to some good resources on the Internet.

1. http://www.namedaycalendar.com/index.php/poland
2. http://www.masterpage.com.pl/imieniny.html
3. http://www.behindthename.com/namedays/
4. http://diminutive-names.com/
5. http://www.catholic.org/saints/

Number one (NameDayCalendar) is Comprehensive. It defaults to today’s date and names. You can search by date or month. You can also search for a name too. Number two (Imienny) gives you a concise box/table of name days. It goes across with month-name and downwards from 1 to 31 with 2 or 3 names per box. Number three (BehindTheName) is a comprehensive tool. Names, Name Search, Name Translation,  Name Popularity, Name Days (for 15 countries) and a few more. Number four (DiminutiveNames). You know Ted is a diminutive form for Theodore (Teodor). But have you ever wondered what a Polish Diminutive name is from? That is what Number Four does for you. I searched for ‘Czesiu’ and it said it was the diminutive for Czeslaw (which I knew because that is my father’s name and Czesiu was the term of endearment that my grandmother Walerya wrote in her son’s prayer book.  Number 5 is the other popular possibility of naming the child for a favorite saint whose feast day is the date of birth of the child (again +/- 1-2 days).

Okay so every day has more than one name. Some names (maybe all names) occur on more than one day in the calendar year. So if you are using the name day to figure out the birth date, please be aware that you might have to juggle several dates as possibilities. Of course many countries have name days. Consider, the rare name Dionizy [which occurs once in my family tree of Polish born ancestors], its names days are:

Poland: February 26
Poland: April 8
Poland: September 2
Poland: September 9
Poland: September 20
Poland: October 2
Poland: October 9
Poland: October 16
Poland: November 16
Poland: November 17
Poland: December 26
Poland: December 30

I would have to consider all twelve dates as possible birth dates for Dionizy Slawinski.

My grandfather, Jozef Elijasz had a brother born December 21st. His name was Tomasz Kanty. The ‘Tomasz’ came from the name day of the 21st (of December). The ‘Kanty’ came from the feast day of  saint Jan Kanty (John Canty) on December 23rd. Now I have plenty of Jan Kanty in my tree, but this is the first and only Tomasz Kanty. So we see the influence of both the name day and the saint’s feast day in one person!

What about Dionizy? His actual birth date was the 29th of March – no Dionizy name day there. But the record date is April 6th and this is often presumed the baptismal date of a birth record. Well now we have a name day for the baptism day (actually April 8th).  So you can see a certain amount of fluidity in the naming of a child.

It appears that naming a Polish child is akin to the complexity of naming a cat (T. S. Eliot, “The Naming Of Cats“). But  Polish Name Days or Saints Feast Days may provide a clue to a missing birth date. It appears Stanczyk’s first name is from his name day (or perhaps he was just named after his father). Something to think about.

Happy New Year Everybody!

---