Re: Help with family name, please

On Wed, 16 May 2007 01:24:35 GMT, John Atkinson
<johnacko@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
<news:n3t2i.38478$M.38016@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> in
sci.lang:

"Judy Bolton" <jbolton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote...

My maternal grandmother's side is Venezky, originally Winnitzky or
something close > to that. Could someone please tell me the meaning
of Winnitz? It it a place or...?

My atlas tells me there's a city called Vinnitsa in Ukraine, a couple of
hundred km SW of Kiyev. Is it possible that the family came from there?

Of course there's also Vienna (Vyena in Russian), which no doubt had
many Yiddish-speakers about then. Or even Venice (Venezia), which
probably didn't.

Just guessing. I'm sure some of our Slavic speakers will be along
before long with better informed suggestions.

There's a Polish surname <Winnic(z)ki> attested at least
back to 1421, according to Witold Taszycki, Słownik
Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych; unfortunately, he says nothing
about the etymology. For what it's worth, it also appears
in the genitive singular with suffix <-ego>. Polish
<winnica> is 'vineyard'; it seems possible that the surname
is originally locative, referring to residence at a
vineyard, but I cheerfully admit that I don't understand
Polish surnames at all well.

Brian
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Help with family name, please
    ... of Winnitz? ... There's a Polish surname attested at least ... vineyard, but I cheerfully admit that I don't understand ... the family ancestors came from Venice (Venezia, Benatky, etc.). ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Help with family name, please
    ... meaning of Winnitz? ... There's a Polish surname attested at least ... vineyard, but I cheerfully admit that I don't understand ... "Vinohrad" seems to be a more traditional (more formal? ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Help with family name, please
    ... I'm sure some of our Slavic speakers will be along ... There's a Polish surname attested at least ... vineyard, but I cheerfully admit that I don't understand ... Judy says an older spelling of his name was Winnitzky. ...
    (sci.lang)
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