My surname

[timeforteasir]

I know but it appears in British records so I'm curious if Bernats came from the UK in the 1500 to Poland and Polonized their surname?

[Gaie]

Hi timeforteasir and welcome to Rootschat 

Where are you in the world?  UK, USA, Australia etc?

How far back have you traced your Bernatowicz ancestors?  Can we help you with that?  The more you know about them, the easier it may be to find the origins of the surname.

Kind Regards
Gaie

[timeforteasir]

I deleted the post.

[Ruskie]

You've answered one of your own questions - they came from Belarus/Warsaw. 

If I were you I would ask questions of my oldest living ancestor - names, places, dates, siblings - anything at all that they can remember or any stories they heard from their own relatives.

Did they all come to the UK? Were any of them naturalised?

[Gaie]

If I were you I would ask questions of my oldest living ancestor - names, places, dates, siblings - anything at all that they can remember or any stories they heard from their own relatives.

This is very good advice.

There is no public centralised general record office in Poland that gives, say, access to births, marriages and deaths such as we have in England & Wales.  And church baptism, marriage and death records have not been as comprehensively transcribed and made available on the internet as here.

A useful website for when you get back to pre-World War I ancestors is Geneteka http://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/?lang=pol ; records are frequently being added.

KR
Gaie

[timeforteasir]

That's not all people on Polish Forums saying that Bernatowicz is actually Armenian.

[Ruskie]

That's not all people on Polish Forums saying that Bernatowicz is actually Armenian.

Does it really matter what it's origins are is at this stage? If you want to trace your ancestors, knowing the origin of the surname is not necessarily going to help you. I've seen cases of people completely adopting a different surname in earlier generations and that new surname then carries down through the generations - I have an example of this in my own family. People also have aliases for various reasons. The possibility of illegitimacy also needs to be considered.

But if you are merely trying to discover the origins of your surname, maybe you should do some investigation in the country/countries where your family members came from? Presumably you can speak the language which I imagine would be an essential requirement.

What people of forums say is not necessarily correct. It could also be the case that the surname is widespread over numerous countries, spellings may vary though the roots of the name may be the same, surnames which sound similar may have different origins. It's a bit of a minefield.

Once again I would advise you to speak to the 'elders' in your family. Write down everything they tell you. It is amazing where a name or place which might seem insignificant, can lead you.

[timeforteasir]

Last time I checked immigration to America 3 members were Prussian (Yet so I would consider them German.) 1 person was German and 1 guy was Austrian. So my surname is quiet Germanic.

[aghadowey]

You are really going about this the wrong way (as has already been pointed out).

I live in Ireland. My father has an 'English' surname and my mother has an 'Irish' surname. Sounds simple? Well actually, no. My father's 'English' surname is actually the English version of a Scottish occupational surname. My mother's surname is found in Ireland but she hasn't any Irish blood- her family is actually German and the surname has slowly evolved in each generation from what we think is the original one to its present form. Her mother's surname is also found in Ireland but again is German.

So, you cannot assume a family's origin from the surname.

Also, we aren't allowed to post details of living people so your earlier post will need changed to remove names and birth details of those who are still alive. You can do this yourself within first 24 hours or click on 'report to moderator' for it to be done for you.