ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1605 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1605 ************************************ 28 Mar 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked if we could tell you the history of the Polish name . This brief letter is an answer to your question. The name , in which the symbol indicates the Polish slashed , is a Polish family name. The family name has two separate origins. In some cases, it was originally a patronymic byname, i.e. a surname that identified a man as his father's son. That is to say, the original bearers of the surname were the children of a man called . was a given name (first name) used in Poland as early as the 13th century. It was a pet name or nickname for a given name beginning with , such as [1, 2]. was also a descriptive nickname meaning "small guy", derived from the root word [2, 3]. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Brian R. Speer. For the Academy, J. Mittleman 28 March 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987), vol.3, s.n. Mal/a, Mal/ak, Mal/y. [2] Rymut, Kazimierz, _Nazwiska Polakow_ (Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich - Wydawnictwo, 1991). [3] Hoffman, William F., _Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings_ (Chicago: Polish Genealogical Society of America, 1993).