> I have never heard it could mean "son of" as Jim wrote, even in Polish. S. Bystron, in his book Nazwiska Polskie, cites some examples of -czyk indicating a son in Polish village nomenclature: Husband: Cichy Wife: Cichojka Daughter: Cichonionka or Cichoniowna Son: Cichoj or Cichojcyk (-cyk: southern Polish dialect for -czyk) Husband: Jedlowski Wife: Jedlowska Daughter: Jedloszczanka Son: Jedloszczyk (technically, here the "cz" is part of the root: the "wsk" becomes "wszcz", then is simplified by dropping the "w") The "real" surname for all these is still the husband's surname, but if this were a few centuries ago, the son's form of the name might have stuck with him even after he married and set up on his own, and become fixed as a new surname (Mr. Cichojcyk, his wife Cichojcykowa, etc.) As others have pointed out, the basic meaning of -czyk/-ik is "little", but with surnames, it can sometimes amount to sonship. Kind of like a relative of mine talks about a neighor Smith and his son Smithlet -- the -let suffix is meant as a diminutive, but ends up being the same as showing sonship. Joe armata@vms.cis.pitt.edu