Quoting Paul Paulochik, and for Sarah whose grandfather was Michael Janik, > I found the birth record for my great-great-great-great-grandfather, > born 25 Sep 1769 in Liptovska Teplicka, which is near Poprad, > Slovakia. I didn't expect to find it spelled this way, tho! > > Grandpa used the spelling "Yanik" in the 1930s and great-grandpa > used the spelling "Janik" when he came over in the 1900s, and that > spelling was consistent for 100 years. But before 1800, the spelling > starts showing up as "Janicz", and before 1780 as "Janiczkow" > > Am I correct in seeing a Polish influence in that spelling? Could the > old family stories be true - that although Slovak, we are descenfed > from Polish nobility? I have family connections to JANIK from Nizna, Orava Region less than 20 km to the Polish border. (Grandpa's brother married a Janik). The same family has connections in Pennsylvania who spell the name YANIK, and from another village in the Orava Region which is even closer to Poland. These two villages are not all that far away from Poprad either. Let me know if you want me to e-mail more detailed information to you. I have exchanged correspondance and e-mail with a researcher from Slovak-L whose Janik/Yanik family is from the other village - if I remember correctly it was Breza. Margaret Sheremata