John, Her is the key from Rymut's site. Jim Key to the counties below: BB bielskie Op opolskie BP bialskopodlaskie Os ostrołęckie Bs białostockie Pl pilskie By bydgoskie Pł płockie Ch chełmskie Po poznańskie Ci ciechanowskie Pr przemyskie Cz częstochowskie Pt piotrkowskie El elbląskie Ra radomskie Gd gdańskie Rz rzeszowskie Go gorzowskie Sd siedleckie JG jeleniogórskie Sk skierniewickie Ka katowickie Sł słupskie Ki kieleckie Sr sieradzkie Kl kaliskie Su suwalskie Kn konińskie Sz szczecińskie Ko koszalińskie Ta tarnowskie Kr krakowskie Tb tarnobrzeskie Ks krośnieńskie To toruńskie Lg legnickie Wa warszawskie Ls leszczyńskie Wb wałbrzyskie Lu lubelskie Wł włocławskie Łd łódzkie Wr wrocławskie Ło łomżyńskie Za zamojskie NS nowosądeckie ZG zielonogórskie Ol olsztyńskie On Oct 3, 2008, at 1:08 PM, John Ruther wrote: > Hello everyone: > > I've been working several sides of my family, but one of the family > names of which I know practically nothing prior to 1880 are my > Gawinskis (Gavinski today in Wisconsin). > > I went on Professor Rymut's site and typed into the search box, > Gawinski, and I received the following information: > "Gawinski - 14 - By: 1, Gd: 1, Kl: 3, Ka: 2, Ol: 1, Os: 3, Pl: 3." > > I do not speak, read or write Polish, but I interpret the > information above as: Gawinski; 14 such souls registering for > "social security" in 1990. One from Bydgoszcz. One from Gdansk. > Three from Kl (?). Two from what I believe is Katowice. One from OL > (?). Three from Os (?). Three from Plock, I believe. > > So, therein lies my problem. I've guessed at some of the > abreviations, but those marked with a (?), I haven't the slightest > idea what they are. > > By the way, my Gawinski came from Slesin, which I think is > Bydgoszcz. There was one Gawinski family registered in Bydgoszcz > in 1990. I wonder if this is good or bad news. > > My question: Does anyone know of a site that translates all of the > regions of Poland from abreviation to name? I have found sites that > list the names, however, when you come across an abreviation, how > can you be certain that you know the region to which it refers? > > John > jimpres1@mac.com