If you don't already have a copy, please immediately order Fred Hoffman's excellent book _In Their Words_ Volume 1: Polish. In addition to a working vocabulary of the Polish word's you're likely to encounter, it also has real examples of the various BMD records you will encounter, and step by step translations of them, including many handwriting examples. The other thing that I have found useful is to compare adjacent documents written by the same priest. You will quickly learn his particular handwriting style. The same surnames will come up time and time again in a particular parish, so you can find many other examples to study and compare to. You'll also discover subtle variations in the spelling of the surname over time. -- --- Chris Smolinski Black Cat Systems http://www.blackcatsystems.com

Hi John, I concur with Chris. Fred Hoffman's book is very helpful. It also include an index of given names, so you can guess at the handwriting and then see what name it most likely actually is. He also has a list of Polish surnames I used to check against last names I needed help with. I found the book "In Their Words" at Polish Art Center http://www.polartcenter.com for a good price. You might also try: a Crash Course online at http://www.pgsa.org/CrashCourseInPolish.pdf that has some good information in it. Good luck! Trish Stumpf Garcia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Smolinski" <csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com> To: <poland-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 10:50 AM Subject: Re: [POLAND] Interpreting Polish Records found on FHC - LDS films > If you don't already have a copy, please immediately order Fred > Hoffman's excellent book _In Their Words_ Volume 1: Polish. In > addition to a working vocabulary of the Polish word's you're likely > to encounter, it also has real examples of the various BMD records > you will encounter, and step by step translations of them, including > many handwriting examples. > > The other thing that I have found useful is to compare adjacent > documents written by the same priest. You will quickly learn his > particular handwriting style. The same surnames will come up time and > time again in a particular parish, so you can find many other > examples to study and compare to. You'll also discover subtle > variations in the spelling of the surname over time. > > -- > > --- > Chris Smolinski > Black Cat Systems > http://www.blackcatsystems.com > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at Poland-Roots-admin@rootsweb.com > ---------------------------------- > Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the list as long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this list: researching our Polish roots. > ---------------------------------- > Browse the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots > Search the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to POLAND-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi, I appreciate very much the kind words from Chris Smolinski and Trish Stumpf Garcia regarding _In Their Words ... Volume 1: Polish_. It's really gratifying when researchers are comfortable recommending to others a book you worked on! I do want to add one thing, however -- I co-authored that book with Jonathan Shea, and the book was his idea in the first place. So it would be kind of outrageous if I sat back and took all the credit myself. John Ruther's note has received many good answers. If I may add a couple of ideas, this Web site is worth consulting for Polish given names: http://www.edziecko.pl/ciaza_i_porod/0,79473.html "Imiona dla chlopca" selects "Names for a boy," and I'll bet you can figure out for yourself what "Imiona dla dziewczynki" means. The info on the names is all in Polish, and includes some blather about what astrologers have to say about the character of people who bear these names. So it's not as if I wholly endorse this site. But if what you need is a reasonably comprehensive list of Polish first names to compare against what you see in records, this site is helpful. I'd say http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/pol.php is the best place to start, but if you don't find what you need there, the Edziecko site is worth a try. As for surnames, the 1990 database at http://www.herby.com.pl/indexslo.html is a big help because you can input parts of names, using wild cards, to get a range of surnames that match the relevant criteria. For instance, if you're trying to figure out the first letter of a name that looks like _UKOMSKI, a search for ?UKOMSKI will quickly tell you the most likely candidate. Or if you're the first part of the name is SZY- and the last part is -KOWSKI, a search for SZY*KOWSKI will give you a list you can study for the best fit. The 1990 data in the Herby database is less accurate than the 2002 data on the Moikrewni site (http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/), but the Herby database is easier to use, in my opinion. There's a learning curve involved, but when I'm not sure about a name, I find the Herby site more helpful. I wrote an article in _Gen Dobry!_ designed to help people with the tough parts; it's called "The Slownik nazwisk Is Still Online" and you can find it here: http://www.polishroots.org/gendobry/PDF/GenDobry_VII_11.pdf I hope that's some help. Fred Hoffman

Fred, Thanks for another great site for researching names. I second/third and so on about your books I have about three of them and use them often especially the last name spellings. Jim On Dec 11, 2008, at 4:30 PM, Fred Hoffman wrote: > Hi, > > I appreciate very much the kind words from Chris > Smolinski and Trish Stumpf Garcia regarding _In > Their Words ... Volume 1: Polish_. It's really > gratifying when researchers are comfortable > recommending to others a book you worked on! I do > want to add one thing, however -- I co-authored > that book with Jonathan Shea, and the book was his > idea in the first place. So it would be kind of > outrageous if I sat back and took all the credit > myself. > > John Ruther's note has received many good answers. > If I may add a couple of ideas, this Web site is > worth consulting for Polish given names: > > http://www.edziecko.pl/ciaza_i_porod/0,79473.html > > "Imiona dla chlopca" selects "Names for a boy," > and I'll bet you can figure out for yourself what > "Imiona dla dziewczynki" means. > > The info on the names is all in Polish, and > includes some blather about what astrologers have > to say about the character of people who bear > these names. So it's not as if I wholly endorse > this site. But if what you need is a reasonably > comprehensive list of Polish first names to > compare against what you see in records, this site > is helpful. I'd say > http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/pol.php is the > best place to start, but if you don't find what > you need there, the Edziecko site is worth a try. > > As for surnames, the 1990 database at > http://www.herby.com.pl/indexslo.html is a big > help because you can input parts of names, using > wild cards, to get a range of surnames that match > the relevant criteria. For instance, if you're > trying to figure out the first letter of a name > that looks like _UKOMSKI, a search for ?UKOMSKI > will quickly tell you the most likely candidate. > Or if you're the first part of the name is SZY- > and the last part is -KOWSKI, a search for > SZY*KOWSKI will give you a list you can study for > the best fit. > > The 1990 data in the Herby database is less > accurate than the 2002 data on the Moikrewni site > (http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/), but the Herby > database is easier to use, in my opinion. There's > a learning curve involved, but when I'm not sure > about a name, I find the Herby site more helpful. > I wrote an article in _Gen Dobry!_ designed to > help people with the tough parts; it's called "The > Slownik nazwisk Is Still Online" and you can find > it here: > > http://www.polishroots.org/gendobry/PDF/GenDobry_VII_11.pdf > > I hope that's some help. > > Fred Hoffman > > ** jimpres1@mac.com