by the way Mieczysław's name day was yesterday on Jan the 1st. meaning: probably original form( in old Polish) was Mecisław - somebody who is spreading glory...... Krzysztof Kopczynski 2009/1/2 <[email protected]>: > There is really no true translation for Mieczyslaw which is also my father's > name. Here in Toledo all Mieczyslaws that I have came across are call Michael > or Mike. None that I know have changed there names legally. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Hmmm. What are Archangel Michael's and St. Michael's names in Polish??? On 2009/1/2 <[email protected]>: >> There is really no true translation for Mieczyslaw which is also my >> father's >> name. Here in Toledo all Mieczyslaws that I have came across are call >> Michael >> or Mike. None that I know have changed there names legally. >

Hi, Krzysztof Kopczynski wrote: > by the way Mieczysław's name day was yesterday > on Jan the 1st. > meaning: probably original form( in old Polish) > was Mecisław - > somebody who is spreading glory...... Thank you for this note. Like many others, I at first thought the name was connected with the noun _miecz_, "sword." But then I saw that Polish experts concluded this derivation could not be correct, for various reasons. The original form was probably more along the lines of Miecisław, with the first part from the root seen in the verb _mietać_, "to throw, fling, cast" (according to Jan Grzenia, _Slownik imion_) or _mieść_, "to sweep, to throw" (J. Bubak, _Księga naszch imion_ As long ago as the 16th century, people hearing the name misunderstood the first part to be from _miecz_, and that connection explains how it came to be spelled Mieczysław. My problem was, I could make no sense of a name meaning "throw-glory" or "fling-fame." Was it a name for one who was famous for his throwing ability? It didn't seem plausible to me. Your explanation of "one who spreads glory," however, is more convincing. I think I have a better understanding of the name now. So I'm glad you posted this note! Fred Hoffman Co-Author, _First Names of the Polish Commonwealth_ www.fredhoff.com