PolandGenWeb Help Pages

This page is devoted to helping you decipher Polish documents and other records.  Below you will find the names of the months, common Polish terms, Polish occupations, and causes of death.  Several excellent links to other web pages can be found here.  Certain letters of the Polish alphabet are not found in the English alphabet, and substituted letters and symbols are used to replace Polish diacritical marks.

This page is also available with the proper Polish letters displayed.  Click here.

Diacritical Marks	Months of the Year	Common Polish Terms
Occupations	Causes of Death	Helpful Links

Substitution characters (left), Polish characters (centre) and standard keyshifts to use if you program your word processor (right)

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Also visit Polish Genealogical Word List for Polish terms, Latin Genealogical Word List for Latin terms, and German Genealogical Word List for German terms.

A akta mal~z|en~stwa: marriage register akta umarl~ych: death register akta urodzin: birth register akta zejs~cia: death register akta zgono~w: death register	B babcia, babka: grandmother bez imienia dzie~cie pli zenskiej: unnamed child sex female bezimienna, bezimienny: unnamed bezme~z|na: single, unmarried, without a husband bezz|enny: single, unmarried, without a wife bliz~nie~ta, bliz~niaczy: twin bracia: brothers brak danych: unknown, lack of evidence brat: brother bratanek: nephew (brother's son) bratanica: niece (brother's daughter) bratowa: sister-in-law (brother's wife) brzemienny: pregnant	C chrzest: baptism cia~z|y: pregnant ciocia, ciotka: aunt (mother's sister) cmentarny, cmentarz: cemetery, churchyard, burial ground co~rka: daughter czyli: otherwise, or (alias)
D data i miejsce: date and place of data: date data s~lubu: date of marriage data urodzenia: date of birth diecezja: diocese dni, dnia, dzien~: day dziadek, dziadzia: grandfather dzieci: child dziewczyna: girl	E ewangelickie: Evangelical (Lutheran)	F familia: family farny: parish
G gmina: municipality; the lowest governmental division godzin, godzina, godz.: o'clock, hour gospodarstwo: household, homestead, farm grecko-katolickie: Greek Catholic	H	I i: and imie~: name imie~ chrzestne: Christian or baptismal name imiona: names imiona rodzico~w: names of parents
J	K kawaler: bachelor kos~cio~l~: church kro~lestwo: kingdom ksia~dz, ks.: priest, Reverend Father ksie~gi hipoteczne: mortgage books kumoszka: godmother kumoter: godfather kumy: godparents kuratel: ward (child) kuzyn: cousin kwadrans, kwad.: a quarter of an hour	L lat, lata: age, years (plural only) lub: or
M mal~z|en~ski: married mal~z|en~stwo: marriage mal~z|onek: husband mal~z|onka: wife martwo urodzony: stillborn matka: mother matka chrzestna: godmother ma~z|, me~z|a: husband, husband's metryka: orginal record (of birth, marriage) miasto: city miejsce: place miejsce urodzenia: place of birth miesia~c, miesie~cy, m.; months, months ml~odzian: youth, young man	N narzeczona: fiancée narzeczony: fiancé nazwisko: surname nazwisko niewiadomy: surname unknown nazwisko panien~skie: maiden name nazwisko po me~z|u: married name niedziel: Sunday, week niepel~noletni: a minor, an infant nieprawny: illegitimate nies~lubny: unwed niewiadomy: unknown niez|ywo, niez|ywa: dead (stillborn) niez|ywo urodzony: not living at birth nowa, nowe, nowy, ns.: new	O oblubienica: bride oblubieniec: bridegroom oboje: both oddzial~: detachment (military) odpis: transcript, copy ojciec: father ojciec chrzestny: godfather ojczym: stepfather okol~o: circa, about opiekun: guardian oz|eniony: married
P pan: Mr. pani: Mrs. panien~skie nazwisko: maiden name panna: girl, maiden, Miss parafia: parish pasierb: stepson pasierbica: stepdaughter pl~ec~ z|en~skiej: sex female pochowac~: bury pocho~wek: burial pogrzeb: burial po~l~: half po~l~tora: one and a half pol~ brat: half-brother po~l~ (pul~) godziny: half hour poronienie: miscarriage powiat: county pol~ siostra: half-sister prababcia: great-grandmother prababka: great-grandmother pradziad: ancestor pradziadek: great-grandfather prawnucze~ta: great-grandchildren prawosl~awne: Orthodox przednazwiska: middle name, nickname przydomek: surname przyjaciele: friends		R rodzic: parent rodzice: parents rodzina: family rok: one year (this is abbreviated to r. after a year, i.e. - 1884 r.); singular use only rosyjski: Russian rozwodnik: divorced man, divorcee ruski: Ruthenian, Ukrainian rzymsko-katolickie: Roman Catholic
S samic: female samiczka: female siostra: sister siostrzenica: niece (sister's daughter) stara, stare, stary, st.: old stopien~: rank stryj: uncle (father's brother) stryjenka: aunt (father's sister) syn: son synowa: daughter-in-law (son's wife) synowie, syny: sons szos: house tax szwagier: brother-in-law szwagierka: sister-in-law s~lub: marriage s~wiadectwo: certificate s~wiadectwo chrztu: baptismal certificate s~wiadectwo s~lubo: marriage certificate s~wiadectwo s~mierci: death certificate s~wiadectwo zgonu: death certificate		T tydzien: week tyg., tygod., tygodni: weeks (plural)
U umarl~: died umarl~ dnia: day of death umrzec~ s~miercia~ naturalna~: died of natural causes urodzil~, urodzony: birth urza~d stanu cywilnego: civil register office uwaga, uwagi: remark, remarks	W wdowa: widow wdowiec: widower wiek: age wies~: village wsie: villages wnucze~ta: grandchildren wnuczka: granddaughter wnuk: grandson wojewo~dztwo, woj.: province :wolnego stanu: free status (unmarried) wuj: uncle (mother's brother) wujenka: aunt (wife of mother's brother) wyznanie: religion	Z zamieszkanie: place of residence z domu: maiden name zgon, zgonu: (cause of) death zmarl~: died zyc~: to live zyl~, zyl~a: (he, she) lived z|ona: wife z|onaty: married (i) z|yc~a~cy: of life z|ydowskie: Jewish

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