Origins of the Borzyskowski / Borzyszkowski Name

By Andrzej Borzyskowski

I can trace all sides of my family tree unbroken to the 19th century (1800’s), though can trace the origins of my surname ‘Borzyskowski’ to the 14th century (1300’s). ‘Borzyskowski’ is a variant of ‘Borzyszkowski’ (note the extra ‘z’) - my family used the name ‘Borzyszkowski’ (with the ‘z’) pre-World War II.

The Borzyszkowski name derives from the village of Borzyszkowy, situated in the Kaszuby region of northern Poland. Whoever hailed from Borzyszkowy took on the toponymic name ‘Borzyszkowski’ (the ‘ski’ meaning coming from a certain place - in this case coming from Borzyszkowy).

According to the Borzyszkowski article on the Polish version of Wikipedia, Borzyszkowski was a Kaszubian minor-nobility family. It states that the earliest documented mention of the name occurred in 1352 when Ludolf Hake, the commander of the county of Człuchow, conferred the ownership of the village of Borskow (Borzyszkowy) to Jan Szade and his heirs. It further states that in 1552 Polish king Zygmunt II August confirmed the rights of the Borzyszkowski family to the village of Borzyszkowy.

The Borzyszkowski name is also associated with the Battle of Grunwald that took place in the year 1410. King Władysław II Jagiełło successfully led the combined Polish and Lithuanian forces into victory over the Knights of the Teutonic Order. There was a captain in Jagiełło’s army named Jakub Borzyszkowski. Jakub distinguished himself in the battle and as a result was rewarded with nobility status and 5000 hectares of land (see scans at the bottom of the page from the book Bedeker Kaszubski for Polish text).

Bitwa pod Grunwaldem by Jan Matejko, 1878, Oil on canvas, 426cm x 987cm, National Museum, Warsaw.

The name of the village Jakub was rewarded was Jabłuszek Duży, which is just east of Borzyszkowy. Jabłuszek Duży is the second Borzyszkowski familial home after Borzyszkowy and from which the family branch Wyszki - Fiska originates (other variants of the name include Fiszka or Fiske). According to Bedeker Kaszubski Jakub Borzyszkowski possessed four prenames: Fiska, Dunous, Sady & Witek.

The Borzyszkowski’s used/adopted various coats of arms: Sas, Prawdzic, Szeliga, Łodzia and variants.

Herb Sas.

The Fiska Borzyszkowski coat of arms, which derives from the Sas coat of arms (see image above), can be seen above the pulpit in the Borzyszkowy parish church together with coats of arms of three other benefactors. The article The Inside Story by Peter von Pazatka Lipinsky however, details that there are actually five crests displayed altogether inside the Borzyszkowy parish church. He also gives a different name for the 'F' initial in the FB crest.

Parish church in Borzyszkowy. Photograph by Jerzy Borzyskowski © 2006.

Crests inside the parish church - with the Fiska Borzyszkowski crest on the bottom right. Screenshots taken from the film Perełka w Borzyszkowach.

The Fiska Borzyszkowski crest includes a crescent moon, an archer’s arrow with two stars on each side, and a crown on top. It’s an oval shape and bears the initials FB - Fiska Borzyszkowski (see image above).

I have heard that Fiska could mean 'fish' (ryba) or 'to fish'. Fiska translated into German would be Fischer. I have also heard that in the 19th century, at a time during the partition period, my family may have been known as Borzyszkowski von Fischer.

My Borzyszkowski ancestors must have lived in the area near the village of Borzyszkowy and surrounding areas for generations up until the outbreak of World War II. My grandfather Bronisław 'Bronek' Borzyszkowski was born in Swornegacie on the north side of lake Karsinskie, which is just south of Borzyszkowy. He spent most of his youth on his family's farm in the village of Lubieszyn, which is east of Borzyszkowy. Other branches of my family were based in the village of Borzyszkowy and Wieck (see map below).

Lake Karsinskie, Swornegacie. Photograph by Jerzy Borzyskowski © 2006.

Lubieszyn. Photograph by Jerzy Borzyskowski © 2006.

My family surname changed from Borzyszkowski to Borzyskowski (lost the 'z') just after the end of World War II when my grandfather Bronisław, a member of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski's 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade, resettled in the United Kingdom. This name change was probably due to ease of pronunciation. In my opinion 'Borzyskowski' is a bit easier to say than 'Borzyszkowski'. Letters written immediately after World War II addressed to my grandfather in the United Kingdom from his father Franciszek Borzyszkowski who was still in Poland, definitely had Borzyszkowski spelt with a 'z'. My grandfather's Polish army ID card also had the surname spelt with a 'z'.

Polish language Borzyszkowski history information from the book Bedeker Kaszubski by Róża Ostrowska & Izabella Trojanowska, Wydawnictwo Morskie, Gdańsk, 1978:

© 2007-2010 Andrzej Borzyskowski