Why do Polish surnames have so many different endings?
Polish is a fusional language and the surname – if it is an adjective – will have different endings for men and women (e.g. Mr Kowalski but Mrs Kowalska). If the surname is a noun, the feminine ending of the surname traditionally implies not just the gender but also whether the woman’s surname is her married or maiden name (e.g. Mr Nowak, Mrs Nowakowa and Miss Nowakówna). The endings also change in plural and depending on the grammatical case in which they are used. This is important to remember in the context of Scottish surnames as they may appear with a wide range of endings in Polish documents. |
Polish woman in a traditional folk dress (vintage postcard)
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Why do you accept all Scottish men to the project? Do all of them have long-lost Polish cousins?Although many Scottish people who settled in Poland have only slightly adapted their surnames to the Polish language (e.g. Cochrane – Czochron) many adopted completely new surnames that bear no resemblance to their original Scottish surname. In some cases, Scottish settlers simply adopted the name “Szkot” – the Polish word for “Scotsman”. This means that in many cases only genetic testing can determine the original Scottish surname of the Polish descendants of Scottish settlers. Having a varied reference sample encompassing different clans and branches will facilitate such determinations. Are there any famous descendants of Scottish settlers in Poland?Some of the famous Scots in Poland and their descendants include:
What's the meaning behind the logo?The project's logo was designed by Joanna Grzeszkowiakówna and incorporates national symbols and colours of Poland and Scotland. The white eagle features in Poland's coat of arms and was originally the emblem of the Piasts, the Polish dynasty. The eagle is depicted wearing a Scottish kilt, a symbol of the Scottish spirit with a rather turbulent past - following the Battle of Culloden the Highland dress was banned (the ban lasted 35 years). The shield is red and blue - this way the logo incorporates all three national colours of Poland and Scotland (Polish: red and white, Scottish: blue and white). |
My maternal grandfather was a patrilineal descendant of a Scottish settler in Poland – can I join the project?
You can join the project if you are able to test DNA of a male-line male relative of your maternal grandfather (typically a man that carries the same surname) and obtain his consent to submit the results to the project. Alternatively, you can join the project as an autosomal descendant of the Scottish settler but in most cases (depending on the number of generations) there is no guarantee that you have inherited a DNA segment(s) from that particular ancestor. However, if you are able to recruit additional more distant relatives that descend from that same Scottish ancestor, it may be possible to identify DNA segments originating from that ancestor, although with more distant ancestors this is a time consuming process that requires extensive genealogical research, and a large number of tested lines. For more details see eligibility criteria. What DNA test(s) I should choose to join the project?For the purposes of this project, it is important that Y chromosome is tested to the degree that allows estimating genealogical relationship between two men. In the case of Y DNA this means that the acceptable tests are:
Non-exhaustive list of tests that do not produce sufficient data to confirm genealogical relationship between two men based on the Y chromosome:
These tests, however, may be sufficient to exclude a relationship – so if you have taken a test with these companies and do not plan on taking a more exhaustive test, your results may still in some cases be helpful in reconstructing the genealogy of Poles of Scottish descent. If you want to join the project as part of Group D (i.e. you have a Scottish non-patrilineal or non-matrilineal ancestor that lived in Poland), the autosomal part of any of these three tests is sufficient to join. |
