Sementkowski surname

[jstarkey]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone had ever come across the surname of Sementkowski in their research. I was looking for Rzeszotarski lineage, and found 2 birth certificates in 1878 and 1879 that are my ancestors. Their mother Salomea is listed as unmarried, but the same witness Feliks/Felician Sementkowski is listed. The name Feliks was used as middle names later, so I'm assuming he's the father. It was translated from Cyrillic by someone else, so I'm not exactly sure on the spellings. #28 is the entry for Bronislaw.

http://poczekalnia.genealodzy.pl/pliki/ ... M_0466.jpg


#108 is the entry for Weronika.

http://poczekalnia.genealodzy.pl/pliki/ ... M_0556.jpg

Is there any database that can search Cyrillic names, or do you have to have a starting point like Gradzanowo and sift through blindly. Someone on here found the place to start, and I got lucky that "Bojanowo" was written in the sidebar, and used that as a bearing, and checked one by one.

John

[jstarkey]

Went to google maps and had a small map saved with Bojanowo and Ratowo on it. Right next to those areas, I noticed several names, Siemiątkowo- and Rzeszotary-. Was it common for the family names to become the names of villages or areas of land? Anyways, I think his name was probably Siemiątkowski or close to it. Seems much more common with that spelling, and around that area.
John

[Robert1]

Was it common for the family names to become the names of villages or areas of land?

Actually, in most cases it was the other way round. Local gentry families have adopted last names that were created from the name of the village they owned. This process mostly took place around late XV and early XVI centuries.
Later, also peasantry received surnames, which were created in a simmilar manner.

For example, from the village name Rzeszotary (noun) an adjective - "Rzeszotarski" (as "of Rzeszotary") has been created.